Sweet Dandelion

“Cool, call for the limo,” she bosses. “Dani and I need to run to the restroom.”

“We do?”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course.”

She drags me away to the bathroom outside the ballroom. We finish our business and wash up our hands before touching up our makeup.

Fluffing her hair she says, “Brett looks good tonight, huh?”

“I guess,” I voice, wondering where she’s going with this.

She leans forward, dotting some pink lipstick across her lips. “I think I’m going to have sex with him tonight. I want to lose my virginity before college. Tonight seems as good a night as any.”

I blink at her. This does not sound like good logic to me.

“Shouldn’t you wait until you love someone? Or at least care about them?”

“Eh, I want to get it over with. Everyone makes it into such a big deal and I don’t want to do that. Are you going to have sex with Ansel tonight?”

I choke on my saliva. “No, definitely not. He’s my friend, that’s it.”

“I mean, he’s hot. Why not? Are you a virgin?”

Other girls are coming in and out of the bathroom, so it’s not like we’re alone. I can’t believe she wants to have this conversation here and now.

“I … uh … no.”

She turns to me, smiling. “Was it that Lachlan guy?”

“What?” My eyes widen.

“You know, the one that texted you that he missed you?”

A girl I recognize from my English class pipes up from the sink she stands in front of. “Lachlan?” She eyes me up and down. “The only Lachlan I know is the guidance counselor.”

“Ooh, he’s so fucking hot,” someone else says.

My body flames with heat and before Sasha can open her big fat mouth, I drag her out of the bathroom and around the corner.

“Ow, Dani, that hurts.” She extracts her arm from my hold. “What’s going on? Ignore them, I don’t think you slept with the guidance counselor.” She finally looks at my face. “Oh my God you totally fucked the guidance counselor.”

“Shut up,” I hiss. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“I…” She blinks, open-mouthed at me. “Wow. Way to go, girl.”

Then, she shocks the hell out of me by holding her hand up for a high-five.

“I am not high-fiving you over this.”

She lets her hand drop. “So … is this why you’ve never liked Ansel in that way?”

I know my cheeks are a startling shade of red. “Yes.”

She stares at me in bewilderment. “Wow, there’s so much I still don’t know about you. I never would’ve thought. You seem too good to go after someone that’s practically a teacher.”

She sounds impressed, which makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“I didn’t go after him, and he didn’t come after me. It just … happened.”