Chapter 2

Needless to say, Virginia couldn’t wait to escape her hometown away from the world where only your social standing mattered. Although Virginia remained fairly popular due to her position as a varsity cheerleader she had long ago deemed everyone on her squad fickle and fake. One minute they were smiling in her face and the next they were sneezing slut.

The only girl on the squad that was the exception was her best friend Beverly, who in her own right had the title of the more flirtatious girl in school. From the moment Virginia met Beverly in the sixth grade she had always been voluptuous and well endowed, but unlike Maxine, Beverly didn’t flaunt it and use it as a way to gain attention. However, Beverly had her own share of boyfriends. She was what you would consider a boy-crazed serial monogamous. One of those girls that was so scared of being alone that she always had a plan b around the corner.

The first semester of her senior year Virginia decided she was taking an official oath to take a sabbatical from dating. After a terrible junior year, she felt her reputation and as well her behavior had spun out of control.

Junior year started off as a turning point. Maxine had just graduated and it would be Virginia’s official year as the only Lee sister at Gateway High. She was positive that with Maxine gone Virginia could clean up her reputation. After all, Maxine was not there any longer to undermine everything Virginia did to debunk people’s perception of her.

Of course, just like the years that preceded it boys gravitated towards Virginia and before she knew it she was once again the favorite topic of the school’s rumor mill. It was quite different from last year, where the boys did most of the gossiping. After the Lindsay incident, all the boys seemed to think that Virginia had slept with Leo. He didn’t deny it either. In fact, he elaborated on what type of a moaner she was and on how her body sparkled naked. This little bit of information, whether true or not, made every single boy in her school scramble for a piece of the action. Out of all the dates Virginia turned down, the ones that she accepted left a bitterness in her mouth because the very next day she would hear about the lacy underwear that she never owed or the tattoo hidden in her inner thigh that she didn’t have. For the rest of the day, she would get leered and winked at, almost making her feel naked and soulless.

“You’re trying too hard to be something that you’re not.” Maxine use to say to her.

“I’m certainly not a slut, Max.” Virginia said profusely. No matter how many times Virginia confessed about how bothered she was about the rumors, Maxine still never seemed to understand.

“I didn’t say you were.”

“What are you saying?” Virginia clamored.

“Do you think I’m a slut?”

Virginia paused. She almost wanted to say yes.

Her answer didn’t matter anyhow. Maxine just rushed on. “I just think that worrying about what those pricks think about us is a waste of time. They are so absorbed in trying to be popular and liked they don’t even know who they are.”

Virginia couldn’t confess to Maxine that she was positive that she didn’t know who the real Virginia was either.

When Virginia relayed this conversation to Beverly she was surprised by how much she agreed with Maxine. “She’s right, you know? Who really cares what the fuck they think?”

Virginia was still skeptical, but as Beverly continued she seemed to make all the sense.

“Look. If you really want to talk to a guy, go out with a guy, flirt with a guy that is totally your prerogative. Don’t let what they say or do suck all the joy out living your life, you know?”

From that moment on Virginia finally understood why Maxine gave into her every whim. She pushed herself to ignore all the snickers and allowed herself to laugh, lavish and enjoy the company of whomever she was with. It was easy to let the current carry her, rather than constantly fight it.

There were times though that Virginia felt like she trusted the current too much. Almost immediately after she had done something that Maxine would consider spontaneous and passionate Virginia would question whether that was what she really wanted. It was as if her actions where moaning “yes, yes, yes”, but her mind was saying, “no, stop.” She had been pushed up on a riverbank and now she was stuck.

Other times Virginia noticed that not paying attention to the changing tides of high school actually made her feel more free and rebellious. Nearing the end of junior year, a trend started to arise. The girls had finally received wind of Virginia’s erratic behavior and the cards switched from the boys to the girls. When Virginia thought that that lies of the boys were devastating she was wrong. The girls where downright vicious and had no remorse for anything they said. Just like Lindsay, they weren’t afraid to say, “slut” to her face. Virginia became vengeful and deliberately flirted with boyfriend’s of certain girls whom she knew caused her the most anguish. This would disturb most the girls, worried that their boyfriends were more interested in Virginia’s curvy figure and drowning gray eyes.

One afternoon, a week before the end of the school year she witnessed the break-up of one of the most prominent couples in school. The girl was, Cynthia, captain of her cheerleading squad and a total bitch. Although Virginia should be thrilled that she had caused their split, she felt thoroughly unsatisfied. Despite the fact that she was flattered that Cynthia, who had drilled her so hard on several occasions during practice that Virginia ended up throwing up her lunch, was jealous of her, Virginia couldn’t deny that Cynthia loved John. Virginia could have potentially ruined the best thing that has ever happened to them and this cause Virginia to come to the realization that her actions in the past year had done more harm than good.

Virginia had been celibate from any kind of romantic interaction with boys six months into her senior year.

“I don’t get the point of it.” Beverly would complain, “It’s your senior year and your being such a conservative prude.”

“There’s more to high school than cute boys, Bev.” Virginia reassured her.

“Like getting into colleges a half an earth away?” Beverly was also upset by the news that Virginia would not be attending a school in California; instead Virginia opted to move as far away as possible. All her applications were to schools on the East Coast.

Virginia ignored her and continued reading from her history textbook.

“What are you trying to prove?”

Virginia shrugged. “I just don’t want to be around people who bring out the worse in me.” Virginia really meant that she no longer wanted to conform to a perception of who she was. She wanted to discover herself.

The oath of celibacy didn’t stop the girls from being as nasty as always. If they caught her even speaking to a guy she could see them huddling up to whisper about her. “Ugh, what do they see in her?” One would say, “She’s such a whore.” The other chimed in.

“They’re just jealous of you.” Beverly told her during stretches at afternoon practice.

Virginia gave Beverly a sarcastic smile. “I’m sure they all wish they were the slut of Gateway High too.”

“Oh please.” Beverly rolled her eyes. She lowered her voice so the girls stretching behind them couldn’t hear her. “They all have slept with just as many guys than you and I combined. We’re just more open about it.”

It was Virginia’s turn to roll her eyes. “No one has even dreamed about calling you a slut.” Virginia didn’t understand how Beverly did it. She was already on her third boyfriend this year.

“It’s just something girls say when they are intimated by each other. It’s their way of breaking you down.”

If that were the case, they succeeded because as soon as Virginia graduated she didn’t wait to pack her bags and attend college in Boston.