The First Time (Sweet Valley University(R)) - Softcover

Pascal, Francine

3.51

117 ratings by Goodreads

9780553493078: The First Time (Sweet Valley University(R))

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553493078 ISBN 13: 9780553493078

Publisher: Sweet Valley, 2000

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Big decisions for everyone...

Finn thinks it's time for Elizabeth to prove her feelings . . . but Sam knows it's time she ditched Dr. Cool.

Nina's new guy is way more enticing than 9 a.m. calculus . . . but can she blow off class again?

Neil's falling in love . . . but Jessica thinks he's making a big mistake.

Chloe likes Theta's zany pledge requirements . . . until she's told to betray her best friend.

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"Finn! Hey!" Elizabeth called in her most I'm-so-surprised-to-see-you-here tone.

He immediately glanced up at the sound of her voice, flashing her a bright smile as he put his little notebook in his jacket pocket. "I was hoping I might run into you," he told her, kissing her on the cheek. "Got time for a walk? I've been standing here for a while working on a chemistry diagram, and if I try to figure it out for one more second, I'll implode."

Elizabeth laughed. "Let's go. So, she thought. The reason he was around the main campus was to look for me! And she'd been worried about running downstairs when she'd spotted him. Fool, she told herself. That'll teach you to play stupid little games.

Unless he's here to dump you, she thought nervously.

"We really need to talk, Elizabeth," he began.

Well, here it comes, she realized, bracing herself. Just don't cry in front of him as he's telling you it's over.

"I love being with you, Elizabeth. And I meant everything I said last night. I am falling in love with you. And I do want it to be just me and you. Nothing that happened--or didn't happen--is going to change that. There's no one else for me but you."

Stunned, Elizabeth stared at him, then jumped into his arms. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, Finn," she whispered, unable to say anything else.

They stood there, holding each other for a few minutes, and Elizabeth had never felt so relieved in her life. He kissed her gently, then took her hand, and they meandered along the brick paths between the lush SVU lawns.

"I do understand your feelings about your virginity, Elizabeth."

She flushed at his explicitness. "Do you?" she asked. "I thought it was different for guys."

"Well, it's just that any first time, whether it involves virginity or not, is scary. I'll be nervous for our first time, Elizabeth."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. She couldn't imagine Finn being anything but in total control and confident.

"Really," he told her with a smile. "You're very special to me. I'm gonna be so nervous that I might not even be able to, um, perform."

He stared down at the path, and she could tell it had cost him to say that. He was being very honest, she thought happily, sharing his intimate concerns. She wasn't the only one who was nervous in this relationship. Why hadn't she realized that? She'd been so self-absorbed!

She didn't quite know how to respond and was relieved when Finn spoke. "You know what I think might help us both? Something called projective anxiety."

"What's that?" she asked.

"When you're faced with doing something that makes you uncomfortable or nervous, all you need to do is imagine it going very well, then visualize it going well. Eventually you overcome your anxieties."

Projective anxiety. Would that work? she wondered. Was anxiety over making love even really the issue? She wasn't sure.

"So, I'm thinking that if we both try projective anxiety," he continued, "we could pick a date and we'll both know that's the day we'll make love for the first time. As it gets closer to the date, we'll have conquered any fears until all we feel is anticipation."

Huh. One minute it was like he was backing off, letting her off the hook, but in the next breath he was pressuring her again.

Projective anxiety. She tried to imagine their bodies, unclothed, pressed together. She tried to imagine him lying on top of her. But her mind balked at the completion of the image. She shivered. Maybe this projective-anxiety stuff didn't work in the first five minutes.

"Why don't we set a date for Saturday?" he suggested as they continued to walk.

Saturday? she thought nervously. This Saturday? Could visualizing work that fast? I don't know, she thought. I can't seem to think straight about this.

Suddenly she remembered she had a perfect excuse for why Saturday wouldn't work out. "Actually, we've already got plans for Saturday night. My housemates and I are throwing a party, so of course I'm dying to show you off."

"Great!" he said. "We can stay as long as you want. But Saturday will still work out perfectly since you're not going to want to sleep there afterward. The party will go on all night long, it'll be really smoky and gross, and the house will be a mess. You'll be glad to have somewhere else to go."

They'd stopped outside the biochemistry building. Elizabeth gazed into his caramel-colored eyes and tried to think of what to say to him, some way to buy herself a little more time.

Not yet, she thought. Not Saturday. Overnight at his place? It was just all . . . too much.

Then again, did she really want to wake up in the duplex on Sunday morning and have Sam attack everything Finn said and did the night before at the party? Did she really want to subject herself to his jealous lies about her boyfriend while she was trying to eat breakfast? No way. Now that she thought about it, just because she'd stay overnight at Finn's didn't mean they had to make love.

"You're right, Finn," Elizabeth said brightly. "We could probably escape to your place around midnight."

"It's a date, then," he replied. "Saturday night."

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