Three | Rules Regarding Sexual Partners

I woke up in a random bed naked the next morning, and I remembered very shaky details about the night before. And when I looked over next to me, I nearly screamed, immediately sitting up fast, keeping the covers over me. The man beside me jolted in the exact same way I had. He sat up beside me, his hair in a mess of curls covering his face. The man ran a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face as he looked over at me with wide eyes.

It was Otto.

Did I sleep with my English teacher? Holy shit.

I did. And I remembered it, too. I wasn't hungover, as I only had 1 beer the previous night, so the details of what Otto and I had done started flushing back into my mind bit by bit. Kiss by kiss. I groaned and put my head into my hands, not wanting to think about what happened.

"Shit," I mumbled, and I looked up to see Otto running a hand through his hair. His brown, messy, yet flawless bedhead.

Snap out of it!

"Did we really?" I didn't dare finish.

Otto answered me with a nod. "Sleep together? We did." His morning voice was deep and raspy, and undeniably hot.

Stop thinking like that!

"I should get back," I said, sitting up even straighter. I looked over at Otto, and he immediately got the hint, lying down and pulling the covers up and over his face so that I had privacy to get changed. Although we had clearly already seen each other undressed, there was something too utterly personal about being naked the morning after.

Needless to say, after getting dressed I left. And I couldn't even bring myself to say anything to Otto before I left.

Once I got back to my dorm room, I decided to relax and lay in my bed, trying not to think about the events of the previous night. But it was impossible. I remembered every little detail. From our conversations, to Otto showing me the Big Dipper, to him kissing me, and then everything else. More than anything, I remembered how Otto passionately kissed me, as if his life depended on it. The chemistry between the two of us had been so natural, and it wasn't hard to get so intimate with him.

He surely wasn't hard to look at either.

Checking my phone, there were 21 texts from West, as well as 6 missed calls. I decided to text him before getting dressed.

H- West, I'm fine, just a bit exhausted. Meet at the food court in 5.

    I put my hair up into a high ponytail and slipped on some sandals, then made my way to the food court. Walking there, I caught a glimpse of Otto heading towards his classroom, so I lifted up the hood on my sweatshirt until I couldn't see him anymore. I wanted to avoid him for as long as possible, and I knew he must have felt the same way.

    West was sitting at our usual table when I got to the cafeteria, so I joined him, taking my hood off. "Harry! Where were you all night?" He asked. "I was worried when you wouldn't answer my calls."

    "I just went home early," I lied. "You did force me to go, after all."

    "Your car was still there, though," he pointed out.

    "I was drinking so I called a cab. I'll go back and get my car later today," I quickly lied.

"Oh really? That makes sense," West said. "Except I could've sworn I saw your car in the student parking lot earlier this morning."

I gulped. "Must have been someone else's car."

West shook his head. "I know you're lying to me, Harrison Woods. You're the worst liar on planet earth."

I groaned. "How can you tell?"

"I can read you like a goddamn book, Harrison. So spill. Who was it that you got down and dirty with?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying my best to act oblivious. Although, it was pointless. West knew me too well to believe my lies.

    "You can't expect me to believe that you didn't have sex with someone last night," West said. "In fact, I know you had sex because you literally never left that house. I can also see it on your face and not to mention your hair. Yikes."

    "Ugh, I thought I looked fine," I mumbled, putting my hood back over my head.

    "Oh, honey, no. It looks like you had sex at 10 in the morning. Now, who was it?" He asked, back on the topic that I so wished to avoid.

    "I can't tell you," I said.

    West crossed his arms over his chest. "You can't tell me or you don't want to?"

"I can't," I said.

"And why not? Last time I checked, there were no rules regarding keeping sexual partners a secret," West said.

"Oh my gosh, he is not a sexual partner. He is just a man who I slept with one time," I said.

"Oh, so he's a man?" West asked, grinning.

I facepalmed myself. "Please don't make a big deal out of it, West."

"I'm gonna keep making a big deal out of it until you confess!" He exclaimed. "I want to know who you banged last night!"

I leaned forward and kept my voice as low as possible. I knew that West wouldn't stop bugging me about this ordeal unless I caved and told him the truth. It was really my only option. "I slept with Mr. Landry. Okay?"

    West's eyes went so wide it was likely that they could've popped out of their sockets. "Holy shit. You did not!"

"I did," I muttered. "Like I said, please don't make a big deal out of it."

"But it is a big deal, you realize that? Technically it's illegal for multiple reasons, Harrison," West said. "How old is he, anyway? 30? 40?"

    "24," I said.

    "He's only 24?" West asked. "I should've known. With those lips--"

    "He's Jason's roommate, West," I interrupted, and his mouth went agape. He probably could have swallowed an entire cantaloupe with his mouth opened that wide.

"He's Jason's roommate? Jesus Christ, you're kidding! I had no idea, Jason never told me who his roommate was!"

"Can we please not talk about me and Otto?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"Oh, so you're on a first name basis?" West wiggled his eyebrows, and I facepalmed myself.

"West, please," I groaned. "I still feel like crap. So please, can you lay off for a while?"

"Yeah, sure," He said.

"You can't say anything, okay? You have to keep this between us," I said.

The amount of trouble both Otto and I would be in if anyone found out what happened between us would be unbelievable. And the consequences would be way more detrimental to Otto. However, it was still extremely concerning for me. Although my parents had shipped me off here with hardly any hesitation or regret, they had warned me: one misstep, one sign that I was being problematic, and they would fly me back home. But I didn't want to go home. It would only bring back the bad memories, and not to mention, send me right back into a severe depression. Not just because home was where my brother died, but also because I would, once again, be alone. No more freedom and no more West. I couldn't fathom the idea.

"I won't tell anyone, Harry, you know that. You two could get in trouble and I don't want to do that to you. I wouldn't do that to you. And I wouldn't want him getting fired, he's a pretty good teacher," West assured me. "A pretty good-looking teacher."

I rolled my eyes. "I feel terrible, West. I cannot believe that I slept with my fucking English teacher. Talk about bad decisions."

"Maybe it's not so much a bad thing and more of a... lucky thing?" West suggested.

    "What could possibly be lucky about sleeping with my teacher?" I asked.

    "I know, I know. Hear me out, though, Hare. I really think that what happened last night was a good thing for you. You haven't, you know, seen much action in your life. And he gave you some experience! But maybe next time try and find someone your own age?" He explained.

    I groaned again. "That doesn't help, West. I came here because I wanted to forget about Otto, not talk about him endlessly."   

"Sorry," He said, genuinely apologetic. As much as West loved to joke around, he knew his limits. "Why don't we forget about him and go somewhere? You told me how much you've been dying to go to that new planetarium in town."  

"Anywhere but there!" I protested.   

"Why not?"   

I sighed. "Because of Otto. Look, please don't make me explain," I pleaded. "I can't go there today, tomorrow, or next week because this is literally the worst day ever and I am a complete and utter dumbass."