“Yes, we aren’t . . . yes,” Rio manages.
Lefty’s face appears above the gunwale. “I see you’re discussing war strategy,” he says flatly.
“I have to . . . um, better get to chow,” Rio says, unconsciously pushing her hair back in place and fumbling around for her cap. “They, you know . . . check on us.”
“Ri-i-ight,” Lefty says.
“Okay, so. It was good catching up, Strand.”
“Yes, it was,” he says stiffly.
They shake hands, a move so patently false that Lefty guffaws loudly.
Rio climbs out, helped down by Strand’s two other friends, armed now with a small canned ham they must have “liberated” from the mess kitchen.
Rio heads toward her berth, ignoring the usual male catcalls, ignoring even the outstretched hands, the kissy-faces, and all the rest. She finds Jenou in her bunk.
Jenou takes one look at her and says, “You’ve got a little slobber on your cheek.”
Rio climbs up and slides into Jenou’s bunk beside her. There’s very little room as they lie on their sides, face to face, like the old days.
“We kissed,” Rio confides.
“No kidding.”
“I’ve never done it that way before.”
This brightens Jenou’s eyes. She’s like a hungry cat being presented with a dish of milk. “You mean . . . tongue?”
“Eww! Do you have to be so disgusting?” Then, in a whisper, “Yes!”
“Did you like it?”
Rio hesitates. She’s not uncertain as to whether she liked it; she’s searching for the right way to put it. “Better than ice cream.”
“Better than—”
“Better than chocolate.”
“Wow.”
“You know how you told me that girls can have those feelings too?”
“Those feelings?” Jenou repeats, being deliberately obtuse to provoke her friend. “Which feelings are you talking about exactly?”
Rio swallows. She bites her lips. Then, “I wanted him to kiss me. In fact, I think I almost forced him to. Poor Strand.”
“Yes,” Jenou drawls with heavy sarcasm. “Poor Strand.”
“I’ve just never . . . and it was all of a sudden. It was like, well, there he was, and he was right there.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And he just kept talking. And I wanted to say ‘Shut up and kiss me.’”
“My little Rio,” Jenou says proudly. “You’re growing up.”
“And now . . .”