Julian

II. February, Ch. 26

     The morning drive to Julian was grotesquely quiet.

     Calvin couldn't redirect his focus. There was so much about his weekend with Genevieve that he didn't want to forget, from talking for hours on end as they held each other under the covers to fighting over beef jerky at the gas station on their way back.

     Genevieve was always on his mind, but she wasn't passing by casually anymore. She was in there decorating, making herself comfortable like she was going to be there a while.

     Roger's silence, however, was raining on his parade. Was he mad at Genevieve? Why would he be?

     Roger gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "Cal, something happened this weekend."

     Finally. Calvin was relieved that the silence was gone, even if Roger's words sounded like the prologue to a holier-than-thou lecture. "Yes, yes, I went to Vegas."

     Roger kept his eyes on the road. "Marlo called."

     Calvin's skin turned white in record time. He held on to the possibility that he didn't hear him correctly, and he kept quiet as he studied the words. "Marlo? Marlo, my-brother Marlo? Called?"

     Roger turned his head to Calvin with an are-you-stupid look. "Yes, Marlo called."

     The sound of screaming and ambulance sirens couldn't compete with those words. All memories of waking up with Genevieve tangled up in his arms faded away. "When?"

     "On Saturday. He asked me where you were."

     "And what did you say?"

     "That you were out of town."

     "Did you tell him about Vegas?"

     "Of course not. I just told him it was a family thing and I was too sick to go with you."

     Ha! What family? Calvin scuffed, then frowned.

     He turned his torso towards Roger. His voice was pungent with guilt. "And be bought it? What did he want? Did he sound mad?"

     Roger parked the Mustang in a Faculty Only parking space. "He just asked if you were home because he needed to talk to you."

     "About what?"

     "I don't know. He didn't leave a message when I offered."

     Calvin picked up on Roger's irritation. He wanted to ask him why he was so upset, but he was too busy taming his bowel.

     The men got out of the car and walked to Room 100, where the object of Calvin's dread was to lead the Monday morning meeting.

     He cracked his knuckles. Surely, Marlo was going to fire him, despite having no grounds to do so. As always, Calvin imagined the worst.

     Roger looked at his friend. "Quit drawing attention to yourself. You don't even know why he called."

     "He's never called me, Stu. Never. Why would he call now? And on a Saturday?"

     "Beats me. But keep it together."

     As Roger pulled open the classroom door, Marlo walked towards it from the inside.

     Calvin's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. He took a step back, hoping Marlo wouldn't see him, but it was too late.

     He lost control of his pulse. Genevieve's offer was looking like his only job prospect.