📖 The Story Continues
The story doesn't end here.Continue reading the full story adaptation below and discover what happens next.
The Virgin’s Bucket List – Episode 09
By lunch the next day, Alyssa had turned Wayne’s concern for Lindsay into another accusation. Anyone who spoke to the new football star became a threat, but Lindsay’s friend drew her attention first. Alyssa cornered the girl in the cafeteria and announced that she had seen her talking to Wayne in class.
She advised the girl to look in a mirror because her appearance had probably scared him half to death. The cruelty was calculated to entertain the surrounding students. Lindsay saw her friend shrink beneath their laughter and felt yesterday’s anger return.
“Can you leave her alone?” Lindsay asked, stepping between them. Her friend tried to insist she was fine, hoping surrender would end the confrontation. Lindsay quietly promised that she had her back.
Alyssa turned with obvious pleasure. Humiliating a frightened student had been amusing; provoking Lindsay offered a better audience. When Lindsay asked what she wanted, Alyssa climbed onto the social stage she had created.
She announced that, as captain of the cheerleading team, she intended to win Wayne Adams. Every “loser” at Maple Hill was ordered to stay away because none of them were attractive or important enough for him. Students listened in uncomfortable silence, unwilling to become her next target.
Lindsay said the announcement was fine with her. She had promised her father not to pursue Wayne, and she refused to give Alyssa the satisfaction of seeing jealousy. Unfortunately, the memory of Wayne kneeling beside her made the denial sound false even to herself.
Alyssa heard it too. She accused Lindsay of pretending and declared Wayne far beyond her league. He would not look at her twice, she said, even if Lindsay lay naked in his bed and begged for his attention.
The insult landed perilously close to the truth of Lindsay’s first encounter with Wayne. Her face heated, but embarrassment did not silence her this time. She looked directly at Alyssa’s meticulously drawn eyebrows and observed that everyone was tired of seeing how badly uneven they were.
Alyssa’s hand rose toward her face. “What?” she demanded. The certainty in her expression cracked, and suppressed laughter moved through the cafeteria.
Lindsay pressed the advantage. Judging by the way Alyssa worshiped the ground Wayne walked on, one might think she was his dog. Perhaps the world did not revolve around an empty-headed clout chaser after all.
Rage wiped the remaining smile from Alyssa’s face. She grabbed a cup of ice cream and flung it into Lindsay’s chest. Cold sweetness splattered across Lindsay’s clothes as Alyssa laughed and said she was finally less horrible to look at.
For a breath, Lindsay stood frozen. The old version of her would have escaped to the restroom and cried where no one could see. The girl who had accepted an impossible dare and thrown herself in front of a football was tired of retreating.
She seized a plate of spaghetti from the nearest table. Alyssa realized what was coming a moment too late. Lindsay tipped the entire serving over her head, coating carefully styled hair and expensive clothes in red sauce.
The cafeteria erupted. Phones appeared, students cheered, and Alyssa stared in disbelief as noodles slid past her face. Lindsay’s satisfaction lasted only until she understood how serious the retaliation would be.
Alyssa lunged forward, and Lindsay braced herself. Her friend tried to pull her away, but the crowd had closed around them. The conflict that began with a stolen notebook was becoming a war neither girl could quietly abandon.
A new voice cut through the noise. “What’s going on?” Wayne stood at the edge of the circle, still carrying his practice bag. The crowd parted instantly for Maple Hill’s newest star.
Alyssa transformed before Lindsay’s eyes. Anger softened into distress, and she arranged herself as the wounded victim despite the ice cream dripping from Lindsay’s shirt. She moved toward Wayne, ready to tell him only the version that made Lindsay look vicious.
Lindsay’s pulse raced as Wayne surveyed the wreckage. Alyssa had status, popularity, and an audience trained to support her. Lindsay had sauce on her hands and no reason to believe the boy she was forbidden to want would trust her—yet Wayne’s eyes went first to Lindsay, not Alyssa.
