Robin, Boy Virgin: Original Series

What is it exactly about girls in guys clothing that looks so sexy? I mean, it’s shapeless and too big and unflattering, so you can’t see their bodies. I guess it’s the knowledge that ‘I wear that against my skin, and now you’re wearing it against your skin and when I wear that again, I’ll know that it was against your skin’.

I’d given Cora a pair of pajama bottoms and socks to wear, since her clothes were soaked. I put her jeans and socks and sweater in the dryer. I changed into sweatpants and another T-shirt. I went to the family room and turned on the gas fireplace. In the wintertime, Glenn and I cannot function without that fireplace’s extra heat.

“Getting romantic on me, Boy Wonder?” Cora asked, teasing, behind me. I turned around. She was wearing my pajamas and the black tank top she’d been wearing under her sweater. She had helped herself to a towel in the bathroom (where she’d changed) and was drying her hair. My brain immediately imagined her taking a shower, even though she hadn’t done that. I cleared my throat, struggling violently to suppress that image.

“Nope. Just getting warm, I swear,” I said shortly. She grinned and sat down on the couch. I sat down too. There is nothing like lounging on your couch, having the house to yourself, after a long day at school. Cora sighed very quietly, sounding comfortable. I guess she shares that sentiment.

“So,” She said. “Where’s your not gay dad?” She asked.

“I dunno,” I said lightly. “I guess with his not gay girlfriend,” I said. Cora chuckled and spread her towel on her lap.

Ok, here’s a quick tip for you. When you have someone that you’re attracted to over at your house and you’re hormones are crazy excited and all you want to do is touch the other person but don’t know how to pull it off, here is a fool proof way to get closer to them:

1.) Offer a blanket. This is KEY and it works wonders, I swear. All you do is say “wanna blanket?” and then when they inevitably say yes, you spread the blanket out over both of your laps.

2.) Once you’ve done that, adjust yourself just enough so that you’re almost shoulder to shoulder with the person next to you. Almost, not quite.

3.) Turn on the TV. Neither of you is going to pay attention, but you both are going to need that distraction. Like clockwork, I swear, the girl will lean on you. Or if you’re a girl reading this, you go right ahead and lean on the guy. It’s a totally simple and brilliant, un-forward and rejection-less move.

But I didn’t do any of those things with Cora. Why? Well because I DON’T like her and because…well I didn’t think of them, right then.

“Um, if you don’t mind my asking… where does your mom live?” Cora asked curiously.

“Just in the city. I spend a few weekends with her sometimes,” I said, shrugging my shoulder. I realized after I’d said that the kind of effect it might have on Cora, whose parents are too far apart for her to have the kind of relationships I had. But she handled it well, as you might imagine. She nodded thoughtfully.

“You know what the worst part is about being away from my dad?” She spoke up and looked at me out of the corner of her eyes. Wow, she was going to share something with me.

“No, what?” I asked.

“This constant feeling of being incomplete, you know?” She said. I didn’t quite know, but I nodded anyway.

“Like, there’s my mom and me, but my dad’s not here with us. And if I try get rid of the feeling by calling my dad to say goodnight or tell him I heard his favourite song on the radio, like to include him, you know?” Cora said, her hand gestures emphasizing what she said. “It just makes the feeling worse. Because he’s really not there,” She finished widening her eyes and shrugging her shoulders.

“I think I sort of know the feeling,” I realized. Really, I did. Cora looked at me.

“My dad’s girlfriend is pretty much over here all the time. And she’s nice and everything, but it just really makes it so clear that if she’s here with my dad, then that means my mom isn’t,” I explained. See the pancakes and plates issue, right? Cora nodded, still looking at me.

“What sucks is I sometimes feel like the roommate that they like and all, but don’t really want around when they’re together,” I said. Ouch, that’s true. I didn’t know that’s how I felt.

“Like my dad loves me and junk and he tries to be considerate of the fact that I’m a fragile child of divorce and I need the security of my home,” I went on. Cora giggled sympathetically.

“But… it’s never going to be as good as when he and my mom were together and happy,” I said. Cora sighed and looked forward.

“That, I totally understand,” She said heavily.

“We’re grieving their broken relationship,” I realized.

“This is healthy. And economical, we won’t need to pay for counselling,” Cora said. I snorted before I could stop myself and Cora giggled huskily, sounding too sexy.

Then she leaned her head on my shoulder. Her hair was wet. She lifted her head almost immediately, remembering that her hair was still wet. She covered my shoulder with her towel and leaned on it again. I lifted the other half of the towel and folded it over the top of her head. I leaned on her head and both of us avoided getting wet from her hair. Cora started giggling again and I smiled.

Whaddaya know. I didn’t even need the blanket trick. I’m quite the playa for a virgin, huh?