Fic: you snuck your way right into my heart (Part 1/3)

[whiskeyinmind]

David hated being the new guy. Sitting in a room surrounded by strangers that all knew each other was his own personal version of Hell. The only thing that could possibly be worse would be if they were all staring at him. He sat quietly in the corner, eyes on the floor except for the occasional flicker upwards at the other people milling around the room, all talking animatedly about their summer vacations- variations of You went where?, Guess who I saw? and It’s so good to see you again! echoing around the room.

He was startled from his study of the mottled grey carpet as a blonde haired woman dressed sensibly in jeans and a t-shirt plopped down on the chair next to his. “Hi, you must be new! My name is Brooke and I teach second grade,” she announced cheerfully, practically shoving her hand in David’s face in her enthusiasm.

He tentatively reached out to shake the offered hand. “I’m David and I teach music.” He frowned. “Is it completely obvious that I’m new?”

“Well,” Brooke pretended to think for a moment, index finger resting on her chin. “Other than the fact that there was only one position that opened up at the end of the year and you’re the only new face I’ve seen today, the fact that you’re sitting over here all by yourself does tend to give it away.” She hopped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Come on, I’ll introduce you around.” When David hesitated, she wrapped an arm around his bicep and pulled. She really was deceptively strong for how thin she was. “I insist! Let’s go.”

“Okay, okay,” David chuckled. “I’m coming.” When she didn’t release her grip, he reached up and touched her hand. “You can let go. I promise I’m coming.”

Her eyes narrowed as she considered him. “You seem trustworthy enough but if you make a break for it, I’m latching on and not letting go until in-service actually starts and even then I’ll make you sit next to me.” After extracting another promise that David was not going to flee (though the thought did sound appealing right about now), she liberated his arm and started to wind her way through the crowd of people.

She stopped in front of a loose ring of people and waited until the person telling a joke about a waterskiing penguin was done. Once the groans at the awfulness of the joke had died down, Brooke cleared her throat and all eyes shifted to her. “Alright, everybody,” she said, clapping her hands before gesturing to David. “This is my new friend, David. He was hired to fill Sandra’s old spot.” There were murmurs of acknowledgement and greeting before Brooke continued on. “David, this is Michael.” She gestured to a tall man with brown wavy hair to her left. He waved at David as Brooke continued her introductions. “He teaches fifth grade, bless his soul, and is absolutely crazy. Do not listen to a word he says. Next to Michael is Carly, Irish child whisperer extraordinaire.”

The raven haired woman next to Michael laughed. “I don’t know about that,” the woman- Carly, David supposed- interrupted.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s amazing. She always has the best behaved class of fifth graders in the entire school. I doubt this is coincidence,” Brooke said, waving a dismissive hand in Carly’s direction. “And, last but not least, the owner of that truly atrocious joke.”

“Hey! I thought it was funny,” protested the man standing on David’s right. He was tall like Michael with a well groomed beard and eyes lit with laughter.

“You would,” Brooke answered before continuing her introduction. “David, I’d like to you meet David. He teaches kindergarten and tells horrible jokes but we like him in spite of that.”

David waved awkwardly at the group. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” The other David smiled lopsidedly and extended a hand. “Call me Cook, otherwise this is going to get confusing and Michael will come up with some brilliant way of naming us that will probably end in me being called ‘Thing One’ and you ‘Thing Two’ and that’s if we get lucky.”

“Don’t scare him off,” Brooke chided gently. “I like him.” Cook’s answering comment was cut off as a short tanned woman called for attention at the front of the room. David recognized her as Principal Abdul, the woman who had interviewed and subsequently given him the job on the spot, overjoyed by hi s resume. David secretly believed this to be because of a lack of applicants but didn’t want to be rude. People began shuffling to their seats and David turned to follow when a hand stopped him. “Oh, no you don’t,” Brooke told him, sunny grin lighting up her face. “You’re stuck with us now.” David thought he heard Michael mutter something that sounded like “run while you still can” but he couldn’t be certain.

***

In-service preceded almost exactly how David had expected and exactly how he had feared. Principal Abdul had started the morning off with the run of the mill announcements about things like making sure that you emptied the basket if you were the person lucky enough to get the last cup of coffee and other things along that vein before moving on. “As I’m sure all of you remember, Sandra retired at the end of last year, leaving us short one music teacher. Fortunately for us, I have found the perfect replacement for her. If he would be so kind as to stand up, I would like to introduce our newest staff member, David Archuleta.” Principal Abdul looked expectantly at David who, face tinged pink, stood and waved stiltedly at all of the faces staring at him as Brooke and her friends clapped. “I would ask him to say a few words but that might be on the cruel and unusual side of things so I’ll spare him since I’m sure you will all make sure that he feels welcome here at Fuller Elementary. Thank you, David,” she added as he sat back down in his seat between Brooke and Carly.

“You should be glad she didn’t make you sing,” Carly whispered. “She did that to Tony,” she pointed to a short man in what looked to be his early thirties across the room from where they sat, “the last new music teacher we got, and he got so flustered he ended up singing ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ just to get it over with.”

David looked wide-eyed at Carly. “She really did that?”

Carly nodded solemnly. “Paula’s sweet, she’s just…not all there, I’m convinced. She’s got some crazy ideas sometimes.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” David promised before turning his attention back to the woman at the front of the room who was currently going over the schedule of events for the week.

A few more housekeeping items were checked off the agenda for the day before Principal Abdul declared it time for the first break of the day. David stayed in his seat, quietly hoping that no one would take the principal up on her order. He was not so lucky and was quickly surrounded by well-meaning and friendly people, all trying to introduce themselves at the same time. He met Abigail, Jan, and Sara, all of whom taught third grade, followed by Chris and Zachary, two of the PE coaches. By the time he was done shaking hands with them his fellow music teachers had made their way over to him.

“Hi,” a cheerful red haired woman who appeared to be in her early forties greeted David as she wrapped her arms around him. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m not a fan of handshakes. I prefer hugs; they’re much more personal.” She released him and stood back so that the man that had been pointed out to him earlier could shake his hand. “I’m Carolyn and this is Tony. We teach music here too so we’ll be working closely together. It’s so nice to meet you, David. I can already tell you’re going to fit in perfectly around here.”

“Thank you,” David answered politely, still slightly unnerved by the invasion of his personal space. He didn’t mind it so much when children did it but with adults, he preferred that it didn’t happen. Growing up with four siblings had definitely made David aware of the benefits of having his own space. “I can’t wait to get started on lesson plans. I’m really excited about this year since it’s my first one actually teaching. I enjoyed student teaching so I’m anxious to get started.”

Before Carolyn could answer, a voice cut across the chatter, this time belonging to a man with dark hair and a British accent. “If you could all take your seats so we can get on with this,” he said with a bored look on his face. “The sooner we start going over the handbook, the sooner we finish and you can all go about your chit-chatting.”

Brooke leaned over to David as she settled back into her chair, “That’s Simon. He’s the assistant principal. His bark is worse than his bite, I promise.”

“Now then, I’m assuming you can all read so I’ll only be pointing out the important bits and the bits that have changed from last year, so pay attention,” Simon instructed. “If you’ll all turn to page 5, we can get started.”

***

It was almost a quarter to noon before Simon declared them done with the handbook. David had tried hard to pay attention but Carly and Brooke kept leaning over to relay “helpful” stories about what had happened when people had broken such and such rule. When the girls weren’t talking to him he was distracted by Cook and Michael goofing around. Occasionally Simon would glare in their direction and they would sit up straight and adopt angelic faces until his gaze was directed elsewhere.

Since it was the first day, lunch was catered by one of the local sandwich shops and David stood quietly in line, making stilted small talk with the people intent on introducing themselves in attempt to make him feel welcome. Once he had gathered his lunch David glanced around the cafeteria where the teachers sat at the tables set up in anticipation of the students’ return the following week. Spying a quiet table off by itself in the corner David made his way over to it.

No sooner had David situated himself in his seat and flipped open his book than Cook dropped into the chair next to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

David cocked his head. “Is this a trick question? I’m eating my lunch?”

“But what are you doing way over here all by yourself? Brooke sent me over here to tell you that’s not allowed.”

David made a face. “Not allowed? Why not?”

Cook shrugged a shoulder and quirked an eyebrow. “Brooke’s adopted you, man. You’re never allowed to leave our group. That’s just the way it works. Now, come on, I’ll help you carry your stuff.” He grabbed David’s plate and began walking across the cafeteria to where Brooke, Carly and Michael already sat; ignoring David’s protests that he just wanted to sit by himself and read his book. Shaking his head with a small smile, David gave up and replaced his bookmark before following Cook. David sat in the free space at the table, content to watch the others talk and mess around, a friendly fight over sports resulting in Cook and Michael throwing potato chips at each other. Before David knew it, it was time to head to his classroom to begin setting it up but not before Brooke extracted a promise from him that he would sit with them the next day. “She’ll hunt you down if you try to sit with someone else,” Michael had warned before walking in the direction of the fifth grade halls with Carly.

True to her word, Brooke had saved a seat for David the next morning. Smiling to himself, he took the seat and greeted everyone and received a chorus of mornings back. The presentations resumed and, again, David tried to pay attention but the others were having none of it, Cook and Michael trying to draw him into their game of the morning. Lunch was filled with Cook telling David jokes that made him chuckle while everyone else at the table groaned before returning to his classroom for the afternoon. The rest of the week passed in a similar blur, leaving David completely satisfied with his first week at Fuller Elementary School.

***

David arrived at the school bright and early Monday morning, determined to have enough time to fix any last minute problems with his classroom and do anything else he still needed to have done. A glance around his classroom assured him that nothing was out of place and everything was just as he left it, though there was still 30 minutes before any children would be showing up at the school so he went in search of his new friends.

He found the small group in the teacher’s lounge, sitting around one of the round tables, each relaxing with a cup of whatever it was that woke them up in the morning- Michael, Carly and Cook each had a mug of coffee while Brooke nursed a cup of what looked like green tea. Michael was the first to spot him and made a beckoning motion as he called to him. “Thing Two! Or, wait, were you Thing One? I don’t remember.” He frowned as if giving the matter serious thought.

Carly shook her head before making eye contact with Cook. “You had to give him ideas last week, didn’t you? You realize he’s never going to let that die, right?”

Cook shrugged as David took the available seat at the table across from Michael and between Brooke and Carly. “He would have come up with it eventually.”

For some reason, this made Michael look pleased, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow at Carly. “Yeah, I’d have come up with it eventually.”

David chuckled quietly before joining the conversation. “I don’t know, Cook…” he trailed off until the others looked at him curiously. “That might be giving Michael a little too much credit.”

Cook whooped with laughter at the disgruntled face that Michael made. “You hear that? He’s got you figured out, Johns.”

“I’d watch your back, if I were you,” Michael threatened pointing a finger at David but ruined the effect by laughing good-naturedly along with everyone else.

By the time the others had finished their cups, it was time to head back to their rooms and prepare for the children to start showing up. David was excited about what the day was sure to bring; he had a good feeling about this year and the only way to find out if his feeling was right was to actually live it. The day passed mostly in a blur with a few hundred new names to learn (he was sure he could get them down by the end of the week, no matter what everyone else had told him) from the kindergarten classes- some of whom made some pretty adorable fumbles over his name before he finally asked them just to call him “Mr. A” for now- to the fifth graders who seemed to think that just because he was young they could run all over him. Thankfully, David had managed to disabuse most of them of the idea though there seemed to be a few holdouts but that was normal, he thought.

He met Cook for lunch, thankful that at least one of his friends had the same lunchtime as him even if it meant he was required to hear at least one only sort of funny joke every day according to Carly. “How’s your class so far?” David had asked as soon as Cook sat down in attempt to ward off the supposedly inevitable joke.

Cook shrugged. “So far, so good but it’s only lunchtime on the first day. They’re cute but you can tell they’re still on their best behavior because about half of them have never been to any sort of school before and they don’t know what to expect. Give me about a week or so for them to get comfortable and then ask me how they are,” he answered with a wry smile. “How is your day going? Is it everything you’d hoped for?”

David nodded around a mouthful of tuna fish. “It’s great. The kids are fantastic and I can’t wait to get to the really fun stuff that I have planned,” he said when he’d swallowed. “I mean, a few of the older kids are convinced I’m a pushover because I look so young but it’s nothing I can’t handle. With four siblings, you learn how to hold your own or you get lost in the shuffle.”

Cook whistled appreciatively. “Four siblings, huh? I went crazy growing up with two.”

David laughed. “It’s not so bad, really. We all get along really well so it’s not like there were a lot of fights or anything. What was it like when you were growing up?”

Cook chuckled. “With three boys in one small house? The word ‘crazy’ comes to mind.”

“Tell me,” David prompted, curious now. Never one to turn down a chance to talk about his brothers, Cook quickly acquiesced, telling stories of the time he and his brothers built a (less than sturdy) tree house and the time his mother had threatened to disown all of them when she returned early from a weekend away to find a party in progress in her living room. Before either of them realized it, it was time for Cook to pick his class up from the cafeteria and for David to return to his classroom.

“Tomorrow it’s your turn,” Cook said, fixing David with a stare that assured him that there was no getting out of this which caused David to spend most of the rest of the day wracking his brain, trying to find stories that would live up to Cook’s.

***

When David entered the teachers’ lounge for lunch the next day, Cook was sitting at the same table that they used in the morning waiting patiently. David retrieved his lunch from the refrigerator before joining him. “Alright, your turn,” Cook had simply stated, completely disregarding pleasantries. “I shared my dirty secrets with you yesterday. Now you get to spill.”

“I think you’re going to be disappointed,” David hedged as he unpacked his Finding Nemo lunchbox (it was a gift from his sister; he couldn’t not use it. Besides, he needed a lunchbox anyway). “My childhood was nowhere near as exciting as yours.” Cook made a continue motion as he chewed a bite of pizza so David told Cook about how his family went caroling every Christmas, about the time that Claudia had convinced Daniel that he could fly and his Mom had barely managed to stop him from jumping off the stairs to prove it and a few others that came to mind as he spoke.

Again their break passed much quicker than either thought possible, David caught up in telling stories of his brother and sisters and Cook asking occasional questions and poking good-hearted fun at him. “I’d say we’re even on telling embarrassing childhood stories,” Cook declared as David wrapped up a story involving Jazzy, Amber, toothpaste and one of the cats. “I’ll see you in a little bit when I drop my kiddos off with you.”

“I can’t wait,” David had answered truthfully, eager to meet more of his students, before waving good-bye and heading down the hallway from Cook.

Cook’s kids were David’s last class of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and David had to agree with Cook’s assessment from the day before- they were quite cute. David sat on the floor with them, the class gathered in a circle (or as close to one as they could manage. In truth it looked more like an octagon but they tried and that was what mattered after all). He went around the circle, letting each child introduce themselves and to tell something special they wanted everyone to know. The little girl with unruly curls and the pink dress introduced herself as Claire and wanted everyone to know that she was going to be a princess when she grew up while the boy with the near buzz cut and a wide smile named James told them that he was going to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. David could already tell that these kids were going to keep Cook on his toes this year but that he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

***

David looked up at the tall, sweeping building in front of him. There was only one Mormon Church in town so it was an easy choice where he was going to be on Sunday morning but he still felt that slight awkwardness that came from not knowing anyone when surrounded by a sea of faces. Sighing deeply, he climbed the stairs to the entryway. He gazed around the entryway of the sanctuary, praying to find an empty pew.

It seemed that his prayers were answered when he saw a pew in the back row that was unoccupied, next to a couple with a new baby. He whispered a thank you before taking the seat and looking around the rest of the room. He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt someone touch his arm.

“David?” He turned towards the voice to see Brooke standing in the aisle next to him. “It is you! I didn’t know you were Mormon! I knew I liked you for a reason. Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

“Uh, yeah, go ahead,” David answered as Brooke proceeded to make herself comfortable next to him.

“How did you enjoy your first week at Fuller Elementary?” she asked once she was settled.

“I loved it,” David answered truthfully. “The kids were great and I get along with almost everyone I’ve met so I think it’s going to be a good year. How was your first week?”

“I’m convinced I was given the class full of smart alecks but other than that, it went well,” she said, finishing at almost a whisper as the service began. “We’ll talk more later, when service is over.”

True to her word, Brooke made sure that they talked after worship, insisting that she take him out to lunch to celebrate surviving his first week as a certified teacher no matter how much David protested that it wasn’t necessary. “Of course it’s necessary,” she’d replied, waving off his protests. “I want to get to know you better. I can tell we’re going to be great friends and I think we should start now since I hardly see you during the school day.” David could tell it was pointless to argue with her and gave in graciously, following her out of the church to the parking lot.

***

“Hey, David!” David heard as he headed towards the exit that led to the faculty parking lot. He turned around, trying to identify who called for him. A smile broke out across his face as Cook came into view from the hallway that led to the kindergarten classrooms.

“Cook! What are you still doing here?”

Cook glanced at the watch on his right wrist and frowned. “It’s not that late, man.”

David mentally flapped his hands. He wasn’t sure how he did it but in the three weeks he had known Cook, he always managed to make his most idiotic comments around him. It was like Cook made his brain short circuit or something for reasons David didn’t want to examine too closely. “Oh, I didn’t-I mean...”

Cook laughed and (thankfully) interrupted David. “I had to set up my classroom for Monday. Anyway, I was hoping to catch you before you left. I wanted to ask you- what are your plans for tonight?”

David bit the inside of his cheek, trying to think of something cool to tell Cook, something other than sitting by himself in his apartment watching Foster’s reruns on Nickelodeon. He gave it up as a lost cause after a few seconds of frantic thought. “Nothing?” he finally answered, feeling beyond lame.

Cook’s grin widened, almost splitting his face in half. “Awesome,” he breathed, wrapping an arm around David’s shoulders, steering him back towards the door to the parking lot. David felt inordinately pleased with himself for managing to elicit that kind of response from Cook. “Some of us are going out for drinks tonight. It’s our every other week ritual that may or may not coincide with payday. Why don’t you come with us?”

David’s elation waned. “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” he answered shaking his head.

Cook’s smile lessened slightly but refused to disappear. “Why not? You just said you had no plans. Unless...” he paused, considering, “you have something awesome planned that you don’t want to tell me about. A hot date, perhaps?”

“What? No, it’s not that,” David hurriedly assured the other man. “It’s just, uh, I don’t drink.”

“Awesome. Tonight, I don’t either. It’s my turn to be designated driver and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be sober with in a room full of drunks than you. We can chill out and watch everyone else make as--” he paused for a moment, “fools of themselves.”

David made a face. “I don’t know... I’ve never been to a bar before.”

“Relax, David, it’s not like they’re going to force you to drink if you don’t want to. I’ll protect your virtue, promise.”

David flushed at the mention of his virtue. “I still don’t think…”

Cook dropped his arm and looked sadly at David, puppy eyes in full effect. “Come on, David, please? For me? It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“I-oh, alright. Just stop looking at me like that. You’ve learned too well from some of your students,” David finally agreed, hunching into himself as Cook laughed victoriously, wrapped an arm around him again, ruffling his hair.

“Thanks, kid. I’ll pick you up around 7-ish, if that’s okay?”

“I guess?” David set his briefcase down on his car and dug through it until he found a blank piece of paper. He quickly scribbled down his address and apartment number before adding his cell phone number as an afterthought. “See you then.”

“Awesome.” Cook grabbed the paper and pen and scribbled his own phone number. He ripped the paper in half, handed David the appropriate half and headed to his own car cheerfully whistling a song David didn’t recognize.

***

Around 6:00 was when David began to freak out. He stood before his closet freshly showered, wondering what he was supposed to wear. Could he google this? Maybe he could find a tv show on that was set in a bar? Should he call Cook? He’d already admitted to Cook that he’d never been to a bar so maybe Cook wouldn’t laugh at him too much?

David frowned at himself. He could do this. Maybe. First things first- pants. He gave the slacks hanging in his closet a dubious glance. Jeans were probably his best bet he decided as he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a fresh pair. David felt a little better now. Now to choose a shirt. This was where he was stumped. Maybe he should call Cook?

David finally gave up and settled on a plain black t-shirt deciding it was probably the safest bet. He glanced at the clock sitting on his bedside table. “6:38? Oh, my heck. When did it get so late? Cook will be here any minute!” He hurried back into the bathroom, bare feet slapping against the tile. He glared at his hair which definitely had a mind of its own that night before running a comb through it. When that didn’t tame it, he grabbed the small bottle of gel that sat on the countertop. After a few minutes he was… well, not satisfied but reasonably happy with the way his hair looked.

David finished tying his shoe moments before his cell phone began ringing. He grabbed it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hello, David,” a female voice answered from the earpiece.

David slumped against his couch, glad the speaker couldn’t see him at that moment. “Hi, Mama.” He eyed the clock standing on his mantle. “Listen, Mama, can I call you tomorrow? I’m actually about to meet up with some friends…”

David’s mother laughed down the phone line. “Don’t sound so nervous, David. It’s not like I’m going to get mad at you for having plans. Go and have fun, mijo. Call me tomorrow and we can talk then. Te amo.”

“Te amo, Mama,” David answered and once again promised to call the next day. He disconnected his phone and checked the time again. David sat in silence fiddling with his phone to pass the time. He jumped when his ringtone interrupted his (rather intense) game of Tetris. He fumbled with the phone, exiting the game so he could answer the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, David,” the warmth in Cook’s voice was unmistakable even over the phone. “I’m here. Sorry I’m late but Johns took forever putting on his make-up.” David heard Michael call Cook something he would never dream of saying as Cook continued talking. “Anyway, whenever you’re ready, come on down.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” David promised, patting himself down to make sure he had his wallet and his keys. “Bye.” He disconnected after Cook returned the sentiment, turned off the overhead light and made sure the door was locked before heading to the parking lot.

The ride to the bar was definitely interesting. David sat in the back with Carly and Brooke, wedged between the two while Michael rode up front with Cook having refused to relinquish the front passenger seat when Cook had told him to, saying that David hadn’t earned the right yet. Cook had looked as though he was going to insist before David had interrupted saying that he’d like to sit in the back with the girls. Carly and Brooke had quickly agreed with this idea, saying that David made for better company anyway.

The radio was turned low so David could only catch snatches of what was on whenever Cook sang along softly during breaks in the conversation. Michael was filling David in on a week’s worth of gossip from work, Carly and Brooke interjecting and correcting him where necessary. As David contented himself with sitting back and listening, he was relieved to observe that he had apparently done well for himself- everyone else was wearing jeans though the women were slightly dressier than the men but David supposed that was par for the course since the women usually looked nicer at work too.

Cook parked in front of a brick building with the entryway painted green and Paddy’s scrawled across the front of the building in green letters. “Last stop, everybody out!” Cook announced cheerfully as he opened his own door.

Michael walked through the door first and paused on the threshold with his arms spread. “Home, sweet home,” he said, his tone of voice that of someone who hadn’t seen a loved one in years.

“Yeah, yeah,” Carly answered dismissively pushing roughly at Michael’s back. “Get a move on; some of us would like to drink sometime soon.”

David followed the rest of the group in much more sedately, taking in his surroundings quietly. The bar was not exactly what he’d pictured in his mind. It wasn’t necessarily dirty though it was definitely on the run-down side of things. While it wasn’t a large space it wasn’t overly crowded either with the bar on one side of the room and booths lining the opposite wall, tables dotting the space in between with a pool table partially hidden in the back. As he was taking all of this in, he followed Cook to a booth towards the back of the bar near the pool table.

David sat down on the side facing the door and scooted over towards the wall. He was surprised when Cook slid in next to him since he’d been expecting him to take the opposite seat with one of the girls. Not that he was exactly complaining or anything, just pleasantly surprised.

He returned the smile Cook sent his way before letting his gaze slide over to the bar where a red-haired woman was handing cups to Brooke, Carly and Michael while talking or possibly arguing with a few dark-haired men who were loitering around the bar. David flinched when he heard her yell, “Damn it, Bradley!” before storming into a room in the back of the bar and slamming the door. Michael was laughing as he reached the table while Carly shook her head. “Poor Katie; they really give her a lot shit, don’t they?”

“Always!” Michael answered still laughing. “But she gives it right back, don’t you worry.”

Brooke took pity on David as she slid into the seat across from him. “Michael’s friends with the owners- Bradley, Colin and Jeffrey,” she said, pointing to the cluster of men still standing at the bar, now laughing uproariously. “That was Jeffrey’s girlfriend Katie that just left. Between the four of them, they’re always arguing about something. Don’t pay them any attention. Here’s your water; it’s the only other thing they have here besides the alcohol.” She pushed two glasses with clear liquid across the table towards David and Cook as Carly set down a glass with amber liquid in it. Brooke took a sip from it before returning it to its spot on the table. “What?”

David shut his mouth, remembering that it was rude to gawk. “Nothing. It’s nothing,” he answered quickly. He paused before continuing. “It’s just--” he frowned, not quite sure how to say what he wanted without being rude. “It’s just, I thought you were Mormon.”

Brooke nodded as she answered. “I am! I’m just…not exactly the world’s best Mormon. More of a laid-back kind of Mormon, if you will.” She fixed David with a serious look. “That’s not going to be a problem is it? Because I really like hanging out with you, David, and I don’t want to upset you, though I’m not going to change who I am.”

“What? Uh, no, you’re fine,” David hurriedly assured her, though internally he still frowned some but as his mother used to always say, it wasn’t his place to judge.

“Now that we have that settled,” Michael interrupted, “let’s have some real fun!”

And, David found, despite all his reservations, he did enjoy himself, even if Michael’s definition of “real fun” was apparently drinking his body weight in alcohol. Michael really was kind of nice when he wasn’t constantly offering to babysit David (why Michael was convinced David needed to be babysat still baffled him but David chose to blame most of his behavior on the alcohol and mentally added it to his list of reasons why it was a bad idea to ever drink). The highlight of the night, David decided, had to be when, after a while of sitting uncomfortably at the table as the others talked about things that had happened before David joined their ranks, Cook had taken pity on him and silently pulled him out of the booth while the girls were too wrapped up in a story Michael was telling about Colin and Bradley and led him over to the pool table. “Do you know how to play?” Cook had asked him and hadn’t looked surprised when David had shaken his head ‘no’. “Unless you have any objections, I’m going to teach you how,” he announced, pulling two sticks from the rack on the wall. David assured Cook that he didn’t as he handed one to David and kept the other for himself.

By the time they left Paddy’s that night, David was actually not half-bad, if he did say so himself.

***

The next day David slept late and blamed it on being out too late with his friends the night before. He shuffled from his bedroom to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of orange juice before checking the time. Once he had assured himself that it was late enough in Utah that his mother would be up, he fetched his phone and pressed her number on his speed dial. They exchanged pleasantries as David began unpacking one of the boxes still sitting on his counter, putting away things like his blender (David’s not even sure why he has one, let alone where to put it so it gets stuffed in the back of a cabinet with more pertinent things hiding it) and his coffee mugs that only ever get used for tea.

Right around the time the box is finally empty, David’s mom asked about his first week teaching. By the time he finished telling her about his classes and moved on to talking about his coworkers, he had emptied two of the boxes piled in his living room and begun arranging his CDs to his liking on their shelves. By the time they hung up an hour later, David’s CD and DVD collections are exactly how he wants them and his mom knows so much about his new friends, it’s probably embarrassing (David is definitely not thinking about how most of it was about Cook, which has to be some kind of fluke). He is also caught up on all the family news, from Claudia’s new boyfriend to Jazzy’s sudden interest in ballet, and the apartment that he’d been steadily working on in attempt to make it feel like home suddenly couldn’t feel less like it and David once again wished he’d listened to his mother and applied for a job closer to home.

***

“Okay, man, I have to ask,” Cook said interrupting the comfortable silence as he and David ate lunch one Thursday. “I’ve been staring at your lunchbox for a month now. What’s with the Finding Nemo? Did you steal it from one of your little sisters?”

David felt himself blush. “Not exactly. My older sister, Claudia- you remember me talking about her?- gave it to me as a gift to celebrate me getting my first job. It was kind of a joke, I suppose, but since Finding Nemo is my favorite movie and I needed a lunchbox anyway, I decided to keep it.”

Cook bobbed his head, signaling his approval of the logic. “That’s good enough for me. Hey, did I ever tell you the one about the dancing giraffes?”

***

David felt excited about Halloween for the first time in a very long time. Not only were there fun songs to sing with the kids (like the one about the five little pumpkins) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on tv but he had an honest to goodness Halloween party to go to this year. Granted, this meant lots of people he didn’t know (Michael was throwing it which should explain everything) and lots of drinking but he couldn’t wait to see what costumes the others had put together, even if his was more on the embarrassing side than anything. Maybe the fact that there was going to be alcohol would mean that no one would remember it the next day; he’d just have to be careful to avoid any and all cameras.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” David moaned again, looking down at his costume, pulling at the green tights. Sure, he liked Peter Pan but that didn’t mean that he wanted to be him. He got teased enough about looking too young without adding to it and he was fairly certain that Brooke had gotten the wrong sized costume. There was no way Peter Pan’s clothes were supposed to be this short.

Brooke, of course, looked beautiful. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore a short green dress with wings attached to the back, body glitter glinting as it caught the light. “You said yourself that you couldn’t come up with anything better. Next year you’re free to do whatever you want. I suggest you start thinking because I’ve already come up with some good ones.”

David stared at her in horror. “Why am I friends with you?”

“Because I’m awesome and we make an adorable Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Now stop messing with your tights and come on,” Brooke answered before opening the door to Michael’s house.

Inside the party was already in full swing (it had taken David a really long time to get the tights on correctly, as Brooke was happy to point out the entire time he struggled with them. He really hoped he didn’t have to go to the bathroom while he was here.). David saw people dressed as characters from Star Wars (though he was pretty sure that Han Solo never made out with Luke Skywalker like the two in the corner were doing) all the way to people dressed in barely anything at all.

The first person they spotted that David knew (Brooke, of course, knew almost everybody at the party, it seemed) was Carly, though he wasn’t really sure who she was supposed to be. She was dressed in all black from her leather pants to her tank top to her jacket with an orange smiley face attached to her shirt and one of those Egyptian cross-type things hanging around her neck (an ankh, if he remembered correctly from Claudia’s fascination with ancient Egypt). “I’m Death,” she helpfully explained once David confessed he had no idea who she was. “She’s from Neil Gaiman’s books and she’s pretty kick ass, if I do say so myself.”

“She, uh, looks it,” he answered politely, not sure what else to say. He was spared from having to come up with anything else as someone whistled appreciatively behind him. When he turned around to see that it was Cook, he felt his face heat up and he tried to surreptitiously pull his clothes down a little lower.

“Brooke! You look fantastic,” he told her as he looked her over. “Tinker Bell looks good on you.”

Brooke practically preened at his words. “Thank you. That means so much coming from the original boy who never grew up.”

Cook grinned. “I will gladly accept that title. Death looks exceptionally good tonight too, Carly. Awesome costume.”

“Finally someone knows who I am without having to ask!” Carly said gleefully. “Though I have to say, I’m not sure who you are.”

Cook looked down at himself. He had on a pair of artfully ripped jeans and an Our Lady Peace shirt. “I’m a rock star.” He raised the blow up guitar he held in his hand as evidence.

“A rock star?” Brooke asked, laughing.

Cook rubbed the back of his neck, blushing slightly. “It was the only thing I could think of. By the time I got to the costume shop, everything good was sold out and there was no way I was going to be Winnie-the-Pooh or something like that. Though I have to say, the tights look good on you, David.”

David blushed again. “It was Brooke’s idea.”

“And a good idea it was,” Cook grinned at the red staining David’s cheeks.

“Alright, Cook, let the poor boy be and point me in the direction of the drinks,” Brooke interrupted laughing.

“Now that sounds like a good idea to me,” Carly said while Cook made a vague gesture to the doorway behind where the girls were standing. Carly grabbed the other woman’s hand before starting off in the direction Cook had indicated. “Come on, Brookie.” With that, the two men were suddenly left by themselves.

“So, uh, a rock star?” David asked awkwardly, still pulling at the bottom of his costume.

“My childhood dream,” Cook confided. “How did Brooke talk you into yours?”

“I really suck at coming up with costumes and she told me that she had a great idea. I didn’t find out until tonight what her great idea was.”

Cook laughed. “She’s good at that. She did the same thing to me her first year here, though, thankfully, I had pants.”

“Who needs pants? They’re entirely over-rated.”

“Apparently not David,” Cook answered as he turned to face Michael. He scoffed at what he saw- tall black boots, black pants, billowy white shirt and black vest, with an eye patch and a hat with a long feather sticking out of it. “Really, Johns? A pirate? How lame can you get? If you were Jack Sparrow, I might give you some points but you’re just a nameless pirate and therefore, kind of cliché.”

Michael made a face at Cook. “I get to drink alcohol, curse, call men ‘scallywags’ and women ‘wenches’ and not get slapped? It’s Christmas come early, mate!”

Cook frowned. “You do most of that on a daily basis anyway.”

“Yes, but the ‘not getting slapped’ idea is particularly appealing, let me tell you,” Michael said, winking in David’s direction before walking off.

“Probably going test that ‘not going to get slapped’ theory,” Cook whispered. “Come on, I want to see what happens when he tries that on Carly.”

As it turned out, they didn’t actually need to follow Michael. Carly’s voice was audible above the murmur of the party, even halfway across the house. Cook held his sides as he laughed while David cringed at some of the words he heard Carly calling Michael. (David was sure he didn’t want to know where she learned that last one.)

After the exciting beginning, the rest of the party seemed relatively calm. David stayed close to Cook for the rest of the night, content to follow in his wake among all the strangers. Much to David’s amusement, practically everyone they met tried to shove a red plastic cup into Cook’s hand, demanding that he drink it saying that it wasn’t a party unless you were well on your way to not remembering it in the morning. Cook continually turned the offers down, saying that he was on his way to the bar himself and he’d get the two of them their own drinks. When they finally made it to the bar, Cook grabbed two cups but only filled them with water, much to David’s surprise. “I don’t feel like drinking tonight,” was all Cook would say when David mentioned it.

Armed with their own red cups, no one tried to foist more drinks off on them, though they couldn’t manage to walk through a room without someone stopping Cook to talk to him. Cook tried his best to engage David in these but mostly David hovered behind his shoulder, still fiddling with his costume and wishing that the party hadn’t gotten quite so loud. After thirty uncomfortable minutes of David pulling at his costume, Cook took pity on him and stole a pair of Michael’s pants. “I promise I’ll take the heat for it,” Cook swore, pushing the pants into David’s hands. “But there’s no way you can enjoy yourself if you’re that worried about your costume. Trust me when I say that, by the end of the night, no one will even notice.”

It turned out that no one ever did notice because the two of them spent most of the rest of the night in the backyard where it wasn’t as crowded (in fact, it was empty) and the noise level wasn’t quite so deafening. David took great pleasure in pointing out constellations that he remembered from his youth in the Boy Scouts and Cook took equal pleasure from making up his own and telling elaborate stories about their origin. All in all, David was pleased to consider his first Halloween party a success.

Part Two