So . . . ,? Vanessa said, bouncing her knee against Dan?s thigh as they lay naked on their backs, contemplating his cracked bedroom ceiling in a postcoital daze. ?What did you think?? Vanessa had already tried sex a couple of times before with her ex-boyfriend Clark, an older bartender she?d gotten together with briefly in the fall, when Dan (along with the rest of the predictable male population) had been too busy mooning over Serena van der Woodsen to notice that Vanessa had fallen in love with him. Even if Vanessa had just done it for the first time, she would have been matter-of-fact about it, because that was the way she was about everything. Dan, on the other hand, wasn?t matter-of-fact about anything, andhe was the one who?d just been deflowered. She couldn?t wait to hear his reaction. ?It was . . .? Dan stared unblinkingly up at the gray, turned-off lightbulb dangling from the center of the ceiling, feeling immobilized and overstimulated at the same time. Their hips were touching under the thin, burgundy-colored sheet, and it felt like an electric current was running between them, pinging out of Dan?s toes, his knees, his belly button, his elbows, and the ends of his hair. ?Indescribable,? he finally answered, because there really were no words to describe how it had felt. Writing a poem about sex would be impossible, unless he resorted to boring, clich?d metaphors like exploding fireworks or musical crescendos. Even those were totally inaccurate. They gave no sense of the actualfeeling , or how sex was this whole discovery process during which everything commonplace became absolutely amazing. For instance, Vanessa?s left arm: it wasn?t a particularly spectacular arm?fleshy and pale, covered in brownish fuzz, and sprinkled with moles. While they?d been having sex it had no longer been the same old arm he?d known and loved since he and Vanessa had accidentally gotten locked out of a party in tenth grade?it had been an exquisite, precious thing that he couldn?t stop kissing; something new and exciting and delicious. Oh,God . See? Everything he could think of to describe what sex was like sounded like a lame ad for a new cereal or something. Even the wordsex was wrong, andmaking love sounded like a bad soap opera. Electricwould have been a good word to describe what sex was like, but then again, it had too many negative connotations, like the electric chair or an electric cattle fence.Teeming was another good word, but what did it mean exactly? Andquivering sounded too dainty and puny, like a scared little mouse. If he were ever going to write a poem about sex, he wanted to provoke thoughts of sexy, muscular beasts like lions and stags, not mice. ?Earth to Dan?? Vanessa reached over and flicked her finger against his earlobe. ?Pinnacle,? Dan muttered senselessly. ?Epiphany.? Vanessa ducked under the sheet and blew a giant raspberry on Dan?s pale, hollow stomach. ?Hello? Are you in shock or something?? Dan grinned and scooted her up his chest so he could kiss her Cheshire cat mouth and dimpled chin. ?Let?s do it again.?
 Whoo! Vanessa giggled and rubbed her nose against his unruly brown eyebrows. ?So I guess you enjoyed it, huh?? Dan kissed her right eye and then her left. ?Mmm,? he sighed, his whole body humming with pleasure and desire. ?I love you.? Vanessa collapsed on his chest and squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn?t a very girly girl, but no girl can help but melt the first time she hears a boy say those three words. ?I love you, too,? she whispered back. Dan felt like his whole body was smiling. Who?d known this mundane Monday in February would wind up so damned . . .great ? So much for flowery descriptions and poetic turns of phrase. All of a sudden his cell phone sounded its startling, vibrating ring from where it sat on the bedside table, only inches away. Dan was pretty sure it was only his little sister, Jenny, calling to complain about school again. He turned his head to read the number on the little screen. PRIVATE, the message flashed, which only happened when Vanessa called him from home. ?It?s your sister.? Dan propped himself up on one elbow as he reached for his phone. ?Maybe she?s calling to tell you to get your own damn cell phone,finally ,? he joked. ?Should I answer it?? Vanessa rolled her eyes. She and her twenty-two-year-old bass-guitar-playing sister, Ruby, shared an apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Ruby had made three New Year?s resolutions: to do yoga every day, to drink green tea instead of coffee, and to be more nurturing toward Vanessa, since their own parents were too busy being art-hippie freaks up in Vermont to nurture her themselves. Vanessa was pretty sure Ruby was only calling to ask when she?d be home so Ruby could have the meatloaf and mashed potatoes all done when she got there, but it was so unlike Ruby to call Dan?s phone right in the middle of the school day that she couldn?t resist answering. She took the ringing phone from Dan and clicked it open. ?Yeah? How did you know where to find me?? ?Well, good afternoon to you, darling sister o? mine,? Ruby chirped cheerfully. ?Remember? I stuck your schedule up on the refrigerator so I?d know exactly where you are and what you?re thinking about at all times, like the new and improved version of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that the mail came and there was a suspicious-looking envelope from NYU addressed to you. I couldn?t help but open it. And guess what?You got in! ? ?No fucking way!? Vanessa?s body was already shot through with adrenaline from saying, ?I love you,? and nowthis . Not to be cheesy, but talk about orgasmic! She?d never been sure of her chances of getting in early, and just to show the NYU admissions office her artistic range and to prove how serious she was about being a film major, she?d sent them the New York film essay that she?d shot over Christmas break. Once she?d sent it in, she?d worried they?d think she was tryi............