The Second Virginity of Suzy Green by Sara Hantz Page A

to
staring at each other. No prizes for guessing who said no. Well, it just sort
of slipped out. And my heart is pounding so loud I swear it’s going to burst
out of my shirt.
    “What I mean is
we sort of do,” I say pulling myself together with the help of a deep breath
and clutching the table for support. “We met at summer camp in The Blue
Mountains just over a year ago, didn’t we?” That’s an understatement if ever
there was one.
    “Yeah. At summer
camp,” Ryan drawls. “I almost didn’t recognize you, but the hair gave it away.”
It would be the hair. It’s always the freakin’ hair. A tiny smile tugs at his
lips. I am so in the shit.
    “So, Ryan,” I
continue, forcing myself to look at him. “It’s good to see you again.” I smile,
but suspect it looks more like a grimace than anything else. “I didn’t know you
lived around here.” Thank goodness, or they’d have carted me off to the
institution a long time ago. “How have you been keeping?”
    He stares at me
as if I’m totally crazy. Rightly so. I mean who in their right mind would say
‘how have you been keeping?’ to someone they once said they loved and also lost
their virginity to? Just thinking about it sends shivers up and down my spine.
And not shivers of pleasure. These are shivers of the scared-stiff variety. I
don’t think the situation could get any worse if it tried.
    “Good thanks,”
Ryan replies. He certainly doesn’t seem as bothered about this catastrophic
situation as I am. Then again, why would he be? He probably couldn’t care less.
He might not even remember what we did at camp. I’m probably a nameless notch
on his bedpost. And I think I’ve been watching too many B movies. “You?”
    My fists clench
involuntarily into a tight ball, nails digging into my palms so hard that pain
shoots up my arms. I seriously don’t know what to do. I spent goodness knows
how many nights wondering what would happen if I ever bumped into Ryan again;
playing over and over in my mind what I’d say. But never in all my dreams did I
envisage meeting him while out with someone else. Especially when that someone
else I’d planned on having some sort of future with.
    I wish Maddie was here. She’d tell me what
to do. Not helpful.
    Okay, I’ll wing
it. But I’m definitely phoning Maddie the moment I get home. In fact I might
even text her when we’re on the way so she can think about it in advance.
    “I’m good too,
thanks. Do you work here?” I say, my eyes suddenly drawn to the two white
Starbucks mugs he’s holding in his hand and the dark green Starbucks polo-shirt
he’s wearing (which under other circumstances I’d have said looks really hot
against his tanned skin and dark hair).
    “Started a few
weeks ago. After school and weekends.” He shrugs. “I better get back before I get
into trouble. Catch you later. I’m on my break in half an hour.” He smiles at
both of us and saunters back to the counter as though he doesn’t have a care in
the world. If someone told me I was operating in a parallel universe I would
totally believe them.
    I pick up my
drink, give a couple of long sucks on the straw until it’s finished and place
the cup back on the table. So much for enjoying my frappuccino, it tastes more
like cold porridge.
    “Shall we go
then?” I ask Guy who’s being a bit too quiet for comfort. He frowns.
    “Don’t you want
to wait for Ryan? Talk about old times.” He folds his arms and leans back in
his chair.
    You know what. I
think he’s jealous. Who’d have believed it? Well he has nothing to worry about.
Ryan and I are history. As in long gone. As in finito. As in—Oh no.. How could
I be such an idiot for not thinking this sooner? What if Ryan says something to
Guy about us doing it? Shit. I feel sick.
    “No. Let’s just
go.” I grab my bag from under the chair and stand up. Stupidly I glance across
at the counter and see Ryan staring at me. My heart does a quadruple
somersault. I immediately