admit to myself where I’m going. I stop the car a little ways away from the driveway, hesitating.
I shouldn’t be here. Does it matter if I am, though?
I get out of the car, slipping the keys into my pocket. The air is crisp, and my footsteps are silent as I make my way up the well-lit driveway.
Too well-lit. I step off the asphalt and onto the grass, slinking near the tall hedges that line the property. My eyes drift up to the multitude of windows that stare back at me, and I already know who I’m looking for.
Poison Ivy. The addictive, intoxicating girl who succeeds in making me feel alive again.
The one whose touch sends pleasant shivers down my spine.
The one who promised herself to me.
Even though my life has been a trail of broken promises, there’s something about Ivy that makes me think she’ll keep hers.
Maybe it’s desperation. I can’t bear the thought of another man touching her, when I know she could be mine.
I know that her room is at the back of the building from the time I spent in it the first night I met her. I make my way around the side of the building, grinning when I see her Vespa. It’s forest green, and I wonder if she chose it to match her name. Her helmet is hooked onto the handlebars, and I lean over to sniff it.
I know it’s weird, but it smells like her, and it calms the thumping of my heart.
My footsteps are silent as I make my way around the back of the building. It’s hard to tell which window is hers. Most of them are dark. I circle the building, ducking under a well-lit window and listening for voices inside.
My heart races when I hear Ivy’s voice, and I lean against the building for a moment, just to listen.
19
Ivy
“I can’t believe you kissed the Prince.” Georgie shakes her head, grinning. “I’m proud of you. You do all right, for a virgin.”
“Not a virgin for long, I bet.” Giselle winks.
“Stop it.” I blush. I told the twins about the kiss, but I didn’t have the nerve to tell them about everything else.
“What?” Giselle laughs. “Hey, come on, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You deserve a little nookie.”
Georgie throws her arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. “You know we love you.”
“I know. It’s just… I don’t know. I’m nearly twenty-one, and I’ve never had a boyfriend. Not even close! Don’t you think that’s weird? Like there’s something wrong with me?”
“I can say for a fact that there’s nothing wrong with you, Ivy,” Georgie smiles. “Nothing serious, anyway.”
I wipe my hands on my apron and let out a heavy sigh. “You know the worst part?” I say, dropping my voice and glancing toward the stairs. My sister is in her room, and I don’t want her to hear this.
“What’s that?” Giselle tilts her head.
“I was ready to do it with him.”
“Do it, do it?” She grins.
I nod. “Right there on the boat. I wanted to.”
Georgie laughs. “You should’ve.”
“That’s terrible advice.” I shake my head, tossing a tea towel onto the counter.
“Isn’t that the reason you keep me around? Bad advice and ill-advised encouragement?”
I laugh, shaking my head. Georgie flashes a smile at me and wraps me in a hug. “Don’t worry, Ivy. It’ll happen when it happens. You don’t have to force it, and you don’t want to do anything you’ll regret.”
“I know. I just… I don’t know. It feels like a big deal to lose my virginity, but it also feels like I just want to rip it off like a band-aid. I just want to get it over with.”
“Imagine if you’d lost your virginity on a luxury yacht with the visiting Prince of Argyle,” Georgina giggles. “That beats my first time with Tim Monkford at the back of the bleachers in eleventh grade.”
I smile, shaking my head. Biting my lip, I take a deep breath. “What does it feel like?”
“Sex?”
I nod. “Does it hurt?”
Giselle shrugs when I look at her. “Don’t look at me. You know I’m not into dudes. My one and only experience with a penis was enough to scar me for life,” she shudders.
I laugh.
Georgina grins, shaking her head. “It might hurt the first time. Sometimes it does hurt, but in the best way possible.”
“I’m nervous.” I turn on the faucet to start the dishes. I’ve just put a batch of muffins in the oven, and I can already smell them as