Chapter 8

Carina

I walked into school Monday morning, still on a high from my weekend outing with the girls. Harrison called me a few times since we met. Not enough to become something serious, but just enough to keep my interest in him piqued. Our phone conversations had turned into hour long ones getting to know one another.

After I dropped my things off in my classroom, I headed to the teacher’s lounge. Jade and Margo stood near the coffee machine, preparing their morning burst of energy.

“Hey girl,” Jade said as she stirred cream into her coffee. “How was the rest of your weekend?”

I wasn’t sure if Freya told them what happened between me and Harrison, so I treaded lightly.

“It was good. Just grading papers and getting caught up on school work, you know? The normal two days for me.” I grabbed a small bowl from the cabinet and filled it with instant oatmeal. The apple cinnamon mix filled halfway as a small cloud puffed up just above the ceramic.

“How was yours?”

Margo let out a small laugh. “Remind me never to drink that much liquor again. As soon as we left Luzano’s, we went to Seven-Two and I had too many drinks. I don’t even remember what happened the rest of that night. All I remember is waking up the next morning in my bed, wearing the same clothes I had on the night before, with a splitting headache. Jade was in the bed next to me sound asleep.”

“Yeah,” Jade interjected, “you were drunk as hell. It took me and Rhea to get you into your house and up the stairs and all three of us nearly fell back down the stairs while we tried.”

I stifled a laugh as I put some water in my bowl and then slid it into the microwave. From the sounds of it, they had no idea that I had a fun time with Harrison on the balcony of Luzano’s. If they knew, then I was sure that would have been the conversation of the morning.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. Freya walked in and stood in the opening as the light from the hallway blazed into the dimly lit room. She stood there like a superhero who was getting ready to stop bad guys from committing a crime. Finally, she let the door close behind her as a smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.

“So, Carina, how are you this morning?”

I smiled and faced the microwave. “I am good. Why are you singling me out?”

“Oh,” she said, making her way to the coffee machine. “No reason. I was just wondering how you felt because I know it has been a long time since you,” she paused briefly, “went out.”

One of Jade’s brows lifted above the other. “Why did you say, ‘went out’, like that? There is no need to speak in codes around here.” Freya cleared her throat as she slid the hazelnut flavor into the coffee maker. With her eyes, she directed Jada’s attention towards me.

“Ok, what am I missing?” Jade asked, taking her cue.

“Nothing, Jade,” I said as the microwave beeped and as I took the bowl out, steam rose above it sending the smell of apple and cinnamon around me. “Freya is just being mean.”

“Mean?” Freya said with a smile. “No, being mean would be me telling the girls that you had sex with that man on the balcony of Luzano’s.”

Jade and Margo’s mouths hung open as they held their coffee mugs in their hands.

“What? You did what?” Margo asked with a voice of disbelief. “No, you did not. You did not! Did you?”

“Damn it, Freya!” I said as I stirred my oatmeal until it thickened to my liking.

“What?” she said, laughing. “Girl, you knew I was going to tell them eventually, so don’t act surprised.”

“Wait, you had sex with that man that came to the table? On the balcony?” Margo asked in disbelief. “Holy shit! I never would’ve thought that you would have the balls to do something like that!”

“I guess if you get enough liquor in her system, she turns from schoolgirl to vixen,” Jade said as they all laughed out loud.

“Shut up! I don’t know what came over me. I guess it was just, I don’t know, I was caught in the moment.”

“So, how was it?” Jade asked, stepping closer to me with a curious eye.

I sprinkled the top of my oatmeal with sugar as they waited impatiently for my response. I took a deep breath, then exhaled as I leaned against the counter with the bowl in my hand.

“It was good,” I said, smiling as I recollected the feelings from that night. “It was really good and,” I twirled my spoon around in my bowl. “And I’d do it again without thinking twice about it.”

“You little slut!” Margo said, laughing. “And I am so jealous! The only thing we did was run into corny ass men who used the same lame ass pick up line.”

Just then the bell rang signaling first period was about to begin. We all grabbed out things and quickly headed out of the teacher’s lounge.

“So, you know we are going to have to finish this conversation later, right?” Jade said.

“Alright, alright. Later, ok? I need to get back to my classroom and get ready for my kids but I promise you that I will fill you all in, ok?”

“You better.” Margo said as she and Jade turned to walk down the long hallway.

Freya stood next to me, smiling, as she blew steam off the top of her mug before she took a sip. “Did you really have to tell them right now?” I asked. I knew eventually I would tell them everything that happened, but I had hoped it would be over wine in the privacy of one of our apartments. Not in the teacher’s lounge at work.

“No, I didn’t have to tell them right now, but you know it is Monday and the day is already hard to get through on its own. So, I felt like this would help pass the day. You know our chat messages will be funny all day because of this news, so,” she winked at me, “you’re welcome.”

“Whatever, Freya.” I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t really mad at her for telling them.

She laughed and with that, she went her way to her classroom and I made my way towards mine. Even with them knowing what happened on the balcony at Luzano’s, I still wasn’t ashamed of the fact that I let it happen. I figured I needed it, especially seeing how it loosened me up over the past couple of days. I felt like I had just started living life again. For so long, I had allowed my past failed relationships to dictate my love life but now, it seemed I had finally jumped over that hurdle.

When I got to my classroom, I removed the stack of papers I graded over the weekend. I made smiley faces inside the zeroes of the 100% papers. That was the first time I’d done anything like that since my last relationship. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought that things were beginning to change. I wondered if that time with Harrison was just for that purpose, or if there was something deeper between us. Only time would tell.

The children flooded into the classroom, rambunctious and full of energy like they did every Monday. For them, their weeks went in reverse order of adults. Mondays, they were full of energy and by the end of the week, they were generally much calmer because of all the strength they exerted throughout the week. For adults, it seemed we got more energy once the week was ending. Now that I thought about it, the way that the children handled the week made a lot more sense than the way we handled it.

Lunch time was just around the corner when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and Harrison’s name flashed across the screen. I grabbed it from my desk and stood to my feet while my class did an assignment.

“Sarah, can you please watch over the class? I need to step out and take this phone call quickly.”

“Yes, Ms. Dellucci.”

I went into the hallway and cleared the jitters from my voice, then answered. “Hey, Harrison. How are you doing?”

“I am good. I didn’t catch you in the middle of anything, did I?”

“Not really. My kids are just doing some busy work right now, so it is alright. I have a few minutes. What’s up?”

“I was hoping you had time to hang out with me. Maybe grab a bite to eat tonight or tomorrow.”

“Oh,” I smiled. A surge of jitters ran through my veins. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be cool with me. Tomorrow will work best.”

“No problem. Tomorrow it is then. I’ll give you a call later with the details.”

“Ok.”

“Alright. You enjoy the rest of your day.”

“I will. Can’t wait to hear from you again.”

“Likewise.”

I ended the call and leaned against the wall next to my door while butterflies flapped their wings around in my stomach. I didn’t believe it was possible to have this type of giddiness over a man at my age, but Harrison seemed like the perfect man to erupt those feelings out of my heart. I couldn’t explain it, but then again, I didn’t want to.