Page 7 of Owen Gardner is Losing It

“Oh, right,” I said, taking a step forward to grab the Dr. Pepper. But I pushed the gummy frogs toward her. “Those are for you. See you tonight.”

I lingered by the screen door just long enough to see her face light up with a smile. When I stepped outside, I could hardly believe my luck. Suddenly, I didn’t even care about my chemistry test at all. There was no way I’d be able to think about that now. Not when the image of Beth’s sweet smile and tight shirt filled my mind.

I wanted to play it cool when I got to the truck, but I was bubbling over with happiness as I opened the door. “So?” Abigail asked, sliding closer to Xander to make room for me. “How’d it go?”

Instead of answering with words, I reached into my pocket for the receipt. I unfolded the crinkly paper, holding it up so Xanderand Abigail could see what was written on it. They both gasped. “Holy shit,” Xander exclaimed.

“You actually did it?” Abigail let out a puzzled laugh, turning to Xander. “He actually did it.”

“Course he did.” Xander gently pushed on her shoulder so he could peer around her at me. “Did you ask her about tonight?”

I nodded. “She’s bringing Smirnoff.”

“Damn, Gardner,” Xander said, his eyebrows springing upward. He turned his keys in the ignition, and the truck started with a loud rumble. “I’m impressed. You might actually score tonight.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” I confessed.

“That’s what you have us for,” Abigail said, reaching for her phone off the dash as the truck started moving. The entire way back to school, I stared at Beth’s phone number, memorizing every digit.

Could I actually lose my virginity to this girl? No—this woman?

Don’t screw this up.

Chapter four

“Waiting” - Green Day

“Isent out an invite to everyone on my MySpace friends list.”

Xander, Abigail, and I were in a three-way call, and I had them on speakerphone while I dug through my closet for my favorite pair of Chucks. “I did, too,” I said.

“You guys do realize my grandparents’ tiny-ass cabin can hold a maximum of twenty people, and you two have to help me clean up in the morning, right?”

“Don’t worry, Xan,” I said. “It’s supposed to be a nice night. Why don’t we just build a bonfire and keep the party outside?”

“I just got a message from Krista. She said the whole softball team is coming after their game. Some girls from the other team wanna come, too.”

I froze in the middle of the pile of sneakers in front of my closet door. Lena was on the softball team. Until now, I hadn’t realized it was a possibility she would be attending this party. Knowing she might watch me interact with Beth made me feel a little weird. How would I balance talking to both of them?

Xander let out a sigh. “So what you’re saying is we’re going to need two kegs. Can you guys chip in?”

“I can help pay for them.” I’d been tutoring elementary school kids for the past year, and I had a few hundred dollars saved up. I wasn’t hanging onto all that cash for anything specific, but I liked having a safety net. And the fact that I’d earned it all with my own little business made me want to be smarter about how I spent it.

I never thought I’d put that money toward beer, but it seemed like a good investment to ensure we all had a good night.

Finally, I spotted my red Chuck Taylors near the back of my closet and sat at the foot of my bed to tie them, half-listening to Xander and Abigail go over their plans for the night. “Do we need to stop by the pharmacy to get Owen some condoms?” Abigail asked with a little giggle.

“I’m covered,” I said, eyeing my top dresser drawer. There was an unopened box in there somewhere. Natalie and I didn’t exactly make it that far, which was okay. But there I was, hours away from potentially having sex with a college girl.

Shit, what was I thinking?

“You guys, I don’t know if I can do this.”

They both immediately protested, shouting over each other so that I could barely decipher their words. “...not letting you go into your senior year still a virgin,” Xander was saying as Abigail’s voice trailed off.

At that very moment, my bedroom door swung open without warning and my brother Jake burst in with a smile so vehemently evil, it was worrisome. “Gotta go,” I said before tossing my phone on the bed. Jake was standing just inside my doorway with his hands on his hips. “What do you want?”

“Do Mom and Dad know where you’re going tonight?”

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