On Sunday morning, Vic woke up feeling completely refreshed. Marek had either not taken any dates back to the room the night before, or else Vic was out so hard that he just slept through it. There was a vague recollection of a nurse’s visit the day before, and whatever she’d given him worked wonders. Not only was he well-rested, but he was no longer that bothered about the events of the day before and wasn’t certain why he was so afraid to be in that situation to begin with. It’s not like he was yet ready to head out and get together with the first girl who was willing to drop her panties for him, but the idea strangely no longer felt so foreign.

In any case, he decided he did not quite have the energy for that yet, and spent the rest of his day sheltering in his room and in his books, promising that his second week at Dampgate would go different for him.

The next morning, with classes back in session, Vic made his way along now-familiar corridors to his locker. Before school and between classes, it was not an uncommon sight to see teachers participating in extracurricular activities with their favourite students, but feeling more a student of Dampgate, this time Vic allowed his gaze to linger a little longer and enjoyed more of the views.

He was the first one to get to his locker and when he did, he heard his name being called from the open classroom behind him. He turned around and found that it was Tanya, the tall blonde girl with a predilection for heels, who was currently up on a desk, leaning back on her forearms, her skirt ridden up her stomach, in the process of getting railed by Mr. Turcotte, whose back was facing towards Vic. Only a few days earlier, Vic would have been tempted to run, instead, he took a few steps forward and asked, “What’s up?”

“Do you mind, ugh, closing the door, ugh, before your loud friend gets here?” Tanya asked.

“Agnes?”

“Yes, Agnes, the one with the nose, I don’t need her mouthing off at me.

Without saying another word, Vic closed the door of the classroom and left Tanya and Mr. Turcotte to their morning fun.

“Good job closing that door,” Owen said, walking up to their lockers. “I don’t know what Agnes would have done otherwise.”

“Not really me. Tanya asked for it to be closed.”

“Makes sense, pretty sure she’s scared of Agnes.”

“Really?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” Owen asked with a shrug, and with a pointed look over Vic’s shoulder put Vic on notice that the three girls had arrived together from their dormitory.

“How was your weekend, guys?” Agnes asked as she entered her locker combination.

“Prolific,” Owen said, with a little pause at the end as if he wanted to add “if you know what I mean?” even though everyone would have known exactly what he meant.

Vic just turned to Marcia and said, “Thanks for letting me crash at your place on Friday.”

“Crash? What’s this?” Liz asked, her voice getting higher.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” Vic corrected. “Just my roommate.”

“Marek, ugh,” Agnes said, face in her locker as she reached for her books.

“Oh is it Marek ‘ugh’, now?” Marcia asked.

“Oh it’s absolutely Marek ‘ugh’ now. One and done.”

“And the musician?” Vic asked teasingly.

“One and done,” Agnes said in a tone that implied she’s said this a million times already. “And what about you, Vic?” she turned do face him then, “I heard you had an eventful weekend yourself.”

“I don’t know what you heard,” Vic stammered but Agnes was already turning away.

“See you in class,” she said as her and Owen wandered off, but not before Owen elbowed Vic in the ribs again, which frankly were starting to become sore from the constant gesture. “I would recommend that one being a one and done, too,” Agnes added, still walking away with her back turned.

Liz had also went ahead to their English class, so it allowed Vic a few moments with Marcia alone.

“Hey about what happened at the library the other day?” Vic said at a volume that was barely above a whisper

“What, you getting your whistle blown by Kit?”

Why did she have to put it that way? he thought as he felt himself turning a bit red again.

“Uh, sure yeah, we can put it that way,” he managed to answer. “I just wanted you to know that …”

“Vic, really, I don’t know why you’re so bothered by this, I don’t have a reason to care,” she said, not unkindly.

“So … we’re cool?”

“Cool? Yeah, I guess, we’re cool,” Marcia said, and was about to turn away from him when she casually added, “I mean, I don’t think we’re ever gonna fuck now because I don’t want anything that’s been in Kit’s mouth near me.” At this, Vic felt a little dizzy and thought his jaw would literally detach itself and fall to the floor until Marcia noticed his expression, her eyes widened, and she laughed, putting a hand on his arm. “Seriously, I’m kidding! Vic, you’re going to have a heart attack if you’re not careful. Now come on, let’s head to English.”