Chapter 8; Firsts
Cheyenne sat on her bed and studied for World History. History was her best subject, and the only one in which she excelled naturally, rather than by dint of sheer hard work the way she did in her other classes. Cheyenne gritted her teeth as she thought of Ivy, who got just as good grades as Cheyenne despite spending her nights playing Everquest on her computer or making out with Damian instead of studying like Cheyenne did.
Cheyenne's attempt to break up Ivy and Damian by showing Ivy the incriminating photo of Damian and Paige Ryan had failed dramatically. Damian had begged Ivy's forgiveness, had promised never to cheat on her again, and Ivy had forgiven him. Cheyenne thought this showed a fundamental weakness on Ivy's part. Cheyenne herself had vowed when her parents divorced that she would never forgive a boy who cheated on her. By the same token, she had also promised herself that once she fell in love with a boy, she would never cheat on him either. Of course, Cheyenne hadn't been in love with Thomas Pearson, which explained why she didn't consider her seduction attempt on Damian to be cheating.
"Shy, I have a question for you." Ivy's voice interrupted her reverie. "Was Charlemagne the first Carolingian king of France?"
"No," Cheyenne corrected her. 'His father, Pepin the Short, was. Will you help me study for geometry in a few minutes?"
"Sure," Ivy said easily. "Let me just finish up World History, okay?"
Cheyenne was beginning to realize that her feelings toward Damian were dimming a little as the semester drew to a close. This troubled her to the point where she would sit in the dark imagining Damian's face and attempting to convince herself she was still in love with him. One thing that had not dimmed, however, was Cheyenne's resentment toward Ivy. Ivy had everything: the perfect boyfriend, the perfect body, the perfect brain. The girl who had once been Cheyenne's best friend had become her worst nightmare.
If only I could beat Ivy out for Firsts, Cheyenne thought, maybe I wouldn't feel so bad about losing Damian. At the last chapel of the fall semester, Headmaster Cox would announce Firsts, the boy and girl from each class who had gotten the highest grade point average. Cheyenne knew she was in the running for freshman Firsts, but to win she would have to get A's on all her final exams, and geometry was far from her best subject. "Shy, I want to ask you something." Once again, Ivy's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Damian thinks we should make love for the first time before Winter Break. I really want to, but I'm kind of scared at the same time. Did you and Thomas ever do it?"
Cheyenne hesitated, then slowly nodded. "A couple times, before we broke up."
"What was it like?" Ivy asked. She was watching Cheyenne with rapt attention, which Cheyenne found strangely flattering.
Cheyenne considered lying and telling Ivy how horrible it had been in an effort to deter her from wanting to sleep with Damian, then decided it wasn't worth it. "Well, it kind of hurts the first time, but after that, if the guy's good at it, it gets better, A lot better."
Ivy hugged Cheyenne. "Thank you, Shy, I really appreciate your advice. Come on, let's study for geometry."
The rest of the week was a blur of exams and papers for Cheyenne, until finally the day came for the last chapel of the fall semester. Cheyenne made sure to dress up, as did Ivy.
Headmaster Cox stood at the podium and, after delivering the keynote speech, announced the winners of Firsts. "For the freshman class, the class of 2007, the Firsts are: Lance Reagan and Cheyenne Martin!"
Ivy squeezed Cheyenne's hand as she stood up Cheyenne looked over at her, and in that moment, she felt the icy block of resentment she harbored toward Ivy thaw just a little. Finally, Cheyenne Martin was back on top again.