'Secret Life of the American Teenager' recap: Rumors are flying!

When we last left our awkwardly horny high schoolers, they were falling in puppy love and/or getting their hearts broken at the school dance. And we were left wanting a little more than the usual stereotypes. Well, it seems that for episode 2, the writers of Secret Life of the American Teenager might’ve actually talked to their teenage relatives for some insight. Behold: dialogue that made me laugh, stories I could believe, and even a little character development!

So, the rumor mill has begun churning, thanks of course to the loud mouths of Amy’s sidekicks and BFFs Lauren and Madison. Hear that kids? Her best friends spilled the proverbial beans — trust no one! It’s high school! As Mama Raphael used to say when I was younger than these Proactiv-using kiddies: "Little rabbits have big ears." The bunnies in this case were Ben’s friends, Alice and Henry, who sauntered up just as Madison blurted out the tip of the iceberg: that Amy and Ricky had sex. Oops! And soon after, word had spread around the school faster than "um, like, that HPV thing."

But wait…there’s more! (After the jump, of course.)

Ricky confided in Amy (pictured, with Ben) about his girl dramz with Adrian, but I can’ttell yet if he’s a decent, wounded guy looking for a friend or if he’sjust a jerk without the proverbial heart of gold. Something tells methough, that the "go somewhere and talk" proposal is synonymous with"just the tip" to randy Ricky. To form an educated opinion, though, it’d  be nice to see a flashback to what actually happenedthat fateful night between Amy and him. Oh, and side note to Adrian and her band-geek accusations against Amy: Watch how you callthe kettle black, girl! You’re a majorette! Since when does a glorified baton twirler get to make fun of anyone for being dorky? Later, Ricky and Adrian consummated their pseudo relationship withsome illicit nookie — on a school night?! I’m feeling for Adrianwith her big empty house and raging hormones; hopefully she can erasethe hot pink "A" that seems to be branded on her.

As for the other half of our love rectangle, at first, I thought that Ben (who, by the way, reminds me much more of JT Yorke from Degrassi than Seth Cohen) offering up "the L-word" to Amy might’ve been a little extreme. But then I recalled how I practically exchanged vowswith my 9th grade boyfriend — on AIM, duh — long before our firstdate…which wasn’t a real date, but a birthday party in my friend’sbasement. I’d have to find the URL for my old Live Journal to correctlyfact-check this memory, but it made me realize Benny Boy’s proclamations weren’t really all that far-fetched.

In other news, my heart went out to Grace in this episode afterwatching her grapple with hating Adrian, still loving Jack, andjuggling these real emotions with her parents’ unreal expectations ofher. The baby feminists across the country must have been groaning whenGrace forgave Jack, but I’m worried that when she finds out that he andAdrian did more than kiss, our Christian pom-pom rocker is going tofreak out on us Jessie Spano style — "I’m so excited! I’m soexcited! I’m so…"

And the juicy story lines are beginning to trickle in from the families, too.Amy’s dad used to be married to Grace’s mom. Plus, theJuergens are having money problems? I smell a good embezzlement or cokescandal brewing. We also got to hear a little more fromAmy’s sis (India Eisley) who is really a fun character, thatdisinterested little sassmachine! As for the rest of the 18-and-overs,I’m bored with "hot new counselor" Marc Molina. At least until/unless he has an affairwith a student!

So how did this episode match up to your teen years? Anything thatwas frighteningly true to your life? Do you think Amy’s "it neverhappened!" is alluding to a trip to the abortion clinic? Butthen wouldn’t the whole show be over?