Page 1 of Infatuated
Chapter 1
Lana
Summer. It’s finally here! The school year ends tomorrow, and I couldn’t be happier. Junior year seemed like it would never end.
Who would have thought the average looking, book loving, blonde-haired girl would end up hanging out with the popular kids at school? This sounds like one of those cheesy chick-lit books I love to read. Popular boy likes nerdy girl, and his friends make fun of him for it, but he prevails and they live happily ever after.
Okay, so that’s not exactly how this year went. To be honest, it didn’t start off so great. It started off like any other year. I’m the girl who works hard for my grades. Greenwich Preparatory (go Spartans!) is known for producing some of the smartest minds in all of Connecticut, and I have my eyes set on going to Cornell to study architecture.
In order to make that dream a reality, I spend my nights forgoing football games and parties to study. I had a few close friends, but if I had to choose between them and books, books would win every time. Mind you, it didn’t used to be like that. When I was little, I hated school and was held back in first grade. Then I discovered chapter books, and everything changed for me.
So, me being the oldest girl in my grade didn’t make being uncool any easier. That is, until Bethany James, the most popular girl at school, started flunking math. Mr. Cross pulled me aside one day and asked if I wanted some extra credit in his class. Any chance to turn my A minus into an A plus is a win, so I accepted.
I became Bethany’s pet project, even after my futile attempts to stop her. She was determined to give me a full makeover like in the movieShe’s All That. She added highlights to my hair, taught me some make-up techniques, and made me get a new wardrobe. When she was done with me, I didn’t even recognize myself. I went from peasant to princess in two point five seconds.
Suddenly, I’m being asked to sit at the cool kid’s table, and the cutest boys are actually giving me a second glance.
Holy shit, I’m hot!
For once in my life, I feel like peopleseeme, and I have Bethany to thank for it. It also helps that she’s kept me practically glued to her hip, helping her stay on top of her studies.
Her parents want her to go to Yale, and the two of us decide to stick together and help each other. I help her study to get better grades, and she gives me the social life I didn’t know I needed. It’s been beneficial for both parties.
I sit at the lunch table, poking at my spaghetti, my nose buried deep in a book as I wait for everyone to join me. Bethany arrives with her boyfriend Dave in tow, and he places both their trays down on the table across from me. She flips her thick blonde hair behind her shoulder and pulls Dave toward her for a kiss.
Next are Joe and Jim, the twins, and each takes a spot on either side of me. These boys can make panties drop with a smile. Short brown hair, brown eyes, and tall. Joe has about twenty pounds of muscle on his twin brother, but no one would complain that Jim is small.
I’m squished between the two hottest guys at school, and a blush covers my body from head to toe until I feel like a tomato.
“You’re cute when you blush,” Joe says quietly as he knocks into my shoulder. I glance up at him through my lashes and smile shyly. He tries to glance at the cover of my book. “Reading something naughty, Lana?”
I slap the book closed and pull it against my chest, shaking my head, a sly smile playing on my lips.
When he laughs, I feel it deep in my bones. He tries to take the book away from me, so I grasp it tighter. He rubs his finger up and down my forearm, trying to coax it from me, and the tingles that form in the wake of his touch make me want to give him anything he wants.
He pushes his bottom lip out and opens his eyes wide, giving me the best puppy dog eyes he can muster, and I melt into a pile of goo.
I’ve had a crush on Joe DiMatto since second grade. I’ve fantasized about him since freshman year when we were in sex education together when we had to learn abouteverything.I’m not just talking about the reproduction system; I’m talking about safe sex, condoms, birth control type of everything.
I sat on the other side of the classroom from him and let my imagination run wild. Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I read—a lot. I read all types of genres, but romance has always been my favorite. The thing with romance is there is a lot of sex and a lot of power exchange situations. Even a few popular jock and nerdy girl situations. Those are the easiest to picture myself in.Shocking, I know.
Imagine sitting in sex ed with the hottest guy in the school as he asks questions about blow jobs and anal. Yes, he really did ask questions about both. It was his way of messing with the teacher, but all it did was make me clench my thighs throughout class and stifle moans of desire.
That was the first night I went home and touched myself with Joe on my mind.
“Oh, Joe, leave her alone. She doesn’t have to show you anything.” Bethany comes to my aid.
He gives up and takes a bite of his pizza and talks with the other guys. Bethany knows how much I like him, and I offer a quiet thank you to her. She smiles and goes back to eating.
“Ladies, we’re throwing a small party this weekend at the lake house. Wanna come?” Jim asks.
I glance over at Bethany, who raises her eyebrow at me in question then nods her head. “Sure. We’ll be there. Lana’s eighteenth birthday is next week so we can use this as an excuse to celebrate. She was just telling me about the cutest little bikini she bought the other day, weren’t you, Lana?”
My hazel eyes bug out of my head, and my eyebrows shoot up to my hairline. She bites the corner of her lip and smirks. She knows Joe will be thinking about seeing me in a bikini now, and I’m not sure I can muster up the courage to make that happen.
I’m going to puke. The small amount I had to eat today is trying to work its way out of my stomach. This is uncharted territory. “Y-yeah. I wouldn’t wear it to something like that, though. I figured it would be good for tanning at home.”
“I didn’t know it was your birthday. I’d love to see it on you. Maybe I can find an interesting pattern of freckles to trace,” Joe whispers in my ear, the heat of his breath doing nothing to tame my racing heart.