9. nine

Chapter nine

“Sweet Disposition” - The Temper Trap

“ O wen!” Lena wiped her nose with the back of her hand, frantically trying to hide the fact she had been in here crying. But her eyes were red, and there was still a tear rolling down her chin.

“I–I’m sorry. I didn’t know who was in here.” I approached her slowly, unsure of whether my presence was wanted right now or not. However, my curiosity about the reason behind her tears got the best of me. Was somebody at this party responsible for making her feel this way? Were they still here? And would I be able to track them down? I sat on the cot next to her, keeping some space between us. “Are you okay? I mean… obviously you’re not okay. What’s wrong?”

She stared down at her knees, shaking her head. “This is just not my night, that’s all.”

I was tempted to concur, but I wanted to know more about her situation. “Just give me a name, and I’ll take care of the guy,” I joked.

“Not a guy,” she said with a small smile. “Well, not really. It’s Bailey and her new boyfriend. Once he showed up a little bit ago, I became the third wheel, and it’s getting a little old. I confronted Bailey about how she’s been acting toward me lately, and it didn’t go very well. And then I tried to leave, but my car’s blocked in.” It sounded like she was holding in a sob. “This whole night’s a mess.”

I nodded, understanding her better than she knew. “Confronting friends is never easy. But some things need to be said, you know? Maybe it’s not so bad.”

“I feel like she and I are drifting in different directions.”

“I can relate,” I said, looking down at her pink Chuck Taylors and comparing the size of my foot to hers. “Xander really pissed me off tonight.”

Lena gave me a sympathetic half-smile. “I caught that.”

“Then I’m sure you also caught him announcing to everyone by the fire that the entire point of this party was for me to lose my virginity.”

“Yeah, I heard that, too. How’s that… working out for you?”

I turned to her and dipped my chin, giving her a few dramatic, slow blinks. Her hands shot to her mouth to cover a smile.

“Sorry,” she said with a giggle. “I’m not laughing at your situation. Just the look on your face right now.”

“Laugh it up, Brower,” I said with a playful grin. “Everyone else is tonight.”

Her giggling came to a gradual stop as she twirled her hair around her pointer finger. “So the girl Xander mentioned… it must be that older blonde girl, right?”

I nodded and folded my hands between my knees, circling one thumb around the other. “Yeah. But it’s good that it didn’t happen with her. The more I got to know her, the more I realized we’re not really that compatible, anyway. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I wasn’t thinking with my head earlier tonight.”

“At least not the one attached to your neck,” Lena blurted.

“Nope,” I said with a chuckle, studying her face. I could really see her freckles beneath the glow of the incandescent light hanging just above us. There was a slight pinkish tint on her cheekbones, likely there because she’d just subtly made a reference to my–well, my other head.

It was cute.

“Your first time should be with someone you care about, anyway,” she said. “Trust me. One of my biggest regrets is how awful my first time was.”

“What was so awful about it?”

“Wrong person. Wrong time. Wrong everything.” She laughed. “It was just completely and utterly… wrong.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was six months ago, so I’m over it now. Just wish it had been better.”

I squinted, thinking back to the beginning of the school year. There was one guy in particular Lena used to talk to a lot. He was on one of the opposing schools’ academic teams, and he always used to walk over and tell her good luck, despite being our direct competition. I remembered thinking it was a little weird until I saw him kiss her before she got on the bus one time. “Was it that guy from Bedford?” I asked.

Lena covered her eyes with one hand. “Yes, unfortunately.” She removed her hand, looking back at me. “I didn’t know you knew about him.”

Oops. I might have revealed just how much I’d been paying attention to her.

But for some reason, I didn’t care. I couldn’t be sure if it was the way she kept smiling at me, or maybe some lingering drunkenness from before–but I had a sudden burst of courage.

“I notice things,” I said, casually letting my legs fall farther open so my knee touched hers. A deliberate move.

“You notice things?” Lena giggled, and her leg relaxed against mine. “What else have you noticed?”

I studied Lena’s eyes for some indication she was only making conversion–that she wasn’t flirting with me. But all I saw there was a hint of something that reflected my own feelings at that very moment. “You,” I answered.

She drew her eyebrows together in a doubtful stare. “Me? What have you been noticing about me?”

“Well, I… I’ve noticed the way you play with your hair when you talk, for one,” I said, grinning at the way there were a few strands wrapped around her fingers now. She lowered her hand to her lap, laughing at herself, and I continued. “I’ve noticed the way your eyes light up with this energetic fury when you talk about global warming. And I’ve noticed the way you always have your nose in a book when we have free time in Mr. Thomspon’s class. Doesn’t matter if people are throwing a hacky sack over your head. You just tune it out.”

“It’s a skill I’ve mastered over the years,” Lena said, letting out a breathy, nervous chuckle.

“Well, maybe you could teach me.” I held her gaze, focusing on one blue eye and then the other. And then her lips–those pillowy, orangey-pink lips that I imagined tasted as good as they looked.

“Owen,” she said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. “I’ve wanted you since freshman year.”

My breath seemed to catch in my throat, and my heart nearly beat out of my chest. I focused on the few strands of hair that were yet again covering her left eye, and without hesitation, I reached up to tuck them behind her ear. It was something I’d always dreamt about doing when we studied for our science competitions. And there I was, doing it.

As I lowered my hand to her chin, I allowed myself a few seconds to relish in the way that gesture made her smile. Perfect. Finally, I leaned forward to close the gap between our mouths.

Yes, yes, yes.

Kissing Lena made every moment of this entire ridiculous night worth it. I loved the way she tasted, the way she smelled, and the way her body felt when I wrapped my arms around her waist. She kissed me back with a ferocity I always suspected she had in her, but now I knew for sure.

I gently tugged away just to breathlessly tell her, “I should’ve done that a long time ago.”

“Agreed,” she responded, pulling me back to her for another kiss.

Lips, tongues, teeth, hands–there was a flurry of motion between us, and even Lena’s leg was on top of my lap now. Feeling bold, I let my fingers drift up the bottom of her shirt, giving her ample time to protest if she didn’t like where this was going. A few moments ago, we were merely friends, and now my hand was grazing the bottom of her bra.

All of a sudden, I remembered the question I’d been dying to ask her lately. It might not have been the most appropriate time to ask someone to prom, but you can pretty much guarantee their answer will be a resounding “yes” when you’re seconds away from feeling them up. “Lena,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. I took a couple of breaths. “Would you want to…”

“Yes,” she said, tilting away from me. She crossed her arms over her body, and to my utter confusion, she lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it onto the cot next to us. “I consent.”

Oh.

Oh.

My eyes dropped to the cups of her seafoam green bra, and I understood. And, for once in my damn life, I closed my mouth and didn’t say the words on the tip of my tongue. A beautiful and consenting girl I cared about was sitting in front of me now, and holy shit , she looked amazing. My eyes lingered on her chest before bouncing back up to her eager eyes.

Right person. Right time. Right everything.

“Looks like Owen Gardner is losing his virginity tonight after all,” she said, leaning forward to kiss me again.

Indeed, he is.