Page 5 of Romance Languages

“Anytime. That’s what colleagues are for.”

“Come on. I think we’re past only being colleagues. We’re buds.” He shrugged, like he was embarrassed for even having to say this.

“Definitely.”

He hopped off the desk. “Well, I’m going to enter in lesson plans that parents and students won’t look at.”

“And then they’ll blame you when they fall behind.”

“Like clockwork. Don’t work too hard, Jules.” Seamus studied me for a minute, his gaze a flaming hot spotlight. “You okay? You seem a little blue.”

“Blue? I mean, I just realized my birthday is in one month. It’s a big one.”

“Nice! I’m definitely getting you a gift. Anything in particular you want?”

You. On top of me. Thrusting. Kissing. Confessing your love.

I shook out the thought before it became a full-fledged horny daydream.

“Nope.”

“I’ll think on it.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I know birthdays can be stressful. I had a little freakout when I turned thirty last year. But don’t let it get to you. You’re doing great, Jules.”

He peered down at me, freezing time for a moment.

“Thanks, Mr. Shablahblah.”

“Shh. Don’t reveal my secret identity.”

He was joking. Everyone at South Rock who knew how to use BlingBling was well aware of his videos. I’d tried showing one of his videos to Mrs. Darling, my fellow French teacher who was on the verge of retirement. She’d let out an annoyed sigh and said “I don’t get it.”

“Good morning, gentlemen!” Principal Aguilar joined our conversation.

“What’s good, Principal Aguilar?” Seamus asked.

“I just added two new cacti to my collection over the weekend. They’re extra prickly!”

Principal Aguilar was almost fifty and equally obsessed with corny jokes and his cacti collection. And yet even he was probably having regular sex with his boyfriend Clint.

“Do you mind if I talk to Julian for a moment?”

“I was just on my way out. Off to upload my teaching plans to our sterling new software.” Seamus pivoted around and shot me a smile. “Thanks again for the help, Jules.”

“Anytime.”

The air changed once Seamus left the room, like a party that had lost its coolest member.

“Julian, do you still have your health certification active?”

“Yes. I took courses on it in college and post-grad.”

“Good.” His brow furrowed, making my stomach tighten with concern, but I didn’t know what to be concerned about.

“It was easy to add on the certification to my course load since I already had distribution credits.” I found myself rambling, not unlike my friend Everett, who was much more of a conversationalist.

“Mrs. Stockman broke her leg skiing, so she’s going to be out for a few weeks.”

“Is she okay?” This was reason number one why I never got into skiing. I preferred to stick to activities where people weren’t prone to tumbling down mountains or crashing into trees. Like attending museums. Nobody ever broke their legs at a museum visit.

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