Page 4 of The Swap Masquerade

“Alone? What time is it?” I checked my watch, shocked to see that several hours had gone by since my last class. “Oh, wow. Time got away from me, I suppose.” I looked back up at him. “I appreciate you staying, but you should get out of here. It’s Friday. Go have fun and enjoy this great weather.”

“You know, I could say the same to you,” Terrance pointed out lightly. Over the years, we’d developed a friendship of sorts, but we’d always maintained a professional relationship, even though I no longer had him as a student in my classes.

“Touché.” I smiled at him, so he’d know I hadn’t taken any offense. “Actually, you’re right. I do need to get moving. I have dinner plans which I probably would have missed entirely if you hadn’t come in. I had no idea it had gotten so late.”

“Well, you’re welcome then. I’ll head out and leave you to it. Have a great weekend, Professor.”

“Thanks. You too, Terrance.”

I listened for the outer office door to shut behind him then I started gathering up my things. I slid the files from each of the community organizations who’d agreed to work with us on the project into my satchel, along with the sign-up sheets full of students’ names and my laptop. The next day, I would go around to each of the businesses, ironing out the details with the directors, answering any final questions, and letting them know which students they could expect to show up.

The project had been an idea I’d always wanted to implement in one of my classes, but somehow it had never quite worked out with the lessons I was teaching. However, it aligned perfectly with my current curriculum, allowing students to analyze how certain people and events throughout history had developed divisions in human equality, and how as members of the community, they could work to lessen those inequalities. Moreover, I wanted to provide an opportunity for them to take an active role in assessing the needs of their community and improving the lives of others. Of course, the class I was doing the project in just so happened to be my biggest with nearly two hundred students. That meant a lot more work for me and Terrance, but it was exciting to have so many students taking on volunteer assignments.

My phone beeped as I shoved the last file inside my satchel and shut the clasp. It was a text from Curtis. “Don’t be late,” was all it said. I snorted as I texted my best friend back. “Then quit texting me.” I locked my office door and was still smiling a few minutes later as I made my way across the parking lot and to my car.

I loved my job and was the first to admit I could get lost in my work sometimes. But once I was out of my office, feeling the last rays of sunshine on my face and the freedom that came with the weekend, it felt good to be getting out of there. Adding to my good mood was knowing that I would be spending the evening with my two best friends. Between their work schedules and mine, it had been several weeks since I’d seen either of them.

I smiled at the thought as I climbed inside my new Mazda CX-30, placing my satchel onto the passenger seat. It wasn’t a flashy car by any stretch of the imagination, but it was affordable, had low miles, and suited my lifestyle perfectly. I particularly liked the gunmetal gray exterior and plush leather seats. With the windows down and my favorite song playing on the radio, I left campus and started making the thirty-minute drive to meet up with Curtis and John.

* * *

The scent of grilled meats and spices permeated the air as I stepped inside the Mexican restaurant where I was meeting my friends for dinner. A Mariachi band was playing an upbeat song in one corner of the room and a waitress walked by carrying an order of fajitas. A trail of steam followed along behind her from the food still sizzling in the pan. The tantalizing aroma of sautéed peppers, steak, and onions made my mouth water.

Spotting my friends seated toward the back of the room, I headed in their direction. They sat close together in the booth; Curtis’s blond hair was in direct contrast to John’s darker locks as they bent in to look over the drink menu. Curtis said something and John looked at him, a tender smile spreading across his face. As much as I loved them, I couldn’t help the little pang of envy I felt whenever I saw them together.

Curtis and I had been best friends since kindergarten. He was sassy, fun, and loyal to a fault. John moved to our school in the fifth grade. He was skinny and awkward, and seemed really nervous that first day. Curtis and I had felt sorry for him, so we’d asked him to sit with us at lunch. We’d regaled him with stories about our teachers and classmates until he’d laughed so hard that milk had come out of his nose.

From that day on, the three of us were inseparable. Our parents used to tease that where one of us was, there you would find the other two, which was pretty accurate. Then the summer between tenth and eleventh grade, John was sent to help out on his uncle’s farm in Montana. Curtis and I had missed him like crazy and were waiting at the airport when he finally got back home. What happened next, however, took us both by surprise.

John had grown over the few months he’d been gone, standing a couple of inches taller than when he left, and his skin was a beautiful golden hue from hours working under the bright sun. However, that wasn’t the only noticeable difference. The most striking part of his transformation was the muscles he’d acquired as a direct result of spending the summer baling hay, chopping wood, and installing a new fence line around his uncle’s property. When John left on the plane, he’d still been a boy, shorter than most of the other kids our age and thin to the point of being scrawny. But the person who returned was a tall, built, and extremely good-looking young man.

It was around that time that Curtis began acting strangely. He’d always been a bit of a clown, goofing off and doing silly things to make us laugh. He still did all of that when it was just the two of us, but suddenly, whenever John came around, I noticed he got quieter, almost shy. I also caught Curtis staring at our friend on several occasions with a dopey look in his eyes that I couldn’t make sense of.

Curtis and I weren’t the only ones to recognize the changes in John. That year at school, a bunch of the girls had crushes on him, and the guys wanted him to join their sports teams. I worried we’d end up losing him to the more popular crowd but thankfully, that never happened. As much as he’d changed physically, inside, he’d remained the same loveable, sweet John we’d always known. There were a few small exceptions, mainly the way he began watching Curtis whenever he thought he wasn’t looking, and the way he’d laugh louder than usual at Curtis’s jokes, even when they weren’t funny.

The whole thing had been confusing to me and I’d wondered on more than one occasion what was going on with my best friends. Then one night, we were over at Curtis’s house. The two of them had been acting strange all day, sitting closer than usual and offering each other bites of their food. Curtis was even wearing cologne which I thought was super weird since all we were doing was hanging out and playing video games like we did almost every Friday night.

Curtis left his room to get some sodas. A few minutes later, I mentioned I was hungry, and John jumped up, saying he’d go see if Curtis had any popcorn. I stayed in the bedroom, taking a turn at the game, but after my character died for a third time and they still hadn’t come back, I started to wonder what was taking them so long. I became even more suspicious when I went downstairs and heard them whispering. I walked around the corner and froze, my eyes nearly popping out of my head. Standing in the middle of the kitchen were my two best friends with their arms around each other and their mouths fused together.

I must have made some sort of noise because they sprang apart from one another, their lips swollen and their faces turning red. Guilt swam in their eyes as they turned to face me, and they kept glancing nervously at each other. The fact they’d been caught kissing another guy was a non-issue. We’d known for years all three of us liked boys more than girls. It was the shock of seeing John and Curtis kissing each other that left me unable to form a coherent thought.

I’d like to say that I’d responded with something extremely profound and supportive, but what came out instead was more along the lines of, “So, is that a no on the popcorn?” It turned out to be the perfect ice breaker though because the next thing I knew, we were cracking up. We talked for a long time that night, each of them admitting the way their feelings had changed toward one another.

The two of them became an official couple after that night and continued dating all through high school and college. I dated a few guys in school but none ever turned into anything serious. Meanwhile, Curtis and John’s relationship continued to flourish, which was why I wasn’t surprised at all when they finally announced their engagement. I was extremely honored however, when they both asked me to be their best man. A year later, with the white Florida sand under our feet and the waves rolling in along the shore, I’d stood alongside my two best friends as they’d vowed to love each other forever. I honestly couldn’t picture any couple that was better suited for each other.

Curtis glanced up from the menu as I approached the table and a giant grin spread across his face. “There he is.” He quickly slid out of the booth and pulled me into a tight hug.

I hugged him back, laughing at his enthusiastic greeting. “Hey! It’s only been a few weeks since we saw each other.”

“Which is much too long, in my opinion. Come on, sit down.” He plopped back down, practically bouncing in his seat.

I shook my head as I leaned across the table to kiss John’s cheek. “How much caffeine has he had today?”

“Oh, you know. The usual thirty cups,” he chuckled.

Curtis nudged his husband’s shoulder with his own. “Whatever. I can’t help it if I miss your face. Besides, we have a lot to catch up on.”

Before I could ask what was going on, our waiter approached the table. He set a basket of fresh, warm tortilla chips down along with a bowl of salsa and glasses of ice water. We decided to share a pitcher of margaritas and the waiter scurried off in the direction of the bar while we munched on chips and looked over the menu.

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