1
Jenny
A forest of evergreens flashes by as my parents’ Subaru whizzes through the tight turns of the mountain road. Sun dapples the ground through the leaves and the warm wind rustles my hair from the open window. My parents are in the front seat talking about our trip to the cabin and all the things they may have forgotten to turn off before we left. My little brother sits beside me in the back seat, reading his book. I have no idea how he does it. That would make me car sick in an instant.
The batteries in my iPod are dead and there’s nothing else to do but scroll through Tinder. There are a lot of cute guys to check out, but I’m struggling because none of the ones my age interest me a bit. I wonder if there’s something wrong with me. The thought of being with someone my own age makes me roll my eyes. They’re so immature. All they seem to care about are a girl’s looks and sex—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m a virgin, and I don’t like the thought of being pressured into anything.
Not that I’d really have to be pressured into it. I want to lose my virginity, actually. In fact, if all goes according to plan, I will lose my v-card this summer while we’re spending the next three weeks at the lake house. I can make it happen. I will make it happen. The lake is bound to be teeming with plenty of good-looking guys to choose from. And not to brag, but I’ve been working out like crazy for the last couple months since my parents told me we’d be going on this little summer vacation, and I look damn good in my little black bikini.
I can’t help but think about the conversation I had with my best friend Annie’s older sister before we left to go to the lake. She told me that I shouldn’t go off to college being that girl. The goodie-goodie, the prude who knows nothing and will scare off all the boys who are too nervous to be with me because it’s my first time. Annie’s sister, Tulip, said I should take the summer to get it over with. Not that there’s anything wrong with being the pure girl, the virgin. But I don’t want to be that girl. It’s a choice I’ve made and I’m determined to make it happen.
My mom turns around in her seat to look at me, startling me. I close the Tinder app before she sees it and I put my phone face down in my lap.
“Did you get all your classes in order?” she asks.
If she’s going to ask me a million questions about school, it’s going to be a long three weeks. I think she might be more excited for me to go off to college than I am. She always tells me that her college years were the best of her life and I should embrace everything it has to offer. And believe me, I plan to.
“You’ve asked me that three times,” I say, smiling at her eagerness.
“I know, and I know you’re an adult now and can take care of yourself, but it’s still my job to make sure you’re all taken care of.”
“All my classes are in order and I have my schedule ready to go.”
“What about housing? Did you find out anything about who you’ll be rooming with?”
I laugh as she twists her hair into a knot, something she does when she’s nervous. The dorms are coed. I’m sure she’s afraid I’ll end up with a boy in the room, but I’m fairly certain the university makes it a point not to put boys and girls in the same rooms together.
“Not yet. It’s the beginning of summer. I probably won’t find out anything about my roommate until the day we move in together.”
She sighs and the worry on her face ages her. She turns back around to face the front of the car. I hope she’s able to enjoy her vacation with all these questions filling her head. My dad, on the other hand, seems perfectly content to get rid of me. Not that we don’t have a good relationship or that he won’t be sad when I leave; I’m sure he will, but he doesn’t quite have the same empty nest blues my mom will have. I think he wants to finally have his wife all to himself. In a couple years, when my brother is old enough to go to college, I have a feeling my dad and mom will be making up for all those times my brother and I cock-blocked their nights together.
“Dad, do you think Annie and her family are at their cabin yet?” I ask, hoping to keep the conversation busy so my mom doesn’t come back with more questions about school.