seemed to be at school?
We passed the last of the suburban enclaves. Beyond were fields and thick woods. We drove on.
Feeling impatient with his blab about teammates and hockey, I sneaked a look at my cell phone. I had a message from Janine. I pressed the retrieval key. Mike just kept talking.
âCammie,â Janine was saying with unusual emotion in her voice. âI donât know if youâve lost it yet, but thereâs something you should know. Call me ASAP.â
I turned my phone off and stuffed it back in my purse. Janine probably wanted to lecture me about putting a towel down for the blood. Forget her.
âWhy donât we stop here?â I said, pointing to a clear area on the side of the road.
âThe cops roam this road, you know,â Mike said.
âYeah, but Iâll make sure weâre through before they get here,â I said.
I glanced out the window at the thicket of tall pines beyond. In the moonlight I could make out branches moving in the wind.
Mike seemed reluctant, but he parked the car and turned off the headlights. I helped him put down the backseat so there was a long flat area for us to make out on. Mike had brought no pillows or towels, so I pushed him down on the carpeted surface, and climbed on top of him. I took off my skirt and top. Mike licked his lips at the sight of me in a thong and bra.
âI was going to do this strip that Janine taught me, but there isnât time,â I apologized.
âItâs fine, really,â he said. âThat was wild enough.â
He sounded as nervous as he did excited. I gave him one big kiss, and started to unzip his pants.
âHey, hey, hey!â he said, pulling my hand off.
âWhatâs going on?â I cried. âDonât you want to fuck me?â
He looked up at me. He seemed incredibly shy. Was that shame I saw? Or pride? âIâve never done this before,â he admitted.
âWhat?â I almost screamed. âYou havenât? Youâre supposed to be the school stud!â
âItâs all rumors,â he said sheepishly.
âGreat! Another virgin!â
âIâm sorry,â he said. âBut canât we start over? I like you. I really do and I would like for us to make it, but not like this. It sounds weird, but I think that having sex for the first time is special, not something just to be gotten out of the way.â
I was stunned. It had all come screeching to a halt. At the same time, a deep thrill was passing through me. Heâd spoken a secret password and had opened up my soul. I climbed off of him and lay next to him.
âI agree totally,â I said. âItâs like everybody wants to make you feel weird about it if you think the way we do.â
âSo if we both feel special about losing it,â he said, âmaybe that means weâre perfect for each other.â
I was silent for a moment. My insides were becoming silky and calm. I felt like I could tell Mike anything. âDo you know Sarah Walker at school?â
âSure,â he said. âThe strange chick with the even stranger accent. Everybody knows her.â
âWell, donât laugh at me but sheâs some kind of demon, definitely. And this may sound completely insane, but she wants to have her peopleâor family, or whatever, I donât really knowâdo it to me for the first time.â
âWow,â Mike said. So what if he wasnât very articulate, there was real sympathy in his voice.
âYeah,â I said. âShe says Iâll be totally pampered and treated well beforehand. And then Iâll be dressed up and led to this amazing black chamber where Iâll be tied down. Onlyâand hereâs the bizarre partâI think they might kill me.â
âFuckinâ freaky shit,â said Mike.
I nodded. My nipples were hardeningâwas it because of the intimacy of the moment with Mike? Or the memory of