Page 14 of His Favorite Student
Lourdes speaks first. “You used it.”
My stomach twists. “Um,technically, yes.”
“Technically?”
“She’s glowing,” Dani whispers. “Look at her face! She’s absolutely glowing.”
“No, I’m not glowing,” I protest. “This is just my normal, angelic face.”
“You’re glowing,” she repeats.
“That’s not your normal face,” Becca interjects. “No offense, but your normal face doesn’t look like it’s just had a spa treatment in heaven.”
“What!?” I almost laugh.
“Your normal face looks like a nerdy, organized girl who’s never had an orgasm and goes to bed every night at ten-thirty.”She leans in, eyes probing. “Thatface did not go to bed at ten-thirty.”
“I went to bed at nine actually,” I counter.
My friends glance at each other. Becca’s eyes narrow as she looks at me. “All alone?”
What is this interrogation? I get that they want to know whether I gave their gift a shot, but I’m starting to feel like I’m in a courtroom on the stand.
“Yup.” I nod. “All by myself.”
“But…you used it,” Dani says as though it’s self-explanatory.
I shrug. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Oh my God,” Lourdes gasps.
“Jessie,” Becca says, hands flat on her knees. “Two days ago, you didn’t even know what a vibrator was—what anorgasmwas. We went out and got you one, and you’re not even going to let us know if you tried it?!”
They’re all looking at me like there might be a traitor in their midst. Their expressions are all so serious. And because of that, I realize what I have to say.
“He’s a very good teacher.” I shrug.
Silence. Then the room explodes.
Dani topples sideways and covers her face with the pillow, making sounds like she’s speaking in tongues. Becca’s mouth simply falls open and stays there, and Lourdes takes a stance like a Spartan preparing for battle.
“Teacher?”she repeats. “You–you’re not serious.”
Cracking up inside, I shrug again. “Why not? He explained things very clearly and—”
“Oh my God,” Dani groans. “I don’t believe this.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait,” Becca says, cutting through the chaos. “Was it good? Seriously, Jessie. Was it good?”
Instantly, my mind fills with visions of Professor Holt’s hands, his mouth, his tongue. The way he told me to comefor him and how I did.Three times. The way the whole world seemed to come apart and then back together again.
And then I smile. “Yes. It wasverygood.”
Becca stares at me for a long moment, almost like she doesn’t recognize me. Then she slowly nods, like she’s just witnessed something historic.
“Okay, we are going to go over thisnow—”
“I can’t,” I say. “I have class.”
