Monday, June 6, 2011

The Math Teacher: Part 3



“Math is like love -- a simple idea but it can get complicated.” "

After bowling, I felt guilty about the way I'd been treating The Math Teacher. It wasn't who wanted to be as a person in general and certainly not the way I wanted to treat someone pertaining to matters of the heart. Particularly when someone else so recently had been so careless with my own emotions.


On the following Saturday we went to the Preakness horse race with a large group of our friends. The girls wore sundresses and the guys wore shorts. We drank beer and rum and mimosas in a grassy spot by the race track on the infield. I lay on a blanket in the sunshine and took in deep breaths of warm air. It was the most relaxed I'd been in months.


The Math Teacher sat down beside me. Put his arms around me and we fell asleep.


We woke up some time later. Our friends laughing at us and teasing us saying some such nonsense or another. We sat up half-awake brushing hair and blades of grass out of our eyes and hair.


"Why don't you admit that you like each other?" our friend The Canadian said.

"What do you mean? We do like each other," I responded.

"Well then what are you?" The Canadian said.

"I don't know. We don't know,"I said. Which was true. I didn't know how he felt about me. I didn't know how I felt about him. We were nothing. Yet we were something. It was all a bit strange.


We got up and walked around the park holding hands - me with my Math Teacher and caught wondering how things can change so fast. Who you hold hands with. Who you like or don't like. How you feel. And I guess that's a good thing. Even when it's not.


Cheers,

T

7 comments:

Jolene said...

I like this. I like that you seem to be warming up to this guy...he does seem like a goodie (and so fun to fall asleep in the grass!)

freckledk said...

I like that you aren't hurrying to put a label on it and are just enjoying it. Good girl! Have fun!

Toddy said...

Jolene- i am warming up to him. Slowly but surely-maybe the turtle does win the race...???

Freckled-others have continued to try to label things, including the MT. And you will find Ive done my best to resist it...

Sarah said...

I love this: "How things can change so fast. Who you hold hands with. Who you like or don't like. How you feel." So true!

Toddy said...

Thanks Sarah! I love having me quoted back to me. Bc after all this blog is my outlet to write and I do hope that sometimes the quality of prose reaches above par though sometimes necessarily or unnecessarily its just drivel...T.

Kissing and Other Disasters said...

i think this part of dating is my favorite. the part when you don't care what you are but you are happy and are enjoying it and you don't care.

-K

Susanlee said...

I think all you DC people overthink things. There's no need to lable anything. You're people who hold hands and take naps together. Easy.