shoulders shot up then as if she were expecting a blow. She was usually very careful about what she said when it was about her, this time it just fell out of her mouth.
If Liza had been standing up she was sure that she would have fallen right back down. Never in the eleven years that they had known each other had the subject been brought up. Sure, every now and then they would joke about making out with guys or how Drew had never been in a serious relationship. Liza had just assumed that what Drew did behind closed doors was something that she kept to herself. How could she be her best friend and never know that she had never had sex with anyone?
“Drew, I am as plain Jane as they get and I have a husband and three kids at twenty-five. How can you still be a virgin when you have the body of an underwear model and the face and hair of an angel?”
Drew laughed and turned to sit down in front of her closest friend and the only person that she had ever talked to about what was getting ready to be said in her life.
“First, and most importantly, you are not plain Jane. You are very beautiful and you know it. Do you remember that day that I beat the crap out of Kelly in the 7th grade?”
“Of course I do. I think that you have gotten me in enough trouble since then that we should be pretty much even by now though.” Liza laughed, but the laugh didn’t quite make it to her ocean colored eyes.
“Did you even know who I was before that day?” Drew asked.
“Drew, you were the strange girl who always sat in the corner by yourself at lunch and who would rather go to ISS then read a report or answer a question aloud in class. If anyone spoke to you, you would turn your head and pretend not to hear them. I remember following you around like a lost puppy until you finally broke after the “Kelly” day.” Liza sighed and took a moment to calculate her words. “You have been a different person since then though. You are fun and outgoing and everyone that knows you loves you. Though, sometimes I think that you make people a little uncomfortable when you aren’t in your element.”
“Why do you think I stay around here? Everyone is weird around here. I fit right in!” Drew smiled.
“You aren’t weird, Drew. You are definitely different, but you aren’t weird by any means. Now, are you going to tell me why it is that you are still a virgin or are you going to make me follow you around for the next two weeks to get you to open up again?”
Drew laughed starting to relax a little. “Yes, I was getting there. The reason that I was such a loner before that day was because just two years before I was almost raped by my stepfather.”
Liza gasped. “Drew! Oh my God! What happened?”
“Well, I was twelve years old and my mother had been remarried for about 3 months. I tried and tried to tell her that the guy was a creep. He just gave me a really bad feeling, you know?” Drew paused to light a cigarette and to take a moment. She had never spoken about this to anyone and she knew that it was time to get it all out. As uncomfortable as it made her, there was a huge change coming and she thought that if she talked about her past, maybe it would help her ease into the future. “He was constantly trying to get me to sit on his lap and he even would beg to brush my hair after my bath at night. Mom kept saying that he was just trying to be a dad, but at twelve years old that was just a little too much.”
“That is something that you do with a six year old, Drew, not a twelve year old.” Liza said still in awe.
“Yes, I know. I knew it then to. Anyway, one night my mom called and said that she was going to be working late at the diner because of some big meeting that they were supposed to have. I took my nightly bath and put on my robe and headed for the bedroom. Jack,” Drew shuttered at his name. It was the first time she had said it in many