[interesting]

Last year, around the same time, my life was very ordinary. Since then, things have become... complicated. Better, definitely more entertaining, but complicated none the less.

I met this girl. Sarah. A student of mine. She hung out in class, and developed a fancy for me. So when she was no longer under my care at school, she approached me. We met, we had fun, we dared each other, and then, we became an item. Sort of.

I met her her friends too around that time. Jennifer. Thomas. Barry. Bonnie. Claire. Cassie. Let's just say these people were way into... things I wasn't into at the time. Daring. Playing. Sexing (is that a word?). I started hanging out with them. Things got weird. I started being sexual with Jennifer too. Things got weirder. Everybody pretty much cracked from the pressure. It took us a while but we managed to get things back in order, and my mind, well... things change. Experiences make you think about everything that's happened before, casting them in a new light. That's where I'm at, right now. About eight months into my relationship with Sarah.

Last April (was it already three months ago?), we had a big party. A really really big party. Things got wild, wilder than at Christmas, but about as wild as Spring Break. Different though. Spring Break was both an epiphany and a breaking point. April, things were resolved. Most things, anyway.

Since then, I have been happily monogamous with Sarah and, I hope, she has been happily the same. I hope for the happily part, because I know she hasn't had any other experiences with anyone. I don't think I would have minded if she had, though - as long as she kept me in the loop. Perhaps we didn't create opportunities.

For those of you who know me, who have been following my unique stroll into personal and sexual discovery, you might want to get some news on everyone. If you haven't been paying attention, or if you're simply new to the entire scene, it'll be a nice stepping stone for you to build on.

So Jennifer is single again. She wasn't for a few weeks. She met Prissy through Cassie, and they hung out, went out for a time. It was Jennifer who called it off. Sarah was really pissed about it. Prissy seemed like a good girl for Jennifer, as open-minded as she was. We spoke to Prissy : she doesn't seem bitter about it. We don't hang out but we keep in touch. Oh! Jennifer is still a model too. She's started officially calling herself a 'porn star'. She did a few stunts with her photographer friend Peter; she was alone for both (no partner), but she did it all. We have a pass for the two shoots she's done : one in the pool at Peter's place, and the other in his bedroom. Sometimes, we watch it to get ourselves in the mood, not that we really need it.

Claire and Cassie are still together, still very much in love and still very open-minded. I know that Prissy has spent some time with them since her breakup with Jennifer, but I'm not privy to what happened. Knowing them, it could have been a simple hangout or a more elaborate activity in their dungeon. I don't see my favorite lesbian couple as often as I would like, but they're around.

A word about Thomas. Him and Jimmy - it didn't work. They were great together, but Jimmy got scared that he would be outed as gay, and he couldn't handle the pressure. He left town : I think he's in Vegas now. It is a shame. I liked Jimmy. Thomas wasn't as heartbroken as we thought he would be, or maybe he's just good at hiding it. Professionally though, Thomas has made quite an impression in the boxing circuit. He's scheduled to face some upper echelon opponents sometime this September, and he might even get an endorsement if he performs well. He's got an agent now, apparently. I haven't met him, but Thomas seems to think he's made of gold.

Brad and Brigitte are... well, they are. It's hard to describe. They moved too. Brigitte's medical condition is under control, but she wanted to be closer to her family, and Brad followed her like a lovesick puppy - or any other kind of puppy she wants him to be, really. They're in Oregon, where Brigitte's extended family now resides. As far as I know, they're doing great. I hope it stays that way.

This takes me to Barry and Bonnie. We hang out a lot with them, now that Sarah and I are officially 'a couple'. We all laugh at the the term. It mostly means we live together, share the same bed - as far as romantic pursuits go, though, it seems we're pretty much on the same footing. Nothing's happened between us four so far. I say so far, because there's always the possibility now. No more closing of doors without talking about it first. I've said it before : I don't need anyone else if I have Sarah, but if an opportunity shows up, well, we'll talk about it and decide to see if we act on it.

And this rewind, recap, or whatever you call it, takes me up to now, narrative speaking of course. During the last Spring Break, Barry and Bonnie didn't attend the festivities because they were on a trip, indulging in a different kind of affair altogether. While there, they apparently met a nice thirty-something couple, Kim and Brian, she, a bank manager and he, a computer programmer. I'm told they had a very nice time. Apparently, they stayed in touch. Barry and Bonnie have been invited to several days of leisure and recreation at their friends' summer home, in the second week of August. It occurred to them that they could extend the invitation to others, and the inviting couple agreed. So, they thought of me and Sarah.

There are no illusions around this. If we go, we'll end up having sex with them - some level of intimacy anyway. I should be fine with that, some would think, given what we've done in the past, but if I may quote myself : 'We'll talk about it.'

And talk we did. The life I have with Sarah is full of happy moments, great tenderness, awesome sex, and the occasional frowns. I'm on break for the summer, as is Sarah. She's starting her classes to become a kindergarten teacher in only a few weeks. Time-wise, it's perfect for an activity such as this. But I'm always reminded of my breakdown after Jennifer, and after the Spring Break activities. Things got weird before they got better. I like the better part. The weird... not so much.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Of course they're gonna go. He wouldn't do such a preamble it they weren't going. And you're right, but you need to understand what it means for us, Sarah and me, to do this at this moment in our lives. You have to understand : I have been with her less than a year and, so far, I have had more partners in that time that in the rest of my life combined - and to my knowledge, at least at the beginning, I wanted to be in a monogamous relationship. Sarah also wanted the same thing, but neither of us delivered on that promise. That reflection brings its load of uncertainty and hesitation. The question is not if we can be faithful to each other, because I'm fairly certain we could manage (even Sarah, who is definitely still more prone to challenge herself than me). The question becomes : do we want to be faithful?

The only answer I can really come up with may require more explanation, but I'll leave that for another time : it's all about the dressing.