Installment 5 of The Circle of Confusion: P. J.

WARNING: READING THIS MAY REQUIRE A COLD SHOWER AFTERWARDS.

Chapter Five

The weather was turning cooler as the semester moved into the fall. Jamie, Lori and I were meeting every Wednesday evening at the library so Jamie could help us with our homework. Lori and I were both getting it pretty good.

Lori was really cool and I enjoyed hanging out with her. I really felt that Jamie liked her a lot too. Jamie was still doing a lot of work with the Kayla chick, whom I have yet to meet. It’s almost like the girl is avoiding me. If she has designs on my woman, she better keep avoiding me. I try not to think like that, but every once in a while I’ll see Jamie and her walking together on campus and it looks a little too friendly. Jamie swears they are just friends but it still gets under my skin.

Jamie and I are supposed to meet at the student center for lunch this afternoon. I’m really looking forward to it. It seems that we both have gotten so busy with our schedules and homework that we rarely get to see each other. We burn up out phones with texts and talking to each other. It’s good thing we both have unlimited talk and text. But, it’s not the same as sitting next to her and holding her hand, or holder her in my arms. We really haven’t had any alone time since the last time we tried to sneak in some lovemaking at Aunt Cheryl’s and got interrupted.

Maybe we can work out something today to find some place to be alone. I’d even call into work if I thought we were going to be able to make love.

I see Jamie walking into the student center and she’s with Kayla. Well, maybe I’m finally going to meet this chick who seems to get to spend more time with Jamie than I do.

Jamie looked at me and smiled with a wave. Kayla said something to her and then turned and walked away. I gritted my teeth, but found my smile when Jamie reached me. She sits down next to me and gives my knee a squeeze. “How are you?”

“Good,” I say tightly, and then ask, “Why doesn’t Kayla come with you to meet me?”

“She’s really shy,” Jamie says.

“Humph,” I snort before I can stop myself.

Jamie frowns. “What was that about?”

“I think she’s avoiding me,” I say.

Shaking her head, Jamie asks, “Are you suggesting that she doesn’t want to meet you because she likes me?”

“Yep,” I say.

“That’s bullshit, P. J.,” Jamie snaps.

“Well then, the next time we are going to meet and she’s with you, have her come on over so you can introduce us.”

“Fine,” Jamie says. She turns and looks over at the food court. “I’m not really that hungry. You want to just get something at the coffee shop?”

“Sure,” I say. We both stand. I slide my hand up her arm to her bicep and turn her to me. “I love you and I really hate it that she gets to see you more than I do.”

Jamie sighs and nods, “I understand. I think we’re both a little frustrated with how little time we get to see each other.”

“How about we sneak off someplace private this afternoon,” I suggest.

“Where?” Jamie asks. “We tried going to your aunt’s but that didn’t’ work out.”

“I have a plan,” I say, thinking that I’d saved a little money and would put it into good use by getting a hotel room for us.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Meet me at my Jeep in the parking garage at four and I’ll show you,” I say.

“Okay,” Jamie smiles. “I’m game. Now let’s get some coffee before Psyche, we’re going to need it to keep awake.”

* * *

Jamie was waiting for me by my Jeep when I got there later that afternoon. I pressed her against it and kissed her. She returned my kiss with equal vigor. “So what’s your plan?” she asks.

“We’re going to get a hotel room,” I say and open the door for her.

“I don’t have any money for that. I won’t get my money from Mom and Dad until this weekend.”

I go around to the driver’s side and get in. Reaching over, I take her hand and bring it to my lips. “I have some money saved for just such emergencies.”

“This is not an emergency,” Jamie giggles.

“Yes, it is,” I say. “I haven’t made love to you in weeks and it’s causing an ache that is killing me. The only way to cure the ache is to get you alone, so this is an emergency.”

Jamie’s eyes turn a darker shade of blue. She pulls me to her and kisses me hard. “You’re right. It’s been too long and we definitely need to cure this ache.”

I start the Jeep, back out of my parking space, and quickly make my way out of the parking garage. The only decent hotels are out by the Interstate, so I head in that direction. “Do you want to stop and grab something to eat before we get to the hotel?”

With smoldering eyes, Jamie turns to me, “I think everything we need to eat we’ll find at the hotel.”

Lord have mercy, that girl makes my entire body turn into a flame when she looks at me like that. I race through town to get to the hotels. I pick one that I know is fairly reasonable. Jamie waits while I book us a room. I specifically ask for one that is on the far side of the building.

When I get back in the Jeep, Jamie turns to me, “I think we should get a shower first.”

“Christ woman,” I growl, gun the Jeep out of the parking spot and try not to lay rubber on my way to the back parking lot.

We both grab out backpacks out of the Jeep and hurry inside the back hotel entrance. Our room in on the second floor and we take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I wanted to take the stairs for fear of not being able to keep my hands off her if we were alone in the elevator.

The room is five doors away from the staircase and we practically run to it. I open the door with the key card, we slip inside and Jamie pushes me against the wall. “I don’t know if I can wait for a shower,” she says and kisses me. Her hands are in my hair and her body is plastered to mine.

I know we are both a bit sweaty from the day’s excursions up and down the hill on campus, but like Jamie, I don’t really give a shit. Pushing her back, I lead her to the bed and pull my shirt off on the way over.

Jamie’s hands are immediately on my sports bra clad breasts, squeezing and nibbling at them. She pushes the bra up and over my head. She returns her mouth to my breast and gently chews on the nipple. My knees give out but Jamie catches me and pushed me on the bed.

“I’m going to make sure that you are never worried about another woman coming between us. After I get done with you, you will never question any whether anyone else has a chance with me,” Jamie growls and kisses me deeply as squeezes my nipples between her fingers.

I think I was coming to come right then, but Jamie is not going to make it that easy. She steps back, grabs my jeans and rips them off my body. Running her tongue from my navel down to my pubic hair, she pushes my panties down. Once again, she steps back, pulls my panties completely off, grabs my legs and hikes them up as she pushes me further onto the bed, drops to her knees and dives into my pussy with tongue.

My entire body tries to arch upward, but Jamie is holding me down. She possesses me with her mouth and her hands as she sucks at my pussy and tweaks my nipples. The orgasm rips through my body and I scream out, unable to control myself.

The next conscious thought I have is of Jamie kissing the inside of my thigh before standing up and stripping her clothes off. She climbs on the bed and straddles my face. “I have something for you,” she purrs.

I can smell her arousal. I lick my lips before pulling her down on my face to lick and suck her. She is grinding against my face and I’m grabbing her and pulling her down harder on me until her body starts quivering. I suck her clit in my mouth and assault it with my tongue until she cries out and collapses on me.

Slowly she moves down my body until we are face to face. She kisses me lightly on the lips and I can taste myself on her. We kiss for a few more minutes before she rolls over on her back. “Wow.”

“Yeah wow,” I agree. “I had no idea you knew how to do things like that.”

“I’ve been reading lesbian romances. There are several positions I’ve read about that we will have to try,” she says and reaches over to take my hand and lace her fingers between mine.

Squeezing her fingers gently, I say, “I can’t way to try out some of those positions. I roll to my side. “Neither one of us have classes until nine tomorrow morning, so we have all night for you to teach me stuff.”

Jamie rolls to face me. “And I’m going to teach you,” she says and kissed me lightly. “I don’t want you to ever have doubts about how much I love you.”

“Okay,” I say, pushing a few strands of her chocolate hair away from those beautiful blue eyes. “I won’t doubt you anymore.”

“Good,” Jamie says and sits up, pulling me with her. “Now, how about that shower?”

 

Installment Four

Chapter Four

Jamie is packing two Subway bags and a drink carrier with two drinks when I spot her approaching me in the library. I’m on the top floor where we will have an excellent view of the campus and town beyond. I know it sounds weird to think of the library as a romantic place, but it can be.

I usually pick a couple of the comfortable leather chairs next to one of the windows and away from the study tables in the middle of the room. This will give us some privacy so I can steal a kiss or two.

Jamie smiles as she gets closer to me. “Hey beautiful,” she says.

I blush and return her smile, “You’re the one who’s beautiful.”

She bends down and gives me a light kiss on the lips before sitting the food down on the low table in front of the chairs. “I got you a roast beef with provolone and everything on it, barbeque chips and a Mountain Dew.”

“Thanks,” I say and pull the sandwich and chips out of the bag. “What did you get?”

“Roasted chicken with parmesan and spaghetti sauce.”

“Umm, that sounds good too.”

“It is. I had one yesterday for lunch,” she says and pulls out her sandwich and chips.

After taking a bite of my sandwich and washing it down with some Mountain Dew, I ask, “So what kind of writing project are you and Kayla working on?”

“We have to do an essay about a famous person we both admire,” Jamie says and takes a bite of her sandwich and shoves a couple of her sour cream and onion chips with the bite.

“So, did the professor assign you two to work together or did you get to pick who you worked with?”

“We got to pick. Kayla and I hit it off right off the bat. We had kind of a gaydar slash cheerleader connection vibe.”

“So she’s gay?”

“Oh yeah, and quite proud of it.”

“Really?” I look away and take a bite of my sandwich.

“Yeah, apparently her mother is a real free spirit. She’s into astrology, tarot cards, and that sort of thing.”

“Cool,” I say and take a drink. “Is she a cheerleader here?”

“No, she was in junior high and high school, but like me, wanted to focus on her career choice at college,” Jamie said and took another bite of her sandwich.

“And what is her career choice,” I ask, thinking that if it’s biology I’m going to be sick.

“Computer science. Apparently, she is quite the computer nerd. She can program them, build them, design websites, all that kind of stuff.”

“Really,” I say surprised. “She doesn’t look like a computer nerd.”

“Not even when she’s wearing her glasses, but if you get her talking about computers, she sounds like one,” Jamie laughs.

I look down at my food and take another bite of my sandwich. After a few awkward silent moments, Jamie asks, “You aren’t feeling jealous, are you?”

Shrugging I say, “Maybe a little, especially when I saw you kiss her on the cheek earlier.”

Jamie puts her sandwich down, reaches over and takes my hands, “P. J., you have no reason to be jealous. Kayla is just a friend. You will like her.”

Smiling, I nod, “I’m sure I will.”

We finish eating our sandwiches before opening our books. Jamie picks up my algebra book and opens it to the page where my problems are located.  She looks over the sheet where I’ve been attempting to work out the problems. Looking up at me, she shakes her head and says, “You’ve forgotten the order the operations go.”

I shrug, “I did good to remember right after you told me initially. I’m not interested in it, so it’s hard for me to remember how it goes.”

Jamie reaches over and squeezes my hand, “I know and once you get past this class, you’ll never have to remember how to do it again.”

Smiling, I say, “Well, now that you’ve put it that way that gives me motivation to get through it.”

She punches me on the arm. “You are so silly.”

I grab her tiny fists and laugh, “I’m so serious. Just knowing that I will never have to take another math class after this semester is a huge relief.”

“Okay, so let’s get to this. I need to get back to the dorm and get some sleep. My first class starts at eight tomorrow.”

Pulling her to me, I kiss her on the cheek. “Okay, I’ll focus.”

* * *

The next morning I was ready for class. Jamie had helped me remember how to do the basic algebra problems and once I got the order of operations going it turned out to be fairly easy. Of course, her assuring me that I wouldn’t have to take another math class and they I only have to get a C in this class helped motivate me.

I sat down in my favorite desk at the back of the room and was soon joined by Lori Weaver. “Hey,” she says when she took the seat next to me.

“Morning,” I reply.

“Did you figure out how to do this crap?” she asks.

“Yeah, I met up with my girlfriend last night and she reminded me how to do the operations in the right order. That has always been my problem,” I say.

“Lucky you,” Lori replies, “I wish I had a girlfriend to help me with my math. I’ll probably have to get my advisor to hook me up with one of the tutors.”

“I’m sure Jamie wouldn’t mind helping you if you want me to ask her,” I say.

Lori smiles, “That would be cool.”

I pull out my phone and send Jamie a text asking her about helping Lori. “We usually meet in the library to study,” I say to Lori.

“It would have to be in the evening,” Lori says. “I have practice until about six.”

My first thought is that it will have to be on a night that I don’t have to work so I can be there. Lori is hot and not that I don’t trust Jamie, but I don’t know Lori, but I know she’s gay and I don’t want her hitting on Jamie. “Okay,” I say with a smile. “I’ll see what she says.”

“Cool,” Lori says.

The professor starts class and we don’t speak again until the end of class. Lori turns to me as she’s gathering her stuff. “I would really appreciate your girl’s help. I’d rather work with family”, Lori says, putting air quotes around the word family, “than with some random stranger.”

I smile, “I understand. Why don’t you give me your cell number and I’ll text you with what she says.”

“Okay,” Lori says and gives me her number.

I put it into my phone and check for a message from Jamie. She hasn’t replied yet so I say to Lori, “As soon as Jamie lets me know something I’ll text you.”

“Cool. I hope she doesn’t mind.”

“I doubt she will. She’s sweet like that,” I say.

Lori smiles, “I’ll bet she is. Later.” She turns and saunters out of the class ahead of me.

I watch her tight butt and muscled legs moved ahead of me and think that there is no way I’m letting this chick be alone with Jamie.

* * *

Jamie agreed to help Lori, which I knew she would. We were already at the library when Lori showed up around eight o’clock that evening. “Sorry I’m running so late,” she says as she approachd us. “Practice ran over.”

“That’s cool,” I say and turn to Jamie, “Jamie, this is Lori Weaver. Lori, this is my girlfriend, Jamie Edwards.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lori says offering her hand to Jamie, who takes it and gives it a firm shake.

“Grab a seat,” I say pointing to the chair across from us. “We waited for you to get here before we started on the algebra.”

Lori swings her backpack off her shoulder and sits it on the ground next to the chair I pointed to. She digs out her algebra book and note book before plopping down in the seat. “So where do we start?”

“The order of operations,” Jamie says.”I’m betting you have the same trouble with it that P. J. does.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a logical mind,” Lori says. “I lean more toward the creative side.”

“Really? Are you an art major, too?” Jamie asks.

“No, I’m an exercise science major,” Lori says.

“Oh yeah, that’s cool. Are you planning on being a coach or something?” Jamie asks.

“Maybe, I’m thinking more along the lines of a personal trainer, but I will probably do some coaching eventually.”

“Cool,” I say.

“Well, let’s get this studying going on,” Jamie says.

We go opened out books and Jamie gave us a refresher course on the order of operations. After which, Lori and I felt like we had a pretty good handle on things.

Lori looked at her watch and it was approaching ten o’clock. “Oh crap,” she says, “I have to go. My parents have a strict curfew.”

“Do you live here in town?” Jamie asks.

“Not really in town, we’re more out in the county, but not too far out. You can still have pizza delivered where we are.”

“Sounds like where I grew up,” I say. “Not quite in town but close enough for pizza and cable.”

“Yeah, we probably could get cable if my parents allowed it. They are really religious and think that my sister and I will be wrongly influenced by watching television,” Lori says.

“Bummer,” I say.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Lori says. “I figure when I get my own place I’m going to spend a lot of time watching television just so I can catch up on culture.”

Jamie laughs, “That might take several years of watching television.”

“Probably,” Lori laughs too. “I gotta go, though. Thank you so much for the help. I have to keep my grades up or I don’t get to play ball and softball is my life.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Jamie says. “Just let P. J. know if you need more help.” Jamie put her hand on my leg, “She always knows where to find me.”

I smile at her affectionately and Lori blushes slightly. “That’s right,” I say.

Standing and pulling her backpack onto her shoulder, Lori says, “I’m going to get out of here and let you two have a little time alone before you have to be headed your separate ways.”

“See ya, Friday,” I say as she starts walking away.

“Yep, see ya Friday. It was nice to meet you, Jamie,” Lori calls over her shoulder.

“You too,” Jamie calls back. She turns to me and says, “She seems nice.”

“Yeah, she does,” I say. “I can’t imagine having strict parents like that and being gay. I suspect her parents have no idea.”

“Probably not,” Jamie agrees. She leans over and kisses me lightly on the lips. “But, I need to get going too. I want to get to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and work on my paper.”

“Okay,” I stand and stretch, “I need to crash too.

The Third Installment

Chapter Three

Jamie is naked and straddling me. She leans down and nuzzles my neck. Somewhere off in the distance I hear knocking and someone saying, “Wake up, P. J., your alarm is going off.” I hear buzzing, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Jamie is kissing her way down my body and I can’t remember how she got into my bedroom.

“P. J.,” Aunt Cheryl’s voice booms into my thoughts. “Get up and turn that alarm off.”

The buzzing is suddenly louder and Jamie is gone. I open my eyes and bright sun light streams in from the windows in front of me and to my right. I reach over, grab my phone, and silence the alarm.

“Thank God,” Aunt Cheryl says, “That thing has been going off for a half an hour.”

“Sorry,” I call out.

I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and look up at the ceiling. I’m truly disappointed that I was just dreaming about Jamie. It feels like it’s been forever since we made love. I can’t wait to be able to get our own place so we can be together every night.

Sitting up, I let the sheet fall to my waist and lean against the headboard. I grab my half drank Dew, twist off the top, and take a deep drink. It’s warm and a little flat, but I’m sure it still has a little bit of caffeine in it.

I picked my phone up and looked at the time. Nine-thirty-eight. I switched to the main screen and see that I have a text message. It’s from Jamie. “Good morning, Angel. I didn’t call. I figured you needed to sleep. Call me when you get up. Love you.”

Smiling, I hit the phone symbol to call her. She should be in between classes.

She picks up on the second ring. “There’s my baby.”

“Good morning, babe.”

“You just now getting up,” she asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to wake up because I was having the best dream about you,” I said.

“Oh really, and what was it about?”

“You were naked and on top of me, kissing your way down…”

“Oh my,” she gasped. “We’ll have to finish that story later.”

I hear one of her friends in the background. “Jamie’s blushing. You guys have phone sex this early in the morning?”

Now I’m blushing and laughing. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had an audience.”

Jamie laughed too. “I doesn’t take much to entertain these two. But, we will definitely finish that story later.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” she assures me. “When you going to be on campus?”

“My class is not until twelve, so probably around eleven thirty.”

“This is the long one, isn’t it?” she asks.

“Yeah, this is my drawing class. It goes until three,” I answer.

“Do you have to work tonight?”

“Of course, but not until six, do you think we can meet at the library and work on my algebra? I fell asleep working on it last night and I have a lot of work to do still.”

“Sure,” she says. “Let’s meet at the coffee house by the fine arts building. I’m going to be ready for a mocha by then.”

“Umm, that sounds good,” I say, and then ask, “When’s your next class?”

“In about fifteen minutes,” Jamie says. “Kayla, Brandi and I just stopped by the food court to grab a bite to eat. Why?”

“I was hoping you’d have time to hang out with me for a little bit. I miss you,” I say.

“You just seen me yesterday,” Jamie says with a laugh.

“Yeah, but I haven’t got to kiss you since yesterday afternoon,” I say.

“Oh shit,” one of the girls say, “she’s blushing again.”

I start laughing. “I’m sorry I keep embarrassing you in front of your friends.”

“That’s okay, I’ll get even and I miss you, too,” Jamie giggles.

“Well, I better let you go,” I say. “I need to get up and get a shower anyway.”

“Jesus, what is she telling you,” the other girl asks.

Jamie starts laughing. “She said she was going to take a shower, I was picturing her naked, satisfied,” she says to her friends who start making crude comments. “I’m going now. We’ve entertained these two enough this morning.”

“Okay, baby,” I say, “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she says and hung up.

I stretch my arms over my head, take another drink of my Dew, and throw the sheet off me. It’s time to get my butt into gear.

An hour later I was on campus and headed toward the library. It was getting close to lunch time so I decided to drop in the student center food court and grab a bite to eat before class. There are four or five fast food chains that have stores in the food court and I try to avoid them. I have enough fast food at McDonald’s.  I pick the restaurant that has the freshest food and hit the salad bar.

After I’d filled my plate with my favorite veggies and some ranch dressing, I went in search of a table that I could get by myself so I could study while I was eating. I spotted one in the corner of the restaurant by a window. That would be perfect because it would give me plenty of sunlight.

On my way to the table, I notice Lori sitting with a group of other girl athletes. We make eye contact and she gives me a wary nod. A few of Lori’s friends glanced over at me.  I nodded back and headed to my seat. 

Her behavior only struck me as a little odd. I’d definitely picked up on gay vibes from her in class, but I’d bet money that her jock friends and teammates don’t know she is gay. That’s cool. After the crap Jamie and I went through in high school, I wouldn’t subject anyone to being outed when they weren’t prepared.

I put my salad down on the table, took my psychology book out of my backpack, put the backpack on a chair, and slid into the chair next to it. Even though I had full view of Lori and her friends, I didn’t look her way again, but I could see a few of her group looking at me from the corner of my eye. I took a bite of my salad and started reading in the book as if I didn’t notice them.

The whole group at Lori’s table got up and left not long after that. I was quite relieved. Now, I could stretch my neck and look around the room without them being there. Another reason I didn’t look over at Lori again was because I didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. She might think that I’m interested in her if I pay too much attention to her. I definitely don’t need that. Jamie and my relationship is still too new to have someone come along and rock the boat.

I head to the fine arts building after lunch. We have been working on linear drawings and drawings of buildings. These are not my favorit type of drawings, but I’m learning a lot about placement of things and people with in a drawing.

The smell and energy of creativity hits me when I walk into the building. I can hear the orchestra practicing as I make my way upstairs to the art studios. When I get to the studio that is our class room, I’m greeted by Andrè Pedrie the assistant professor teaching this class.

 “Good afternoon, P. J.,” he said with his usual warm smile and slight European accent. “We will be going outside to draw today. You’ll want to bring your drawing pad and a plain Number 2 pencil.”

“Okay,” I said. I went to the desk that I normally sit at and leaned on it while I waited for the other people in the class to show up.

There were twenty of us all together and everyone usually showed up for class. The drawing classes were really hard to get into so, so if you got a spot in one of these classes, you made sure you showed up for class. Andrè, as he preferred we call him, had very strict rules about attendance because there were too many other people waiting to take this class, so if you weren’t committed enough to show up, he’d give your seat to someone else in a heartbeat.

Once everyone was there, Andrè directed us to go out to the open auditorium that reminds me of the Coliseum in Rome. He had us all line up in front of the steps and gave each of us a specific structural thing to draw. I got the steps leading up the west side of the seats. I realized that putting me there, he wanted me to draw more than just the steps, he wanted the grass next to the steps, the sidewalk leading to the buildings further up the hill, as well as the steps and the intricacies of the shadows.

I get comfortable and start working on the drawing. Things that I would normally overlook jump out at me, like the spider web next the step, the pebbles strewn about, and the craters and crevices in the steps.

The next hour and a half flew by and I let myself be drawn deeply into my drawing. I leaned back and stretched to loosen the muscles that had grown tight from the position I was sitting in. At the top of the steps that went up to a sidewalk a few yards away from the coliseum steps, I see Jamie walking with a slender blonde girl. I assume that this must be Kayla from the description Jamie has given to me of her.

They stop at the top of the stairs and talk for a few minutes, and then Jamie pulls the girl into a tight hug. My heart stopped beating as I watched Jamie squeeze the other girl tightly and gently rub her back.  When the two pull apart, the blonde girl gives Jamie a kiss on the cheek and walks off. Jamie turns and starts down the steps in my direction. She is smiling and doesn’t see me sitting on the ground next to the steps.

Jealousy surges through my body as the image of the girl kissing Jamie on the cheek flashes in my mind. I shout out to her with a little harsher tone than I intend.  “Jamie!”

Her smile falters slightly as she looks around to see who called her name. She sees me on the ground and her smile widens, making me feel a little better. “Hey, what are you doing out here?” she asks as she walks toward me.

“Drawing,” I say pointing to my picture.

She studies the picture and then looks at the steps. “Wow, you’ve captured every detail of this area.”

Smiling up at her, I say, “You don’t really notice things until you’re asked to draw them.”

“That is so true,” she leans over me to get a closer look at the spider web and tiny spider under the edge of the step. She’s standing close enough to me that I can feel the heat from her bare legs next to my back.

“So was that Kayla I saw you talking to,” I ask, looking up to see the expression on her face.

“Yeah, we just had English one hundred together.  We have a writing assignment that we have to work on together,” she says smiling down at me. I see the love for me in her eyes and manage to quell the jealousy I had felt earlier.

“We still going to hook up this afternoon?” I ask.

“Absolutely,” she says and straightens. She looks back toward the fine arts building and I’m sure Andrè is looking at her. She reaches down and gives my ponytail a light tug. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

I look over my shoulder and see Andrè watching us. “Meet you at the library?”

“Yep,” she said and turned and sashayed away with my eyes following the movements of her butt.

Smiling happily, I went back to drawing. I know I shouldn’t be jealous of Jamie, but the thought of another woman touching her ruffled my feathers.

 I feel someone standing next to me again and look up to see Andrè standing over me. “That is exactly what I wanted you guys to do. I wanted you to capture everything about the element you were to draw and not just the obvious.” He leaned down and studied the drawing more closely. His face crinkled up to a large grin as he looked from my drawing to the scene from which it can. “I love that you’ve even added the tiniest of pebbles in your drawing. You are very talented P. J. I see great things coming from you.”

“Thanks, Andrè,” I say with a big grin of my own.

“We’re going to stay out for about another half an hour and then head back inside. Try to get as much of this as you can,” he said and walked away to check someone else’s work.

The next installment of the book blog

Chapter Two

“P. J., thank God you’re here,” my shift leader, Amber says when I walk into McDonald’s. “I’ve had three people call out.”

I pull on my McDonald’s ball cap and pull my ponytail through the hole in the back. “Where do you want me?” I ask.

“On drive-thru, you’re the only one here really experienced at it and we’re slammed.”

That was an understatement. The parking lot was full and the drive-thru’s line ran to the turn-in to the store. I walk through the back line where everyone is rushing around in their effort to put together Big Mac’s and every other sandwich we carry. When I get to the drive-thru, Sandy Geiser, who is also a college student, turns to me and relief instantly shows in her face.

“Thank God! I was terrified that no one was going to come replace me and I have to pee,” she said and quickly handed me the headset. As soon as I took over the headset, Sandy rushed off, I’m assuming to the restroom.

“Hi. Welcome to McDonald’s. Can I take your order,” I said into the mouth piece. And my night took off. Six hours later, after a crazed dinner rush and cleaning the back line area, I clocked out.

Amber hands me a large Coke. “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to deal with having so few decent workers,” she says and took a draw on her straw.  The Diet Coke flowed up the straw to her mouth and she let out a sigh. “This has been the worst freakin’ week. I don’t know what I would do without you on my shift. No one else knows what they’re doing and they don’t seem to want to learn.

I nod, “Yeah, even the adults don’t want to take responsibility for anything. I can see the kids being like that, but you would think the adults would need a job bad enough to try to do things right.”

“I know,” Amber agrees, shaking her graying blonde hair.

Amber was probably in her mid-forties. She has two grown sons who are driving her insane. One had been in and out of jail since he was sixteen, and the other one kept having kids with different girls. He just had his fourth child in as many years last month.

Her plump body belies her ability to move very quickly. I have a hard time keeping up with her. She has been working for McDonald’s on and off for almost twenty years and out works almost all of the young people who work under her, me included.

“So you going to go home and study,” she asks.

“Yeah, I have to. I’m already behind in a couple of classes. I don’t know how those kids who take five and six classes do it. Four classes is about to kill me,” I reply.

“What’s your major again?”

“Fine arts.”

“What you going to do with that,” she asks and takes another draw on her Diet Coke.

I took a drink of my Coke and said, “Well, in theory, I’m going to do fabulous paintings and drawings that will be worth millions.”

Amber snorts.

“But, in reality I’m not sure. I’ll probably move more towards graphic arts. Maybe get a job working with web designers or something.”

“You’re very realistic about your future,” Amber says. “I like that. I just hope you find something to use your diploma for besides covering a whole in your wall like mine does.”

“You went to college?” When Amber nods, I ask, “What was your major?”

“English,” she says and pushed off the counter we’d been leaning on. “Forty thousand dollars in student loans, hundreds of resumes sent out to newspapers, publishing companies, even small presses and I couldn’t get a job.” She wiped her hands on her apron and continues, “I’d worked at McDonald’s on and off in high school and college. When I couldn’t get a job that could use my English degree and when my parents got tired of me and my two kids mooching off them, I came back to work at McDonald’s and been here ever since.” She sighed sadly, “Any way, I’m out of here.”

“Yeah, me too,” I say and watch her walk away. She has a bit of a limp that I’d never noticed before. I wonder if it was from standing on her feet for so many hours for so many years.

I speed dial Jamie as I leave the building and head to my Jeep. Her voice mail came on right away and I knew she had turned the phone off so she could sleep. “Hey Babe,” I say when I got the beep to leave a message. “Call me when you get up.”

It was really dark tonight with no moon showing. I get into my Jeep and start it. In my rearview mirror, I can see that late night crews cleaning the counters and doing prep work. The thought of spending the next four years in college only to end up working here was very depressing. I’d rather end up at a factory than spend the rest of my life working at McDonald’s.

I back out of my parking spot and head to Aunt Cheryl’s house. It was less than six miles to her house. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small three bedroom house. I love it out here. It is quiet and the closest neighbor’s house was far enough away that you can’t hear their business.

The lights are off in the house, but the porch light is on for me. I pull up next to Aunt Cheryl’s Taurus and get out. Stretching, I look up at the night sky. It is so clear out here. I wish I had time to sit out here and enjoy it, but I need to study for a little while before I go to sleep.  I lift my backpack out from behind the driver’s seat and head to the house. Quietly, I let myself into the house and make my way to my bedroom at the back of the house.

I sit my backpack down next to my bed and turned the lamp on. My room here is smaller than the one at my parent’s house. This has always been a guest room. It was made up with simple neutral colors. The walls were painted eggshell white, the drapes were a mixture of blue and beige swirl designs. The comforter on the bed was beige and the sheets, plain white. There is a four drawer dresser and two one-drawer night stands that are pinewood with cherry stain. And, the single lamp in the room has a brass bottom and off white lamp shade. This is all very different from the dark and powerful colors I had used in my own room.

The dresser is on the same wall with the door and the closet. I go to it and pull out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I am ready to get out of my McDonald’s uniform. If it wasn’t so late I’d take a shower and try to wash off the French fry smell, but I don’t want to wake up Aunt Cheryl.

I strip off my clothes, leaving on my underwear, and put the shorts and t-shirt on. I go to the closet and get a Mountain Dew out of the small dorm room style refrigerator Aunt Cheryl let me put in my room.

Padding my way back to the bed, I put the Dew on a coaster on the nightstand, sit down on the bed, and pull my backpack open. I dig out the dreaded algebra text book and my notebook. I check the time on my phone that I have placed on the night stand when I came in, one o’clock. I don’t have to get up until nine tomorrow because my first class isn’t until noon. I make sure my alarm was set for the morning, got comfortable on the bed and open the algebra book. Hopefully I’ll get a least an hour of studying in before I crash; and hopefully Jamie will be able to work with me tomorrow on this crap.

A smile plays at my lips the way it always does when I think of Jamie. I picture her beautiful blue eyes looking up at me. My fingers twitch as I think about running my fingers through her dark brown hair and kissing her lips.

Grinning, I shook my head, that woman has me thinking about her constantly. I can’t wait to see her tomorrow and kiss those sweet lips. But, for now, I sigh, I need to get to studying.