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I packed the car and drove to California alone, taking all of 44 hours to do so (including an overnight and lengthy breakfast in Amarillo, Texas). New Teacher Orientation was held over two days the week before the school year began. The district at the time had ten high schools, and I was surprised that the vast majority of hires were also recruited from the Midwest. I befriended the other new math teacher that was going to be at my school, Laura Jo. She had just graduated from the University of Iowa; she stood 5'1" with brown hair and hazel eyes. Laura was very stressed her first week teaching. I needed someone to talk with about Pam vs. Debbie and came over to her house that Thursday with a six-pack of beer. To Laura, it was a godsend. We both relaxed and unwound for the evening. The next day at school she stopped by my classroom to thank me. I had enjoyed my time with her and offered to take her to a drive-in movie that night. It was Friday night of Labor Day weekend, 1989. After the movie, time at her house was interrupted long enough to get dressed, head to the drug store, and pick up sponges. Entering her was the most fantastic feeling I'd ever experienced... it was as though an electric charge was travelling from, into, and through each others' hearts. I'd mentioned it at the time, and she said she'd had the exact same feeling. (I'm of the opinion now that this is the feeling shared between people who were lovers in a former life.) We made love that night for six hours straight. The rest of the weekend was filled with exploration and discovery. I stayed in a cheap week-to-week motel when I moved to Bakersfield. The rent was as low as any apartment would have been, and I wasn't in a hurry to get my own place... I was spending a ton of my time at Laura Jo's. Each night over my first three weeks there, I would get a call at the motel. Debbie called every other night. Pam called on the nights Debbie didn't. Pam was considering moving to California to be with me and planned a visit soon. Debbie's time away from me got her to realize maybe she didn't want to get divorced after all and talked of joining me as well. |