It was the end of my second week of teaching, and I was tired, both mentally and physically.  My classes were going well.  My students seemed to be enjoying themselves almost as much I was enjoying teaching them.  Every morning I’d go swimming.  Then I’d go to teach.  Then it was off to the bookstore to help Jen out until she found a permanent replacement who could fill my position for as little money as she’d been paying me.

With everything going on in my life, I’d put the thesis on the back burner for a little while.  I couldn’t stop for even just a few minutes to sit and write.  Dr. Lekkas wasn’t happy about that, but she seemed to understand everything that was going on. 

On a Friday afternoon after I left the bookstore, I found my way to the house.  Savvy, a friend from Tuscaloosa, had invited me to visit her apartment in Birmingham, but I was so tired that I had to put it off a night.  When I arrived home, I heard laughter and merriment coming from the kitchen.  I walked in to find that I was right in the middle of a small dinner party.  Mom and Ms. Loretta were working on something in the kitchen.  Dad and Ms. Loretta’s date were out back at the grill.

“Well, if it’s not our newest teacher!” Ms. Loretta commented as I walked in.  I waved gently at each of them.

“Hey, baby!  I thought you were going to Savvy’s tonight?” Mom asked.

“I’m just so tired.  I’m gonna go down tomorrow night,” I explained.

“That’s okay.  Let me grab another steak and have your dad put it on the grill for you, then.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I explained as I grabbed a bottle of water.  “I think I’m just gonna go and lie down.  Sleep would be so nice right now.”

“All right, baby,” Mom said as she gave me a quick hug.

“Oh!  Somebody has a crush on you, by the way,” Ms. Loretta said.

“OH!  I almost forgot about that!” Mom said coyly.

“Someone has a crush on ME?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.  He told me about it earlier today when we were sitting in my classroom during my prep time,” Mom explained, a look on her face.

“Who is it?”

“I gave him your phone number,” Mom said.

“MOM!  Who is it?”

“Just wait until he calls.”

“Mom!” I said as I took the bottle of water and went into my room.  Once there, I turned on the TV and tried to simply veg out.

I didn’t know what to think about what Mom had told me.  I assumed it was all just a joke, but I wasn’t sure.  What if someone did actually have a crush on me?  What if someone really were interested in me?  I wasn’t even sure if I liked the prospects of it.  I had always been somewhat self-conscious, even at my emotional peak.  I had always been nervous when it came to guys, and the somewhat fresh memories of everything that had happened to me over the previous months made me doubt even more if I were going to be able to handle it if it weren’t just a manifestation of my mother’s sometimes overactive imagination.

At around nine, my phone began to ring.  I sat there and looked as is rested on the bedside table.  It was a number local to Oneonta, but not one that I recognized.

“Hello?” I answered after letting it ring for a second.

“Ryan?” the voice on the other end of the line said.

“Yeah.  This is he.”

“Hey.  This is Brand.”

“Oh! Hey, man.  What’s up?” I said as I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Not much.  Just sitting at home; got bored of grading papers.”

“That’s what you get for giving a test on Friday,” I said, remembering that he had said it was time for a test.  “That’s how you lose your weekends.”

“Yeah... I wish that I’d paid attention when you told me that.”

“This is why I like teaching writing.  No tests, no mess; just have to read every now and again.”

“That could almost be worse that grading a math test, though.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I said.

“So, I was wondering.  I’m gonna be weird for a second, just to warn you.”

“I’m weird all the time, so no worries.”

“Well... I’m kinda new to town, and I was wondering if you would be willing to show me what there is to do away from school.”

“To be honest, Brand, there is nothing to do in Oneonta.  If you want to have fun, we should go to Birmingham or something.”

“Awesome.  What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked.

“I’m gonna go hang out with some friends in Birmingham, actually.  Would you like to join us?” I asked.

“If you’re gonna be out with friends…” he hesitated.

“It will be no problem.  I promise,” I assured him.

“Cool.”

“So, would you like to meet me here at like five or so?”

“Awesome.  Listen.  I’m sorry for being a dork and just… like… asking…”

“Dude... It’s no problem; I assure you.”

“All right.  Well, I will meet you then.  Anything in particular I should wear?”

“Nah.  Just come comfortable.”

“Okay.  That I will do,” he said.  “All right.  See you tomorrow.”

“All right.  Bye for now,” I said as I hung up the phone.

I sat the phone down on the table and thought about it all.  Was I going out on a date with a man to whom, from the very first moment I laid eyes on him, I’d found myself attracted?

I walked from the room and toward the kitchen, where everyone had assembled and was eating dinner.

“So, Mom,” I asked, interrupting their dinner with my inquisitive tone.  “What you told me earlier, how did you know?”

“He told me,” she answered as she put green beans into her mouth.

“Did he just come out and say it?”

“No.  He just was talking about you the whole time he was in my room.  He mentioned that he wanted to find things to do around town, so I told him that he should call you, that you would make sure he found his way around and such.  He was quite excited about the prospects of that.”

“He might just be a nice guy,” I said as Mom and Ms. Loretta looked at one another.

“Nope!” they both said at the same time, laughing at the fact that they’d both said it.

Either way, I left the kitchen and went back into my room.  While watching something quite uninteresting on the TV, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up quickly.  Something in my subconscious all through the night had convinced me that it was all a really awesome dream.  I awoke, however, with the realization that it wasn’t a dream at all.  I went around the house like a crazy person, unintentionally waking everyone in the process. 

I gathered my things and went to the gym.  Normally, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in the place on a Saturday morning, but I felt like the swim would do me some good.  It would distract me from everything going on in my head, as I would have to concentrate on that to avoid drowning.

I got there and went into the pool area, pulling on the gear that I always wore in the pool: goggles and a head cover.  As I was preparing to dive in, a voice called my name from behind.  I looked in the direction of the sound only to find that it was Brand, walking toward me.  The way his red Speedos hung on his body left little to the imagination.

“Fancy seeing you here,” I said as he walked to the edge of the pool next to where I was.

“I was about to say the same thing,” he said.  “So... I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night,” he said, flashing that melting smile of his.

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” I answered.  The truth be told, I was slightly uncomfortable, but I didn’t want him to know that. 

“Cool.”

“So, you swim often?”

“Honestly, no.  I’m coaching a lot, but I’m rarely in the water.”

“Then I should be able to easily beat you at a two hundred meter dash.”

“Oh, you could?” Brand inquired.

“Yeah.  Loser pays for dinner?” I offered.

“Get your credit card ready, ’cause I can eat a lot,” he said as he turned and jumped into the water.  Despite his impromptu head start, I knew that my height would work to my advantage.

I quickly jumped into the water and swam my heart out.  True to my initial assessment, I caught up with him quickly, turning at the far wall just after he did.  The next turn was just as close, but I was gaining.  In the final turn, I was just seconds ahead of him.  At the end of it all, we touched the wall at the same time.

“You did good,” he said as we both came up and rested there in the water for a second.

“You did, too, for someone who doesn’t swim often,” I complimented.

“We should do this more often,” he suggested.

“I usually swim a lot more than this,” I said.

“Well.  Have mercy on a guy just this once?” he smiled.  His jocularity was evident in the tone of his voice.

“Just this time,” I said as I pulled myself out of the pool.  I could feel him staring at my ass. 

To be honest, it almost felt good that someone was looking at me like that.  It made me feel like I was moving past the doldrums of life into something that at least resembled normalcy.

“So, what you got going on the rest of the day?” he asked.

“Not much,” I answered.  “I’m probably just gonna go home and be nervous about this guy that I’m gonna hang out with tonight.”

“Why would you be nervous?  I guarantee that I’m the coolest guy you’ll ever go out with,” he said with confidence.  Gone was the apprehension about ‘asking me out’ and into its place had come a confidence that I had experienced as we talked in the hallways between periods.

“Can I be honest with you?” I asked as we walked into the showers.

“Of course.  What’s a little honesty between friends?” he asked.

“The reason why I’m nervous is because of something my Mom and Ms. Loretta told me last night,” I said as we looked at each other.

“Okay…”

“They gave the impression that,” I said nervously, “you might have a crush on me or something.”

“Was it that obvious?” he queried.

“They seemed to think it was.”

“Dude... I hope that doesn’t offend you or anything.”

“Hardly,” I responded.

“Good.  The first time I met you, I thought you were so cute, but it’s always been my luck,” he started, looking to see if there were anyone else around, “that guys that I find myself attracted to are usually of the heterosexual persuasion.”

“I understand,” I said, smiling as we found yet something else in common.

“You aren’t, are you?” he asked.

“Not a straight bone in my body,” I answered as we stood beneath the showers, still in our Speedos as we washed off.

“Good.  Okay.  So now that that’s out of the way,” he commented, “there should be no more nerves to get in the way.”

We joked as we got dressed and left.  It was almost as if there were more history between the two of us as there actually was.  We went our separate ways after a few minutes of talking in the parking lot.  It turned out that we’d parked right next to one another.

As I drove, I listened to some cheery song that had randomly come from my iPod.  I thought about how good it felt to not be sitting around, thinking about things—about the attack, about the negative emotions that were thrust upon me.  It felt good to not need to smoke to just go outside.  It felt good to know that an attractive man was attracted to me.  It all felt so very, very good. 

As I arrived back at the house, I spoke to Savvy and Kristina for a few minutes.  They both seemed as intrigued by the guest that I would be bringing to the evening’s festivities as I was.  Rather than just the quiet evening that Savvy and I had initially anticipated, it was turning out to be a full-fledged party.  Noelle and Efran would be there; Armando and Carmen might come.  Other friends from Tuscaloosa might be there as well, they informed me as we talked.  As we hung up the phone, I could almost sense that Savvy and Kristina were calling others on the phone and telling them that Ryan had a date.  I don’t think that I’d ever taken someone to a party hosted by them, so all the feelings were a little different.

Upon finding out what was going on, I began to feel bad for what Brand was getting himself into.  I picked up the phone and called him.

“Can’t get enough of me, can you?” he joked as he answered the phone.

“Well...  I wanted to let you know about something.”

“Okay.”

“So, tonight is apparently turning out to be more of a party than just a chill session.  So, if you want to back out…”

“Ryan, to be honest, it would be cool to hang out with you away from school and away from other teachers and such.”

I was brought to a smile by his words, by his tone.  Was this a dream?  Was it all really happening?  Was I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

“You’re a nice guy, Brand.”

“Thank you,” he graciously accepted the compliment.  “So, we’re still planning on five-thirty-ish?”

“Works for me!” I said as I hung up the phone.

“Awesome.  I’ll see you then,” he said.  I could hear his smile.

“All right.  Bye, Brand.”

“Bye,” he said as we hung up the phone.

I stood there for a moment, relishing everything that was happening.  Until about four, I sat around the house just enjoying myself.  At four, I started getting ready.  I went out into the bathroom and showered before grabbing a pair of jeans that fit perfectly around my waist and a polo that seemed to accentuate the form that I was getting back.  Rather than worrying with my hair, though, I put on a hat.  It was a white hat bearing the logo of the University of Alabama.  I checked myself in the mirror to make sure that I looked perfect.

At 5:30 sharp, Brand pulled into the drive.  He drove a blue Ford Focus with blacked out windows.  I watched from the window at the top of the door as he walked up. 

“Come on in,” I said, trying to act as though I hadn’t been standing there watching as he came in.

“Thanks.  You look nice,” he complimented.

“As do you, Mr. Fletcher.”

Justin and Carter walked from Justin’s bedroom toward the kitchen.  They were both staring at Brand like he was a piece of meat, or a stripper or something.  “God, I love math!” Carter was heard saying as they went into the kitchen.  There was a snicker from both of us.  As they walked back toward Justin’s bedroom, they stared some more.

“Let me get a pair of shoes on, and then we’ll go.”

“Awesome,” he said as he followed me, standing in the door of my bedroom.  “Nice room,” he added.

“Thanks.”

“How’d you get the hole?” he asked, pointing to the damaged drywall.

“I’ll explain after a little bit more alcohol,” I promised, hoping that he would forget.  It was something that I wasn’t ready to tell him or anyone else, really.

After I said bye to Justin and Carter, who were the only people at the house right then, Brand and I left on our way to the party. 

We talked the entire way to Birmingham.  There seemed to be something about him that made me want to talk about a lot of things that most people would find boring.  I explained my love of Spanish theatre; he explained what it was about math that had drawn him to a career teaching it.

By the time we made it to Savvy’s, most everyone was already there.

“RYAN!” Savvy yelled as I entered.  She was out of town the weekend of the attack, and since I hadn’t been back to Tuscaloosa yet, I hadn’t seen her.  At some point over the summer, she’d moved to Birmingham to accept a position working for a local magazine.

“Hey!” I said as Savvy and Kristina came up to me and hugged me tightly.  Noelle was there, running from the kitchen to see me.  Efran was ‘chileando’ on the sofa with a large beverage of the adult persuasion.

“So, is this your date?” my cousin asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” I answered as she walked up to him.

“Hi.  I’m Ryan’s cousin, Noelle.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Brand responded.  “I’m Brand Fletcher.”

“So, I hear you’re a teacher at Oneonta,” she started.

“Yes, ma’am.  My class is right across from Ryan’s, so I get to check him out all day long,” Brand said.

“I’m sure you’re not the only one doing the checking!” Noelle joked as she took Brand and introduced him to everyone that was there.

By eight, several other people that Savvy had invited arrived.  They were mostly friends from work, though.  There was more than an ample opportunity for Brand and I to stand around getting to know each other.  We were both trying to act cool, but it was such a horrid attempt.  We were both leaned up against a wall for most of the party.

By the end of the night, we were both much more comfortable, though.  Brand drove us back to my house that night. 

As we rode and talked, I could almost see myself falling for him.  I could see myself opening up once more because of him.  It was a first date, however, and I didn’t want to seem so presumptuous.  I’d had so much fun, though.  It was one of the best times I’d had in a very, very long time.

As I walked into the house, Justin and Carter were still sitting in front of the TV, watching a movie and wrapped in a little blanket.  I smiled as I walked past them into the kitchen and then into my bedroom.

As I fell asleep, it was to thoughts of the amazing man that had, probably unbeknownst to him, treated me to an evening that I very much needed to have, an evening where I didn’t have to dwell on anything other than just having a good time.

To be continued...