County Falls

Chapter 13: Mud Slinging

I was put on the early shift next day at the diner. Despite the craziness, and the occasional rude customer, I really enjoyed going to work. Almost all of my shifts were with Aidan and I managed to make friends with the rest of the staff. The ladies of Monroe's were mostly in their mid to late 40's and loved to hear the new gossip. Since Aidan and I were the youngest on the staff, all their attention was focused on us.

"Where did he take you?" Miranda asked. Before I could answer, Joyce interrupted with her question.

"Does you mom approve?" I opened my mouth to answer.

"What does he look like under his shirt?" Marie asked pointing to her stomach. I started cracking up. When they're eyes focused on me and they finally stayed quiet, I answered.

"He took us to Koi, yes my mom approves, and I wouldn't know." Marie's mouth fell open.

"You mean you two haven't..."

When I realized what she was referring to, I gasped. "Of course not! It's only been a month and I'm not that type of girl."

"Well you better become that type of girl before he loses interest."

"Marie!" Joyce and Miranda shouted at the same time.

"What? Its the truth." She walked off to the back of the kitchen with a devious smirk on her face. Joyce came up next to me and put her arm around my shoulder.

"Don't listen to her Kai. She's just bitter because she's single and getting older and you're young and beautiful." She gave me a little squeeze and her and Miranda went back to work.

The rest of my shift was plagued with thoughts about what Marie said. I was already feeling insecure with his feelings for me but the more people brought up the topic of sex, the more I was forced to factor it in. Was I ready for something like that? My thoughts were interrupted when a hand dropped on my shoulder. It was Aidan.

"You look like you could use a break. Lets go out back for our ten." I followed him to the back alley where we usually went for out tens, although they were more like fifteens. The alley behind the diner was not a glamorous place. It was always damp even when it wasn't raining and the faint smell of garbage was constantly lingering in the air and because of this it was a bit scary, especially at night. Ironically, it was the smell of smoke that our coworkers partook in that led Aidan and I to come out here. We much preferred the smell of wet garbage then of those cancer sticks.

"Whats going on? You looked deep in thought out there." he raised his glass of water to his mouth but didn't take his eyes off of me.

"Are you a virgin?" the question escaped my mouth before I could think. Aidan spat out his water on the ground and started coughing. My face heated up. I didn't even realize that the question was inappropriate but regardless, I was dying to know the answer.

"Where did that come from?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm just curious. You and I never talk about that stuff. I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable. You don't have to answer." He sat there looking at me. The look on his face told me that he was thinking about the question. After a beat of silence he finally answered.

"I am. A virgin that is." He dropped his head in his hands. "I cant believe I just told you that."

"Why? It's just me."

"It's embarrassing. I feel like I'm the last one standing." I waved my hands up and down my body, gesturing that there was a virgin standing right here.

"It's different for you. You're a girl. Every guy I know has already done one thing or another."

"So you're telling me you feel pressure too?" his nod surprisingly made me feel better. I felt a stronger connection to him knowing that we had this in common and we shared the same feelings about it. He threw his empty cup in the nearest trash and put his arm around my shoulder.