“See, you’re dancing. So get over your fear and have fun with your date.”
“I’ll get even, you just wait,” Jim threatened.
I waved over the dance-class girls that didn’t have dates. They were teaching Kara some steps. I had to smile as I watched her having fun. She missed experiences like this. I knew I would if I was doing modeling full-time. We ended up staying to the very end because she was having fun just being one of the gang.
I even got some of the other guys to brave the dance floor. I think the threat of me dancing with their dates had a little to do with it. I was able to dance with Suzanne, Cindy and Beth. I even managed to dance with Mona. She gave me a hard time about using ‘our song’ as a class project. I noticed that her date wasn’t paying any attention to her.
“Date not going well?”
“Not really, he’s more interested in talking to his buddies than me. I think this is our last date.”
“That’s too bad.”
“What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“I’m off to visit my best friend. I won’t be back till Sunday night.”
“Call me when you get back.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, really, I want to see you.”
“Oh, dear! I think you’re hitting on me, and your boyfriend is right over there.”
“Shut up.”
I did and she kissed me.
“Miss Mona, you’re going to be the death of me.”
“So are you going to call me Sunday?”
“Without a doubt.”
The song ended and she went back to her date. He looked pissed but she just ignored him. She was right: you snooze, you lose.
THE LIMO DROPPED US off at my house. Kara had a small overnight bag that I carried into the kitchen. I found my mom and dad at the table, drinking coffee and eating cheesecake. Mrs. A knew it was my mom’s favorite, so she had dropped one off. We were looking for anything that Mom would eat. She seemed still to be able to stomach it.
Mom got up and gave Kara a hug. Kara sat down with my parents as I got us a couple of slices.
“How are you feeling?” Kara asked my Mom.
“Not great. The biggest problem is I feel queasy all the time. I have to force myself to eat and then pray it stays down. They have given me some medication that seems to help some. I’ve been getting stronger since I got back,” Mom said.
She looked at Dad and he nodded.
“David, the cancer hasn’t gone away. I got the blood work back today. We’ve talked to the doctors here and in California. They feel we need to be aggressive and start chemo again.”
“When do you start?” I asked.
“Monday,” Dad said.
In many ways, the treatment was worse than the disease. It would be a hard few weeks for my mom. Hearing that they needed to be aggressive scared me. I suspected that my parents weren’t telling me everything, but I wasn’t going to ask in front of Kara.
After we got done eating, Mom and Dad went to bed while Kara and I went up to my apartment over the garage. Talking about Mom’s cancer was a mood killer. We simply went to bed. I was glad Kara was there to hold me.
Chapter 14 – Wesleyan
Saturday February 15
I WOKE UP WITH A START, realizing I hadn’t set my alarm. I looked at the clock and saw I had to be at the bus station in twenty minutes. I put on some clothes and darted to the door. I came thundering into the kitchen.
“Slow down,” Mom admonished me.
Dad had jeans and a t-shirt on.
“Dad, you have to give me ride.”
He gave me a look.
“Daaad, my bus leaves in 17 minutes.”
He just grunted at me and grabbed his keys. I kissed Mom on the cheek and I was bouncing by the passenger door as Dad dragged out to the car. He finally unlocked my door. I swear he dropped his keys on purpose.
“Daaad!”
That only caused him to stop and look at me. He finally started the car and pulled out of the driveway. I was going to kill him. He was going like twenty miles an hour. I gave him a pleading look and he finally cracked a smile and sped up. He came to a rolling stop and I shot out the car and into the bus terminal. I found the board that showed where my bus was and I ran outside to find it. The driver was closing the door as I sprinted up. He gave me a half-smile and opened the door for me.
The bus was only a quarter full, so I found a seat and got comfortable. Angie had helped me by packing my bag. I was curious to see if she really had gotten glow-in-the-dark condoms. I opened my bag and found that it was a variety pack. There were six different kinds from ultrathin ‘for his pleasure,’ to ribbed ‘for her pleasure,’ to glow-in-the-dark for fun. I just shook my head and went to close my bag when I noticed something odd.
I was going to kill her. Instead of my usual boxers, she’d packed thongs. I had some choices: there was a tiger print; a silk red model; and, to my horror, one that looked like it slipped onto my manhood leaving my sack hanging out.
“Are you a stripper?”
My head snapped around; this lady in her thirties had taken the aisle seat across from me and was checking out my naughty underwear.
“Yeah, which one should I wear tonight?” I asked.
“Is it a private party or at a club?”
“Private party.”
“Go with the red. The other two are a little tacky.”
And the red was classy? I dug through the shirts and they were all the fitted, leaving nothing to the imagination, variety. Of course, she only packed the slacks that made my butt look good, the ones the girls in Utah called my ‘fancy pants.’ I was sure they’d look good with a thong up my crack.
“You look awfully young to be a stripper.”
“That’s part of the appeal. Some older women prefer young guys.”
My phone rang, and it was Kara.
“Hey, where are you? I’m kinda missing you this morning.” she said.
“I’m on the bus. I overslept and had to hurry to catch it. I had a good time last night.”
“Me, too.”
I told her what Angie had done. She wanted me to send her pictures. There was no way that was happening. We chatted for a while and then promised to stay in touch. I figured the next time I would get to see her would be this summer.
I FOUND THAT RIDING the bus kind of blows, especially after my first-class airline travels. About the time you got comfortable, it would stop to either pick up or drop off passengers. I think it stopped at every little town along the way. I was ready to get off when we got to my stop.
Suddenly, it was all worthwhile. Waiting for me were Tami and Missy. They both had huge smiles on their faces. I grabbed Tami, picked her up, and swung her around. I missed my best friend. Missy was a little shyer. They wanted to get me back because lunch had been planned on their dorm floor.
They hustled me up to Tami’s suite. There were three singles and a small common room and bathroom. Tami grabbed my bag and made me sit down on the bed.
“I told Angie to pack some sexy clothes for today. Let me see what she sent.”
She pulled out the tiger thong and she and Missy squealed. No way was I wearing that. She looked at me and begged.
“You have to. Oh my God! I had no idea you even owned something like this.”
“I don’t. That’s Angie’s idea of a joke. Do you know how drunk you’d have to get me to wear that?”
Missy pulled out the red silk one.
“This one is cute. Why don’t you wear this?”
I just stuck my tongue out at her.
Tami gave Missy a wink, and they both crawled up on the bed. I was looking back and forth at them, trying to figure out what they were doing. When I looked at Missy, she kissed me. Tami pulled my t-shirt out of my jeans and kissed my stomach. Missy kept me distracted as Tami took my shoes off. Next, I felt my belt being undone, with my zipper coming down soon after.