I woke up Saturday morning a little after dawn, shaken awake by a strange hand, lying naked in a strange bed and a strange room. Oddly enough, I only noticed the white girl sleeping naked in my arms second.

I noticed the person who had shaken me awake last. I turned over and there stood Simone, a black woman in her early thirties who made up half of the 24-hour staff at the James family home, the other half being Marie. If Simone thought any part of this was funny, she didn’t show it. “Mr. Wright isn’t it?” she asked. “I looked in the school directory and called your father last night. He knows you’ll be arriving this morning, and if you get dressed quickly you can leave as soon as the driver gets here. Kelly’s still passed out; I suggest you leave before she wakes up. I’ll let Cristina know you went.” Obviously she was used to this routine.

Embarrassed, I mumbled some thanks and slipped past her with my head down. I could’ve sworn I heard her giggle a bit.

True to Simone’s advice, I gathered my books and clothes from where I’d left them last night and sat on the James’ front step, gathering my memory. It all came back to me quickly enough once I had my bearings: how Cristina had gotten drunk, how we’d started downstairs before proceeding to her bedroom, how I lost my virginity as we fucked like animals. The whole experience seemed surreal in the daylight, and I had to keep assuring myself all of it really had happened.

The driver arrived quickly enough and drove me back home. If he knew as much as Simone did, he didn’t show it, staying silent the whole way. When I got home, my parents suspected nothing was wrong, and I gave them no reason to. The previous night may as well not have happened.

Cristina must have been thinking the same thing, because I didn’t get a call from her all weekend. I called her cell twice, once each on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and got nothing but voicemail. I messaged her on Facebook and got nothing but Internet silence. Not wanting to seem clingy or needy, I left the matter alone till Monday morning.

Monday everyone was back in school and midterms had begun. The whole week would be nothing but tests with a max of two tests per day for any given student; you showed up, took whatever exams you had to, and went home when you were done.

Cristina and I, being in the same class, took our chemistry final in the same session Monday morning. Not once before the test did Cristina make eye contact with me. During the test I ignored her as well and set about my business. The exam was fairly easy, and I was the first one out. I had another test in an hour, so I pushed all thoughts of Cristina out of my mind and was on to the next one. I didn’t even see her again that day, something I think she arranged herself.

The next morning went the same. I didn’t see Cristina until after my morning exam. I had no way home again, it being the middle of the day and neither of my parents off from work, and I saw no reason to rush to the student lounge so I could be bored for the next three hours. I was idling by my locker when Cristina happened to walk by with a group of her friends. I waved and smiled, secretly determined to force the issue.

“Cristina!” I called out her name, jogging towards the group. I stopped in front of her, ignoring the rest of the girls, and put on my brightest grin. “We haven’t talked since last Friday, how do you think you did on that chem test? I’d hate to think all that time we spent ‘studying’ went to waste.” I put a special emphasis on “studying” to make sure Cristina got my point.

Anger flashed in her eyes and faded away just as quickly. She smiled sweetly to her friends. “Go on ahead guys, I’ll text you later. My tutor’s probably going to want the full run-down of the test.” Cristina’s friends left, and as soon as they turned the hallway corner, Cristina’s modest smile was replaced by a look of pure venom. “What the fuck are you trying to pull!” she berated me in the most controlled voice she could manage.

I accepted her anger with a flat look. “Let’s take this elsewhere, shall we?” I turned away and walked off without waiting for Cristina. After a moment though, I heard her frustrated sigh and the steady rhythm of her footsteps as she followed me.

I let her to the theater storage room under the old stage. A lot of the stuff that had been there had been moved to a new theater that had been built in a new wing of the school. The stage above was still used to make school-wide announcements and for small shows, but nobody bothered to lock the storage room below anymore, and there was never anybody in there. All that remained were racks of old costumes and props that hadn’t been used in years.

We went in through the door and I locked it behind us. “Now, to answer your question…”

I never had the chance to finish. As soon as I turned away from the door and back towards Cristina, I caught a stinging slap across the mouth. Surprisingly, it caught me off guard enough to make me stumble to my right. Even more surprisingly, I tasted blood in my mouth.

Cristina stood in front of me, all righteous fury and no restraint. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” she demanded, shoulders heaving with her breath. “Why the hell were you trying to bring…what happened up in front of other people?!”

I wiped my mouth and stood up straight. “First off,” I began slowly, “hit me like that again, and we are going to have some serious problems.” I let the threat hang in the air. “Second off, I really am curious how you did. With so much at stake, Mrs. Calloway must have let you on to your grade early. Third off, you’ve been avoiding me like the fucking plague, and I’d like some answers. You know, if that’s not too much trouble Ms. James,” I added sarcastically.

Cristina looked down at the floor, her wrath fading away.