I could see him getting mad. Cassidy was obviously a sore subject.
“Why do you ask?”
“Sir, I’m just concerned about her. She seems to think we’re going out. I just don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
He took a deep breath.
“I’m sure she thinks you’re going out. I’ll have a talk with her tonight. She’s very special to me, and I don’t want her hurt, either.”
“Sir, I’d never take advantage of her. I’m just trying to understand so that I don’t do anything to upset her. I’d like to be her friend, but not in that way. She seems to need attention. I’d hate to see someone exploit her naïveté.”
He seemed to sag into his big leather chair.
“Cassidy has led a sheltered life in some ways. She’s always been very trusting. Military life caused us to move a lot. You can imagine having to change schools every year. Brad was fine, and I think it toughened him up. Cassidy couldn’t handle it. I had her live with my sister to give her stability. She wanted to move here with Brad and me. This is the first time in several years she’s started a new school.
“Of all the people she could latch onto, you’re my biggest nightmare. I’ve heard the rumors of all the girls you’ve dated. Then I saw your model girlfriends. I’m just afraid that’ll all be too much for Cassidy.”
“I understand how you feel. If you could explain to her that we can only be friends, I think that’d help.”
He snorted.
“Trust me, she and I will be having a talk tonight about kissing a certain boy in school.”
“Sir, if she needs practice, you can always count on me.”
He saw I was joking but gave me a stern look anyways.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Could you do me a favor? Could you tell me if she starts to get out of hand, or someone’s picking on her? I don’t want her lashing out or keeping everything bottled up, and I’m trying to be a good father to her.”
“Of course I will. I’m glad we had a chance to talk.”
He shook my hand, and I hurried off to my next class.
ART WAS FUN. I HADN’T drawn in a while, but it used to be something I enjoyed. We were all sitting in a semicircle with an easel and a blank sheet of paper clipped to it. Our art teacher, Ms. Saunders, was showing us how to use geometric shapes to get the basic shapes of the body.
“This class is drawing the human body. Because we can’t afford models, each of you will be asked to fill in. Because being a model takes away from your actual drawing time, I’ll be giving the models extra credit,” she then told the class.
She then turned to me, and I could tell what she was thinking.
“And I’m hoping you’ll volunteer for the male torso portion of the class.”
Why not? I was feeling very cooperative today. I’m paid to take my clothes off, so why would this be any different?
“That’s fine, but I want to get a chance to draw, too.”
PE WAS NOT AS MUCH fun. I thought when they told me ‘Dance’ they meant ballroom dancing. Nope, this was more what you would think of when you see little girls signing up for Saturday morning dance classes. I should have read the syllabus. We were going to be doing Hip-Hop.
It was obvious all the girls had danced before. They were all dressed in tights, while I was in gym shorts and a t-shirt.
“Everyone, warm up,” our teacher, Ms. Kasey, told the class, and then put on some music.
I’ll say all the girls were very flexible. When the stretching was done, and I was starting to enjoy the scenery, Ms. Kasey got us started.
“We’re going to practice the new move I taught you on Monday. David, come stand by me, and I’ll help you get started.”
The new move was called ‘bounce.’ The girls were doing a slide, then taking a step forward and then bending their knees to do two bounces. If you had seen twerking, where you bounce up and down and shake your booty, you had the basic idea. I think Ms. Kasey liked to embarrass me because she had me twerking the class. The girls found this highly amusing.
After my initial embarrassment, I figured what the heck, and decide to own it. I started bouncing around and rolling my hips to the beat of the music. I was having fun when the music stopped, and I found the class was all standing around smiling at me.
After class, Ms. Kasey pulled me aside.
“I know you have to get to class, but I have two quick items. First is, you need get some boxer briefs or a jock to hold everything in place. We don’t need you exposing yourself, so to speak.”
I blushed, realizing Mr. Happy had been swinging.
“The second is I’m glad you’re having fun with this. Having a guy in class is going to be a big help for the dance recital.”
“What? No one told me about any dance recitals!?”
She just smiled and gave me a shrug.
Wednesday January 8
CASSIDY WAS WAITING for me when I came to school. When she saw me get out of Greg’s car, she came running up. She had the look of one of those rescue dogs they have in the ads to raise money. I just wanted to run up and hug her, but I held back.
“David, we have troubs,” Cassidy told me.
It was all I could do not to laugh. Her statement had pulled Greg up short. He wanted to hear what ‘troubs’ Cassidy and I had. I had to bite my lower lip.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
I didn’t trust myself to say more. Greg’s eyes were open wide, taking it all in. He sneaked his cell phone out and start to record our conversation. I might have to kick his ass later.
“I know you’re going to be devastated,” she sniffed, “but Daddy said that we can’t date.”
She broke down and ran to me. I took her in my arms. Greg was looking at me with a goofy grin as I dealt with crazy-town. I started shaking, trying not to laugh. Poor Cassidy thought I was being emotional.
“Oh, David, don’t cry. Daddy said we can still be friends.”
I did have a tear running down my cheek. I hugged her again and mouthed to Greg, ‘If that video gets out you’re a dead man.’ He gave me thumbs-up to let me know he understood. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease me about it. I was sure it would come out at family gatherings.
“Cassidy, I’d be honored to be your friend.”
She went from hangdog to all bouncy in the blink of an eye.
“Come on, I want you to meet your new girlfriend.”
Greg wasn’t going anywhere now.
“Yes, David, let’s go meet your new girlfriend.”
He was officially dead to me because he hadn’t stopped the video. I would have to break his phone later. It would be worth a couple hundred bucks to destroy it.
Cassidy grabbed my arm and dragged me into school. She had me intrigued. I was a little leery about who Cassidy might think would make a good girlfriend for me; that was the only reason I let her drag me along. Greg followed close behind. When we got close to our shared locker, there was a group of four girls I didn’t know. They all looked to be freshmen. One was cute, and I thought that this might not be so bad. Then the girls parted and a girl stepped forward.
She was at least six feet tall. She wore an oversized sweatshirt and baggy jeans. She was a little slouched. You see that with taller kids when they’re embarrassed at how tall they are. She also wouldn’t look me in the eye. Not my first choice, but I wasn’t raised to be rude.
Cassidy took charge.
“David, I want you to meet your new girlfriend, April Lacier.”
All the girls and Greg smiled at that pronouncement. I hadn’t had any luck on my own picking out girlfriends, so why not. I just shrugged. I could take her out and see what happened. It might be nice to go out with a normal—as in not crazy—girl for a change.
“Hi, April, would you like to go out with me Friday? We’re going to Monical’s for a party.”
She gave me a shy grin.
“I’d love to.”