“Good morning, ladies. How did I get so lucky as to see all of you first thing?”
Hey, it was worth a try.
“David, we have a bone to pick with you,” Eve said, launching right in. “We’re all very disappointed in you.”
She looked around to get support from the lynch mob. They all glared at me.
“Okay, I apologize,” I said, hoping a blanket apology would suffice.
“As your official girlfriend, we had a deal. I have half a mind to break up with you. I understand that you were with two different girls this weekend while I was gone. That wasn’t part of our agreement.”
Holy crap, Cassidy ratted me out too. At least, she wouldn’t look me in the eye. Yes, I should have talked to Eve. But this was a little much, having everyone ambush me at my locker. I was suddenly mad all over. It wasn’t as if I’d planned to hook up with either of the girls. On top of that, we’d started to draw a crowd. I don’t think the girls had planned for that. They began to look a little nervous. Jim, Alan and Jeff were headed our way, and they looked confused as to why I’d faced off with everyone.
“What’s going on?” Alan asked.
He just couldn’t help himself sometimes. Jim and Jeff flinched when they saw the looks he got. Jeff made the wise move: he turned around and walked away. Alan had been around me longer than anyone else besides Beth. Jim and Alan both got worried looks on their faces. I guess they could tell I was pissed.
“David cheated on me this weekend, with two girls,” Eve answered Alan.
Jim and Cassidy both looked like they wanted to be somewhere else. I really couldn’t believe that Eve had just done that to Cassidy.
“Eve, when did you get that mean? I can’t believe you’re treating a friend that way,” I said.
I tried not to single Cassidy out. I also knew that Tracy didn’t need this abuse. I don’t think Eve expected me to respond the way I did.
“What are you talking about?” Eve asked.
I got close to her and whispered.
“Cassidy and Jim are both here. It’s one thing to embarrass me, but what are you doing to them?”
No one else heard what I said. She flushed, and everyone started to look confused.
“What did he say?” Alan asked.
“Gina, you better get him out of my sight for the next few minutes.”
Gina pushed through the crowd, grabbed Alan, and pulled him to class. She would fill him in. I looked at the rest of the crowd.
“The rest of you can hit the road if you don’t have a vested interest in this conversation,” I said.
That cleared out the onlookers, including Jim and Cassidy. I pulled the rest into an empty classroom.
“I’m going to say a couple of things, and then we’ll discuss what happened this weekend,” I said, looking each girl in the eye. “First of all, never pull a stunt like this morning again. If you want to chew me out, we’ll do it in private. Are we agreed on that?” They all nodded. “The second is that you all owe Jim and Cassidy an apology. What happened was not her fault. Do you agree with that, Cindy?”
She gave me a sheepish look.
“Yes, it was my fault.”
Suzanne started to go into mother-bear mode to protect her brother. I gave her a stern look and she backed down.
“Finally, do any of you for one minute believe that I wasn’t there when Tracy and I had our breakups?”
No one wanted to look at me now.
“I’ll say this, I think what happened between Tracy and me was a huge mistake. I also want it to be clear that it was my mistake and not Tracy’s. Please don’t make her the bad guy in this,” I said, then paused to let that sink in. “Eve, none of this was planned. I didn’t go out looking to hook up with Tracy. She came to me in need and in a moment of weakness, I caved. You have to remember that she and I share a history. Not all of it was terrible. If it were, I wouldn’t have been so hurt when it happened. She told me she isn’t looking for us to get back together. I can’t see that ever happening.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t call you when you got back. I had a full day of modeling yesterday. I know that isn’t an excuse, but it’s what happened. Eve, you deserve better. I truly am sorry for hurting you.”
She came to me and hugged me.
“Can I ask you something?” Eve asked. “Do you plan on sleeping with Tracy again?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. Do I plan to? No. Will it ever happen again? I can’t honestly say it won’t. You have to trust me that my eyes are wide open when it comes to Tracy Dole. She’s a friend. I don’t turn my back on my friends.”
Eve looked at me, and then kissed me with a little heat.
“Alright. I never asked you to only be with me. Everyone here knows that Tracy has a hold on you. We were just worried you’d lost your mind. I’m sorry for the little gathering this morning. I didn’t want to face you alone,” she explained. “I also need to find Cassidy and Jim and tell them I’m sorry.”
The bell rang. Each girl, in turn, gave me a hug and a kiss. Who knew sleeping with Tracy would cause this reaction? I guess I should have.
I SPENT LUNCHTIME WITH Cassidy and Jim alone. They didn’t want to sit with the rest of the table today. They wanted to let everything settle before they went back. I was proud of my girls. Each one of them stopped by and apologized.
“We have a question for you,” Cassidy announced.
Jim went bright red, so I knew it was about sex. I just nodded to Cassidy to tell her to continue.
“Jim’s concerned about being premature. Is there something he can do to delay, um ...?”
I smiled at them both. I had to give them credit for at least asking.
“Actually, there are several things. The first is an old wives’ tale. I’m sure you’ve heard that it takes a woman longer to achieve orgasm during intercourse. This, in turn, means a guy must go forever to help her get there. What’s really happening is the guy is going for the main event too soon. If he’d spend time getting her as aroused as he is, either through manual or oral stimulation, she can have an orgasm just as fast as a guy can. So take your time, and get Cassidy excited by doing what Cindy showed you.
“The next one is kind of sad. Guys will tell you to think about something unsexy while having sex. I’m sure you’ve heard about boys thinking about baseball stats or dead kittens to delay an orgasm. Personally, I want to enjoy sex, so I don’t recommend that one.
“This next one is going to shock you: don’t masturbate so much. It’s true that if you get off before a date you can last longer, but wouldn’t you rather do it having fun with someone else than at home?”
Jim smiled at me.
“Yeah, I really would.”
“The pre-date release is not what I’m talking about, though. I’m talking about the act of masturbation. For most boys, the purpose is to get off. We prepare ourselves for failure. If your goal is to get off, then that’s what you do. You’re not ...”
Ed walked up.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t help eavesdropping. Is it okay if I learn this, too?”
I thought about it for a minute.
“Go get the other guys. I’ll explain it to all of them.”
“You’re a good guy, David,” Cassidy told me. “Most men never talk about this.”
I was shocked when Ed brought back what seemed like thirty other boys. I was happy to see Greg was in the group. I motioned for Greg to come join me as I sat on the edge of the table. They all pulled up chairs in a semicircle.
“So, what’ve you told them so far?” Greg asked.
I got everyone up to speed with what I’d told Jim before they came over.
“I was going to tell them about masturbation next,” I said looking at Greg.