I laughed. “Yeah, he made the house bearable, to say the least. We’d hang out on our front stoops, talking until the wee hours of the night.”
“So, was he your boyfriend?”
A sad smile crept onto my face as my heart grew warm. I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? He went to a vocational school, so there wasn’t a point in putting a label on us. We were just”—I shrugged again, thinking—“us.”
“Did you love him?”
I laughed again. “No.” I kicked her playfully. “You should know by now that I never let myself get that close to someone. Not while being a foster kid and being uprooted so much. But Kyle and I were nice in the moment.”
Piper smiled before turning her attention back toward the TV. I sensed that she felt kind of bad for me. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and it looked as if she wanted to say something else but held back.
“He took my virginity.”
Her head snapped over to mine, and I continued on. I can’t believe I’m telling someone this.
“In a park tunnel. You know those tunnels that little kids crawl through?”
Her mouth gaped open, and then she threw her head back, laughing. “Are you kidding?”
Giggling erupted from me as my face burned. I shook my head and pulled the blanket over my face.
Before I knew it, she pulled the blanket down. Her smile was still plastered to her face, but hers wasn’t as playful. “Don’t be embarrassed. I lost my V-card at a Wellington Prep party… and I don’t even know who took it. The room was too dark, and it just happened.”
My eyebrows raised. Wow, I definitely didn’t peg her as a girl who’d do that. “Wait, what?”
Shame had her brows furrowing. “I know. I’m a slut.”
“What?” I almost yelled. The blanket dropped to my lap. “That does not make you a slut, Piper.”
She shrugged as a sigh escaped her mouth. “Well, regardless, my story isn’t as cool as yours. Sex in
a park tunnel with an older guy? Sounds hot.”
I stifled a laugh. “It wasn’t nearly as hot as you’d think. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but it was the only place we could think to do it without my foster parents or his mom finding us.”
Her head knocked to the side. “So, did you guys ever do it again? Somewhere else?”
This time I felt the fire rushing to my cheeks. “Yes.”
She squealed and begged me to tell her more, but the doorbell went off. Both of our laughs faded as we locked eyes.
It was well after 11pm. We were alone in a huge house out past city limits. “Expecting anyone?” I asked, my heart jumping to attention.
Piper thought for a moment as she shook her head. Then, she grabbed her phone and dialed someone. The doorbell went off again.
Piper quickly asked whoever she’d called, “Is that you at the front door?”
I could hear the background noise from the call. It sounded like a party of some sort. Piper rolled her eyes and hung up quickly.
“Who’d you call?” I asked, slowly standing up.
She sighed. “No one important.”
I wanted to question her further, but knocking erupted from down the hall. “Is this place alarmed?”
Piper ran over to the hallway to look and shook her head. “I forgot to arm it.”
Normally, I wouldn’t have freaked out, but with last Friday still fresh in my mind, my body was in a frenzy. Adrenaline spiked my blood, and suddenly, I felt my feet carrying me to the front door, the pads of my feet gliding over the plush carpet. Piper stood behind me, both of us proceeding with caution.