Five minutes left in class. Just five more minutes. It’s funny, sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for the sound of that bell as much as these kids are. “Alright, can anyone give me an example of an Iambic Pentameter?” I ask the class.

No one raises their hand, of course. “Come on, guys. There’s no such thing as a dumb answer.”

“Don’t you mean, there’s no such thing as a dumb question?” Linda, one of the over achievers in the class, says, smiling brightly. I hate even thinking this, but she annoys the hell out of me, with her goody-two-shoes attitude and obsession with being right. “There are most certainly dumb answers.”

“No,” I correct her. “There are no dumb answers or questions. We come to school to learn, not to judge, Linda,” I sigh.

“But how can we know the truth if there aren’t right answers?” she asks.

“This is English and the truth is relative,” I say, closing my eyes. I’m so tired from last night that I’m doing these kids an injustice today. Still, I don’t regret going out. I don’t regret feeling his hands all over my body, and I sure as hell don’t regret his mouth between my legs.

The bell rings and Linda shakes her head. The kids file out of my class and I swear, I hear her say, “Lying bitch.” It’s all too much sometimes, but this is the last period of the day, which means peace and quiet. Thank the lord!

Judy pops her head inside the classroom as I’m getting my things ready. “What’s up, girl?” she asks. “Having a good first week?”

“Well…” I grab my things and walk outside and into the hall. “Linda Pagwan just called me a lying bitch and I told the class that there are no right answers and the truth is relative.”

She laughs and throws her arm around my shoulder. “It happens to the best of us,” she says. “Don’t worry about it. Linda is a total cunt.”

“Judy!” I exclaim, pushing the hall doors open. Sunlight basks over my face. “She’s a student. She’s young and doesn’t know any better.”

“I’m just tellin’ it like it is,” she says.

“Uh huh,” I reply.

“Think about what kind of a person that girl is going to grow up to be. She’ll excel, no doubt. In fact, she’ll get everything her little heart desires.”

“So what?” I laugh.

“Hey! I’m just defending you, remember? You’re probably right. She probably won’t become the CEO of Exxon and dump a bunch of oil into all the rivers and oceans, killing us all and exterminating life on this planet.”

“Wow, you’ve really thought this through,” I laugh. She’s unbelievable, but she brings a little more joy into my life.

“Nah, I’m just joking around,” she laughs. “But seriously, us teachers do not get paid enough to deal with being called a bitch on a daily basis.”

“Daily basis?” I ask her, gulping down.

“Oh yeah. Welcome to Puberty 101.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway, what’s up? How was your little movie date last night? Get any popcorn?”

I laugh and breathe in the clean air. “Well, we didn’t actually end up seeing any movie,” I say the words carefully, so she doesn’t freak out.

“Oh my God, girl! You’re bad,” she yells.

“Stop.” I glance around. Principal Kneeves turns to us in the parking lot and waves.

“Hello, ladies!” he says, before getting into his car.

“Did you suck his cock?” she asks. “You totally sucked his cock, didn’t you? Was it big? Was it thick? Did he moan real loud when he came in your mouth?”

“Gross!” I say, lightly pushing her away. “No, yes, yes, and no.”

“Tell me everything. Now,” she demands.

“It’s personal,” I laugh, opening my car door.

“I will stand in front of your car and vow to get run over if you don’t tell me everything,” she says.

“You’d sacrifice your life for my intimate details?” I ask.

“I haven’t had good sex in over a year,” she says, eyes wide. “You have no idea what I’m willing to do. I need to live through you!”

“You’re crazy,” I laugh. “But, fine. I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you,” she smiles.

“We went to a bar and got some drinks. Halloway stumbled in extremely drunk and got kicked out. I left the bar and—”

“Halloway is a wreck,” she adds. I shrug. “Okay, sorry for the interjection. You may continue.”

“Yeah, well, we decided to just go back to my place. You know, so he could fix my broken lights,” I say.

“Naturally,” she smiles.

“But we ended up not really getting too far,” I laugh. “And he went down on me in the bar parking lot.”

“Helena…” She blinks her eyes crazily. “Seriously?!”

“Yes.” I blush. “I know. It’s crazy. I’m a disgusting pervert.”

“No, you’re my hero! In fact, I think you’re every woman’s hero right now,” she exclaims. “You got a military guy to go down on you before you even put your lips around his cock?”

“Navy,” I correct her. “He was a SEAL.”

“What-the-fuck-ever,” she says. “How did you pull that off? Did you just pull up your dress and say, ‘okay, make me cum now’? What is your secret?!”

“I don’t know,” I gulp. At this point, I’m bright red. I’ve never been too good at describing personal details like this. It’s embarrassing. “He just kind of did it. I mean, he got off too.”

“So you gave him head?” she presses me for more answers.

“No,” I laugh.

“No?!” She’s baffled. “You’re making this all up. You have to be.”

“He got me off and sort of just…” I stop myself.

“Oh, so he masturbated onto your pussy,” she says, without flinching. I glance around to see if any of the staff or students are still around. No one is in the parking lot anymore.

“Yes,” I say, totally embarrassed now. “He masturbated onto my pussy.”

“Don’t say it like it’s a bad word,” she says. “Wear it loud and proud! You got head, Helena! I want to celebrate on your behalf.”

“You’re crazy!” I say.

“You keep saying that. Who knows? Maybe it’s true,” she laughs. “So, what’s next? What’s your plan?”

“I haven’t really given it any thought,” I admit. “I thought maybe we’d go on another date I guess.”

“You guess?” she asks. “Well, do you like the guy still or what?”

“Yeah, he’s nice.” I shrug. “I don’t know if I like like him. “It’s way too early to tell, right?”

“Well, I think you need to get your priorities together,” she says. “You need to marry the bastard.”

“Who’s a bastard?” a voice says behind us. We both turn around so fast, I give myself a minor case of whiplash.

“Addison!” I exclaim, turning practically purple now. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I swear, I’m blood red from all of this embarrassment.

“Hey sweetie-pie.” He winks.

“Sweetie-pie,” Judy mouths.

“Hello, Judy,” he says, leaning against the car. “What’re you two ladies talking about? I want details.”

“Nothing,” I quickly say.

“Nothing?” he laughs.

“We were talking about some girl who called her a bitch in class,” Judy says. “I said she was a cunt.”

“Watch that mouth!” Addison says. “And slow down, someone called you a bitch?”

I swear, his muscles bulge out for a second, as if he is ready to take a swing at whoever did it. I shrug the whole thing off. “It was just some student. This girl. It was my fault,” I say.

“What, did you hit her or something?” he asks. “How can that be your fault?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” I say, feeling totally out of my element.

He exhales heavily and shrugs. “Suit yourself,” he says.

“What’re you doing?” I ask him.

“Another day, another dollar,” he says. “The school has a bunch of faulty compressors. I gotta try and fix them, I guess.”

“Milk them for double its worth,” Judy smiles defiantly.

“I don’t think you two should hang around anymore,” he laughs. “You two together are trouble.”

“I know,” she smiles back. “Hey, Addison.”

“What?” he asks, moving closer to me. I smell his cologne and fall into a slight trance. I just want to wrap my hands around his arms.

“When are you going to take my girl here on a date?” she asks him.

“Judy!” I hiss, covering my face. I feel like I’m in junior high all over again.

She just shrugs. “It’s a poignant question,” she says.

He turns to me. “How about tomorrow?” God, why does he have to be so damn charming?

“I might be busy,” I say, thinking about all of the papers I have to grade.

“Tomorrow is perfect,” Judy juts in.

“How about I give you my number,” he says. “If you can’t hang out tomorrow, that’s fine. No pressure.”

“She can,” Judy says. “Don’t worry.”

I swear, I’m about to hit her in the tit. “If you can,” he says, laughing a little. “We should do something during the day. There are some cool spots around here. I’ll show you around.”

“Sounds good,” I say. “I’ll text you.”

“Great. I gave you my number, right?” he asks.

“When?” I struggle to remember.

“When you crashed into me, remember?” he laughs. “I still have the bruises.”

“Oh yeah,” I laugh awkwardly and reach into my purse, grabbing his card. “Got it.”

“Well, alright then.” He eyes me up and down and bites his lip. “See you, ladies.” He starts to whistle a tune as he walks toward the school entranceway.

“Holy shit,” Judy whispers. “He’s perfect. Perfect! I’m so excited for you.”

I play it cool, but deep down I’m freaking out. This handy man is somehow god’s gift to the world and he wants me, the English teacher. Yes, he is an ex-Navy SEAL and a repairman. I know it sounds so wrong, but I’m still so hesitant. I was always taught to stay away from men like him, but he seems normal, quite frankly.

I try not to think about it. This isn’t a forever kind of thing. This is just fun during the school year. But this town is small and I know tomorrow is going to yield some interesting thoughts. I just hope I can handle myself when I look down and he’s on his knees, mouth ready for me.