Lost Along the Way(67)

“It’s not what I’m going to get. It’s what I’m going to give away.”

“I don’t follow,” Jane said.

“I’m going to lose my virginity,” she whispered, not wanting the nosy ladies at the neighboring table to overhear her and actually laugh out loud.

“You’re joking,” Jane said. Her forkful of cake hung suspended in midair.

“What? Do you think it’s too soon?” Meg asked. She’d been thinking about finally giving in to Steve’s persistent attempts to get her to sleep with him, and after months of careful consideration had decided it was finally time. She was now twenty-one, and if she was old enough to drink wine in a restaurant, she was old enough to have sex. It made perfect sense as far as she was concerned.

“Too soon? I can’t believe this. You’ve been dating this guy for two and a half years, and you’re still a virgin? Why?” Jane asked, like Meg had just admitted that she had never shaved her legs or something. “How did we not know this?”

“I didn’t want to talk about him like he’s just a random guy. He’s special and our relationship is special and I didn’t want to gossip about what we have. It’s private.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Jane said. “Best friends discuss this stuff! I tell you guys everything. I just assumed you were being a prude and not wanting to talk about it. It never occurred to me that you hadn’t actually done it yet!”

“Jane, stop it!” Cara scolded. “If she wants to wait, she wants to wait. What’s the rush anyways? She has her whole life to have sex.”

“I just can’t believe that you’ve been living on a college campus, unsupervised, with alcohol and no curfew, and you’re not sleeping with your boyfriend. Is there something wrong with him?”

“There’s nothing wrong with him! He’s been great. I shouldn’t have said anything, except, well, I have a question.” Meg didn’t like having to admit that she still had questions where sex was concerned. The last thing she wanted was for Jane to make fun of her for being inexperienced. Jane might be one of her best friends but they had very different attitudes about how to deal with members of the opposite sex. Actually, they had very different attitudes on a lot of things.

“Ask me, not Cara,” Jane instructed. “No offense, but there are some things you come to me for, and some things you go to her for, and on this topic, I’m your girl.”

“I went to the doctor last week for my checkup and I mentioned it to her. She gave me a prescription for the pill, but I’m a little afraid to take it. I heard that it makes some girls fat.”

“Oh, stop,” Jane said. “That’s totally not true. It won’t make you fat, but it may make your boobs bigger, which is a total bonus. Steve will have a girlfriend with better boobs who’s sleeping with him. He won’t care if you pack on a few pounds. Most guys don’t even notice that stuff unless you gain like thirty pounds and start wearing sweatpants every day anyway.”

“I just want to make sure I’m careful. I need to take the pills for a month before they’ll work and I want to start taking them this week if I’m going to do this. Do you think they’re safe? The doctor says they are, but they don’t protect against diseases.”

“Is Steve diseased?” Jane asked.

“Of course not!” Meg said, offended that Jane would ever say something about a guy who was about as perfect as a person could possibly be.

“Then what’s the big deal? Pop the pills, have sex, drink booze. Welcome to twenty-one.”

“That’s it? That’s all there is to it?” Meg asked. It seemed like a very simple answer to a very complicated issue.

“I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have. Consider me your emergency hotline. I’m open twenty-four hours a day. I still can’t believe you’re a virgin. Wow.”

“Not everyone gave it up at sixteen, Jane,” Cara said. They had finished eating their slices and were now picking at the remainder of the cake from the platter in the center of the table.

“That’s hurtful. I was two weeks from being seventeen. Big difference.”

“I see,” Cara said, knowing full well that Jane was only pretending to be offended.

“Are you sure you’re ready? There’s no rush. If you want to wait until you’re sure, he’ll understand,” Cara said.

“Or he’ll start banging a freshman. One or the other,” Jane added.

“Don’t say that! He’d never cheat on me!” Meg squealed, suddenly feeling very sorry that she’d brought up this topic in the first place. Especially in public. There was no way the other women weren’t listening to them.

“Jane, that really is awful,” Cara said.

“All I’m saying is that it’s time. You love him, he loves you—clearly, as evidenced by the fact that he’s still dating you even though you won’t sleep with him—you have protection so you don’t need to worry about getting pregnant. What else is there to talk about? If you ask me, girls make this a bigger deal than it is because they talk about it too much. Less talking, more doing.”

“Most people like to talk things through, Jane. Not everyone lives in the moment the way you do,” Cara said.