“Well? Are you gonna tell me what on earth Mr. Masson was talking about?”
The dark cloud came rushing back over our heads, and he stared out the windshield as we drove the back roads to Porter’s Field. I clicked off the air conditioning, rolled down my window, and instantly regretted it as soon as the humid outside air slapped me in the face.
“Well what,” he asked with a smile. “There’s nothing to tell.”
That got my hackles up. I knew there was something to tell because Mr. Masson felt the need to revisit whatever it was as a reminder.
“Look, I’m just curious, but if it is that big of a deal, then never mind. It’s not like it would shock me. I know your infamous reputation, Drew! It’s pretty common knowledge that you kind of get around.”
I don’t know what possessed me to say that other than he’d hurt my feelings by keeping secrets. The back road to Porter’s Field wound and twisted, and Drew handled each bend with practiced ease as the sticky air filtered through our open windows. He finished the current curve he was driving and then glanced at me with a wounded look in his eyes. I instantly felt bad.
“I’m sorry, Drew. It’s just I know…
“You don’t know anything, Eden. I don’t get around. I’m not some kind of—of man whore! I thought you of all people would know better than to listen to the stupid ass rumors that fly around at school.”
He had a point, and I couldn’t deny that it was a valid one. If anyone of purpose bought into the rumors that flew around school about me, I’d be institutionalized, and they’d throw away the key.
“Drew—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…
He cut me off for the second time in just as many minutes.
“Didn’t mean to what Eden? Insult me, hurt me—not bother to hear my side before you made up your mind about something you know nothing about. If you must know, the event that Mr. Masson is talking about revolves around Melissa Stanton and me—during her junior prom. I was her date. She’d worn a ridiculously huge dress, and it had this metal ringed hoop thing under it. I thought she was crazy, but it didn’t take long to learn why she’d chosen that particular dress. She’d smuggled alcohol into prom and had it tucked into the spandex shorts that she wore under the dress.”
I didn’t like where the story was going. The last thing I wanted to hear about was Drew and his sexual excursions with an ex—in a freaking school bathroom! Who does that? Instead of stopping him, I stayed silent. After all, I was the one that had pushed for him to tell me his dirty little secret.
“Anyway she pulled me into the bathroom with her, and I’ll be honest, I got excited. I was like, ‘this is it, it’s gonna happen right now!’ So when she looked at me sideways and crooked a finger, I was more than willing to follow it. I got about a breath away from her face and was about to plant one on her right there up against the bathroom stall when she said, ‘I need you to do me a favor. I need you to lift up my dress and get the bottle of whiskey I hid in the waist of my shorts. I can’t bend over to get it myself—and while you’re under there…’”
I choked, and Drew roared with laughter as he took the next long bend in the road. He was laughing so hard that tears started rolling down his face. This went on for a couple of minutes before he could finally catch his breath long enough to finish what he’d been saying.
“She told me, ‘while you’re under there, can you grab my phone.’ So I did as she asked, and no sooner was I under the skirt of the dress than I heard the bathroom door open, and Melissa started in on a litany of moaning and heavy breathing. I think she even threw a couple, ‘oh my god’s’ in there for good measure. I laughed because I thought it was funny until I heard Mrs. Stipe’s startled gasp. I froze. I hadn’t gotten the bottle and decided it would be best to leave it where it was. Needless to say, our parents were called, and we both got suspended for—wait for it—lude acts in a bathroom!”
I slumped in my chair and Drew laughed again.
“So you see no sex went on Eden, it’s just embarrassing cause no matter what I tell my friends about what really happened, it still flew around the school that I’d dined at her lady’s drive-in—right there in the girl's bathroom.”
“Okay, I get that, but why did she start acting like it was if you weren’t.”
Drew drug a hand through his hair and chuckled. “Well, that was a stroke of genius on Melissa’s part. To her way of thinking, being suspending for having sex in the bathroom was a better idea than getting expelled for underage drinking. One’s illegal, while the other isn’t.”
“Hmmm, that is pretty genius actually—so did you and Melissa ever do anything you know—sexually together?”
He took his eyes completely off the road and squeezed my hand, which was always in his anytime we drove anywhere. His expression was serious and then turned tender. “Eden, Melissa, and I are just friends. I’m not saying that if she had put it on the table for the taking that I would have said no, but no, we never did. I hate to admit it, but I’ve never had sex with anyone. You are the closest I have ever gotten to going all the way.”
To say I was shocked would be laughable. I was stunned to silence. My Drew was as
