Flat-Out Matt

Even beyond the obvious and uncharacteristic alcohol consumption, Julie did not sound like herself. This level of enthusiasm was clearly forced and insincere. Matt was a bit worried about her now. “Er… Are you okay?”

“I’m perfect. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said. “Are you going to make it until midnight?” Based on her faulty speech alone, passing out might be the best idea.

“Of course I’ll make it to midnight,” she said defensively. “I’m go

He smiled to himself. He would love to. More than anything. “Sure. I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t start without me.”

“I can always count on you, can’t I, Matty? You’re the best, and you’re very helpful. I love you.”

“Now I know you’re drunk.” Under other circumstances, her words might not cut so deeply, but a drunk, meaningless delivery told him how far they were from being where he wanted. She had no idea what she was saying now.

“Calm down, silly boy. Not like I love you-love you. I just love you. You’re so smart. Oh, you love me too, and you know it.”

Matt couldn’t respond to this. Besides, making sure that she was safe was the only important thing. She clearly had no experience with drinking, and it was more than likely that she was going to be in terrible shape tomorrow, particularly with no one to take care of her. Where was her father? Why was she so wasted before nine o’clock California time? “Have you had any water to drink?”

“See what I mean? That is the smartest idea ever!” He listened to some plodding footsteps and then the sound of a faucet ru

“Go for it.”

“Now, hold on. Don’t go anywhere.”

Matt rolled his eyes. Julie had quite obviously stuck her entire face under the tap since he could hear every gulp and gasp and splash as she hydrated herself. If any of the water was making it to her mouth, he’d be shocked.

“Ta-da!” she a

“You also could have used a glass.”

“You didn't say to, and you’re the one in charge. Now I have to pee. Don’t listen, because that would be gross.”

Matt clapped a hand to his forehead. This was hardly the intimacy he'd been hoping for with Julie. “Believe me, I will not listen.”

“You talk, and I’ll pee. Talk loud to cover up the pee sound. Tell me something interesting. You always have interesting things to babble about.”

“I do not babble.” But Matt thanked her for the messenger bag and hinges that she'd given Celeste for Christmas. He had to give her credit because not only was Flat Fi

He dwelt on this as she started going on and on about something to do with how smart he was and how fu

“I will admit that I sorta like all of your shirts,” Julie said.

“Obviously when you get drunk, you lie. And talk a lot.”

“I am not lying. They are actually a tiny bit adorable.”

“I knew you would come around.”

“I'm done peeing now.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

He heard her stumble around again. “I look crazy. I think I should go to bed now.”

“Probably a good idea. Happy New Year.” Matt started to pull the phone from his ear.

“Wait, don’t hang up yet! Tuck me in.”

What in the world was drunk Julie talking about now? “Tuck you in?”

“Yes. Tuck me in. Come to bed with me. Oh, wait, that’s not right, is it? Can you imagine?”

“Imagine what?”

“If we went to bed together. That would be bananas, huh?”

Matt sighed. Julie must be entirely out of her mind if she was mentioning the two of them in bed together. Not that he disliked that line of thinking, but…. Well, anyway, Julie was clearly a mess right now. “This conversation has officially taken an alarming turn.”

“You’re just figuring that out now?” She was silent for a few moments. “Matty?”

“Yes, Julie?”

“I have to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I like math.”

“I think that is wonderful.” Drunken thinking or not, he was happy to hear this. Matt had helped Julie with enough of her homework to know that, despite her near constant grumblings, she really had an aptitude for math.

“And there’s something else.”

“Shoot.” Maybe she had a secret physics fetish too? One could always hope.

Julie lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m a virgin.”

“Oh my God, Julie, I’m hanging up now.” Why in the world was she telling him this? This felt really inappropriate. Except… Matt couldn’t deny a stupid level of relief. He assumed that she'd been with Seth, if not somebody before that, and he had hated thinking about what she'd been doing every time that she'd gone out with Seth for the night. Learning that they’d broken up had given him an embarrassingly good feeling. It’s not as though he, or “Fi

“I’m serious,” she continued, undeterred. “This is important. I’m a freshman in college. How can I still be a virgin, huh? Nobody else is a virgin. Nobody else in the whole world. What about you? You can’t be. I mean, you had that girlfriend and everything. And you’re old.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, not old. But older than I am. So you definitely can’t be a virgin, right? Tell me. You’ve had sex, right?”

“I don’t think we should be talking about this.”

“Come on! Don’t be such a baby. It’s a perfectly normal question.”

Matt rolled onto his back and tucked his hand under his head. She probably wouldn’t even remember this conversation, so what the hell. “Fine. Yes, I’ve had sex.”

“I knew it!” she yelled with a level of satisfaction that he found somehow flattering. “Have you had a lot of sex?”

Matt laughed. “I suppose it depends how you define a lot.”

“That means you have! Man, at the rate I’m going, I’m never going to have sex.”

“Are you in a big rush?” The thought of Julie being careless with herself and her body didn’t sit well. Even though she hadn’t slept with Seth, what if she ran off and slept with someone from school just to get it over with? That wouldn’t be right. It shouldn’t be something to just hurry up and cross off a list. He knew the pressure, especially in college, not to be a virgin, but Julie should have better than some meaningless one-night stand with a random guy. Julie deserved respect, and love, and care. Tenderness. She should be with someone who would make her first time amazing. Someone who would make her feel absolutely perfect emotionally and physically. Who would take his time with her body, finding out what she liked .…

Of course, Matt was sort of going off the rails here. Getting protective over Julie wasn’t his place. And she may be drunk right now, but Julie wouldn’t make a wrong decision when she did decide to have sex. Behind the haze of alcohol was an incredibly smart person who would find a guy who loved her with everything he had. A non-geeky guy who hadn’t developed a split personality.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Everyone says sex is great. It is, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know that I qualify as an expert, but, yes, it can be great. If you’re with the right person.” Matt was silent for a moment. There were a few times when he was with Ellen that had felt right—really right—but now he wondered. What he thought had been so good maybe wasn’t what it could be. Or should be. Maybe it had just been that Ellen had been his first, and the two of them had certainly taken every opportunity to rip each other’s clothes off, but… that didn’t necessarily make sex magical. It just meant that they’d been horny teenagers. He had cared about her a lot, but those feelings didn’t compare to what he was feeling these days. Or what he was fighting not to feel.