Four Years Later (One Week Girlfriend #4)(16)

He sneers. “Jesus, what are you? Some sort of uptight little virgin?”

Flinching, I look away from him. His remark cuts too close to home and he yelled it loud enough for anyone to hear. Despite how noisy the bar and lounge are, filled with chatter and music, we receive more than a few stares in our direction.

I can’t stand him.

Ignoring Tad, I turn my focus onto Kari, desperate to get her attention. Brad has his arm around her neck, pulling her in close so he can kiss her. If I lose her now, I’m done for, so I move quickly, grabbing a piece of ice out of my mostly empty water glass and tossing it at her.

My aim is perfect—the ice cube hits her right in the chest and she yelps, turning her attention on me. “What?” she asks, sounding totally put out.

Not that I can blame her. I’m the priss; she’s the party girl. I’m the uptight virgin; she’s the one who’s letting some guy she barely knows maul her and kiss her in the middle of a public bar.

Somehow our friendship works most of the time, but tonight I need to end this. This is one part of our lives where we totally don’t mesh.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask, keeping my voice low. “Privately?”

Rolling her eyes, she withdraws from underneath Brad’s arm and murmurs something to him before she stands. I do the same, not acknowledging Tad whatsoever, and Kari and I head to the bathroom, neither of us talking until we’ve made our way inside.

Luckily enough, we’re alone, which is like a small miracle, and I know I don’t have much time before someone does come in here, so I just blurt out what I want to say.

“I’m leaving.”

“No way.” She shakes her head, irritation written all over her pretty face. Her hair is a deep, rich auburn, thick and wavy. She has hazel eyes that change color depending on her mood and what she’s wearing. With her flawless skin and perfect figure, she’s beautiful, both inside and out. She’s my best friend.

I know she means well but I’m so uncomfortable with this situation, I can’t get over it. I have to go.

“You’re having fun, I get it. You really like Brad.” I lower my voice, as if I’m afraid the two guys are going to bust into the ladies’ room at any minute. Ridiculous. “But Tad … he’s not my type.”

Kari raises a brow. “Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, he called me an uptight virgin.” I return the gesture, raising both of my brows back at her.

Kari sighs, shaking her head. “You know, he might have a point.”

My jaw drops. Say what?

“Hear me out.” She holds her hands up, like she knows I’m about to tear into her. “You really do need to loosen up, Chelsea. I know you’re kind of socially awkward, and that all has to do with the age difference and you graduating school and coming to college so early. But Tad is kind of right. You really are an uptight virgin.”

Holy crap. I can’t believe Kari is saying this to me. “Thanks a lot,” I mutter, crossing my arms in front of my chest. My heart hurts, my mind tumbling over what they both said. Again and again.

Uptight virgin.

Am I really that uptight? Do people look at me and immediately think virgin? Probably. I guess that’s better than thinking I’m a big nerd.

I slump my shoulders in defeat. It’s not that much better. I am the quintessential nerdy virgin. They should make a movie about me. I even have the titillating angle of my dad being in prison for fraud. At the very least, I’m a Lifetime movie waiting to happen.

“Hey.” She grabs hold of my shoulders and crushes me to her, giving me a hug. I don’t uncross my arms, just stand there awkwardly while she holds me close. “I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. You’ve been at this college for the last two years and you haven’t done anything wild or rebellious. But now I’m here to help you break out of your shell so you can have a little fun for once in your life. You deserve it, Chelsea. You’ve been pretending to live your life. Now you actually need to go out and do it. Find a hot guy and make out with him.”

Not with a creeper named Tad who calls me rude names. “This isn’t working out with Tad. I want to go home.”

Kari withdraws from me, her expression forlorn. “You can’t just leave me here alone.”

Guilt swamps me. When Kari and I moved in together, we made a vow never to leave the other alone at parties, on campus … anywhere. “I was kind of hoping you would go home with me.”

Can’t she see what she’s doing? She broke up with her boyfriend from high school when they moved here and he realized there was more to this world than just him and Kari. And now she’s running into the arms of another guy who’s probably only going to use her? I don’t get it.

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only logical person on this entire campus, I swear.

“Are you serious? It’s barely midnight! God.” She glances around the tiled bathroom, as if she’d rather look anywhere else but at me. “Come on, Chelsea. I really like Brad and I really think he likes me. I’m not going to call this night over so early when there’s still so much that can—happen. I don’t want to leave.”

So she leaves me no choice. “Fine. I am leaving. I’ll let you explain what happened to Tad.” I storm out of the bathroom, not even bothering to look back when I hear Kari yelling after me. Pushing my way through the crowded bar area, I break free, moving down the short hall that spills out into the front lobby of the restaurant. The dining area is to my right and it’s mostly empty, since it’s a Monday night.