Page 26 of Teach Me
“Who’s GHG?” Sam asked.
“Sounds like the initials of a judge.” Nate frowned thoughtfully. “The honorable Garrison Herbert Garrible the Third.”
“Gary Garrible. Definitely a lawyer in a strip mall.” Chet cackled.
And we were off to the races.
“He buys up billboards on every highway in every state advertising his services.”
“Like Alexander Shunnarah.”
“Yeah, and he and Alexander are die-hard rivals. I’m liking this.” Jesse continued to use his baguette like a conductor’s baton.
“But secretly fucking.”
“Can’t some people just dislike each other and not be secretly fucking?” Nate narrowed his eyes at Eric.
“Haha, no. Super unlikely,” Ansel weighed in with a smirk.
Jesse flapped his baguette for attention. “Has anyone here ever slept with a guy named Gary? Let me know so I can unfriend you from my life.”
“For the record, my dad’s name is Gary, and he’s a cool dude, so chill with the Gary hate.” Ansel scowled at Jesse.
Jesse wasn’t one to be dissuaded easily, though. He smiled brightly and addressed the rest of us. “Has anyone slept with Ansel’s dad?”
“No, but I probably would. Is he hot?”
“The hell you would.” Mark glared at Chet, who shot him a wink back.
“Is there gonna be payback later?”
“You bet your ass.”
“Exactly what I was hoping for.”
Mark flipped him off, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
A pang of melancholy hit me as the conversation continued around us. Mark inclined his chin at me again, his voice low as he spoke.
“You know if you ever want to talk about anything, you can talk to me. I won’t say anything to anyone, not even Chet. I promise.”
The sincerity in his eyes smacked me hard in the chest and created a lump in my throat because I believed him for the first time since everything had gone down sophomore year. Shit, maybe this was progress, and if it was, I would take it.
But there was no way I could tell him, or anyone else, about Professor Lusk. No fucking way.
“Anyone notice Cam is neither confirming nor denying?” Nate grinned.
“It’s just a guy I was talking to on an app. It’s not a big deal.” The disingenuity of the statement sat heavy in my stomach. I fucking hated lying. I avoided it as much as possible, but lately,I was discovering maybe there was a difference between lies you told yourself and lies you told for the benefit of someone else. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad, but I didn’t ever want Professor Lusk to come under fire for something I’d had a part in, too.
Jesse set a plate of deviled eggs in front of me, and I knew it was his peace offering. “No more apps, Cambo. Come out with us Friday. We’ll get you hooked up.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Fuck that dude anyway. He’s an idiot.”
Over the next two weeks,I threw myself into my cafe shifts and my classes. Paul, Professor Lusk’s TA, reached out to me via email, and we’d been able to arrange a time to meet. He was friendly, approachable, and super smart. After he helped me get the structure of my essay sorted, I ended up asking if he wouldn’t mind meeting every couple of weeks to go over the coursework. While I knew I could probably manage to pull off an A, especially since I was no longer distracted by my mystery man-turned-professor, it still seemed smart to make sure I was on the level in regard to the coursework with Paul and try to avoid any interaction with Professor Lusk outside of class at all.
Sitting through his classes left me with a dull ache that settled in my chest. He’d stopped coming to the cafe as well, at least when I was working. I supposed it was for the best, but after two weeks, I had to reluctantly admit that despite my nonchalant attitude in his office and my no-strings-attached proposal, I’d gotten a little too attached to the outcome. It was a strange kind of disappointment, too, because I’d been totally into sex with my mystery man, while I’d really loved the rapport I’d established with Professor Lusk. Finding out that they wereone and the same person was a total kick in the nuts. It felt like two rejections at once. I missed the sexy thrill of Glory Hole Guy and stimulating conversations with Professor Lusk. He was the full package and completely off-limits. What sucked even more was knowing I’d never get to experience both sides of him in one person. That door closed as soon as it opened, leaving me in emotional limbo.
At night, I’d shut myself in my room and study or gather with the guys on the couch downstairs, joining in whatever they were watching. Eventually, I’d make my way to bed and scroll social media until my eyelids grew heavy. I saved recipes to share with Jesse, quotes I liked into a folder called Good Advice, and places I wanted to see someday. Which was how I ended up squinting at something on my screen called the Enigma maze on a Friday night when the house was empty. I’d never seen anything like it before and quickly saved it to my Travel folder before clicking to read more about it. It was extravagantly complex and looked like something you might find overseas, but was listed as being a temporary exhibit in DC. I swiped through the photos, studying the twists and turns and wondering if I could convince my roommates to make the drive with me. Nate and Eric might, although I could also see them sneaking off to take full advantage of the illusion of privacy. So maybe Mark and Chet were the better choice.
Inevitably, Grady popped into my mind, and wistful loneliness curled through me like tendrils of smoke as I tried to imagine how he’d approach the maze. Probably with a thorough plan in place, his clever mind meticulously recalculating as he went. I smiled to myself, and then it faded as another thought occurred. I jolted upright in my bed.