*Note to readers: This story has two endings. The first stops with the PG-13 version. Readers who want to find out what happens in the bedroom can find the adult version right after the new couple make their way toward it.
*****
"Shay? We both know your father isn't coming back. Missing him is one thing but letting it affect your life is another."
"I understand all that, Mom. It's not so much that I miss him—although I do. It's just that I'll never understand how someone can do that to his family."
"I'm not excusing what he did, honey. I can only tell you that sometimes men who turn 40 start to feel like their life is slipping away. They believe their youth is gone and they may never be happy. So when a younger, very attractive woman starts giving him the attention he wants, well..."
"She's barely older than me and that's the part I don't get. How could anyone be attracted to someone that much older than them? Doesn't that seem...unusual?"
Erin Kimball smiled and told her daughter, "Honey, I'm not gonna lie. Your father hurt me terribly. I didn't even see it coming to be honest. I knew something was wrong. He was restless and well, without going into detail, no matter what I did, he just wasn't interested in me...like that...anymore."
"Mom! Eeeew! I do not want to hear about that, okay?"
Erin most definitely wasn't going to share those kinds of details with her daughter, but it had been over eight months she'd been with a man and before that, it had been two months. Her husband had no interest in her because he was getting everything he needed from her soon-to-be replacement.
Shay, of course, was never going to tell her mother that she'd lost her virginity to Jeremy that summer or that after a few clumsy attempts, she learned that making love was a most pleasant undertaking.
Shay Kimball was 18 and tomorrow was the first day of her senior year at the same school where her mom had been a guidance counselor for the last 15 years since graduating from college. Shay had a very good chance of being the class valedictorian and now that her father had traded in her 37-year old mom for another woman—no, a girl—who was barely 21, she would need to earn an academic scholarship if she wanted to go to college herself. Being 18, her father had no legal requirement to support her anymore, and since he moved out just after the holidays some seven months ago, he hadn't sent his daughter a dime. He rarely even called and when he did, she didn't feel much like talking to him and that was killing her because she had always been daddy's little girl.
Shay was one of the three best looking girls in school, but unlike the other two, she wasn't interested in cheerleading and parties. She was a bright, serious girl with a very good head on her shoulders.
"Okay. Message received. You won't have to hear about it, Shay. Besides, we've got to go. I need to be in early to set up for registration. It's gonna be crazy busy. And honey? I'm really glad you decided to hang out with me today."
Shay smiled and said, "Well, since Jeremy and I broke up, it's not like I've got anyone fun or cool to hang out with, you know."
"Careful or I'll put you in Mr. Craig's chemistry class."
"You wouldn't dare!" she said as her eyes narrowed and her lips drew tight.
"Don't push me," her mom said feigning a dire warning.
They walked into the gymnasium and Erin began looking around. "Okay, let's see where they have me sitting this year." She saw the long row of tables set out for registration and began searching from left to right. She first notice a table for the social studies teachers. Next to them were the English teachers, then math, science, and...there it was. Guidance. Right next to chemistry.
"Shay? Look where we're at. Your dream may come true!" she teased.
Shay saw where her mom's place was and rolled her eyes. Mr. Craig was about a thousand years old and about as much fun as having the flu. "Oh...my...God," she said. "Okay, well I'm definitely sitting on the other side of you. Just in case." She shivered at the thought of old man Craig trying to engage her in conversation. He was not only older than dirt, he was...creepy.
Erin sat her things down and Shay pulled out her iPod and put in her earbuds then turned on her iPad and busied herself with looking at stuff 18-year girls look at. Several minutes later she heard her mom talking to someone in a tone of voice that told her she should look up.
"Oh, okay, so you're Mr. Garvin. I knew we'd hired a new chemistry teacher. I'm Erin Kimball. It's very nice to meet you."
"My pleasure, Erin. Please call me Adam."
"With pleasure," Erin said with an exaggerated amount of enthusiasm.
Shay looked over next to her mom and her jaw dropped. "Oh...my...God!" she said again. "That man is gorgeous!" She elbowed her mom, waited for her to lean close then said quietly, "Who's the male model?"
"Oh, that's our new chemistry teacher, Mr. Garvin."
"I don't see a wedding ring," Shay said as she gently rubber-necked to look his way.
"Uh, Shay? I believe he's a little too old for you. However, I will say for the record, I have no problem with dating a younger man so I'm not going to say anything more," her mother said as she turned back to take another look at the hot new teacher. "Or at least I think I'd enjoy it if one ever asked me out," she said qualifying her statement.
"Mom? Geez! What's the matter with you?" Shay said shaking head.
"Me? I'm not the one checking out a guy ten years older than her."
Shay just grunted a loud, "Ugh!" at her mom's comment and went back to her iPad but not before sneaking one more look his way.
A series of kids came and went at both tables. Most of those who saw her mom wanted to change classes before school started. Two of Shay's friends begged her mom to let them move to Mr. Garvin's class from Mr. Craig's. "Sorry, girls. No can do. There's no compelling reason to move you."
One of them said, "Have you seen Mr. Garvin? Have you seen Mr. Craig? If that's not compelling then nothing is."
"I feel your pain," Erin told her as she handed her back her schedule unchanged.
"Speaking of schedules, Mom. Where's mine?" Shay asked.
"Oh, suddenly you're interested in your class schedule? What a coincidence. Weren't you the one who told me several times you didn't care who your teachers were as long as you got the classes you wanted?"
Her mom started looking through a stack of schedules and said, "I was gonna give it to you before we left. I guess there's a compelling reason why you want it now."
"Mom!" she said again as she snatched the paper from her mother's hand. She took a quick look at the classes: AP Calculus, AP history, AP chemistry. When she got to chemistry she closed one eye then looked next to it for the teacher's name. If it said 'Craig'... She saw G-a-r-v-i- and n. Yes!
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best mom ever!" she squealed as she hugged her mother.
"I put you in there before I knew the new teacher was Dr. Dreamy." That's what they called the handsome doctor on a popular TV show that had been on for years.
"He is dreamy," Shay agreed.
After an hour or so, Shay noticed another student behind the tables where no student should be. He walked over to Mr. Garvin and said, "So how's business, Adam?"
"Not too bad, Cam. And it's Mr. Garvin at school, okay?"
Erin and Shay were both looking at the new kid and this time it was Erin who whispered, "Oh, my God! Who is that? He's as dreamy as Dr.—Mr. Dreamy."
"Mom...you're a regular perv. What's gotten into you lately?" Shay teased.
Erin wanted to badly to say, "Nothing's gotten into me lately and that's the problem." Instead, she just enjoyed the view.
Erin said, "Adam? Who's this young man?"
"Oh, sorry. Erin, this is my younger brother, Cameron. We mostly call him Cam. Cam, this is one of our guidance counselors, Ms. Kimball, and to her left is her daughter, Shay, who's also a senior this year."
"Nice to meet you Ms. Kimball. He peeked around her head and looked at Shay and said, "Hi, Shay."
Shay was dying to know who these handsome brothers were, where they were from, as well as how and why they'd ended up here. She didn't have to wait long for the answer.
"Cam and I have mostly been on our own since our parents were killed by a drunk driver five years ago. I'm not only his brother but his legal guardian. We have a middle brother who just graduated from West Point and who's learning to fly helicopters. So it's really just the two of us. Mutt and Jeff, Calvin and Hobbes."
Cam spoke and said, "What he means by guardian is he's the warden." Cameron smiled so everyone knew it was meant as a joke. "Naw, he's actually a pretty decent guy. You know, for a chemistry geek. He won't tell you this, but he earned a masters in chemistry in less time than it takes most people to get a BS. But did he use it to make any decent money? Oh, no. He went into teaching. No offense, Ms. Kimball, but teaching isn't exactly a moneymaker."
"Guilty as charged," Adam said. "I do love chemistry, but I don't much love corporations and the way they rape people and the environment. I want to do something to help people, not just make money."
Shay craned her neck around her mom and said, "Well, I think that's very admirable, Mr. Garvin. I love chemistry, too, and hope to do something with it to make a difference and it won't be by working for some corporation, either."
Erin sighed and said, "I can tell you this. If I had any other options, I wouldn't be teaching. Okay, a guidance counselor but still, same difference. I'd take a corporate job right now if it paid six figures."
"Here, here, Ms. K! If I can get an athletic scholarship and make money playing football someday, I won't think twice about taking that big, fat signing bonus," Cameron said.
Erin offered him a high five which he accepted while Adam just shook his head and looked past Erin. He caught Shay's eye and said, "Speaking of chemistry, I see you're in my third period class, Shay. I've also heard you're a very good student."
Before Shay could answer for herself her mother chimed in saying, "That's an understatement. Shay has a 4.0 average and her sites set on a pre-med major next year. We're all very proud of her."
"We? You and your husband?" Adam asked innocently as she was still wearing her wedding ring.
Erin's smile faded as she said, "Um...her father and I are separated but yes, he is very proud of her, too."
