Chapter Two

Christopher

What a perfect day to be cruising to work in a Jeep with the top down. It’s almost as if the whole world, Mother Nature herself, wants me to have a great day. Pulling up to the traffic light at Barnes and 1st Street, my mind is all over the place with excitement. My focus is split down the middle, bouncing between my physics lesson plan and my last good hook-up from a few weeks ago. If I had a nickel for every time a woman told me in this past year, “I’ve never tried this before, but I’ll do it for you,” with a shy smile on her face, I wouldn’t still be teaching this semester. Who am I kidding? I would probably have an extra twenty-five cents! All it seems to take is a bit of intense eye contact, just a handful of kisses, and before I know it, they’re melting like a snow cone in my warm hands.

Pulling into the faculty parking lot, that reality sneaks its way into my brain and I simmer on it for a minute, laughing to myself. This year has certainly been filled with some good shenanigans and only a few crushed feelings on the part of the ladies. The thing is, I never kept from these girls the truth about my intentions being purely physical, nor did I tell them any lies to get their sex. They were well aware that I love to play, but only when we’re all on the level. Some girls seem to struggle to accept that they can’t change my mind about that. I know it sometimes hurts their feelings when I don’t commit, won’t make a fling into something more emotionally meaningful. My ethical convictions are too strong, and so I never manipulate emotions to get sex. The headache of it alone makes it not worth attempting!

One could definitely get used to this feeling; the first day of school, surrounded by a whole new group of coeds and a handful of new female professors. Last year was my first year teaching here and I didn’t get a chance to observe my surroundings and feel comfortable until nearly the end of first semester. This time, I’m gonna savor it. I jump out of the Jeep and walk towards the science building. Students and professors are moseying about, making their way toward classes. I can spot the new kids, maps whipped out, pigeon-toed as they spin in circles trying to figure out the layout of this campus. I stride across the grassy courtyard, chest out and shoulders back, scanning for any familiar faces...or some faces with which I would like to get more familiar. I start to recognize a handful of the more tenured professors. We exchange nods as we make eye contact. This really is a beautiful campus we have here at Greenville State. It’s definitely got a small-school feel to it, but I like that. The old Southern architecture of these buildings is exactly what I imagine an institute of higher learning should look like.

I turn my mind back to the human scenery and the search for eye candy. Look at that; two o’clock high, there goes a cute little number. On second thought, she looks a