Read Online Imaginary Men by Enid Shomer - Free Book Online

what would happen next. "You have to go. You could win the $2,500 grand prize."
"I know."
"You've still got three weeks. Maybe your brother can help you out. Maybe you'll let me help you out"
"No!" His eyes flashed. He punched the dashboard with his fist.
"Don't do that to yourself." Riva stroked his hand.
He forced a smile and combed through his hair with his fingers. "Right. New topic. You've got your big test tomorrow. Come on, let's conjugate a couple of verbs." He whispered it into her ear. "You're so luscious."
"God, you're sweet." She kissed his hand. "You could take the money out of your college savings."
Paul had a savings account at the bank that only Rivanot even his mother or brotherknew about. In three years he had managed to save $1,500 toward tuition at George Washington University.
"I can't do that. I'm already short for the first semester unless I can get a loan. I'm counting on getting a loan."
She stroked his sand-colored, slightly greasy hair that felt like silk in her fingers, like silk embroidery floss. She comforted him, and together they tried to figure a way for him to accumulate the money before the end of April. Then they necked, just a little, just to cheer him up. She unzipped his pants and drew circles around his cock with her fingers until he was hard, and then they kissed a little more, and then he drove her back to the library.
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The next morning was a Friday, and Riva lay in bed before the alarm clock rang pondering Paul's problems. Paul had a secret that no one at school except Riva knew: he supported himself. Sometimes he had to help support his mother and father. This had been going on since he was fourteen. In the past, in addition to working at the farmers' market, Paul had held various pan-time jobs, most of them in

 

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sales. He had sold Kirby vacuum cleaners and the Encyclopedia Judaica and men's monogrammed golfing shirts. He had demonstrated the Kirby for Riva and her mother one Sunday evening. Mrs. Stern had taken quite an interest in it until she realized that she didn't care what kind of vacuum she owned since the maid was the only one who used it. But she admired its engineering, she told Paul. In two months' time, he sold only one Kirby.
Riva had tried to lend him money, but he refused it. The most she could offer was a gift now and thena sweater for his birthday, a shirt at Hanukkah. Paul loved clothes. He took fastidious care of his few things, ironing the shirts himself, keeping them folded in Saran Wrap in his drawer. He was the only boy she knew who polished his shoes. He couldn't achieve the flashy look of the wealthier boys, but he bought quality. He watched the papers for sales. He chose conservative colors and styles that blended together. Almost nobody noticed him one way or the other. When Riva first talked about dating him, her friends had difficulty calling up the matching face: "Paul Auerbach? Who does he hang out with?" And Riva would patiently explain where he sat in Chemistry or World Lit and that he didn't have time for a real social life like other kids.
She could remember the exact moment she had noticed him. It was the third week of school, in Civics. She was in her assigned seat in the first row and he was standing right in front of her giving an oral report and the edge of her desk cut into his thighs. He was nervous and stuttered a little. His intense hazel eyes stared fixedly at the back of the room where Dr. Voski sat, grading him on completeness, accuracy, and presentation. For a moment, it looked like he was getting a hard-on from his nerves. That happened to some boys, Riva knew, but then he shifted his weight and the bulge disappeared. He dropped a note card on her desk toward the end, and when she handed it back to him, he had looked startled, as if he hadn't noticed her before. That night she had dreamed about him. It was one of those dreams that makes you fall in love, whether you want to or not. This had happened