Patrick is all right, and definitely nice to look at, but that's about all he has to offer. Patrick only likes to talk about one thing, sports. Not that I don't like sports, I'm on the swim team and the tennis team, plus I'm a cheerleader. But there are other things in life besides athletics. It's even starting to feel like a chore to make out with him, though he is a pretty good kisser.
"So, you still haven't done it then?" Kim finishes curling my hair into long tendrils and pulls the sides up, securing them with a band.
"No, I'm not sure Patrick is the one," I tell her, admiring my hair in the mirror. It does look pretty awesome.
"Gawd, you sound like Ryan!"
Kim grabs her purse, and I grab mine and my backpack, and we head downstairs.
"He's still holding out on you, huh?" I grin.
Kim and Ryan have been dating for about six months, but she's always complaining that he won't have sex with her. He is, like me, waiting for the right person to share the first time with.
I'll admit, there is a part of me that wishes Ryan and I could be each other's first time. I think he’s adorable! But I can't do that to Kim, and besides, Ryan is not the type of guy to cheat on someone he's going with. He's a pretty decent dude.
Mom is rushing around, getting ready for work when we come downstairs. She's a realtor and a workaholic. The woman never stays still. She glances up as we pass through the family room on our way out.
"Oh, don't you two look cute!" Mom smiles and gulps down some coffee.
Kim beams back at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Kincaid. You look great too!"
Kim is always unfailingly polite to parents, so none of them really know what an incredible bitch she can be.
Mom does look nice, as usual. She's pretty, with big blue eyes and a short-layered haircut. She's forty but looks more like twenty-five. It's kind of embarrassing when your own mom is hotter than you are.
"Bye, Mom." I kiss her cheek and pull Kim towards the foyer. My step-father, Ethan, is just coming out of his den as we reach the front door. "That time already, eh?" He grins at both of us with his super white smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Kincaid." Kim flutters her lashes at Ethan coyly, and I yank her to the door.
"Later!" I call over my shoulder, pulling Kim outside.
"Oh my God, your stepdad is so freaking hot!"
Kim slides behind the wheel of her Saab while I climb into the passenger seat.
"Gross." I pull down the visor and slide some gloss over my lips. Patrick likes me to wear flavored gloss, so this morning it's watermelon.
Kim laughs, peeling out of the circle drive, and heading towards school. I guess that Ethan is pretty good looking, but jeez, he's been with my mom since I was eight, so I don't think of him like that at all. He's tall and slim, blue-eyed, very tanned with gray hair and a trim goatee. He and Mom make a striking couple.
Mom met Ethan while working in real estate. He owns his own company that builds huge log cabin homes, like the one we live in. I try not to think too much about how they met and began an affair while Mom was still married to my dad. But my dad was cheating on my mom too, with a guy he worked with.
My dad is an architect, and Steve is his business partner. Steve was always coming over to help Dad with work stuff. I can remember playing with my dolls, and Steve would sit down and play with me. I thought he was fun. Then Dad left Mom for him, and they divorced when I was seven. As soon as the divorce was final, Mom married Ethan.
Kim puts her on her favorite playlist as we cruise to school with the radio blaring. Bridgeview High is a pretty nice school, newly built and nestled into the side of a hill with big huge pine trees for a backdrop. This whole area I live in is the same. Hills and woods and winding roads with an occasional view of the Pacific Ocean.
Kim parks, and we rush into school to find our friends before the bell rings. Every morning is the same. What I like to call the "popular promenade." We meet up with our crowd and our boyfriends and walk the halls till first hour, showing off, ignoring the lesser beings, flirting, and chatting with the privileged. It's pretty lame, and I know it. But this is the game I have to play, the price of being allowed to join the "in" crowd.
Patrick is waiting by my locker, and I force myself to smile at him. He is really good looking, tall, with a solid, muscular build. Brown hair worn down to his collar, brown eyes, and this super sexy profile. Call me weird, but I really like how a guy looks from the side. It's a real turn-on!
Pat is a linebacker with the body to show it. I used to get this awesome rush when I looked at him. Now I just get a little irritated.
"Babe!" He grabs me and plants his mouth on mine, sucking the gloss off my lips.
"Hello, darling!" I open my locker while he scowls at me.
"Don't talk like an old lady! You know that drives me nuts!"
I laugh, pulling my out my English Lit book then slamming my locker door shut. "I know, that's why I do it!"
He tries to look mad but instead grins and grabs me again for another kiss.
God, he's always grabbing me. He's so damn rough, hauling me around like a teddy bear or something.
Ryan walks up, wearing his adorable little sheepish grin. He is so
