James and I had just finished making out at his place. I was still a little nervous about doing this. I was basically about to lose my virginity. I knew that I had had sex before, but it was one time that didn't actually happen. I had never actually had sex as a girl and I was scared. I was fairly certain that I wouldn't get pregnant like Bailey did and I wouldn't let him do it without a condom. Part of me thought that I shouldn't even let him do it with a condom, but I actually did want to know what it felt like despite my fears.

"So we're all alone, aren't we?" I asked with a smile. I didn't want to go straight into sex though. I wanted to help set the mood.

"Yeah it's just us." He confirmed.

"So let's dance." I replied. I could tell that the suggestion had caught him off-guard.

"Okay…" He responded. He seemed to be confused.

"What? We said that the next time we're alone together we would dance." I reminded him.

"Yeah I just didn't think you meant right now." He replied. I couldn't help but wonder how many times he had had sex, but I didn't want to ask. He seemed to be eager, but he wasn't being demanding or anything.

"It makes it more intimate." I stated before I whispered into his ear. "Don't worry we'll be naked soon enough."

I took a CD out of my purse and began to play it. James took my hand and we began to slowly dance. After the song was done and faster one came on. I smiled and threw my top off.

"Think you can keep up?" She asked.

"Yeah I think I can." He replied with a bit of a blush.

As the music played, we started to strip each other of our clothes. There was one thing that I thought about doing, but in the end, I just couldn't do it. I wasn't ready to have that in my mouth. The good thing was that I was still able to go through the main event. It felt really good and I had also made sure that he used the condoms. We used more than one.

The next morning, I woke up completely naked and lying on top of him. He was still asleep and she decided to kiss him until he woke up.

"What?" James asked with a yawn. "Oh you look beautiful."

"Thanks" I replied before I got off of him and began to gather my clothes. "I should probably get going. I forgot to tell my parents I was spending the night. I had a really good time."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He agreed as he began to do the same "Mine will probably be home soon too."

"I'll see you soon." I declared as I finished getting dressed, kissed him and rushed out the door. Part of me wanted to do it again, but I didn't want to be around when his parents got back.

I headed home and went into the hotel. I snuck into the suite and tried to make into my room, but found that I had no such luck. Even though I said that I would call, I didn't do that.

"Where were you last night?" Mom asked as me as I walked in. I was busted.

"I was with James. And yes, I made sure to use protection." I answered. I couldn't think of a better lie, and they knew that I had been going there to begin with.

"Okay fine." She told me. That was not the reaction that I was expecting.

"You're not going to punish me?" I asked in confusion. Why didn't she want to punish me?

"You're an adult now." She pointed out. "But I hope this doesn't turn into a routine thing and if you say that you're going to call, you need to call. Did you eat breakfast yet?"

"No." I answered.

"Good, your father made waffles." She replied.

I headed into the kitchen and ate some waffles. Dad made really good waffles. As soon as I was finished, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Where were you last night? I tried to call you?" Max asked. I had kind of turned into off while I was having sex.

"I was a little busy with James. I spent the night." I explained. Part of me thought that I shouldn't be telling her that I had had sex with him because it might make her jealous.

"I see. So, I guess you're not a tease anymore. So, what did you need to talk to me about?" She stammered. It seemed like she wasn't thrilled about hearing it.

"Bailey's pregnant." I explained. Part of me thought I shouldn't tell her over the phone, but I didn't know if she would be able to come over.

"So what is she going to do about it?" She inquired.

"Keep it. She said she can't get an abortion or give it up for adoption." I replied.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because she didn't want to do something that she might regret." I explained.

"Well I have some bad news too, though not as bad as that." She stated.

"What?" I asked.

"My parents are moving up my debutante ball to my birthday and are having it here. So in other words, I am having one." She answered. That was considerably less bad than Bailey being pregnant and I still couldn't believe that she just couldn't tell them that she didn't want one. "But I also have good news. Do you remember my cousin Sara?"

I tried to think of her cousin. I was drawing a blank for a moment.

"No." I answered.

"Well, she's a model and she's going to be coming to town for it." She declared. You know it seemed like this was a huge deal for Max's family. I would also bet that she had never asked why it was so important to her parents. "So can I come over?"

"You know you don't have to ask." I told her.

"I know that's why I'm standing outside your door." She replied before there was a knock on the door. I had to refrain from laughing.

"Hold on I have to get the door." I remarked before I went to the door with my phone still in my hand. I gave her a hug. "So how was church?"

"Sucked." She replied. "I've also got Marcus on Seacrest and Ellen. Crap."

"What?" I responded. That was such a subdued reaction.

"I scheduled Ellen on the same day as my ball." She explained. That seemed like it would be a problem.

"Well can't you get him on a different day?" I replied. I didn't want to say this, but there just seemed to be something off about Ellen that I couldn't explain. I didn't know if I would personally want to be on her show.

"I can try." She stated. "But what should I do if I can't?"

"I would say cancel entirely." I suggested before I remembered something. "Wait a minute. My dad knows somebody who knows Ellen."

"Thanks you're a lifesaver." She told me before she hugged me. I still wasn't sure if she could give Marcus the success that he wanted. "So what do you wanna do today?"

"Let's go to the gym." I replied. "We haven't worked out together since cheerleading ended. I kind of want to be in shape for when school starts."

"Okay whatever you say." She answered probably because she knew that I was already in good shape. I was probably in the best shape of my life. "So how's the music career going?"

"I'm still mulling through the choices. I'm still not sure if I'm completely ready yet." I explained. I didn't know if I wanted to do this because it meant that I wouldn't be able to do my senior year and I couldn't just ask Max to quit school for me. "Hey, how about before we go to the gym, can I play you a new song I wrote?"

We headed to my room, and I took out my guitar.

Your voice is like a ghost inside my head
You whisper lies to try and hurt me again
All the times you doubted me you'll see
I was always better than you made me out to be

Not gonna let you down, let you down easy
You're gonna feel it inside, it's gonna eat you alive
When I walk away, walk away believe me
The pain will say I told you so

Tearing off the grip you've had on me
Time has told me you will never be what I need
The ashes from the hell you put me through
They will be the memories of what's left of me and you

Not gonna let you down, let you down easy
You're gonna feel it inside, it's gonna eat you alive
When I walk away, walk away believe me
The pain will say I told you so

All your promises to all my dreams were never meant to be
You never believed in me
Hiding your regrets, you'll come back wanting me to fall into your arms
Who do you think you are?

Not gonna let you let you down easy
When I walk away, walk away believe me
The pain will say I told you I told you so yeah yeah

Not gonna let you down, let you down easy
You're gonna feel it inside, it's gonna eat you alive
When I walk away, walk away believe me
The pain will say I told you so

I told you so

"That was great." She told me. "And your voice fits the song so well. Anyway maybe you could see a lawyer to look over some of the contracts that you've been offered. So what was the inspiration for that song?"

"Trent." I declared. "I know that you already beat him up, but I did want revenge. Do you think I should post a video? I've never done anything original before."

"Of course you should. You'll need original songs if you're going to be an artist." She pointed out.

On Wednesday, Max and I were at the airport, waiting for Sara's plane to arrive. I probably didn't need to be there, but she wanted me to come.

"So your parents really grounded Cody and Bailey for the rest of the summer? That's a little harsh. Of course if I got pregnant, my parents would probably disown me." Max replied. I laughed a little before I realized that she wasn't laughing.

"Wait, you're not joking?" I asked. I suppose it would be a pretty bad thing to joke about.

"No I'm not. It looks really bad in society if your daughter has a pregnancy out of wedlock. Of course they usually expect you to get married by 22." She explained.

"Okay then." I replied before I noticed the tall blonde. "That's her, isn't it?"

Max looked to where I was pointing and smiled.

"Sara!" She greeted her cousin as she walked over.

"Maxie!" Sara replied before as she hugged her tightly. "You're Zoey, right? I think I remember you."

"Yeah that's me." I stated. I probably shouldn't have told her that I didn't remember her. I tried to think of something else to say, but only one thing stuck out. "You're taller than I remember though. So what's exactly is your height?"

"I'm 5'11'. It's really good to be tall in the modeling world." Sara responded.. "So I really wanna go to Red Sox game, especially since they're player the Rangers. Is there any way that we can fit that in? They're really doing well this year. I think this is their year."

"Just don't wear your jersey." Max suggested.

"It's not as bad as wearing a Yankees jersey. If you wear one anywhere in town, you'll have a mob chasing after you." I joked.

"Yeah they always try to buy their way into the playoffs." Max added.

"You're exactly one to talk, your Sox pretty much do the same thing." Sara said as she ruffled Max's hair. If I didn't know better, I would think that she was Max's older sister. "So are you ready for your big day?"

"Not really, I don't really want to but Mom's making me doing it anyway." Max replied.

"Well I didn't think that I would like mine either but I loved it." Sara declared. I would bet Max would love hers as well. She needed to look at it from a different angle. "Obviously not as much as Giselle did since she found her perfect guy there, but it was still pretty good. So I hear that you're dating a singer. Do I know who it is by any chance?"

"Actually you do." Max replied. "Remember Lil' Little?"

"You're dating Lil' Little!" Sara exclaimed. She had to be the only person that I had ever met to have that reaction. I couldn't help but wonder what Marcus would think we he met her. "Oh my god you're so lucky. So is he going to be your escort?"

"I'm also his manager. Yeah we had a bit of a scheduling conflict at first but that's all taken care of thanks to Zoey's dad. He knew somebody that fixed it." Max explained.

"So is your dad a producer or something?" Sara asked.

"No he's actually a famous singer." I answered. "Kurt Martin?"

"Yeah that name sounds familiar." Sara replied. I could tell that she had no idea who my dad was. "So do you know how I've been thinking about becoming a designer?"

"Yeah…" Max replied. She didn't seem to know where the conversation was going and I was a little curious of it myself.

"Well I've designed a dress that you can wear for your party. It's gonna be shipped to your house in a few days." Sara responded. Max would probably like that at least.

"That's really thoughtful of you." Max replied, "So what are you doing these days? Are you dating anyone?"

"No." Sara answered. "I had a brief fling with an actor but it never turned into anything serious."

You know I couldn't help but wonder if some guys were turned off by her. When I was guy, I personally didn't have a problem with dating taller women, especially since Maddie had been taller than me initially, but I knew a lot of guys did.

One thing that was still on my mind was that I needed to talk to Max about how she didn't talk to people about her feelings. Part of me thought it could be a big problem in the future.

So Zoey and James did have sex. Also Max is going to have her party, but you probably saw that coming. The song is "Told You So" by Cassadee Pope. Sara is played by Taylor Swift, which you probably also figured out. Anyway, next chapter is Max's ball. That will be fun.