Freshman Blues by Parker Avrile

Author:Parker Avrile
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance, mm romance, male male romance, new adult romance, college romance
Publisher: Paris April Press
Published: 2021-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Matt

Mrs. MacPherson called a day or two later. Had she talked to Gray? Of course, she'd talked to Gray. I should have known he'd call her to discuss the incident at the freshman mixer.

“Would you like to talk to someone?” she asked.

“It isn't worth talking about.”

“Oh, Matty.”

“A guy got handsy at a party. My friend and I shut him down. What's to talk about?”

“You never wanted to talk to your therapist. If you'd been a little more open, maybe...” My foster mother was well-meaning, but she never figured out my crimes weren't like the other kids' crimes.

“I wasn't a troubled teen with a mental health diagnosis. I was a professional criminal. A therapist can't fix that.”

“Oh, Matty, you always say that.”

“‘Here are six techniques you can use to stop yourself when you're about to act on impulse,’” I said in the high-pitched soprano voice of my last therapist. Then I switched back to my regular voice. “For...” I caught myself in the nick of time. With Mrs. MacPherson, I couldn't use the word that first sprang to my lips. “For goodness sake. Did she think I got away with a Vermeer because I acted on impulse? These were skilled crimes. They took planning.”

“You always say that too.”

“I've said it three by now.”

She forced herself to laugh. “Who's counting?”

Then Mr. MacPherson got on the phone to say more or less the same thing in different words. “You shouldn't be attending parties where alcohol is served.”

“I didn't realize.” A lie, and he was smart enough to recognize the lie, but it would have been disrespectful for me to not even try. The lie told him I cared what he thought of me. “Some of the guys had a cooler in the backroom. I'll be more careful next time.”

“You have a valuable opportunity here, Matthew.”

“Yes, sir. I know.”

“I was young once too, son.”

I tended to doubt it, but I didn't say so.

“You don't want to mess up this chance. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Yes, sir. I know that, sir.”

“We'd like to see you back home this weekend.” By home, he meant the farm.

I went silent for a moment, but of course I had to tell him. “I already made plans with a friend. He's going to drive me out to see Mom.”

Mr. MacPherson couldn't openly disapprove of a boy visiting his mother. But he sighed loudly enough to make his opinion known. “Then next weekend.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Kevin will pick you up bright and early.”

“I look forward to it.” And that wasn't a lie. Weekends could be achingly lonely in college. Who knew?

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