than I had when I walked into his classroom just an hour before. I felt different. I felt … alive. I glanced at Principal Warren’s office as I walked by, and remembered what Mr. Stevens had said about his life and his career. One of the walls of the Principal’s office was glass from floor to ceiling, with mini-blinds obscuring the interior. Was he in there? Was he watching through the glass? Had he seen me leave? What if he knew how long I had been in Mr. Stevens’ classroom?
I pushed these thoughts out of my mind and hurried toward the parking lot.
Chapter Seven
Friday, I’m in Love
A s time went on, the spring days got longer and stretched toward summer. Sunsets lingered and came later and later in the evening, and the air-dried and warmed toward the hottest months. My afternoons became longer, due to the extended daylight hours, and I was thankful for that, because it allowed me to maximize my time with Mr. Stevens in his classroom after school, where I spent three to four afternoons every week.
At least once a week, though, our swim team traveled to a meet at another high school. We never hosted the meets at our school, as our practice pool was too small. The additional travel made the afternoons even longer, and tortured me endlessly. I ached to be near Mr. Stevens in every sense, and being around him in such a public place was sheer torture. Seeing him across the swimming pool, keeping time on the races and keeping official scores … it pained me to be so far from him, but the last thing I wanted to do was expose him. He had risked so much to touch me, kiss me, hold me, and care for me, and I didn’t want to ruin that or endanger our relationship. The knowledge that we were breaking the law was exciting, but also a bit frightening, and I didn’t want either of us to get caught. So I bit my lip and controlled my feelings, and tried to seem distant and aloof around him when we were in public.
“What’s up with you?” Vicky asked one day during practice. “Did Mr. Stevens piss you off or something?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. He didn’t piss me off. Why?” I asked, suspicious of her motives. Had she seen something? Did she know what was going on? “What makes you think I’m pissed off at him? Did someone say something?”
Vicky shrugged. “No. But you used to hang out with him all the time, and now you avoid him like the plague. Whenever he comes over to talk to us, you walk away. What’s all that about?”
I realized suddenly that I had gone from one extreme to the other in a few weeks. That was a mistake, and people were bound to notice. I couldn’t backtrack now, though – the damage was done. What was I supposed to say? “ Yeah, I’m staying away from Mr. Stevens because I don’t want anyone to know I’m making out with him after practice ” would never do.
“You know, he was pretty cool at first,” I replied as nonchalantly as possible. “But one day I was late for practice and he made me go to the diving pool to swim laps. I’m not going to hang around with him if he’s going to be such a jerk, you know?”
That answer must have been good enough for Vicky, because she lightly tapped my shoulder and then jumped into the water to swim off. I laughed as I watched her swim away; she was doing the butterfly – badly – and bumping into other swimmers as she shimmied from side to side down the crowded lane. My smile faded, though, when I realized that she was probably voicing what everyone else had noticed as well. My sudden change of attitude had been just that – sudden and unexpected – and people were going to wonder why. I had to come up with a better story, and quick, or change my behavior again and hope that no one else said anything.
I wasn’t sure which option was best, or which would cause me more pain. Our late- afternoon rendezvous were becoming more and more intense, and my senses were becoming fragile. When I walked toward his classroom, now, I knew that there
I pushed these thoughts out of my mind and hurried toward the parking lot.
Chapter Seven
Friday, I’m in Love
A s time went on, the spring days got longer and stretched toward summer. Sunsets lingered and came later and later in the evening, and the air-dried and warmed toward the hottest months. My afternoons became longer, due to the extended daylight hours, and I was thankful for that, because it allowed me to maximize my time with Mr. Stevens in his classroom after school, where I spent three to four afternoons every week.
At least once a week, though, our swim team traveled to a meet at another high school. We never hosted the meets at our school, as our practice pool was too small. The additional travel made the afternoons even longer, and tortured me endlessly. I ached to be near Mr. Stevens in every sense, and being around him in such a public place was sheer torture. Seeing him across the swimming pool, keeping time on the races and keeping official scores … it pained me to be so far from him, but the last thing I wanted to do was expose him. He had risked so much to touch me, kiss me, hold me, and care for me, and I didn’t want to ruin that or endanger our relationship. The knowledge that we were breaking the law was exciting, but also a bit frightening, and I didn’t want either of us to get caught. So I bit my lip and controlled my feelings, and tried to seem distant and aloof around him when we were in public.
“What’s up with you?” Vicky asked one day during practice. “Did Mr. Stevens piss you off or something?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. He didn’t piss me off. Why?” I asked, suspicious of her motives. Had she seen something? Did she know what was going on? “What makes you think I’m pissed off at him? Did someone say something?”
Vicky shrugged. “No. But you used to hang out with him all the time, and now you avoid him like the plague. Whenever he comes over to talk to us, you walk away. What’s all that about?”
I realized suddenly that I had gone from one extreme to the other in a few weeks. That was a mistake, and people were bound to notice. I couldn’t backtrack now, though – the damage was done. What was I supposed to say? “ Yeah, I’m staying away from Mr. Stevens because I don’t want anyone to know I’m making out with him after practice ” would never do.
“You know, he was pretty cool at first,” I replied as nonchalantly as possible. “But one day I was late for practice and he made me go to the diving pool to swim laps. I’m not going to hang around with him if he’s going to be such a jerk, you know?”
That answer must have been good enough for Vicky, because she lightly tapped my shoulder and then jumped into the water to swim off. I laughed as I watched her swim away; she was doing the butterfly – badly – and bumping into other swimmers as she shimmied from side to side down the crowded lane. My smile faded, though, when I realized that she was probably voicing what everyone else had noticed as well. My sudden change of attitude had been just that – sudden and unexpected – and people were going to wonder why. I had to come up with a better story, and quick, or change my behavior again and hope that no one else said anything.
I wasn’t sure which option was best, or which would cause me more pain. Our late- afternoon rendezvous were becoming more and more intense, and my senses were becoming fragile. When I walked toward his classroom, now, I knew that there
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