Page 18 of Advanced Chemistry

“I did make it to SpringFest,” I said.

“Did you get your Twinkie?”

“As a matter of fact, I got two.” I couldn’t stop the smile from curling on my lips. Not only because of my witty wordplay, but because my mind returned to that apartment on Saturday. What a time…

Everett narrowed his eyes at me. “Seems like you really enjoyed your snacks.”

“Oh, I did.” I strummed my fingers on my desk, deliberating on whether I should spill the proverbial beans. My friends and I had a very open relationship. The nature of my Saturday rendezvous aligned with our frequent topics of conversations in our circle. And a part of me was curious to see Everett’s reaction, which was always dialed up to eleven.

“What is it, Chase?”

I made sure nobody was walking in the hall. “At SpringFest, I ran into two former students. They were big fans of my class.” Bigger fans than I ever expected considering they were B and C students.

“Oh, nice. It’s always fun catching up with old students.”

“I actually did more than catch up with them.”

Everett crinkled his brow. “What does that mean? Did y’all go out to dinner?”

“We went back to their apartment where I proceeded to fellate them while watching an episode ofSchitt’s Creek, which they’d never seen.”

Everett’s pile of wigs fell to the floor, fanning out in fake hair diffusion.

“Chase.” His eyes bugged out. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“I’m speechless.”

“Me, too. Who hasn’t watchedSchitt’s Creek? It’s a truly wonderful show.”

Everett stepped over the wig pile and marched into my classroom. He stopped just short of my desk, unsure whether to continue. I had a suspicion that Everett was staging his reaction entrance in real time.

“Chase…”

“Hmm?”

I expected Everett to be surprised, but he almost seemed angrily surprised.

“You might want to pick up your wigs. You don’t want them to accumulate dirt, which would be hard to get out.”

“Forget the wigs.” Everett collapsed against the markerboard. “Chase, if you don’t give me details on what the hell happened, I am going to scream at the top of my lungs.”

I knew Everett well. He wasn’t bluffing.

* * *

After tellingEverett the story of what happened, he dragged me to the teacher’s lounge, where Amos and Julian were drinking coffee with their respective boyfriends.

“Amos, Julian. Can we speak to you outside?” Everett called from the doorway, his voice tense and stern. Were we all in trouble?

Seamus, Julian’s boyfriend, did the requisite Ooooooh that all students uttered when one of their own was called to the principal’s office.

“What happened? Everett, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Amos said once we all got into the hall. Everett led us down the quiet corridor, out of earshot of the teacher’s lounge.

“Is everything okay?” Julian asked.

Everett was getting comically red. He was a pale redhead, and that skintone led itself to easily showing one’s emotions. His boyfriend would call him Red Hulk whenever Everett got angry, which only made Everett’s shade darken.

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