Page 52 of Poles Apart
Dom considered what Jordan had said and had to admit he was right. He had felt happier than he had in a while, barring Friday obviously, but overall? Yeah, Jacob made him happy. He smiled to himself, snuggled in next to his brother, and they sat the rest of the evening watching Jordan’s endless reruns of Stargate.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jacob
Jacob managed to avoid Abby’s questioning for the most part on Sunday. He told her where they’d gone to eat and that they’d walked through the park—omitting the part where he’d given Dom a blowjob.
He spent the remainder of the night preparing the week’s lessons and planning for the upcoming weekend away. They had twenty children going and four adults. He knew it would be enough, but some of the kids they were taking could be a handful, Noah Wilkins included.
The next few days passed quickly enough. Monday was a juggling act, trying to balance the excitement of the children who were coming along on the weekend with the glum faces of the ones that weren’t. He’d tried not to mention it too much, but inevitably there’d been some tears, and that was just from Colin.
Tuesday night, he’d met up with Dom again and suffered endless ribbing from Abby when they’d been unable to keep their lips off each other—again. They’d managed to keep it PG, but at times, it had been close. He couldn’t remember when he’d last been this happy. It felt so good to be able to express his emotions after all this time, knowing Dom felt the same after the rocky start they’d had since meeting up again.
They’d spoken on the phone. Dom had been telling him about a stalker that was harassing Seb and how his friend was falling for a guy who was getting married. Jacob couldn’t imagine how hard that must be, and he was so glad that their relationship, although delicate at the moment, was mutual.
He knew he probably wouldn’t see Dom until Thursday, and then he’d be away the whole weekend. He had an uncomfortable sensation in his chest when he thought about how much he was going to miss him.
Wednesday morning came around, and Jacob was in a good mood after seeing Dom last night. Nothing could top the joy he felt of having someone to care about, and he didn’t mean Abby. It was having someone to care about romantically.
But there was Dickhead Wilkins. He hated that guy and had no doubt the feeling was mutual from the way the man was shooting daggers at him from the other side of the room. Fortunately, today, there were plenty of parents in the classroom. Still, Jacob worried. Wilkins was holding court with a few of the parents of the children going away that weekend, and the looks that were being thrown his way were unnerving him. He remembered back to his conversation with him last week and, yeah… This could be bad.
He decided to go over to see if he could hear what was being said, but when they saw him approach, they quickly broke apart. He spoke up before they could all move away.
“Everything OK, ladies and gents? If you have any questions about the weekend, please ask. You’ve already had the timetable and contact numbers, but if there’s anything else I can help with…”
A few of the parents shook their heads and moved away, but a couple of them stayed, Wilkins being one of them. He might have known he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“So, you’ll be looking after our kids this weekend then.”
“Yes. There’ll be four teachers plus a teaching assistant present, me included. As I said, you’ve all had the itinerary, and we’ll each have four children allocated to us.” Jacob stared at Wilkins, waiting to see if he’d say anymore.
“It’s all been planned out; all risk assessments are in place. This isn’t the first time we’ve gone away with the children, and we’ve had no issues before. I can assure you that your children will be very well cared for. We’ve used the centre before, and they have a variety of activities for them to do.”
A couple of the other parents smiled at him, but he could still see some uncertainty in their eyes. No doubt whatever Wilkins had said was still stuck in their minds.
“Well, if there’s nothing else, the bell will ring shortly, and we’ll need to start.” Jacob tried to politely dismiss the parents. He did not need this shit today. It ruined the good mood he had going.
At his words, the bell rang, and the children moved to the carpet to sit. All but one parent left the room. Jacob looked over to see Noah’s dad mouth the word ‘faggot’ before turning and leaving. Seriously? This guy was pushing his buttons, each and every one, but he had to try and ignore it. They were already in June. There were only a few more weeks until the end of term, and Noah wouldn’t be in his class next year. Maybe then, all this shit would disappear.
Break time arrived, and he sat with Colin in the teachers’ lounge.
“Can you believe the nerve of that guy? I’m sure he’s trying to get me into trouble. I caught him talking to some of the parents this morning about the trip, and I’m damned sure he was talking about me and my ‘lifestyle’ as he likes to call it.”
A few of the other teachers looked over at his comment.
“Are you talking about Noah Wilkins’s dad?” one of the female Year Six teachers asked. Jacob knew her a little, but the upper school tended to keep to themselves.
“Yeah. I saw him a few weeks ago when I was out with a friend. He was being a homophobic twat, and last week he passed some comment about how he wasn’t happy I was teaching his kid.”
“He’s got a reputation for being a complete arsehole. As long as you keep Jodie informed, you won’t have any problems. I had a run-in with a parent too a couple of years ago when I married my wife.” Jacob was surprised at her comment. He hadn’t realised she was a lesbian, but he tried not to show it.
“We’ll all support you too, just so you know.” Jacob nodded and felt like Wilkins could do his worst, everyone here had his back.
Colin slapped him on the back. “You know we’re all here for you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take Noah in my group this weekend, then he’ll have nothing to complain about.”
Although he knew he was doing nothing wrong, he couldn’t stop the thought that things were going to go pear-shaped. Not the weekend per se, but the feeling that this wasn’t over preyed on his mind.
He picked Abby up from school at the end of the day, and it was clear she had something to say.
