CHAPTER TEN
“In youth and beauty, wisdom is but rare!”
-Homer
CALEB
After Gianna stormed out of the apartment in a huff, I laid back on my bed. Crap! I almost had sex with a virgin. Crap! I almost had sex with my stepsister! We may not be blood-related, but I still thought us hooking up was something most people would frown upon.
Besides, Julie may have liked me, but I didn’t think she’d like me banging her daughter. That woman had some serious issues when it came to her child and trying to live through her. She saw Gianna as her perfect little angel. No wonder she’d never caught on to Gianna’s Saturday night activities. All Julie could see was perfect looks and pom-poms.
Speaking of pom-poms, I hoped Gianna realized she’d seen the end of those. I did have to admit, though, that I loved seeing her in her little cheerleading outfit at the football game Friday night. It gave me lots of school spirit. Go Team!
I wondered again what number thirteen on her list meant. Since I was blackmailing her, I was sure I could make her tell me. It was probably some stupid girl thing. Back to the blackmailing thing, shouldn’t I have been getting more out of it? I guess I was having fun messing around with her life. Plus, I got the satisfaction of being in control.
Maybe we didn’t just almost have sex. She did say she had no intention of giving it up to a guy like me. That she didn’t want her first time to be with a player. It was like she was asking me to prove her wrong. No! Don’t think like that! I didn’t sleep with virgins. They were too emotional about sex.
What kind of tattoo did she want? Probably a butterfly or daisy. Chicks always got stuff like that. Speaking of chicks, it was hilarious when Gianna got jealous of that girl at the diner. What was her name again? All I vaguely remembered about her was the weird sounds she made during sex. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned to that girl the night we hooked up that I always ate at the Rocky Mountain Diner.
When I was back at my dad’s house, I parked out front. I hoped it wasn’t awkward between me and Gianna, but I mostly hoped she wasn’t still pissed. From the foyer, I heard Julie and my dad talking in the kitchen. In the living room Gianna sat in front of the television playing video games with Chance.
“Hey,” I cautiously greeted.
Their heads turned around almost as one. “Caleb! Watch me play!” Chance demanded.
Gianna smiled sweetly at me and I wondered what that was all about. “Hi, Caleb.”
“Hi?” I repeated, confused. Wasn’t she still the least bit pissed at me? Wasn’t she the one who said peace out, motherfucker?
I sat down on the couch behind them and watched them play. Chance was whooping Gianna’s ass at Mario Kart. I’d hooked up my Wii the other day and he was now obsessed with the game.
Gianna turned around and whispered to me, “Caleb?”
“Yeah?” I answered warily. What was with the whispering? I leaned forward and so did she.
“You remember what we were talking about earlier?”
“Yes,” I replied, not exactly sure what she was referring to.
“Well, I think you were right,” she whispered.
“Right about what?” I asked, still confused.
“We’ll talk about it later,” she said on a conspiratorial wink. “Come to my room later.”
That sounded like an invitation for more than talking.
“Dinner’s ready!” Julie called from the dining room. Okay, not sure what Gianna was talking about, but I guess I’d be finding out later.
We sat down to eat the spaghetti and garlic bread Julie made. Gianna was acting oddly happy, which was making me wonder what the hell happened between her leaving my mom’s apartment and her coming here. After dinner, I went upstairs and turned on my laptop. I felt weird going over to Gianna’s room, but eventually I found myself knocking on her door.
“Come in!”
I shut the door behind me, almost bracing myself for whatever it is she wanted to talk about. She sat at her desk in front of her computer, watching a music video online.
“You said you wanted to talk about something I was right about earlier?” I said slowly.
“Caleb, the way you acted about me being a virgin, well, you were right.”
“I was?” Where was she going with this?
“Yes, you were, and I’ve decided it’s time I lost my virginity.” She was serious about this from her earnest expression.
“Gianna, I told you I don’t mess around with virgins,” I reminded her.
“No, not you. Jared.” she blithely blurted out.
“What the fuck, Gianna? You’re not having sex with Jared!” I yelled.
“Shh! Do you want my family to hear? And why not Jared? He’s one of my best friends and from the kiss he gave me last night, I can tell we have some chemistry. He isn’t a jerk like Josh or a player like you. He’s perfect!”
Okay, I didn’t see any of this coming. She was technically right. If she was going to lose her virginity, she should lose it to a guy like Jared. That didn’t mean I’d allow it. “When do you plan on this happening?”
“I figure the sooner the better. I’ll see Jared on Saturday, so probably then.”
Good to know when I needed to be prepared to stop this mistake. I would stay informed of her plans and stop them. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Duh! I need your help.”
“You need my help to lose your virginity . . . to Jared?” I asked skeptically.
“Of course, you’re the biggest manwhore I know. You can give me pointers and help me out with what lingerie to wear. We’ll go to Victoria’s Secret together. You know, you may as well add this to my list. Lose my virginity, number fourteen.”
“All right,” was all I could manage to choke out.
What the hell had I done? I wanted to be a bad influence on Gianna for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. Sure I’d had sex with a lot of girls. I’d be the first to admit I was a manwhore who loved easy girls, but I couldn’t let that happen to Gianna. She was too special to turn into me or one of those easy girls. She deserved her first time to be special, too.
Most of all, I didn’t want anyone else touching her. Not that douche Jared, not that date-rapist Josh, no one. Since I couldn’t have sex with her, the best plan was for Gianna to stay a virgin. If I couldn’t touch her, she’d just have to be happy staying untouched. I wondered how she’d take it if I tried blackmailing her into staying a virgin.
GIANNA
After Caleb left my room, I buried my face in a pillow and let all of my pent up laughter out. That was the funniest thing ever! I had a hard time controlling my laughter when he was here, but I did. That was what he got for treating me like a leper for being a virgin. And I meant it when I said earlier today I’d never lose my virginity to a player like him. I had no intention of having sex with Jared on Saturday night. I mean, I was in no way against the idea of sex, but I figured it’d happen when it was meant to. It just hadn’t happened yet for me.
The look on his face, or I should say the many looks on his face were hilarious. Shock, jealousy, irritation, anger all flashed over his handsome mug. Oh, it was a beautiful sight! He probably thought he’d kept his cool too, but I was looking out for it. I was deciding how far I should take this revenge. I thought I’d take it as far as I could without actually having sex with Jared. Caleb deserved it for blackmailing and insulting me.
I knew this would work. I had to deal with Josh’s jealous and possessive ass for long enough to know that no matter what Caleb felt about me or my virgin status, the thought of me having sex with Jared would bother him. Caleb may not want to be with me, but being territorial just came naturally to guys.