A Sensitive Arrangement

Chapter 9

The next morning the house was all hustle and bustle. Olivia was filling in for the pianist at Christmas Eve mass, and she apparently had to look perfect, even though people would barely be able to see her behind the piano. I wasn't going to point that out to her though. I valued my life too much. I stopped by her room as she appeared to be putting on the finishing touches. I figured I might be safe by then.

"Hey, come in." She smiled, looking genuinely happy to see me. "I wanted to talk to you about the other night." I stepped in closing the door behind me, I figured this was probably a private conversation. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think Joe was going to do that to you."

"It's okay, you didn't know." I forgave her. I'd always forgive her, she was my best friend.

"That's just the thing. I didn't know him. And I left you alone with him and it was stupid and selfish."

"You were with Nick." I said, making excuses for her.

"Yeah, but Nick's an idiot. Even I know that. He just so happens to be a very good looking idiot. I was only trying to use him and lose him. You know, be the uberfeminist, get rid of this stupid virginity noose around my neck. And in the process I ended up getting my best friend hurt." She had a look of genuine remorse, so much so that I started to feel guilty.

"It didn't turn out all bad." I assured her. I noticed her face light up in an interrogating manner, clearly looking for more details. "Julian kissed me. Twice." I explained.

"What?" She exploded into a bundle of excited energy. "When?"

"Saturday night, after we got home."

"You've been keeping this from me for a whole day!" She exclaimed, as if she expected me to run into her room the second it happened. In fairness, if it had occurred under any other circumstances, I probably would have done just that.

"I didn't really get much of a chance to tell you." I defended myself.

"Well we have time now so tell me everything." She was practically bursting at the seams. If there was one thing Olivia loved, it was a proper gossip session.

"He knew I was upset, and he knew I was keeping the real reason from him. I eventually let slip that I had been trying to save my first kiss for him. So he asked if he could kiss me. And obviously I said yes. Then he kissed me. He told me he was my first kiss, because Joe didn't count." I was finding it impossible to keep a big goofy smile off my face.

"Because he didn't and he never will. For once my brother actually knows what he's talking about. Girl, we're gonna be sisters." She practically squealed.

"You already knew that though." I reminded her.

"Yeah, but now you and my brother are hooking up, it's practically official."

"We are far from hooking up. After we kissed he basically told me that there was more where that came from, but I'll have to wait until I'm eighteen." I grumbled, making my feelings about his propriety quite obvious.

"Why is he such a stickler for the rules? He has a different girl on his arm every week, but God forbid he finds a real meaningful connection with someone just because she's sixteen." Olivia seemed more worked up about this than even I was. But I suppose I had the benefit of Julian's explanations. Which I guess kind of almost made sense. Although, I would happily deny their logic if it meant he would kiss me again.

"I don't think that's it. I actually think he's looking out for me this time. He doesn't want me to feel stuck, or like I should make myself into something I'm not just because I think he'd like it. Which is both incredibly romantic and infuriating at the same time." I defended, adding in a small laugh to make it seem like I was totally on the same page. I doubt she was convinced.