“Well, for starters, Cindy is no longer my girlfriend. I don’t want this to turn into a huge deal where friendships are hurt.” I said, as I pointedly looked at my brother. “I think it’s best if I bite the bullet and forgive them. What I can’t do is forget. The only official contact I have with either of them is Suzanne as my tutor. I’ll ask to either to be assigned someone new, or not have a tutor and use last period as study hall. After this afternoon, I’m going to take a step back from dating until after football season. Once football’s done, I’ll talk to each of them individually and we’ll see if we can be friends. If I had to make that call right now, the answer would be no.”
“Okay, Bro. I’ll back off, but don’t ask me to hang out with them.”
“Greg, I can’t pick your friends. All I ask is that you let us work it out.”
“Fair enough. Do you want me to put the word out that you’re focusing on football and not dating right now?”
“If you think it’ll slow them down, then please.”
“Some it might. Others, not so much. Are you planning on dating Beth?”
“I don’t know. There’s a hell of an attraction there, and our families have been friends forever. I think our moms planned for you and her to get together. I’m afraid if it goes south, it’ll be a huge mess. Besides Tami, she’s my best friend. I don’t want to lose that friendship, too.”
“We decided it was best to be friends. Now that Angie’s in the picture, I don’t think I’ll ever date Beth.”
“When’s Angie coming home? Isn’t the baby due?” Dad asked.
“She could have it at any time.”
“Are you going to marry her?” I asked.
“I think so. We agreed to wait until I graduate from high school.”
“Well, guys, I have to go prepare myself for seeing the girls. I need to talk to Tami first. I’ll see you after I’m done.”
“Good luck, man.”
Dad just nodded.
I WENT BACK TO MY APARTMENT and sent a text to Tami. She was on the video chat before I turned on my tablet.
“So, I just want you to know that you’re the talk of Wesleyan. Your little ‘naked dance party’ stunt has all the girls begging me to bring you over for a visit. I’ve had seven girls ask if they can come home with me for Thanksgiving.”
“I hope you said no. I thought you and I were spending time together then. I miss the hell out of you.”
She heard my voice tremble and instantly knew something was wrong. I caught her up on what happened.
“Tami, I do miss you. I’m afraid I’ll go back to that dark place again.”
“Snap out of it. You’re not that scared little boy anymore. I never would’ve left if I thought you couldn’t handle things. I love you too much. Don’t make me regret leaving.”
“Tami, I would never disappoint you on purpose.”
“Okay, I’m going to tell you what to do so you can quit this brooding. First of all, you need to put some distance between yourself, Cindy, and Suzanne. End of football is too soon. You need to get past that and take some time to focus on what you want. Tell them you’ll talk to them again after Christmas break. By then you’ll know if you can be friends with them or not.
“I’m going to take over for Greg and manage your love life. I’ll set up a date for you on Saturday night. This will be a casual, no-strings-attached, fun date. Your only responsibility is to show up and have a good time,” Tami ordered me.
This was so like Tami. She was going to control my life from a hundred miles away. Right now that sounded good to me. I also knew that there was more to this. She would try to find me the right girl. I obviously didn’t have the best track record in that regard. Tami was much more perceptive and knew me better than anyone else. I found I was actually looking forward to her meddling in my life.
I also knew that since the naked dance party night she was much happier at school. Being the only scholarship kid at an exclusive school was a recipe for disaster. Kids our age were cruel when someone was different. Tami would never admit it if they’d been mean to her. I could tell from our talks how much happier she seemed to be since I bared all.
“Since you’re now in charge of my social calendar, why don’t you bring one or two of your friends home over Thanksgiving? I’ll take one of them out Friday and another out Saturday. On Thursday, you and your mom are invited to the Andersons’ home as always. I’ll tell Mrs. Anderson you’re bringing a couple of friends.
“Next, let me know what the date of your Christmas dance is and I’ll come up and be your date. That way I can meet all my admirers. If you can find a date for Luke, I can probably talk him into driving me,” I suggested.
“Hell, if these girls knew you needed a ride to get here they’d hire a limo to bring you up. Let me think about Thanksgiving. I might want to be greedy and keep you all to myself.”
“Just give me the word. So, since you aren’t going to be here until Thanksgiving, who’re you thinking would be a good match? Do you need a list of girls I think are cute?”
“No, I don’t need a list, and no, I am not setting you up with Peggy. I can see your list now. It would have one name on it.”
“Oh, you’re no fun. Peggy has seen me naked and didn’t run away screaming. That’s a good sign, right?”
“Yes, that is a good sign, but you’re not ready for Peggy.”
“Shit, that’s what Greg keeps telling me.” Then I remembered a cute girl and started to do a little happy dance. “I have one for you that you don’t even know.”
“Really, let me guess.”
“I bet you’ll never guess.”
“What’s the bet?”
“Let’s make it interesting. You win and you control my dating life for the rest of the year. If I win, you set me up with Peggy.”
“Okay, you have a bet. Kara Tasman.”
“You evil girl. How did you know about her?”
“‘Stupid boy,’ Gina and I are friends now that Alan’s going out with her. We talk about you all the time. This is going to be so much fun. Hang on. I want you to tell my roommates what I won.” She dragged her PC out to their common area.
“I have David on video chat!” Tami yelled.
The room quickly filled up, and I saw a girl I hadn’t seen before looking at me on the screen.
“Oh, he is cute.”
Tami came back in and took center stage.
“Okay, David, tell them what you agreed to.”
“I lost a huge bet with Mistress Tami. She has complete access to my body from now until the end of the year, and only she decides whom I’m with. Did you need me to show them my body again, Mistress?”
The place erupted and Tami was beet red. Paybacks are a bitch. I started to take my shirt off.
“Stop!” Tami shouted.
“Yes, Mistress,” I bowed my head. “Mistress Tami has told me that two of you will be accompanying her home over Thanksgiving. I’m supposed to take each one out on a date. I’m supposed to do whatever they want. Please let Mistress Tami know if you want to accompany her home.”
I put on a little-boy grin.
“Did I please you, Mistress?”
Tami snatched the PC off the table and took it back into her room so she could talk to me alone. As soon as she closed the door, she broke out into a huge smile.
“Who do you love?” I asked her.
“You! This is going to be so much fun. If you can get Luke to drive you up, there might be an actual fistfight to see who gets to take him to the Christmas dance. See if Mike can come too. We’ll have a good time. Just so you know, you’ve earned a reward for this Saturday. I’ll make sure it’s someone you can have a little fun with.”