That's What friends are for

Chapter 8

"Don't be sorry. I know you were caught up with her. I think you were more focused on just trying to have the first time and getting to where you were thinking more about the act than the girl. But you don't owe me an apology."

"Yeah, I do. I guess I wasn't sold either and whenever you brought it up, I was a jerk and took it out on you."

"Hey, that's what friends are for. Besides, I rode you a lot about it." She paused. "Lauren, are you okay?"

"I—no, Mila, I'm not. I'm pissed off and I'm fucking humiliated! She's up there fucking around and telling people I'm next. Are you kidding?"

"That's pretty low. I didn't think she was that bad."

"Normani said she was drinking and these are her friends, so who knows? But I—"

"It hurts," Mila finished. "I don't blame you."

"And I'm fucking frustrated!" I snapped. "I've been good, Mila, I really have, and tomorrow was supposed to be the day!"

"I know, but would you have wanted it to be with her and then you find that shit out?"

"I ... you know what? Maybe I would have."

"What?"

"Yeah, damn straight!" I was letting the anger get the better of me. "At least if I found out later I would have gotten laid!"

"Yeah, but—"

"And I made a promise about the first time. Once I do it I don't have to think about that stupid promise anymore! I can just go have some real fun like I should have been doing!"

"Lauren, that promise is one of the things that make you such a good girl! You're a lot different than—"

"I don't want to be!" I yelled. "I don't want to be an asshole like my dad, but Christ, Mila, there's nothing wrong with having sex! I've missed out on a lot of fun, but know what? No more! I had my heart set on this weekend and I'm getting it!"

"Whoa! Lauren, you're not going to still let Lucy come over, are you?"

"Fuck her!" I laughed humorlessly. "No—wait—she's fucking everyone else! No, not her."

"Good, but then what do you mean you're still going to?"

"I'm going to call Ariana and—"

"Ariana Grande?" Mila gasped. "Come on, Lauren! She'll fuck anyone. May as well as be with Lucy."

"She will fuck anyone. That's the point. And she's not like Lucy because she doesn't pretend she wants anything except to get laid! She's all but jumped me before. I'm going to call her when I hang up with you and—"

"Lauren, don't do that!"

"Why the hell not? I'll get what I want. Ariana will get what she wants. What's the problem?"

"Your first time shouldn't be that meaningless, not after how long you tried to make it a certain way."

"Fuck that! I tried the right way. I blew off girls who would have because I didn't think they would be serious, and then I get this close and it falls through. I waited long enough to keep my stupid promise to my mother."

"That promise was sweet, not stupid."

"Fine—stupid, sweet—pick what you want. My mother even made a crack that she knows I'm going to while she's away. I will. It just won't be with who she thinks it will be."

"You'll lie to her?"

"I don't think she'll actually ask, Mila. Mom doesn't want to know the details. I'll tell her next week Lucy  was screwing around on me, then I'll move on and she won't care if I start dating around."

"Is that what you want to do, Lauren? Go from girl to girl like your father?"

"Don't pull that shit with me, Mila! I'm not my father! He used women. I won't be using anyone. I'll just hook up with girls just looking to hook up."

"Lauren, please think about it first. The summer's coming and you'll be at the beach a lot, and we start PC in September. You'll meet a lot of new girls and—"

"I am not waiting!" I shouted. "I'm not waiting to meet someone, then dating until I see how I feel about them. That could take months! Fuck that!"

"Lauren, please calm down. You don't have to yell at me."

"I ... I'm sorry, Mila. I'm not mad at you, but I am mad, and worse, I feel like an idiot, and there's no reason to deny myself having some fun. Sorry if it disappoints you and what you want for me."

"I ... I'm not disappointed about Lucy," she said quietly. "And I'm not disappointed in you that you waited. I'm proud of you. Honestly, Lauren, I'm upset with myself for not waiting for the right person."

"And you could still be waiting. At least you had fun and know what it's like. Besides, you used to sit there sometimes and tell me how good Shawn was to the point I would tell you to knock it off because you were aggravating me."

"Well, all the guys talked about their girlfriends. Why shouldn't I?" Then she asked, "Why did it bother you?"

"Because I wasn't getting any! You acted like you never cared and you never even tried to impress a guy and you were doing it! Anyway, I called to say I was sorry and to let you know what happened and that you were right. Now I'm going to call Ariana and see—"

"Lauren, please don't! Please?"

She sounded more upset than I was, and with a sigh I asked, "Mila, why the hell do you care? You cared about it being Lucy and now I see why, but Ariana isn't going to break my heart. I know what I'll be getting, and that's laid."

"Lauren, we're friends, right?"

"You're my best friend, Mila. You know that. That's why I called. I ... I needed to vent and tell someone what happened."

"I'm glad you did. Now I am going to ask you a favor."

"I'm not waiting, Mila!" I shook my head as if she could see me. "No way."

"Lauren, you're mad, hurt, and frustrated. You don't want to do it like this."

"I—"

"Let me finish. It's only nine o'clock and it's Saturday night. Neither of us have to work tomorrow, so how about I come over and hang out for a while?"

"Mila, no offense, but you're not the girl I'm looking to spend tonight with."

"I ... I know that. You've made it clear I'm not that girl." She sounded put off, but kept going. "Like I said, tonight you're angry, and you should at least calm down. So how about this? I'll come over and on the way I'll stop and grab some popcorn and a couple of cheesy horror movies. We'll just hang out and have some laughs."

"Mila—"