Waiting in Line for the New iPad (2 page)

"So you're not going to ask Bobby Marrs out,
then? You know he's after you." Another voice - Marie, one of the
brunettes.

Noelle said: "I guess we can hang out before
college. He's probably just as pathetic as the rest of them."

"He can bench 400 pounds apparently. You
don't want a piece of that?"

Noelle sighed. "I don't really have any
choice, huh?"

"If you don't, people will say you're
frigid…" Ellie with a singsong warning.

"I guess. He's going to suck just like the
rest of them."

Dylan was again surprised. That someone as
attractive as Noelle should have no other option than to go for the
gym rat who was pursuing her, because otherwise her peers would
think her some kind of loser.

He said: "Why don't you just tell him how to
make you feel good?"

Silence. Dylan felt his insides go into total
nuclear meltdown. His inner temperature must have soared into the
millions of degrees, his stomach was bubbling as the flesh boiled,
his kidneys were merging with his liver and his heart was having
seizures. Any moment the President was going to have to call FEMA,
evacuate the area, declare a state of emergency.

Had he really just said that out loud?

Had he really said it loud enough for them to
hear?

Oh. My. God.

He felt five pairs of female eyes slowly
descend on his slight, cowering form. The air was thick with the
tension of unrestrained anger and venom. How dare this stranger
listen in on their conversation? How dare this loser geek infringe
on their own private gathering! What a complete freak for butting
in! 

He could imagine all the insults flying his
way, the squeals of horror, the cutting criticism.

But there was only silence.

Then Noelle said: "Uh… I don't think so. Guys
do not want to hear a girl telling them what to do. Especially when
it comes to that."

It was as though being right was far more
important to Noelle than pointing out what a complete loser Dylan
was for eavesdropping and butting in.

Dylan again found his mouth betraying him.
"You ever try it?" he asked.

Having been sitting side-on to him, the
pretty brunette turned her head to him now, her gaze fixing right
on him. He felt a burst of searing energy jolt through his heart as
her stunning blue eyes latched on his face, and she was actually
looking at him.

"I don't need to try it to know they can't
handle it," she said.

"And you can't force them to deal with it? To
do what you want?"

"Uh, no. I do want to have a social
life." 

"What's the point in sleeping with them if
they don't satisfy you?"

He could not believe he was talking to such a
gorgeous girl about sleeping with someone.

"Because let's face it, we're not going to
get better elsewhere," she said.

Her friends were silent, not quite knowing
what was going on. Who was this stranger? Why was he arguing with
Noelle? Was he nuts? Was he drunk? Was he abusing his
prescription?

"Sure you are," Dylan said, then felt his
mouth really running out of control again as the words just seemed
to fall out: "Someone as attractive as you could get better
anywhere."

He saw Noelle's cheeks flush slightly, and
suddenly felt bad, that he'd embarrassed her in front of her
friends. He didn't mean to do that, not at all.

But she seemed to brush past it, re-asserting
herself to regain the high ground, insisting: "If a girl tells
a guy what to do, it's like demeaning his masculinity."

"And that's based on what evidence? Gossip
Girl?"

Noelle rolled her eyes, and Dylan heard one
of her friends chuckle. She said: "You have no idea."

He felt his insides cooling down a little,
but they were still fluttering full of butterflies. Jeez, he was
being bold. This was actually fun. Talking back to a member of the
opposite sex like this - who would have thought?

Dylan got the feeling he'd never see these
girls again - so what the hell if he made a fool out of himself in
front of them?

He said: "Because I'm a guy, I have no idea
what guys think?"

"That's not what I said," she
huffed. 

"That's what it sounded like."

She huffed: "Now you're just pissed because
you know you're completely replaceable in the bedroom by a piece of
vibrating plastic you can get for $9.99 on Amazon."

"Oh, I can do more than just vibrate," he
said, surprising himself again with his own boldness.

He heard Noelle quietly gasp at that, and
look away with mild outrage at one of her friends. It made him feel
all tingly inside to provoke her - had he really meant to sound
quite that dirty and suggestive?

Noelle tried to conceal her reaction by
taking the argument back a point or two. She said: "Guys feel
all small and pathetic if girls tell them what to do. They can't
handle girls who know what they want."

"You're obviously not hanging out with the
right guys," Dylan said.

She shook her head, insisting she had it
right. She said: "We shouldn't even have to tell guys how to do it.
They should know. Girls spend all their time reading magazines
and stuff about how to please their man - and guys just look at the
pictures and jack off."

"That's not true - plenty of guys read up on
how to do it."

"I've never met any."

"You have now."

Noelle sniffed, and then turned away from
him, back to her circle of friends, ignoring him again. Somehow, he
could tell he'd irritated her, that he'd infuriated her, that she
hated not having the last word. Dylan felt a little pang of regret
that he hadn't done better at keeping her onside. It had made him
feel all warm and creamy inside when he was talking with her.

But now her friends were talking about going
to get food, and Noelle seemed just as eager to get something to
eat.

Dylan felt his stomach rumble - the thought
of the packet of chips and can of diet Coke in his backpack, along
with a measly Hershey bar, did not particularly appeal to him. The
girls looked as though they were preparing to leave the line
entirely to go hit the McDonalds around the corner. Surely they
wouldn't risk losing their spot in the line?

Somebody piped up - he didn't hear who -
about the very issue he was currently pondering, and there was a
discussion about one of them needing to stay behind to protect
their precious place in the queue.

Dylan felt his chest warm up a degree or two
as Noelle volunteered for the job, so long as they brought her back
a Chicken McNugget meal. For however long those girls spent getting
their fast food, Dylan would be sitting alone with Noelle. Why had
it been her that volunteered to stay behind?

Nerves flickered in his belly, but he tried
to settle them by telling himself he'd got it wrong - there was no
way Noelle had volunteered to wait in line for everyone else.

Yet the other girls all stood and gathered
their things and at their leisure departed, leaving the feisty
brunette there sitting no more than five feet away from him, all
cute and curvy.

He tried not to look, tried to focus on his
Kindle. She'd think he was some kind of pervert if he stared now
that her friends weren't around to shield his gaze from her. Oh,
but she was so sweet on the eye, with those big blue eyes, flowing
figure and long legs revealed by her summery skirt.

"So who are you, anyway?"

He almost missed it - almost dismissed it as
his imagination. She was looking at him. She'd said something to
him. She'd asked him who he was.

"I've never seen you around school," she
added, and Dylan felt his heart do a little somersault.

"Dylan Winfield. I go to St Joseph's," he
said. "You guys are from Marchmont, right?"

She nodded. "But you live around here?"

"My Mom does. She split from my Dad maybe
six, seven years ago?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, and sounded
genuine.

He shrugged. "Best thing that could have
happened to them - now they're actually kind of friends again."

"But you live with your Dad most of the
time?"

"They didn't want me to change schools."

She nodded. "Sometimes I wonder if my parents
will split up some day - they seem to argue all the time."

There was a slight pause, Dylan didn't know
what to say about Noelle's parental strife. Oh, but he didn't want
the pause becoming awkward. He was talking to an attractive girl
one-on-one! Okay, so it shouldn't have been a big deal for someone
of his age, but he had to concede that he was shy, that was his
nature. Now he was worried she was going to think he was dull, he'd
run out of things to say.

He opened his mouth and just said the first
thing that came to his mind: "Hey, look, I'm sorry I interrupted
your conversation with your friends."

"Oh, no, that's okay," Noelle said, and
actually smiled. "Oh, I'm Noelle, by the way. Noelle
Shaw."

And then he nearly jumped out of his skin as
she suddenly picked herself up and moved closer to him, so she was
sitting right next to him, leaning up against the wall of the store
as he was.

"It's kind of nice talking to someone
different for a change," she said. "I feel like I say the same
things to the same people all the time."

He caught a hint of her fragrance on the
breeze, and couldn't help but melt a little inside. She was so
gorgeous. She had a girl-next-door freshness, a small-town
sweetness, but the confidence of a glamorous catwalk model.

Dylan felt she'd mistaken his own reckless
bravado for a similar innate confidence. Women liked confidence in
a guy - he'd read that often enough - and yet the irony of it was,
most really confident guys their age were the kind of selfish
idiots that would never bother to please anyone but themselves,
even if they had a goddess like this interested in them. 

Oh, he felt all weak in the knees to have
Noelle sitting so close to him, but he knew he had to attempt to
portray some kind of confidence if he was going to maintain this
veneer that had somehow enticed this princess from the school
across town to come talk to a lowly frog.

"So it sounds as though girls at Marchmont
are being hard done by when it comes to the guys," he said, trying
to sound casually headstrong.

"I guess we are," she said, smiling broadly.
"So are St Josephs guys so different?"

Dylan shrugged. "I think we probably have our
own fair share of idiot jocks interested in no one but
themselves."

"But there's also guys who could… you know…
out-compete a vibrator?"

Was she being flirty with him?

"I should imagine there's a few of us," he
said, once again surprising himself at how brazen he could be.

"And wait," she said, "Are you saying that's
because you guys have read up on how to do it, or are you saying St
Josephs men can actually handle a girl telling them what she
wants?"

"Both, I've no doubt at all."

She flashed her eyes at him. "Intriguing,"
she said. He saw her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt,
drawing his eyes down to the alluring sight of her thighs. "You
guys must have girls queuing up for dates, huh?"

"Not especially," Dylan said, his mind
scrabbling for some kind of explanation other than - well, most
guys who know how the biology of the female body works are so shy
and socially awkward they won't manage to even talk to a girl until
at least college graduation.

Instead, he said: "Trouble, I think a lot of
girls don't seem to know what they want."

There was another pause. Dylan wondered if
he'd offended her by suggesting girls didn't know what they wanted
in a guy. That all their problems were their own fault.

But she broke the pause by saying: "I know
what I want."

"That's good. I like a girl who knows what
she wants."

Jumping Jehoshaphat - where did that come
from? That was flirting, wasn't it? Class-A, triple-distilled.
Where on Earth did that come from?

Noelle said: "So Dylan, do you like it when a
girl tells you what she wants?"

Dylan felt all aflutter - so light, he could
have floated away if there had been any kind of breeze. Doing his
utmost to keep calm and collected, maintain the pretense that he
had some kind of confidence going on, he answered: "I can't think
of anything better. It usually means I can give her exactly what
she wants - and then everyone's happy."

Oh, that wasn't good. A white lie - making
her think he was actually experienced. But she wouldn't want to
keep flirting with him if she knew he was a virgin, would she?

She nodded, buying his lie. "It doesn't
damage your manly reputation?"

"Of course not. If I know what a girl wants,
I can make her feel amazing, and surely that makes me more of a
man?"

She gave him a mock swoon, fanning her face
with a hand like a Southern lady. "Lord have mercy," she said.
"Where do I sign up for whatever college St Joseph's boys go
to?"

Dylan smiled, feeling so warm inside, he
didn't even need an extra sweater now. "This time of year? Good
luck."

She laughed.

Then he looked up to see Noelle's friends all
returning bearing brown paper bags stuffed full of fast food, and
his heart sank. Was that it? Now that her friends had returned, she
wasn't going to want to be seen talking to someone who looked like
him, a guy with no puffed-out chest or anything - just unkempt
black hair and old clothes that were kind of fraying at the
edges.

But as the other girls approached, she didn't
move an inch, remaining sitting right where she was beside him.

"Guys, this is Dylan," she called out. "He's
cool."

"Hey, Dylan!" Dylan flushed a little, though
he tried not too.