Page 31 of Disorderly

He grinned. “I have to admit. It was pretty awesome. I wished I’d had my camera with me. The looks on their faces would have been perfect shots for the yearbook.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes. I relished the quiet after the hectic morning. All three classes acted as if there was a full moon on Friday the 13th. Neither of which was true. Interruption after interruption occurred in each class and the varied questions about the course work kept me on my toes. I could only hope that their apparent interest in English Literature translated into better test scores on their next ones.

“So I have to ask…” I glanced out the side of eyes at Greg, ensuring that I swallowed my mouthful. There could be only one subject that would make him a little hesitant and I’d been expecting it. Waiting for it in truth. After the way Jarrod and Jason went on about how the kiss would change things, how people in the town would change how they treated Jarrod and I, I’d been slightly put out that no one seemed to care. Well at least those who weren’t students who’d been trying to seduce me.

Not one person asked me about it. Not. A. Single. One.

The lack of interest almost made me feel invisible. Not something I felt too often in my life. During my school years, I’d been outgoing and friendly with all. Every group and clique accepted me, so I never ate an empty table for lunch if Jason wasn’t there. And dates found me without me having to work at it. Even outside of school I was well known. Mom and dad had been very involved in the town, allowing me to meet adults that wouldn’t normally have crossed my path. Complete strangers would greet me on the street and talk to me about something one of my parents bragged to them about.

“Go on.” I waved my hand as I smirked. If Greg was hesitating this badly, his question had to be a good one.

“You and the new accountant, your friend from university, correct?” I nodded. “When? Because you’ve certainly got the rep as a ladies’ man? I mean, some of your exploits and your parties are legendary. I’m not from here and even I’ve heard of some of the things you did back in high school.”

For an initial question, it wasn’t bad. Although from him, I’d been expecting something much worse. After all, he hadn’t needed to remind he knew about some of my earlier encounters since he’d asked me for in-depth details about some of them.

“Yes, he’s my friend from university and he’s the new accountant. Actually he’s the accountant running the new office downtown for a large firm in Winnipeg.”

“But when?” he asked when I didn’t add anything. “I mean, your kiss came as a pretty big surprise to everyone. No one knew you swung that way. Or were all the women just a cover up?”

I shrugged. If I had to label myself, I would have immediately said heterosexual because that is how I felt. I grew up with Jason identifying as bisexual, but that label didn’t fit me. I didn’t find myself attracted to random guys on the street even if the women around me thought they highly attractive. But Jason and Jarrod were different. The fact that they were men almost worked against my attraction to them. There was just something about them that called to my body and then to me.

“I don’t really know what to say. But we’ve been fooling around since our university days, but it’s never stopped either of us from playing with women.”

His eyebrows rose higher and higher with each word I said until they were hidden by his blond hair. “Are you poly?” I opened my mouth to answer, but he answered for me. “No, that doesn’t sound right. You’ve never had a relationship with any of the women I’ve seen you with over the years. They’ve all been pretty much one and done.” I grinned at that because it was true. The only time anyone took a second, third, fourth, or fifth ride on the joystick between my legs was if it was one long extended trip to wonderland before we parted ways. Well, usually. There had been that little blip this past summer, but that had been an aberration. One never to be repeated again.

“So if you’re not poly, but you say you’re not bisexual…” He shrugged. “I guess who really needs labels. So long as you’re happy. And not just happy because those harpies aren’t swarming you. It’s all good.”

“I am,” I answered immediately and without thinking. It was my pat answer, and it was truthful… mostly. I was happy. Happy with my work. Happy with having Jarrod in my house all the time. I’d missed him when he was back in Winnipeg in the condo we’d shared. And things were better with Jason now. Not back to normal because he was away, but I thought that he’d finally forgiven me for my stupid mistakes back in August with Debbie. But if I dug deeper, that happiness wasn’t as deep as it could be. There were pieces missing. Pieces that I wasn’t sure I was ready to face.

“Good. Because having you off the market—you are, aren’t you?—has really upped my game.”

I choked on the mouthful of sandwich I’d just bitten, thinking it had finally been safe to eat. Once I stopped coughing, and after a couple of pounds on my back from helpful Greg, I managed to sputter that I was off the market. Because I was. Or was I? I don’t know that we talked about that or decided on that aspect of our relationship.

To my relief, Ashley walked in with Dr. Stone following. It hadn’t just been some senior girls who’d been trying to get me out of my pants, but a couple of single female teachers as well. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I told them I didn’t date co-workers; they didn’t seem to get the message. And my kiss with Jarrod didn’t seem to bother them as much. In fact, it almost seemed to have the opposite effect. Now whenever we were alone or if she thought she could get away with it, Ashley would talk about how she wanted both of us in bed with her. But with Dr. Stone around, she wouldn’t dare harass me.

“Peter, I’m so glad I caught you.” Dr. Stone slid into the empty chair next to me, cutting off Ashley who’d been angling to sit there. She did it so smoothly that you would have thought she didn’t even see Ashley, but the twinkles in her eyes and the quick wink she tossed me, proved otherwise. Dr. Stone—she had a PhD in English Literature and another in education—liked to act like her age was affecting her, making her seem like she was starting to forget things in her last year of teaching, but it was all an act. That woman’s mind was stronger than a steel trap. Even though I was the one developing and running the AP English class, it was all at her urging and doing. She helped me every step of the way. And she’d been the one to foster my interest in English and teaching. She’d even had the Mr. Kostiak, the principal put the bug in my ear to go into teaching when I’d rushed home for Katy’s dad’s funeral.

“I’m not usually that hard to catch.” She laughed and smacked my arm as Greg muttered under his breath, something about having it right. But Ashley looked like she’d sucked on a bowl full of fresh lemon juice.

“Quit flirting with me, young man. You wouldn’t even know where to start with me. I’d chew you up and spit you out.”

“But what a way to go,” Greg and I said at the same time, causing all three of us to crack up. Only Ashley kept a straight face if you could really call her scowl and harrumph that.

Once the laughter died down, Dr. Stone explained the reason she was looking for me. She’d had something come in her schedule which meant we couldn’t meet that day after school for our normal weekly meeting and she wondered if I’d be free to do it the next day. To which I agreed. And even if I’d had a list ten items long scheduled for then, I still would have agreed and then spent the rest of the day rearranging my schedule. That’s just how much she meant to me.

With that settled, and with Ashley starting to eat, I packed up my empty lunch containers into my bag. “Speaking of AP, I need to head out and start my prep. They have a surprise quiz in the class, and I want to go over it again, making sure it is perfect. Last time, two students pointed out typos. Thankfully they were in the photocopied passages sent by the coordinator and not in my sections, but still, the students made fun of me for days for not catching them.”

“Gee, I’ve never hadthathappen before.” Dr. Stone stared down her nose at me. An incredible feat since she was looking up at me. But her stare worked like it always did, bringing redness to my cheeks.

“I wasn’t that bad,” I protested.

“Sure you weren’t.”

“Can you two sit with me every lunch hour? I haven’t laughed this hard in weeks. And I could use some laughs since Kelsy broke up with me.” Greg wiped an imaginary tear from his cheek as I rolled my eyes. From what he’d told me about Kelsy, it hadn’t been a great loss. Although, to be honest, I was surprised she pulled the plug before he did from the way he’d been talking about her.

“How about a guys’ night? We can get tickets to Saturday’s home game for the Northern Pikes.”

“It’s a date. And feel free to bring Jarrod and others. I’ve always said, ‘the more, the merrier’ when it comes to matters of the heart.”

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