When Monday morning arrived, the news of my breakup with Lena Lee had traveled fast and and wide across town.

Every kid I passed on the school halls gave me a pitying look. Once in the bathroom I heard two guys talking about the poor sod who'd tasted heaven for a short while, dating the Town Belle, only to be broken up with. They were debating about my virility to allow something like that to happen, and I had to put my hands on my mouth to stop myself from laughing. Or crying. Maybe both, I didn't know anymore.

The worst was avoiding Dean. I could tell that he wanted to talk by the way he seemed to keep appearing in my path, and frankly I was running out of escape routes anymore. I kept telling everybody that I was fine and just needed some time alone, when all along what I wanted was to put as much distance between him and I before I did something that I was for sure going to regret. Like kissing him again. Sneaking my hands beneath his clothes and find that in doing so I was giving him freedom to do the same. I had already pushed my luck on Saturday, and the entire reason he didn't found out I was lacking certain equipment and instead had some extra curves was because of the thick layers of clothes in between us.

I was debating making a huge show of having diarrhea to get out of practice in the afternoon while I sat on my desk in class. Maybe it was a good moment to start pretending I didn't feel so good, which shouldn't be too hard, considering I felt like I was suffocating. But I got side tracked when instead of the history teacher, Coach Gauthier walked into the classroom.

The twenty some boys in my class and I paused from various conversations and an impromptu trashcan baseball game to watch as he took center stage.

"Settle down, class," Gauthier said, looking down at us from his long and thin nose. "We have a special topic to cover today."

Curiosity won over the natural desire of all the boys to do exactly the opposite of what we were told. We watched as Gauthier walked outside for a second to bring in two charts. Two very self explanatory charts.

The whole class erupted into chaos. The older man didn't seem the least bit bothered by it. Meanwhile I sank farther into my seat. This was so not a topic I wanted to discuss right now. I clutched at my mid section and figured that a solid half hour of squirming in my seat would buy my stomach issues story some credibility. And it wasn't going to be hard to pretend discomfort, given that I was a girl surrounded by boys who were for the most part losing their shit at a massive chart of the anatomy of a penis and another one of a vagina.

"Today," Gauthier said loud enough to drown the chuckles and cat calls. "We're going to talk about sexual health and reproduction, and I want you all on your very best behavior."

I groaned and it caught enough attention that it turned a few heads. One of them was the guy whose nose I'd broken on tryouts, who nudged the guy next to him as he looked at me.

"Must be sad that he can't get no pussy anymore, huh?"

I slammed my hands on my desk and pointed at his face. "Shut your cake hole before I permanently shut it for you with my fist."

He laughed that annoying laugh that was supposed to tell me he was not scared in the least bit. Luckily for him I had Pace sitting in front of me, who made sure to tell me he wouldn't let me start a fight in the middle of class. I settled, but still ran my thumb across my throat while the asshole watched.

"Bouchard," Gauthier called from the front, and the asshole turned around with an angelic look on his ugly face. "You sound like an ignorant and jealous fool when you use words like that, so can it."

That made me laugh.

"And Bernal," the Assistant Coach said and I sat up at attention. "Stop resorting to violence for everything. Remember, we have our eyes on you."

I looked down at my desk and lowered my now hot face to it. Off to the side, Dean sprawled on his chair, blowing bubbles of gum. His eyes were directly on me and he raised an eyebrow.

I turned my face around to face the wall.

"Now," Gauthier said with a clap that reminded me of what Coach Martel usually did. "I assume that most of you know the mechanics of what I'm going to talk about, but I'd still like to ask for your attention and best behavior for the duration of the lecture."

A few mocking yessir's rose from the crowd.

"I'm not going to preach about abstinence, even though that's what the school wants me to do," he said. That gained him the full support of the class. I felt the shift in the air as hormones ratcheted all the way to the ceiling. It was in the way every boy in this class leaned forward, now interested in what he was going to say. Gauthier lifted a finger, "If there's one point I want you all bunch of randy fools to take away from this is to wear protection. Cover your stump before you pump. No glove, no love. Don't be silly, protect your Willie."

At this point we were all groaning with secondhand embarrassment. Hunter was the first one who broke down into a fit of giggles.

He was another one who'd been chasing me down the whole day and I was also actively avoiding him. I knew exactly what he wanted to talk about, and I didn't want to go there with him as much as I didn't want to go there with Lena Lee, either.

"You get the idea," Gauthier said. "The point is, this is the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the only way for you all to have sex without catching an STD. Speaking of, let's talk about a few of those."

A chorus of no's met him then. But he still did his duty and went into graphic detail about the nastiest ones and a few of the more common. At that point I figured he'd all but thrown a figurative bucket of cold water over each and every one of us. I had my face in my hands, wishing I could disappear from that place and appear anywhere else. Even a desert would do. I wondered if after class I could tell him he'd made me nauseous and therefore I'd skip practice that day.

Probably not.

"Let's talk about what you're all probably most eager to hear about," Gauthier continued in his droning and unperturbed voice. He pointed at the massive chart on his left. "Vaginas and uteruses."

"Oh God," I moaned and sank farther into my seat.

I wasn't the only one, though. All around me a good number of boys were suddenly eager for the class to be done.

Gauthier reignited their interest by talking about all the good stuff, though. I felt heat creep up my neck as he explained the mechanics of intercourse, which inevitably led to more how to questions than to the whys behind them.

He was nonplussed as he took a question from the front. The boy cleared his throat a couple of times before he was able to say, "So, um, where is the clitoris and what are we supposed to do with it?"

Half of the class burst out in uncomfortable laughter. The other half was very comfortable with hooting and hollering. Gauthier splayed out his hands in front of him, asking everybody to settle down. It was only the threat of not answering the question what finally got him the calm he demanded.

I figured that since he was the school nurse that had to be the reason why he was so nonchalant about the whole thing. He'd probably given the same lecture to equally rowdy classes before ours.

He was very succinct about his answer, and even though he said that touching it was sufficient to bring women pleasure, I figured it was best if I remained in my seat, with my lips firmly pressed together.

Until fucking Kyle Bouchard turned around and looked at me. "I hear that some guys can't find the clitoris even if they had a map pointing to it."

His cronies started laughing and pointing at me, as though I was one of those guys. I had to remind myself that this was not about Lena Lee or me, even though I was a girl and I was very familiar with how to find that spot, thankyouverymuch. I counted to ten and told myself that this was about a guy who was insecure and lashing out at me, and who probably had a micro penis.

I put my chin on my fist and said, "Asking for yourself, or for a friend?"

Even Pace laughed at my response, and I smiled as a good number of guys heckled him for the burn.

I sat back and counted the seconds until class was done. But of course, Gauthier had more things to say.

"Now, I want to wrap up the lecture with another topic." He clasped his hands behind him as he leveled a particular look on the class. It was a warning look, very clear in the threat behind him. "I will now explain about homosexual relations."

I sucked in a deep breath. I forced myself to a ramrod stiff position that was supposed to be both attentive but not awkward. This was exactly the wrong moment to call for attention to myself. Or to Dean. But as Gauthier explained to a now even more chaotic class about the mechanics of that, I felt the itch to glance over to see how he was taking things.

Dean was still sprawled on his seat, one arm slung over the back of his chair, his body blatantly turned in my direction, chewing gum as though he had no care in the world. But his eyes were most definitely trained on me.

At the first ring of the bell that signaled the end of the period, I dashed out of the classroom all the way to the bathrooms. I locked myself in a stall, fighting to calm down the beating of my heart. I breathed in and out deeply, telling myself to stop being silly. I wasn't a boy. I had to put some distance between Dean and I for his sake, but more so for mine.

The restroom eventually quieted down as the last person left. I opened the stall door and froze.

Dean was standing there, arms folded as he looked at me.

"Is your plan to run away from me forever?"

I cringed. "Yeah, actually."

"Well, you can't," he said, blocking the way between me and the sinks, but not between me and the door. I was free to go if I wanted to, but I was rooted on the spot. "What kind of bodyguard would you be if you're not close to the person you should be protecting?"

I rolled my eyes. "Is hockey all you think about?"

"No, I think about you too, but apparently that's not what you want to hear."

That tugged my heart in a way that was not entirely painful.

"Dean," I started, flapping my arms. "It's best if we forget what happened-"

He took a step forward and I shut up. He took another step forward and I retreated back into the stall. Now I was for sure unable to escape. I swallowed thickly as I read the intentions blatantly written on his face, the way his eyes searched mine and finally set on my lips.

"I'm not scared, Charlie." Before I knew it, his hand held my face and his thumb was sweeping a delicate path of heat across my lips. "Are you?"

I was. I was about to do something I was going to regret forever. If that was to crap my pants or kiss him in a school bathroom stall, I didn't know. Either was going to happen if he kept looking at me like that.

"I am," I admitted. Except that I kept the real reason hidden in my heart.

I was afraid that he'd find out the truth and not want me anymore. I was afraid that when that happened, what was left of my heart would disintegrate.

I put my hands on his chest and pushed. He didn't budge a single inch.

"Dean, please. I need to-"

The door burst open and we jumped apart. I stumbled and fell back on the toilet. Thankfully the lid was down and I didn't fall in. I looked up as Hunter appeared in front of me and I groaned.

"Oh, hey man," he said to Dean. "Thanks for finding him."

Dean's face was taught as he said, "No problem."

"Wait," I said, narrowing my eyes at the blond boy. "You gave me away to him?"

He shrugged. "I struck a deal to help him find you in exchange for a couple of tape rolls."

I gasped. "You sold me out for that little?"

This drew a grin from Dean. The bastard.

Hunter rubbed the back of his head. "I've been meaning to apologize all day. I didn't know Lena Lee was going to do that and I just felt so terrible, considering everything that happened."

I groaned and put my face in my hands. "It's okay, Hunter."

"How can it possible be?" he exclaimed and through my fingers I saw him pace up and down. "I was pretty jealous that you'd got with her and I was such a dick to you about it, even though it wasn't your fault that she liked you and not me. But now I feel like I stole her from you, which is a total douchebag move-"

"You didn't," I said, but it fell on deaf ears.

"And I just feel so guilty!" As he said this he threw his hands up in the air. "Because that was such a good kiss. I can't stop thinking about it. Yet she broke up with you in front of everybody and bros before-"

I stood up abruptly.

Both boys looked on as I walked out of the bathroom stall. I stopped in front of Hunter and put my hands on his much higher shoulders. I gave him a shake for good measure.

"Just fucking stop," I said. "Listen to me. Lena Lee kissed you because she wanted to. It wasn't your fault. I'm not mad at you. I don't care if you go for her now, like you've been itching to forever, because at the end of the day she was right."

He reeled back a little. "About what?"

"About me not really being into her." What with the fact that my lady boner was all about Dean Hyde and all, but neither of them could hear that. So I continued, "Consider yourself absolved of guilt and free to follow you heart. You're my friend and I have your back."

He struggled for words for a few moments. "Are you sure?"

"Dead sure."

He started to look alive at that. "And you'll tell me if you change your mind and want to sock me one in the gonads?"

I sighed. "I won't change my mind but if it eases yours, sure."

To my surprise he gave out a very girly squeal before picking me up in a giddy hug and twirling me around. He kissed my forehead and put me back down. I did sock him one then.

"Don't do that ever again."

Hunter just grinned at me. "You're the best, Charlie."

"Yeah, yeah."

I watched him leave the bathroom until I realized that Dean was still there. I did my best to look annoyed.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

He blew a bubble of gum with the patience of someone who had nowhere better to be. He popped it and sucked the gum back in.

Then he said, "You. And you best believe I'm going to work for it. Consider yourself forewarned."

My jaw dropped and I felt heat rush through me as he turned around to leave.

"Forewarned about what?" I asked his back.

He gave me one last glance and a smirk. "You're officially under attack."

The door swung behind him and I locked myself back in the bathroom stall.

Yep, I was going to call in sick for practice today.

The reason: severe attraction to an arrogant dork.

if you thought i was going to have Hunter go all Hulk over Lena Lee, think again! homeboy knows it's all up to her, not him or Charlie 😊

toxic masculinity says that boys can't have disagreements and fix them without their fists, but if my hot headed Charlie can talk sense then so can boys irl and you shouldn't expect any less ✨