Chapter 8

The next morning, I lay there on my bed just staring at the ceiling. I had been awake since about an hour before sunrise, and I looked backwards over my head at the alarm clock. Nine o'clock, and the day wasn't getting any easier to face.

Alison and Kim were a little confused about last night -- can't say I blame them -- but I sent them home right after April left without really explaining anything.

What the hell was I going to do? I felt like shit for fooling around on April. You don't do that kind of thing to people you care about, or ever want to see again.

She probably never wanted to see me again.

That thought tied my stomach up in a huge knot. Any thoughts I had of hopping out of bed and getting breakfast fled from my mind. I cared about April too much to fuck up this badly, but I sure didn't see a good way out of it.

I heard two knocks on my door. "Piss off," I yelled. Whoever it was, I didn't want to see them.

"Come on, George, open it." Rob's voice came from the other side of the door, and I assumed it was his hand that rattled the doorknob. I had locked it last night after escorting Kim and Alison out.

"I said, piss off. Whatever you want, I don't care. I gave at the fucking office."

"George, I know what happened with April last night."

"I don't know what you're talking about." 'Jeezus, ' I thought. 'I knew the rumor mill worked fast in this school, but not *that* fast.'

"Don't play that game with me, you dumb shit! Open the door!"

"All right, all right." I jumped down from my bed, threw on a pair of boxers, and unlocked the door.

Rob practically slammed the door open, took two steps forward, and smacked me on the forehead, right where I had bumped myself last night.

"Ow! Fuck, that hurt."

"Yeah, well what you did last night to April was about as smart. Christ, what were you thinking?"

"Fuck you. If all you came here to do was to abuse me, you can get the hell out. I don't need it from you," I said, rubbing my forehead with one hand and pointing to the hallway with the other.

Rob looked at me for a second, and the look on his face changed from outright anger to a mix of disgust and resignation. He sighed and heaved himself into the chair at my desk.

"Look, dude, I'm sorry. I guess I was just a little angry at you."

I exhaled deeply and sat down on the floor, leaning back against the wall. "Yeah, well, I'm a little pissed at myself, too. I guess April is as well."

"Yeah, just a bit."

"What the hell*was* I thinking?" I asked no one in particular.

"Probably about getting laid, and not about April."

I hung my head slowly. He was dead on -- I hadn't thought about April at all until she came into the room.

"You know she cares a lot for you."

"Not any more," I snorted. "I've screwed up big time. I doubt she even wants to see me again, much less talk to me."

"Do you want to see her again?"

"Hell yeah." I surprised myself with the speed at which that came out. "I feel really stupid for what I did last night, though, and I have no clue how to go about apologizing. 'Sorry, April, I didn't mean to screw around behind your back with two teenagers.' Doesn't sound too good. 'Don't worry honey, the sex wasn't that great.' Nope, that's no good. 'Just cause I slept with somebody else, doesn't mean I don't care for you!'"

There was a short pause while that statement hung in midair.

"I think you might be on the right track there."

"What, the last one?"

"Yeah. You do still care for her, right?"

"Well, shit, yeah."

"Do you care about those two chicks from last night?"

"... I don't know. Not really. I mean, they were nice people and all, and I guess we all had a good time last night, but I don't really feel anything towards them."

"Not like you do for April."

I just nodded.

"Dude, let me tell you a little secret. I've 'been around', probably a little more than I should, and I've learned a few things. Probably the most important thing that I've learned is that there's three different kinds of sex you can have."