He looked at me like I was the most boring person he’d ever met. He smiled politely and turned around. Clearly I’d failed part two as well. What happened to everyone having three chances?
“So, do you like him?” asked Jack eagerly. I raised my freshly tweezed brows at him. He waited expectantly, and I realized he was being serious.
“He seems like a nice guy,” I said cautiously.
Jack grinned. “I think you guys would get on really well. I feel like you have a lot in common.” This was news to me but I shrugged my shoulders.
“Come meet my friends now,” I said enthusiastically. He followed me over to Lara and Emma. Luke was flirting with Lara, while Sergio and Emma were intertwined in a passionate kiss. I tapped them both on the shoulder.
“Jack!” shrieked Emma as she gave him her typical over-the-top welcome. She introduced him to Sergio, who, living up to his European blood, hugged Jack, who awkwardly hugged him back. Lara turned around and moved her eyes around frantically, gesturing at me to introduce them.
“Jack, this is Lara, my best friend from home, and Lara, this is Jack, my . . .” Bollocks. I froze. Lara came to my rescue and hugged Jack without bothering to wait for whatever humiliating term I would inevitably have come up with.
“Good to meet you,” she said. “So, Ellie says you write a lot. That’s so cool. I’ve always tried to write but I’ve never managed to finish anything. How do you do it?”
He answered readily, and they began an animated conversation about literature while Emma and Sergio pretended to look interested. I watched Lara proudly. She was perfect at introductions and was making Jack feel comfortable and interested. Unlike my earlier exchange with Eric.
I felt something vibrate against my thigh. Disappointed, I realized it was my phone. Paul was calling me. “Sorry, guys, I’m just going to take this call,” I announced. No one looked up from their conversations as I walked out of the room.
“Hey, Paul, what’s up?” I asked.
“Ellie, I need your help,” he whispered urgently. “I’m with Vladi and we’re about to have sex. But he doesn’t know it’s my first time. I don’t really know why I’m calling you. I’m just kind of freaking out.”
“Okay, whoa. Don’t panic,” I said firmly, rapidly trying to make my drunk brain sober up. “Look, you don’t have to feel weird about being a virgin. I was one too until last week and, honestly, now that I’ve had sex, I’ve realized it’s just not a big deal. I think you should tell him.”
“Because it’s better to be honest?”
“Um, because it will hurt less if he knows,” I cried out. “But, yes, also that.”
He sighed. “I know, and I really want to. But what if he rejects me?”
I leaned against the doorpost to think. If I was in Paul’s position I would be terrified to tell Vladi for exactly the same reasons, but deep down I knew the brave option was the right option. If Paul wanted it to work with Vladi, he had to be up-front from the start.
“If he rejects you he is a wanker and you can give your virginity to someone else,” I announced confidently.
“Is that what you’d do if you were me?”
“Definitely,” I lied. “Now get out of the bathroom and go and tell him.”
“Walk-in wardrobe, actually. But okay, thanks for this.”
“You gay guys . . . Anyway, let me know how it goes, Paul. Good luck!”
“Thanks, Ellie,” he said nervously, and hung up.
I let out my breath slowly. Thank God Jack had figured out I was a virgin without me having to tell him. I couldn’t have handled a denouement like that. My virginal kissing clearly had its benefits.
We stayed chatting and drinking at the party until my vision started to blur and the voices around me sounded like distant hums. I realized it was time for me to go home. With Jack.
“Lara,” I said as nonchalantly as I could manage, “do you need to go to the loo?”
“What?” she said, and I realized I’d interrupted her mid-speech. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
I gave her a death look.
“Actually, maybe I do,” she said, and we both turned and walked from the kitchen to the bathroom. The second we got in there, I locked the door.
“Okay, emergency meeting,” I announced. “I am officially drunk and am not going to last much longer. I need to leave. So, are you going to get off with Luke, or go and find Jez? Because I’m going to need my bed.”
She rolled her eyes. “Jeez, is this how it’s going to be all summer?”
I felt a pang of guilt. “No, I promise. Normally I wouldn’t mind going back to his. But tonight I think I may vomit at some point and I’d rather vomit in my loo than his and get yelled at by scary Moon Cup Cat.”