He tried to forget it, but it just came back to him. Theo had to keep going. He needed to finish the day even if the most recent painful memory almost severed his high spirits. The science teacher started his last lecture for the day. Sixth period would soon end if he didn't think well enough to keep the separation from his ex-wife as his primary concentration.
For the next forty minutes, he focused his attention on his students, half of them eager to learn and the other half just sitting around and waiting for this class to be over. Nevertheless, he made sure that he didn't leave anything out from his lecture. Discussing biology kept him strong, even if he still felt irate about the inevitable separation. His enthusiastic students also prevented any misfortunes from brewing within his mind. Most of the teenagers in the room expressed their deep fascination with science by quickly raising their hands whenever Theo asked them a question. It was a pleasure for him to work with the younger generation, seeing as how a good majority appreciated the topic of science entering the mainstream once again.
As soon as the bell rang, the students put everything away in their backpacks. Theo reminded them of their homework for the weekend. The students left the room, leaving the science teacher alone for the rest of the day. By now, students would be leaving the campus and returning home, either to play video games or to watch viral videos on the internet. Theo had a good feeling that half of his students would keep procrastinating, right until the last few hours of Sunday night. Sighing, the forty-two-year-old man cleaned his eyeglasses with his shirt. He grabbed his briefcase and was about to leave, but he didn't feel like going home just yet. He sat back at his desk and kept silent.
He didn't want to go back to an empty home. It just felt so silent and lifeless inside. Now that he could no longer see his son again, he had no choice but to accept the big changes that came his way after exiting the family court. He slowly slid his fingers across his short black hair. He needed something to keep his mind off of everything that struck him and placed him in a soulless aftermath of all things.
Theo grabbed his briefcase, but before he could leave the classroom, one of his students had come back and immediately blocked the entrance.
Eighteen-year-old Nathan almost bumped into his teacher and quickly apologized. "I'm so glad you're here."
Theo asked, "Do you need help with something?"
"I'm wondering if there is any extra credit that I should know about."
"I haven't thought of one. You might have to wait until next month for it."
"I can wait. I'm a patient person."
Nathan appeared to be a normal student. The young Korean-American man did well in Theo's class, despite a few low scores on certain assignments. He didn't seem like the kind of student who would consider science as something that only old geezers would enjoy. He remained confident and enthusiastic about the daily lectures, and that was something that Theo felt proud of. Nathan turned out to be one of his favorites on campus. He always had a high regard for people who held the same passion as him.
Nathan suddenly had a concerned look on his face. "Are you going to be okay?"
Theo replied, "Of course, I am. Why would you think I'm not?"
Nathan rubbed the side of his neck. "Because I heard from one of my friends about what happened to you."
Gossip must have spread very quickly in this school. Now, Theo would never dare to lie about something in his life. "It's true. I got a divorce."
"I'm really sorry to hear that."
"I'll be fine. You shouldn't worry about me. Worry about finishing your homework during the weekend."
Nathan took one small step forward. "It sucks that it had to happen to you. I wouldn't want to live if that sort of thing happened to me when I'm older."
"It'll get better when time goes by. Trust me, Nathan. I'll be okay."
The high school senior eyed him from top to bottom before giving a little smile. "I feel like you need some company."
Theo placed his hand on the student's shoulder. "Don't worry about me, alright? Just go home and do your homework. Both of us have things to do. We shouldn't waste our time being stuck in negativity."
Nathan slowly nodded. "I understand. Well, I'll see you next week."
He left the room. Theo took a slow deep breath. It would have been nice to have a little company, to have someone to talk to, now that the house had been completely empty for the past two weeks. But knowing how doing well in science class had grown important for Nathan, Theo no longer desired a friendly conversation with one of his favorite students.
He would have to choose a good alternative. He returned to his desk and plugged in his earphones on his smartphone. He chose the one MP3 audio file that would reawaken his high spirits. He always admired classical music, and Bedrich Smetana's "The Moldau" (from My Country) was no exception. The ethereal melodies played by the entire orchestra sounded like it would come straight out of an impressionist mindset. Theo closed his eyes for a moment as the strings and woodwinds helped relieve his melancholy manner. He stayed seated in the empty classroom while getting lost in the music.
Halfway through the composition, he opened his eyes again. And all of a sudden, he caught something from the corner of his eye. A black-colored notebook lay right underneath the one desk that Nathan had sat at. Theo picked it up from the carpet and examined it to make sure that it really did belong to Nathan. There was no name on the front, and neither on the front page. He checked the last page on the notebook, and found the first and last name of whoever it belonged to. If Nathan stayed a little longer in the classroom, he would have realized that he had left something behind. Fortunately, he left his home address on the last page. Seeing as how he had nothing else to do for the rest of the day, Theo decided to do the right thing. He left the classroom and made his way into the staff parking lot.
But before he could drive away in search of Nathan's home in the suburbs, he used his smartphone to call his ex-wife. When she didn't answer, he called her again. It would take him four tries before he gave up. He wanted to hear his son's voice again, but his attempts to contact the woman he once knew and loved proved to be useless. Instead, he sent her a text message at the last minute.
"He still has a father. Let him see his father."
He sent it and turned on the engine. It didn't matter to him that she would actually read it. He just felt glad that he took the time to show her that he had the right to see their son again.
* * *
Everything in the city of Anaheim appeared to be normal. There were no clouds in the sky, and there were no angry drivers on the street. Southern California remained impervious to unwelcome burdens. Theo opened the windows to let the cool spring breeze infiltrate the small space. The gentle air helped in reminding the man of his love for his place of origin. He had lived in the Golden State for all of his life. He loved everything about it, from the Sierra Nevada to the Mojave Desert. He only wished that his separation from his ex-wife happened elsewhere besides here.
He turned on the radio and switched to the classical station, where he could listen to the first few minutes of Johannes Brahms's world-famous Violin Concerto. It didn't take long for him to find Nathan's house, which was located just four blocks away from school. He parked on the curb and got out of the car. Nathan's two-story house looked ordinary. White walls, a green lawn, and a black metal fence kept it from being different from the rest of the house in the suburbs.
A car had been parked on the driveway, giving fifty percent to the probability of someone staying in the house. Theo brought the notebook along with him and rang the doorbell. He stood still on the front porch, waiting for a response. The door didn't open, so he rang the doorbell a second time. When twenty seconds had passed, Theo called out Nathan's name. Still no response.
Theo was about to leave and wait until tomorrow to give the notebook back. But then, he noticed the door wasn't closed entirely. The lock wasn't entirely put into place. When he pulled the knob without even turning it, the door had automatically opened. Theo would have ignored his natural curious behavior and left the neighborhood without investigating the house. His current instincts, however, could only exclude ignorance as a way to end the day.
Theo opened the front door and led himself inside. The exterior of the house looked clean, free from dirty stains and dusty floors. The living room seemed immaculate. Nathan's parents had certainly chosen some luxurious leather furniture for their guests to see and believe. It was also rather quiet on the first floor. No one would suspect that there would be any activity erupting in either the living room or the kitchen.
Theo closed the front door and looked up at the staircase. He could hear a faint noise originating from the second floor.
"Nathan? Are you up there?"
The lack of a response made the science teacher walk up the stairs and see where the upbeat techno music came from. He stood in front of a long hallway where he could see four doors on the walls. Three of them remained closed. The one on the farthest right had been only partially open. Rays of light flooded the gray carpet and made it just a little brighter. The faint techno music must have come from that room, since it sounded like it started to echo across the narrow corridor.
"Nathan, are you in there?"
Theo could hear a faint voice that lasted for only a few seconds. He couldn't decipher the words, though the voice sounded intimate, almost sensuous for a specific purpose. Cautious, Theo snuck across the hallway and brought himself closer to the partially open entryway. He took a look inside, and he could see everything. And it looked like he wasn't supposed to see anything.
The curtains had been closed, giving the lamps in Nathan's bedroom their turn to shine. For a high school senior, he didn't do much to capitalize on his immature manners. Not a single shirt or sock had rested on the floor, and everything on the desk in the corner had been organized in perfect formations. The tidiness turned out to be something that benefitted his character. The same couldn't be said for Nathan's way of protecting his privacy from unwanted eyes.
The young Korean man didn't wear anything on his body. He sat naked on the edge of the bed. Theo's thorough examination had been completed once he spotted something in Nathan's hands. It looked long and thick. Its blue-colored surface gave Theo the answer that he wanted the least. Nathan held the blue dildo firmly in his hands. Furthermore, he crammed the top half of it deep into his mouth. Thankfully, Nathan looked away from the open doorway as he sucked on the dildo with a salivating mouth. It looked like he enjoyed it. He constantly whenever he pushed the imitation deeper into his mouth. He finally pulled it out of him and gave it a long slow lick.
He whispered, "Oh, Theo. I could give you anything you want. This would be one of them. You know you want it."
Nathan continued to push it into his mouth while stuck in his candid manner. Theo didn't know how to react to this situation. As soon as he heard his student articulate his most cherished secret, the science teacher didn't know what to do next. He wanted to leave the house and never give the hint that he had paid this residence a little visit. At the same time, however, he was amazed at how Nathan felt this way about one of his teachers.
Nathan closed his eyes for a moment as he held the dildo in his arms and pressed it against his bare chest. His tone of voice stayed as lighthearted as it could. "I can be your little bitch for as much as you want. Let me be the one who will end your suffering. Let me be your precious little toy."
Theo took a slow deep breath. He became so fixated by what he witnessed in the bedroom that he suddenly dropped the notebook on the floor. Its collision on the carpet caused Nathan to snap out of his reverie and see who was at the door. He almost gasped as soon as he caught sight of Theo standing right at the doorway. The young man froze, his look of concern being instantaneous.
Theo didn't know what to say. One look at Nathan's naked body, and he couldn't look away. It was a beautiful body when uncovered by any apparel. Being slim, bright-skinned, and hairless seemed to be the right choice for someone like Nathan.
