Waiting in Line for the New iPad Read Free Page B

had been any kind of breeze. Doing his
utmost to keep calm and collected, maintain the pretense that he
had some kind of confidence going on, he answered: "I can't think
of anything better. It usually means I can give her exactly what
she wants - and then everyone's happy."
    Oh, that wasn't good. A white lie - making
her think he was actually experienced. But she wouldn't want to
keep flirting with him if she knew he was a virgin, would she?
    She nodded, buying his lie. "It doesn't
damage your manly reputation?"
    "Of course not. If I know what a girl wants,
I can make her feel amazing, and surely that makes me more of a
man?"
    She gave him a mock swoon, fanning her face
with a hand like a Southern lady. "Lord have mercy," she said.
"Where do I sign up for whatever college St Joseph's boys go
to?"
    Dylan smiled, feeling so warm inside, he
didn't even need an extra sweater now. "This time of year? Good
luck."
    She laughed.
    Then he looked up to see Noelle's friends all
returning bearing brown paper bags stuffed full of fast food, and
his heart sank. Was that it? Now that her friends had returned, she
wasn't going to want to be seen talking to someone who looked like
him, a guy with no puffed-out chest or anything - just unkempt
black hair and old clothes that were kind of fraying at the
edges.
    But as the other girls approached, she didn't
move an inch, remaining sitting right where she was beside him.
    "Guys, this is Dylan," she called out. "He's
cool."
    "Hey, Dylan!" Dylan flushed a little, though
he tried not too.
    "And Dylan, this is Ellie, Chrissy, Sasha and
Marie.
    "Hey, how's it going?"
    "We had the feeling you might be joining us,
Dylan," Chrissy said, and to his utter surprise handed a brown
paper bag to him. "Quarter-pounder okay? We figured if you're man
enough to stand up to Noelle here, you probably wouldn't want
anything less."
    "Seriously?" he asked, but felt overjoyed at
being included in the meal.
     
     
*
     
     
    As proper darkness came, Dylan was surprised
to find people in the queue actually bedding down in sleeping bags
and - a few - in tents. It seemed ripe for some unscrupulous types
to find ways to jump the line, but he supposed that everyone knew
well who was in front and behind them in the queue, so it would be
easy to self-police the line.
    Over a pleasant supper, Dylan found himself
fitting into his new circle of adopted friends comfortably. They
seemed to make certain social assumptions about him based on the
fact that he was hanging out with them - that he liked certain
bands, that he must be a regular party-goer and all round social
alpha-male at St Josephs.
    He did his best not to lie, but saw no reason
to correct their views of him, either.
    He found out more about Noelle and her
friends - they seemed so normal to him, even though they were all
like minor deities to him. They didn't seem to talk much about the
whole reason they were all there - the upcoming iPad launch - and
he began to suspect that only Chrissy was anything close to being
an Apple geek. 
    They seemed quite impressed that he was
queuing through the night on behalf of his sister - that got him
some brownie points, and a lovely smile from the enchanting
Noelle.
    Conversation was easier when there were more
people to share in it, and Dylan found that although he was grilled
quite a bit as the newcomer to the group, he was able to leave the
talking to the others when the subject came round to areas in which
he was not an expert. 
    Compared to everyone else in the line, their
group seemed to stay up much later - into the small hours. Until
midnight came and went, the girls' conversation appeared to steer
clear of the kind of dirty subjects they had been talking about
before Dylan came along. But as they passed into the day on which
the mighty iPad would be launched, things began to loosen up a
little again.
    All through the evening since he'd joined
them, Dylan had been given the strange sense that the other girls
were trying to