The start of the school year was always crazy. It really started weeks before the kids came back to school. In fact, Kelly designated the month of August as school prep. She tried not to think about it at all for the month of July, giving herself a mental vacation from work, but as soon as August began, she was in prep mode. There were fresh charts to be made, welcome letters to be written and printed, a seating chart organized, all kinds of personalized signs and nametags made for her class of 28 third graders, color-coordinated baskets and folders to be prepared. And all of that was on top of her summer job as an art specialist at an overnight camp. She wasn't even home to do all of these things, and yet somehow, she found time to craft cute book basket signs in the back room of the art shack in her off-hours.
By the time she walked through the doors of the school building on the day teachers were allowed to come in to set up their classrooms, she carried several large totes full of materials she had bought and made. It was Kelly's 6th year teaching, she wasn't exactly a newbie. She had a good idea of how she wanted her room to look, what had worked last year and what she wanted to change. There was a definite confidence in her step as she moved through her room, pulling the single desks into groups.
"How was your summer, sweetie?" Maryann walked into her room, heading right towards her with her arms open. Kelly stopped what she was doing, turning to hug the teacher who had just walked in.
"You know, not long enough, as always," she made a gesture with her hand. It was the same phrase they all repeated to each other upon return from summer vacation.
"As always, so true," Maryann agreed, leaning against one of the desks. "Did you do anything special?"
"I worked at camp most of the summer, like always. It's fun, I definitely enjoy it, but it's not exactly something special. I've been going to camp since I was ten." Kelly continued moving the desks into places as she talked.
"Awe, did you take a break at all? Go away anywhere, besides camp? You know, actually stop working for a few days?"
"Mmm, yeah. Caroline and I went to one of those all-inclusive resorts, right as school let out, back in June," Maryann smiled with interest. "It was geared towards singles with all kinds of activities and events. It's almost like camp for adults, come to think of it," she laughed to herself. "But yeah, that was a good time. Drinking, soaking in the pool, dancing, it was definitely a good time."
"And did you meet anyone there? Since it was for singles?" Maryann's expression was suggestive, her eyebrow wiggled.
"Well, you know," Kelly felt her face flush, "yes, but," she waved a hand. "It was just a little fling. Not anything more serious."
"Ooh, tell me, tell me! Let the old girl live vicariously through you!" Maryann looked giddy. Kelly laughed, picking up a chair off the stack and bringing it to the desk. Maryann stood up to help her.
"You are very far from old!" She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure what to tell you. There was this guy, we kinda hit it off, he's a teacher too. We hung out the few days that we were there. We've texted a few times back and forth after that, but honestly, I was just too busy and wrapped up in the summer job and the school prep to really follow through on anything,"
"Just hung out? Is that like... sat next to each other in front of the pool or more like... rolled around in the sheets?" Kelly didn't want to look at Maryann as she continued to place chairs at their respective desks. This was embarrassing. Scenes from those three incredibly hot nights with Justin flashed through her head like a movie montage. Actions sped up and slowed as images of his hard, naked body flitted in front of her eyes.
"The latter, I suppose," Kelly replied quietly, feeling her face burning.
"God, I can only imagine. Hank and I got married basically right out of college. We've gone to some couples resorts back when we were newlyweds, before we had the kids, but I bet that's totally different. It must have been so much tasty eye candy, just hanging out by the pool too." Maryann was wiggling her eyebrows again when Kelly looked over at her. She had to chuckle.
"Yeah, I guess. It's actually rather intimidating. Because it's not just a ton of hot guys out there, it's also all these tall and thin, gorgeous women in thong bikinis with hair that just falls perfectly down their shoulders," Kelly did not consider herself one of them.
"Oh come on, sweetheart, you've got a hot little body," Kelly blushed again, this time at Maryann's compliment. She didn't consider herself unattractive, but the word mostly aptly used to describe her was cute, rather than hot or gorgeous. She had a decent set of breasts and an ass that allowed for something to grab onto, but she had plenty of insecurities too. The freckles that covered most of her face, chest, and arms were definitely big on that list, as was her frizzy hair which could never seem to decide whether it wanted to be curly or straight and was perpetually somewhere in between, in an out of control mop.
Her insecurities were part of the reason why she tried not to get too hung up on this Justin guy she met. She replied to his text messages, but tried her best to be cool and not get too attached to him. She didn't pick up the couple of times he tried to call her. She convinced herself that it was best not to get her hopes up with a guy like him. He was out of her league and the only reason things worked between them was that it was a temporary fling, just a hookup, where they didn't have to worry about the long term. Justin was handsome and confident, with these super strong arms and shoulders, the deep, sexy dimples that popped when he smiled, the crazy blue eyes that locked in her gaze. And the things they did together... these were not things that Kelly was used to doing with her boyfriends. His confidence transformed into something so sexy and commanding when it came to sex, that Kelly was compelled to join in his game and stretch her own comfort zone.
"What did you do over the summer?" Kelly asked Maryann, changing the topic. She felt a lot more at ease listening to the veteran teacher describe the family vacation to Maine that she took with her husband and their three nearly-grown children. Her youngest, a 14-year-old, had spent the majority of his summer at camp and the 18 and 20-year-olds had summer jobs, so she had the house mostly to herself throughout the day, she said.
