KALANI HAD finally lost her virginity.
She lost her virginity to a guy she loved, to a guy she cared about, to a guy that laid beside her, his bare chest heaving up and down as the blanket laid gently against both of their skins.
Kalani turned, laying on her side as she looked over at Ben. They hadn't said much since they... finished, but she wanted him to say something... anything.
She wasn't going to speak first and make a fool of herself. She wouldn't dare do that. She wouldn't dare put herself in that position.
Ben soon turned over, a small smile on his face as he looked over at her.
If you recall, Kalani gave Ben her special pass to get back together as boyfriend and girlfriend and to have sex. She even told the boy that she loved him.
She wasn't drunk. She'd known for months that she loved Ben Gross and that she wanted to be with him... but is that what he wanted.
That's what her mind was now asking her. She wanted to know what he wanted. He had sex with her, yeah, but did he really want to get back together with the girl?
Jodie Sweetin (Kalani's inner voice and the reason Kalani probably needed to go back to therapy) popped up behind the girl.
"He's gotta say something." Jodie said, "I'm begging him, for our sake, that he says something nice."
"Um... I guess if there's nothing else, I should hit the hay." Ben sighed, "Can I call you an Uber?"
"An Uber?" Jodie questioned, "A damn Uber!?"
"Oh." Kalani muttered, "You want me to leave?"
"Kalani—"
"No," She sat upright, the blanket still over her bare chest, "yeah. I should go."
She turned over, facing Jodie as she grabbed her bra from her imaginary figure.
"You're gonna leave?" Jodie asked.
"I don't have a choice."
Ben furrowed his brows, "Did you say something?"
"No."
Kalani put her bra on, grabbing her dress from the floor and slipping that on as well. She grabbed the hair tie from his bedside table and threw her hair into a messy ponytail.
She grabbed her cardigan and faced Ben once more. She sighed and she glanced over, seeing Jodie staring dagger into the boys soul.
"Call me... I guess."
With that Kalani left Ben's house with Jodie shouting profanities in her ear. Neither of them could believe Ben. He was gonna get her an Uber? Would it be an UberX at least?
That didn't matter. She called Jacob (the day of his high school graduation) to take her home and it was just as awkward as the aftermath of her events with Ben.
"YOU HAD sex with Ben Gross?" Her trio of friends asked.
"Yes." She muttered into her pillow.
"How was it?" Fabiola asked.
"It was my first time... I think it was okay." Kalani answered.
"Did you have an organism?" Eleanor asked.
Kalani lifted her head from the pillow, "No."
"Did he?" Devi asked.
"I think so?"
"How many positions did you do?" Eleanor asked.
"Two. Surprisingly."
"They definitely do four to five on Euphoria." Fabiola muttered.
"This isn't Euphoria. This is my life." Kalani said, "Do you think Ben wanted to have Euphoria sex?"
"I mean, who doesn't?" Eleanor asked.
"How am I supposed to know what to do? Did I have bad, first time sex?" Kalani asked, "Is this why I was pushed away?"
"So you two aren't together?" Devi asked, "Do you love him?"
"I don't know what to think or what to do." Kalani sighed, "After last night I don't know if I love him. He was going to order me an Uber. I do, however, know that I like him."
"Then you need to text him." Eleanor said.
Kalani stood from her bed with her phone in her hands as she paced back and forth. She finally came up with something and turned towards the trio of friends on her bed.
"Hey, do you wanna hang out at the Cheesecake Fac and spilt and Caramel Apple Cheesecake?" She read.
She finally glanced up and was hit in the face with a pillow.
"Ow! What the hell?" Kalani questioned.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Fabiola winced, "That text was so lame, it was a reflex."
"You seem desperate." Devi added.
"I'm not. I just wanna know where our minds our."
"No sit-down restaurants." Fabiola suggested.
"Pretend you're Kristen Stewart. What would she text?" Eleanor smiled.
"Wanna meet at Starbucks later?" Kalani read.
"That's Kristen Stewart." Devi smiled.
"You have never been sexier."
Kalani finally hit send and a few moment later, her phone pinged again.
"I'm actually pretty busy, but thanks for the invite." She read, "Have a great summer."
Kalani paused before looking up, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
AND JUST like that, 3 months had passed and school was back in session.
Kalani had turned in her applications to her top five colleges, UCLA, NC State, Duke, Dartmouth, and Brown University.
She had heard back and hung out with Jacob from time to time before he headed off to NC State to start his freshman year.
She had gotten her nails done. Long, pink, french tip nails. She was pretty fucking set to start her senior year.
Kalani was going to kick senior year in the ass and nothing and no one, was going to ruin that for her.
She grabbed her bracelets, sliding them down her wrist, putting in her small hoop earrings, and grabbing her Anastasia Beverly Hills Matte and Satin Velvet Lipstick to finally finish off the look.
She moved from her desk to her bed to grab her pink Air Force Ones and began tying the laces when her phone pinged.
She leaned over, grabbing it from her bedside table and picked it up. A small smile on her face as Jacob sent her text.
First day! Stan senior year in the ass! Miss you. It read. She sent a quick reply and unplugged the phone from the charger. She gave herself one last look.
She tugged and the hem of her cropped pink shirt and pulled the waist of her high waisted jeans higher... if possible. She sighed, grabbing her backpack from the ground and her keys that rested on a random command hook.
She made her way downstairs. Seeing her sister Meredith grabbing herself and Kalani and muffin.
The two took their final first day of high school photo and made their way to their respective cars.
Kalani sat at the wheel for a moment and turned on the radio.
"You're gonna kill this." Jodie spoke.
"I'm gonna kill this." Kalani repeated.
"You're gonna show Sherman Oaks that you're absolutely that bitch."
"I'm that bitch."
"And you're gonna forget about Ben Gross this year."
"And I'm gonna— Wait, what?" Kalani questioned. She soon pulled out of her drive way and made her way to school, "I haven't thought about sex with Ben since that day."
"But you have thought about dating him haven't you?"
"Maybe?" Kalani sighed, "It's an on again off again thought."
"Kalani."
"Why am I even listening you right now?" She questioned, "You're supposed to be my inner monologue."
"And yet you chose to see and hear me. You're the problem."
Kalani heavily sighed and finally pulled into the Sherman Oaks parking lot.
She picked up her backpack from the passenger seat and made her way out of her car.
She found Devi, Fabiola, and Eleanor waiting for her outside of the school. Kalani smiled, putting a pep in her step as she made her way over to the trio.
"Well, we're finally seniors, and honestly, I think we're doing pretty great." Devi smiled, "And half of the group are in stable relationships. Fab's even dating a college kid."
"Addison and I already went on a feat at the USC dining hall." Fabiola smiled as she placed small poster of the robotics club on the wall, "We spilt fajitas and a Belgian waffle. And I am so excited to recruit new kids for the robotics team. Eric says there's a big crop of nerds coming from the middle school, which is huge for us."
"Well, all in all, I think we've really grown into being the poised, fearless women we always dreamed we'd be."
The girls paused in the hallways and soon, Ben turned the corner, giving a small nod towards them before heading off.
"Dude, have you talked to him?" Fabiola asked.
"Yeah... not about the sex, but it's small, "Hey, how are ya?" and "Yeah... I miss the Clippers." But not about the sex." Kalani answered.
"Ew." Devi scoffed, "Why does it reek of weed?"
The group turned and there stood, Hot Pocket, aka Ethan Morales.
"Holy shit, did Ethan get smoking hot over the summer?" Devi asked, "He grew like two feet."
"Yeah. When did his torso get so claw-able?" Eleanor questioned.
"What's up?" Trent called, "Whose torso is claw-able?"
Eleanor quickly turned, "Uh, mine. Because I have a rash."
"I'm sorry, babe, that sounds really gross. What you up to?" He asked, "Wanna go make out by the bleachers? Maybe not second base. 'Cause I don't wanna catch your rash."
"I'd love to, but I'm so busy. I have my meeting with Ms. Warner, the college counselor, and we start rehearsals for the fall musical, a stage adaptation of Dune. What's your schedule like?"
"Uh... Yeah, I'm super busy too, with classes."
"What are you taking?" Devi asked, "We're all in BC Calc and AP Lit."
"Oh, I wanted to take those classes, but they just sounded too easy for me, so I'm in BP Frigonomentry."
"Is that a joke?" Kalani asked, "You can tell us if that's a joke."
"I gotta jet." Trent said, "But I'll see you fellow eggheads in study hall later."
Trent left the group along and the group of girls left to head to Ms. Keyes calls for AP Lit, which Kalani had to pass.
She had always made straight A's, she made sure to hit that make when she start middle school, though "grades truly mattered when you got to high school" which she thought was bullshit.
And feeling a strange set of confidence, she decided to finally go talk to Ben.
She found him sitting in study hall and began to make her way towards him, only to suddenly pause when Margot approached him and kissed him.
Kalani bit the inside of her cheek and turned. She wouldn't react. She wouldn't cause a scene. Because that wasn't her. It was more Devi in that sense and if she wanted to cause a scene she'd get Devi to do it for her.
But Devi wasn't around. Neither were Fabiola or Eleanor. Hell, not even Jacob.
Kalani was alone.
"Lani, wait!"
She shut her eyes, turning and faced Ben.
"You're dating Margot?" She asked.
Ben sighed, "Yes... I am."
"I tried to call you all summer, I let you take my virginity, and I said things that night that meant a lot to me and you said nothing." Kalani spoke softly, "You will never understand how humiliated I feel right now."
"I assumed it was a one-time thing, especially because of the way you bolted out of my room right afterward."
"You were gonna call me an Uber!"
"I only said that because you weren't saying anything and you looked uncomfortable."
"You had your dick in me, Ben." Kalani scoffed, "Did you want me to go fucking Sydney Sweeney on you?" She asked, "I texted you. I wanted to talk about it and you didn't. Do you even remember what I told you that night?"
"You were talking so fast, I just—"
Kalani rested her hands over her eyes and sighed.
"So you wanted another warm body?" Kalani asked.
Jodie always seemed to pop up in Kalani's mind and side whenever she needed her and right now, the blonde smiled bright as she stood next to her side.
"What'd you just call me?" Margot asked, approached the two.
"I'm sorry, but I'm talking to him. Sort of a A-B conversation."
"You're screaming at my boyfriend."
"There are many, many things I want to say to the both of you, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't screaming and you've only drawn the circle around us now. So, yeah warm body, I'm gonna go—"
"You're just gonna take that shit from her?" Devi asked, stepping forward.
"Don't." Kalani muttered.
"You should know that Kalani and Ben had sex before you guys got together, so you might want to dump his ass." Devi angrily spoke.
"Actually, he did tell me that, I'm not sure why I should care."
"I... I think this is escalating in an unnecessarily public way." Ben spoke.
"Only smart thing you've said today." Kalani muttered. She pulled in Devi's arm, "Stop. Let it go."
"No, I'm defending you."
"I appreciate that but—"
"Also, I think it's pretty clear which warm body he wanted, and it wasn't yours." Margot said.
Kalani turned, her brows knit, "Have fun riding his circumsied dick."
"Yeah, tell her!" Devi smiled.
There was a sudden gasp and the two turned to see Dr. Keyes laying on the ground.
"Dude, Devi and Kalani just killed that old lady!" Trent shouted.
"Great. Are you happy now?" Devi asked, "Look what you did."
"Me?" Margot questioned, "I should kick her ass!"
Kalani turned once more, "You want to fight me over Ben, makes you seem really desperate."
"Miss Vishwakumar, Miss Ramos, and Miss Wang, to my office now." Principal Grubbs called, "And someone get the nurse for Dr. Keyes."
THE THREE girls sat in Principal Grubbs office.
Kalani had never, in her life, been in this office and this was a horrible way to start it.
"Just so I'm completely clear on this, you three are threatening to beat each other up over Ben Gross?" She asked.
"Sadly."
"Yeah, there's only one Ben Gross in this school." Principal Grubbs sighed, "Okay, look, Sherman Oaks High has a zero-tolerance policy against violence or threats of violence. Margot, you need to apologize to Kalani immediately."
"Can't I just get detention, or, like, clean some toilets? I'll literally do anything else."
"Just say you're sorry."
"Fine." Margot turned in her seat, "Even though you acted like a skank, it was not cool to threaten to kick your ass. Which I could've done easily."
"Okay, wonderful. You're dismissed."
Kalani sighed, grabbing her backpack from the floor and made her way towards her locker.
This was not the way she wanted to start her senior year.
Kalani went home that day in defeat.
Nightfall fell over California and Kalani had been wrapped in her Hello Kitty blanket watching episodes of Young Sheldon on TV.
Meredith made her way downstairs to get a snack from the kitchen and rush back upstairs because downstairs at night scared her, but she paused midway when she found Kalani resting on the couch.
"칼라니 (Kalani)" Meredith called, "Why are you downstairs?"
Meredith approached the couch and sat down next to Kalani, lifting her sister's head to lay on her lap.
"I'm sad."
Meredith nodded, running her fingers through Kalani's hair.
"About Ben?"
Kalani sat up, Meredith finally seeing that her sister had red eyes and dry tear stains on her face.
"It's so stupid to cry over a boy." Kalani sighed, "But he really hurt me, Meredith. I've always seen in the movies that after you have sex with someone, you'll be happy with them, fall in love, all the other shit that you see."
Meredith gave Kalani a small smile, cupping her cheeks to wipe the tears the were falling from her face.
"It's okay to still like him, Lani." She spoke softly, "And I know it sucks to feel this way. You're allowed to feel how you feel. Allow yourself that because if you don't, you'll never let it go."
"I just wanted to be loved by him and it sounds so dramatic."
"Love is. Love is very dramatic." Meredith said, "Wanting to be loved is okay. You'll find and you'll it. You deserve world, Lani. And someone will give that to you."
Kalani nodded, resting her head against Meredith's shoulder, throwing the blanket over the both of them.
The two of them fell sleep downstairs that night. Young Sheldon playing in the background until the sun rose that very next day.
SPEAKING OF, the next day Kalani sighed as she made her way towards Margot in the school hallways.
"Margot." She called out, "Can we talk?"
"Actually, no. I'm trying to avoid bitch energy as much as possible.
"Okay," Kalani sighed, "I just wanted to apologize for what I said. It was totally out of line and out of character for me. I was hurt by him and it was the first time we talked in awhile and I was angry. But it's not your fault. I'm really sorry."
"Wow. Thanks. I appreciate it."
"So, we're good?"
"Yeah. I mean, I'd never, like, choose to be friends with a huge nerd, but—"
Eleanor rushed down the halls, grabbing Kalani's arm.
"Come quick." She panted, "The new Hot Pocket just told me Trent was shot. Come on."
Eleanor rushed off and Kalani gave Margot a shoulder shrug and rushed off behind Eleanor.
The two of them made their way towards study hall and found Trent laying on one of the couches saying he'd been shot by Cupid.
He got down on one knee, holding a velvet box in his hands.
"Eleanor Middle Name Wong, will you marry me?"
"No."
After that bombshell proposal, Kalani was making her way towards her car and was soon being call on by Ben.
"Hey, I heard what happened with Margot."
"We're good, Ben. No vendetta against her."
"I just wanted to apologize. For ghosting you that day." Ben spoke, "Look, I know that I must come off as this sophisticated... sexually experienced stud—"
"I was the first girl you had sex with." She chuckled, "Don't push it."
Ben continued, "But I didn't meet up with you that day because... I was embarrassed how bad it was."
"I didn't have bad, if that's what you wanted to hear." She reassured, "We had, we saw parts of each other that we've never seen even when we were dating. It was awkward, but I was more bummed because I... said some really personal things that night and I thought weren't ready to say and now that you're with Margot, I can see that I'm right."
"I want happy, Kalani. I just don't if that's with me. So, I'm gonna stay with Margot."
Kalani sadly smiled, "I'm glad with her."
"Thank you." He smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow."
He walked off and Kalani sighed, turning herself and making her way to her car.
"I'm proud of you, kid." Jodie said, "Not only did you bitch out Margot, you also moved up on the moving on pedestal."
"Definitely working on it."
Kalani pulled her car keys out of her bag and as soon as she looked up the words stupid bitch stood out as they were spray painted over her car.
"What the fuck!?"
Such a great way to start out your senior year.
— lucy has something to say !!
welcome back to our final act
i never had study hall in high school 😝
y'all doing know that kalani and meredith wang are korean don't you?
bye :))))