“Wait, Kenny…” He held my hand in my lap and leaned closer. “If you’re about to tell me that someone took something that wasn’t theirs to take, please stop now, because I think I might go into a murderous rage if that happened.”
I hadn’t once considered how my explanation would’ve sounded and immediately panicked. “Oh, no. It’s nothing like that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think that’s where I was going with it.”
“No, you’re okay. It’s fine. I just got worried, that’s all. Please, continue.”
Without letting go of his hand—he hadn’t let go of mine either—I turned more to face him and exhaled once again. “Needless to say, he broke up with me. Technically, it was more of a mutual decision, but he’s the one who pulled the plug first. Anyway, this all took place right before senior year…less than a month before school started again. So imagine my surprise when I find him walking the halls with Hazel Wilcox, the self-proclaimed master of oral.”
Strangely enough, it wasn’t embarrassing to talk about. It was actually quite easy.
Then again, I hadn’t gotten to the virginity part yet.
“It bothered me, but more than anything, it showed me what type of guy he was. Then his supposed friend started talking to me. I say supposed because they had been best friends since kindergarten, yet his friend didn’t have many nice things to say about him. He basically acted like the knight in shining armor who came to save me after having my heart broken. He just couldn’t believe that someone would dump me simply because I wasn’t ready to lose my virginity.”
“Ah…” Drew nodded with a growing smile on his lips. “I think I know where this is going. Did the friend make you think he was the good guy and then use that to get in your pants? Well, I should say try.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. Is it a common thing for guys to do?”
“I’ve never known anyone who’s done that, but I’ve heard of it happening.”
Oddly enough, that made me feel better. Granted, it had all happened nearly a year ago, so it wasn’t something that bothered me too much anymore, but it was still a source of anger for me.
“Well, based on what you said last night, I take it you didn’t give it up to him either.”
“Correct,” I said with dramatic enthusiasm, as if he’d guessed an impossible question. “I found out that he had some stupid bet with his friend—my ex—about whether or not he could get me to have sex with him. I guess he thought he could, and my ex said it wouldn’t happen. As much as I hated that my ex won the bet, being the one who turned them both down made it more than worth it.”
“And that’s when you decided to take matters in your own hands?” he asked, repeating my words from last night.
I dropped my chin and shook my head, humored by his eagerness to get to the juicy bits. “In a nutshell, yes. Apparently, it wasn’t just about getting me to sleep with them; it was mostly about being the one to deflower me. That’s what pissed me off more than anything. They didn’t see me as a person; all they saw was a hymen that needed breaking. So I did the one thing that would keep anyone from ever claiming that title…I made sure that no one could ever go after my virginity again.”
For whatever reason, I assumed there would be a hint of disgust or maybe disapproval on his face. Yet there was nothing other than excitement that resembled pride lining his features and shining in his eyes.
It made no sense; he didn’t have a reason to be proud of me. “Why do you look so happy?”
“I don’t know. I just have this immense sense of…something inside. It makes me want to find those assholes and laugh in their faces.”
Something about his reaction made me pause. “Why, though? Because I slept with you?”
Drew’s eyes widened, shock embedded in his entire expression from his raised brows to his gaping mouth. “No, not at all, Kenny. That thought never entered my mind.” He scooted closer and held my face in both hands, squaring his eyes with mine. “I swear, my reaction and thoughts had nothing to do with last night and everything to do with you taking ownership of that right. You truly amaze me, McKenna.”
I’m pretty sure my breathing completely stopped. He hadn’t called me by my real name ever. Even when I’d corrected him that first night. So to hear him say it was quite a shock. However, it also proved something else—I preferred Kenny. I liked that he was the only person in the world who called me that.
“Good, then. That makes it even because you amaze the shit out of me with how you seem to know everything about everything. I’m in complete awe of you, Drew. I hope you know that.” I had more to say, but he silenced me with his mouth. Then his tongue.
And I wasn’t stupid enough to argue with that.
Chapter Fifteen
February 16th, 1975
Dear Diary,
I’ve just spent the last several hours at Lower Creek with AC…and I haven’t been able to keep a smile off my face since. Mom keeps asking me what happened, because my excitement is obvious. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. AC and I talked about what will happen once Chogan is evacuated. I can’t say much other than I’ve never been this excited about the future! The next four and a half months will be torture, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.
Emily hadn’t made it to the riverbank before regretting her decision not to change her outfit before leaving the house. Other than her heavy coat, she was still in the same clothes she’d worn to church that morning. Her long skirt might’ve been meant for cold days, but it didn’t do much to keep the winter breeze from prickling her legs.
Andy sat a few feet from the river to avoid errant spray—the temperature of the air didn’t pair too well with the frigidness of the water. He hadn’t been there long, but based on the amount of leaves he’d chopped up with the small scissors on his Swiss Army pocketknife, it looked like he’d been there much longer.
As she approached, he continued to cut away at a dead leaf rather than find her over his shoulder like he’d done every time for the last six months. She’d grown used to the infectious grin that would spread across his face when he noticed her coming, so she found it strange that he kept his head down this time. Granted, they had seen each other an hour ago at church, and it was possible he hadn’t heard her over the rushing water—she ran through all the possibilities to keep her nerves from getting the best of her.
When Emily sat next to him, he held out a leaf he’d cut into the shape of a heart. “Here you go, I made this just for you.”
“Oh, how romantic…a brown heart with a hole in the middle,” she teased with a nervous giggle, though she inwardly celebrated the gesture. Glancing around, Emily noticed the scene was a little different than usual; something was missing, which increased her worry that something was amiss. “You didn’t bring your fishing pole today.”
Andy shook his head, keeping his eyes set on the earth between his legs with his arms propped lazily on his bent knees. It was casual, especially the way he sat with his spine curved and his shoulders hunched forward. Except, he felt anything but casual.