French kiss by Aimee Friedman

herself leaving out certain juicy details. And on this trip, she'd kept completely mum. It wasn't like Meghan and Jess weren't sympathetic listeners. Of course they were.
    They were just utterly clueless about boys.
    Holly was sure that Meghan, with her dirty-blonde,
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    pixie-ish haircut and little-girl smile, and Jess, with her long ballerina's neck and dark brown bun atop her head, could both get boyfriends if they really wanted them. But both girls were so involved in sports and schoolwork that guys ranked low on their priority lists. Though Jess had briefly gone out with Marc, the cocaptain of the lacrosse team, and Meghan had once hooked up with Jeff, Oakridge High's soccer star, neither girl had ever had a real relationship.
    Not too long ago, Holly had been as innocent as her friends, if not more so. But now that she was having some very real drama with her very real boyfriend, she suddenly felt like she was in a very different place than Meghan and Jess.
    Holly took a fortifying sip of ale. The alcohol was making her feel warm; she unzipped her light green Kangol hoodie. Really, what could be the harm in confiding in her friends? It might be therapeutic to get all that worrying off her chest.
    "Okay, here goes," Holly began, drawing a big breath and huddling in close to the girls.
    "Jeez, you make it sound so serious," Meghan giggled.
    "It is serious," Holly snapped -- but then felt bad. She never got testy with her friends.
    "Wait," Jess said, her voice hushed. "Don't tell me.
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    Your parents. They're making you keep the cell on you at all times."
    Holly shook her head, annoyed at how off the mark Jess's guess was. Her parents had been checking in every day, but surprisingly, they'd been pretty mellow. "We're sure Coach Graham is keeping you busy," her dad had said when he'd called on Sunday night. "So we won't bug you." Clearly, Holly's parents found the idea of a school-supervised trip reassuring -- and she hoped they would keep to their word. She hadn't yet called to tell them about her ankle, because she knew they'd freak.
    "Okay, then ... are you waiting for someone to call?" Meghan offered, pouring herself more ale.
    Holly tried not to roll her eyes. Pulling teeth. "It's Tyler," she burst out in frustration. "On the way to the airport on Friday, we had this -- this thing happen It was pretty intense...."
    "Ooh, you were making out?" Meghan teased, wiggling her eyebrows at Holly. The gesture used to crack Holly up when they were freshmen, but now, she was not in the mood.
    "We were about to have sex," she replied flatly.
    "Oh," Meghan said, her eyebrows going still and her cheeks coloring.
    "Ew, on the way to the airport?" Jess asked, looking
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    flat-out disgusted. "Like, in his car or something?" She shook her head, her tight bun not budging an inch. "You told us last month that you guys had this whole perfect moment planned or whatever --"
    "Well, we didn't -- you know -- finish what we started," Holly managed to reply, her face growing warm. She hated how the subject of sex instantly made her uncomfortable. And Meghan and Jess were clearly so unable to imagine the situation Holly was describing that she wondered if it was even worth elaborating.
    "It's probably for the best," Meghan said consolingly, patting Holly's shoulder. "You shouldn't let him pressure you into doing anything you don't want to --"
    "Actually," Holly cut in, feeling a flash of irritation. "It was ... the other way around." She bit her lip and glanced down at her hands as she heard Meghan let out a small gasp.
    "Wait.... Holly, you initiated it?" Jess asked, sounding bewildered. "That's that's so not like you."
    Maybe you don't know me that well anymore, Holly thought, caught off guard by her own sentiment. Holly didn't doubt that her friends understood her -- but just maybe not the her that had a boyfriend.
    Instead of getting into all that, Holly simply shrugged, still studying her lap. "I just... really wanted to right then," she