Me: Me too.
A moment later, a text came in from Billie Rose.
Billie Rose: Are you alive or did the single dad captain murder your vagina with eye contact?
I stared at the text. Then I typed back before I could talk myself out of it.
Me: I kissed him. There was no vagina action… yet.
The phone rang immediately. I panicked and almost dropped it. Billie Rose treated gossip like an emergency medical event.
I answered and pressed the phone to my ear. “You cannot scream.”
“I’m screaming internally,” she hissed. “What do you mean you kissed him?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
“You better start from the beginning,” she urged with excitement.
“I can’t. My family is home, and these walls are not thick enough.”
“Did he kiss you back?” she asked, practically squealing.
I closed my eyes. My body answered before my mouth did. “Yes.”
Billie shrieked. “I knew it. I knew that man was hanging on by a sad little thread.”
“Billie,” I warned.
“Was there tongue? Hair grabbing? Wall contact?”
I went silent.
“Catherine Celia Davis,” she whispered dramatically. “There was wall contact.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“You’re not. We’re meeting for breakfast tomorrow,” she stated like there was no room to argue.
“I have things to do,” I said. Like work on my research.
“You have a man’s mouth to discuss. That outranks school work,” she replied.
I sighed and stared at my ceiling. “Fine. Breakfast.”
“Good. I’m texting the girls.”
“Don’t make it a thing. This has to stay secret, Billie. I’ve worked too hard to screw everything up.”
Her voice softened. “I know. I’m happy for you, boo. I’ve been worried about you these past few months. You were having a really hard time getting over Julian.”
“Correction. I’m over Julian. I’m just not over the cheating.”
“Right,” she sighed. “Well, kissing your dad’s captain was the right move.”
“It sounds terrible when you put it that way,” I groaned.
“You’re both consenting adults,” she reminded me.