Chapter 15
Had he moved too quickly? Probably. Tate must have just made the decision to open up, to reach out. Julian had let his and Tate’s physical arousal cause him to skip the part where Tate talks about his feelings. He had gone straight to the physical, giving Tate the message that that was all Julian was looking for.
Julian’s body and heart yearned to have taken Tate in his arms and kissed away all the young man’s fears and resistance. But he knew that would have been the wrong thing to do. Whatever was holding Tate back from going on with his life would have to be worked out first. A feeling of helplessness crept over him. Julian knew he had to let Tate go, let him find his own way.
And maybe this was better. Julian wasn’t ready to become involved with another man. Wasn’t he embarking on a new way of life, a life free of gay complexities, and romantic entanglements?
At any rate, he would let it go. He would be there if Tate needed him, but that was all. For now he had lesson plans to do, and decisions to make regarding school, and…His mind turned to the moment when he’d held Tate, gently kissed him, felt his arousal. Taking another deep breath and shaking off the thought, Julian stood, got his computer, sat down at the desk, and began planning his first lesson.
* * * *
For the next few days Julian’s new job occupied most of his time. He had to attend New Staff Orientation as well as building meetings with the principal and his fellow teachers. Then there were the district-wide staff development seminars.
The Friday before Labor Day weekend found Julian working in his room, making out his class record book, getting acquainted with student names, and putting up bulletin boards: one with cartoon characters explaining punctuation, another giving definitions and examples of terms like personification, simile, analogy, metaphor, irony and imagery, and a third board listed classroom rules and expectations. Finally, just before he left for the weekend, he wrote on the blackboard:
Hello! My name is Mr. Reynolds.
Welcome to Sixth Grade Language Arts.
He stood, with his hands on his hips, looking at the board, when his cell phone rang.
Caller I D said it was Craig. Julian rolled his eyes, considered letting it go to voicemail but then answered it. “Hello.”
“Hey, stranger. Haven’t heard from you since the party. Everything all right? You get moved in okay? Met any hot men?” Craig giggled.
“Everything’s fine. The move went well,” Julian replied, choosing to ignore Craig’s enquiry regarding the meeting of hot men, even though the question immediately brought thoughts of Tate to mind.
“Well, since you didn’t mention whether you’ve met anyone, I’m going to take that as a ‘no’. So, this will give you the chance to do just that. Stephen and I are planning a pool party to celebrate the end of summer. Danny and Derick, you remember them of course…”
Julian didn’t, but didn’t want to invite a how could he not remember them comment, followed by a lengthy discussion of who they were, so he said, “Yes.”
Craig was continuing, “They have this to-die-for pool at their new house in the boonies. The pool has a nice set of cabanas, a wet bar, and a privacy fence. A bunch of the guys will be there Sunday night, nine o’clock, rain or shine, to par-tee so bring your Speedo and get ready to shake that sweet booty of yours!” He giggled again. “I’m sure someone there will see and appreciate it. They plan on it being an all-nighter, and you never know what might happen at one of those.”
Julian had been to parties like this before. They usually ended in debauchery.
“Uh, thanks, Craig, but I don’t think I can make it.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course you can. You can’t be busy. Didn’t you just tell me you haven’t met anyone yet?”
“No, you’re the one who said I haven’t met anyone yet.”
“So you havemet someone?”
Julian thought of Tate and decided to stretch the truth in order to avoid the invitation. “Yes, I have, and we may be busy this weekend.”
“You sneaky devil, you. Thought you could keep him all to yourself. Well, tell, tell! Who is he? Do I know him? Details, sweetie, details.”
Shit! “No, you don’t know him.”
“Well, what a great way for all your friends to get to know your new boyfriend…or is he your new boy toy?” Craig laughed then added, “Doesn’t matter which, just bring him to the party!”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Well…” Julian searched for an excuse. “He’s kind of shy.”
“Oh, another way of saying he’s still in the closet,” Craig said dismissively. “Say, we could make this his coming out party!” When Julian didn’t respond, Craig added, “Okay, I won’t push, but if you change your mind…”
“Thanks, Craig. But I’m pretty sure we won’t,” Julian said, relieved that Craig seemed to have given up, but he felt guilty for having had to fib in order to put his friend off.