Nothing beat waking up to a naked man beside me. Leaning against me, Teddy curled up under the blankets, his head against my shoulder. If this was a dream, I wouldn't mind living it over and over again. I'd nearly forgotten about Teddy pinning me down on the bed.

Judging by the raucous in the hallway, the house was already awake. "Hey, Eric!" Jimmy called from below. "You up? Is Teddy up there? I hope he's not bugging you again!"

"Yep, I'm up!" I replied before Jimmy pulled the ladder down. "Hey, wake up, Teddy."

Teddy yawned, draping an arm over my chest.

"Jimmy's looking for you. You better go."

He yawned again and groggily sat up, the mattress creaking as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry," he said sleepily, scratching the back of his head. "I shouldn't have slept in your bed."

I kissed his cheek, patting his back. "I don't mind. It's your bed, anyway. I'm just borrowing it."

"Hey, Teddy, get your ass down here!" Jimmy shouted.

"James, watch your mouth!" Mrs. McDonough scolded him. "That's it. I'm done telling you boys what to do. You never listen. You can make your own dinner tonight!"

Teddy shook his head, chuckling as he pulled up his pajama bottoms. "She always says things like that. Don't worry. She'll still make dinner. I'll see you downstairs. I'm gonna wash up." Teddy avoided my eyes, like he was ashamed.

Freezing, I wrapped a blanket around me before getting out of bed. "Wait, Teddy." He stopped at the attic door, staring down at the floor as I approached him. Gently, I squeezed his shoulders while gazing into his dreamy brown eyes. "We did nothing wrong. I'm not your first, so what's the big deal?"

"All my life I've been told homosexuality is abnormal and a sin, that homosexuals are sick and should be locked up either in prison or in a mental hospital. Sometimes I think that's where I belong."

"That's not where you belong. You'll be happy to know it's no longer considered a mental disorder."

"It is here. That's what you don't understand."

"You're right; I don't understand. Would it make you feel better if I told you I had a great time and I loved being with you?"

Teddy cracked a smile. "Maybe."

At the kitchen table, Teddy was back in his usual seat, chewing on a piece of toast. Before I sat down, Mrs. McDonough handed me a bowl of oatmeal. Teddy's cheeks reddened, glancing at me as I sat beside him. Like a waitress, Mrs. McDonough poured me a cup of coffee.

"Did you sleep in Eric's room all night?" Jimmy asked Teddy.

"It's not Eric's room; it's mine," Teddy said. "I was tired of hearing you snore."

"He doesn't snore," Billy said to Teddy. "You do." Billy was right; Teddy snored, but I found his snoring soothing.

"Shut up," Teddy said.

"Well, you do," Billy continued.

"I'm walking Eric to work today," Jimmy said, finishing his piece of toast.

Jimmy's tone and expression made me think that Jimmy suspected something was going on between me and Teddy. I doubted Jimmy knew that Teddy was 'one of those people,' the Oscar Wilde type. If Teddy's parents knew, I was sure he wouldn't be living in the house. This was a strict, conservative Catholic family. If this was 2023, I wasn't sure if they'd accept a gay son.

"I don't need a chaperone," I said.

"I'm giving you a day off from that one," Jimmy said, pointing to Teddy.

Teddy swallowed hard as my knee bounced up and down beside his. Under the table, Teddy placed his hand on my knee, stopping it from bouncing. "No one has to walk me," I said.

"I have clear instructions to—"

Teddy quickly cut Jimmy off. "Who gave you those instructions?"

Jimmy didn't respond to Teddy's question, standing up instead. "We better get going."

I still had two bites of oatmeal left.

"Who gave you those instructions?" Teddy persisted as Jimmy headed to the foyer. The tenacious Teddy would never give up. He followed him, asking him the same question over and over. "I wanna know who gave you those instructions."

Teddy tagged along with us on the way to school, hoping to wear Jimmy down until he got so fed up and annoyed he caved. But Jimmy was just as stubborn as Teddy. Finally, I was the one who got annoyed with their back and forth bickering and left them behind. Teddy didn't even get to the taxi cab question yet.

As I stormed ahead, Jimmy interrupted Teddy, "What were you doing in the attic with Eric all night?"

"I was helping him prepare lesson plans and fell asleep," Teddy replied. "It's none of your business, anyway. Maybe if you told me who—"

"Never mind," Jimmy said. "Sorry I asked."

"I'll tell you what we did if you tell me who sent you to pick up Eric at the taxi cab."

Jimmy walked briskly, practically running to me. I sped up, skipping two stairs at a time to the top step of the high school. Jimmy and Teddy wore me out. The inside of the high school relaxed me despite the hustle and bustle of students and teachers in the hallway.

"Good morning, Mr. Gagnon," Edie said as she walked past me.

"Good morning," I said.

If I ever made it back to 2023, I looked forward to teaching the American Civil War next year. For the past three years, I taught sophomores and juniors, focusing on twentieth century United States history. The principal asked me to teach the ninth grade class next year. I was thinking I could re-use some of the lesson plans I created for the current students in my dream. I liked how I managed to incorporate The Red Badge of Courage into my lessons. I questioned whether or not my real students would read it, but I wouldn't know unless I tried.

A group of female students stayed after school for extra help. I'd grown accustomed to staying late, then grabbing a beer at the Worthen with Teddy. I always had an open door policy for my students and usually made myself available whenever they needed me. After fifteen minutes, I realized these six girls didn't need extra help. Rather, as the only young male teacher in the school, they had a crush on me. It only took me three days to figure it out.

Jimmy showed up after school, waiting in the classroom doorway. I was hoping Teddy would arrive before Jimmy, but I figured he got stuck at work. "Your classroom looks interesting," he said. "Was this Teddy's idea?"

"No, it was mine. I've been a teacher for seven years."

"Ooo, seven years. Ms. Tremblay's been teaching for thirty years or something like that. She won't like this."

"But she's not here, is she? It's my classroom right now."

As I stuffed my papers into a textbook, Teddy stood behind Jimmy, sticking his tongue out. "Teddy's behind me, isn't he?" Jimmy said.

"I got you something," Teddy said to me, walking around Jimmy to enter the classroom. He dropped a faded brown leather briefcase on my desk. "It's used, but it's better than nothing. You needed a briefcase."

"You got this for me?" I asked, picking it up, touched by the gesture.

"It was nothing."

"Thank you. I love it." I opened the briefcase and neatly placed my lessons inside the middle pocket. "It's perfect."

On the way back to the house, the briefcase hung from my shoulder as I walked between Teddy and Jimmy. Teddy continued the barrage of questions from earlier. "I don't think I've ever had two men fight over me," I said.

"No one's fighting over you," Jimmy said. "Some lady paid me five bucks to pick you up. That's all I know."

"How'd you meet her?" I asked.

"I don't remember."

"Bullshit."

If Jimmy didn't cave soon, Teddy would lose it and attack him like he attacked me, cutting off his circulation and threatening to strangle him. Half the time, Jimmy completely ignored him. He ignored me, too, pretending neither of us asked questions about the taxi or anything else about that day. By dinnertime, we dropped the subject for the time being.

It was another baked beans night. Mrs. McDonough made me a cheese sandwich, realizing I didn't like baked beans. I must have grown on her, especially since she usually didn't go out of her way to make anything 'extra,' as Teddy would say. 'You eat what we eat,' was her motto, according to Teddy. Jimmy had a date with a girl, so he had a short reprieve from me and Teddy.

***

By now, I'd warmed up to the McDonough family, and they treated me more like a family member instead of an outsider or stranger in a strange land. On many nights, the family sat in the parlor, listening to the radio or vinyl records. Besides Little Orphan Annie, Jack Benny, the Lone Ranger, Will Rogers were also popular, among others. Since the parlor was so crowded, I'd often sit on a step in the hallway or on the floor beside Millie.

While sitting on the floor, one of the most popular songs of the year, the original Blue Moon, played on the old wind up record player. "I know this song," I said as Glen Gray's version of Blue Moon played. "I didn't know this song was so old."

"Old?" Margaret said. "It just came out."

To save me from further embarrassment, Teddy came to my rescue. "It didn't just come out. It's been out for a few months." Bored with the song, or to distract everyone from my stupid comment, he changed the record.

Teddy loved music. His favorites included a song called Auntie Cousin's Fannie and Cole Porter's Anything Goes. Cole Porter had a lot of great songs. Teddy and Margaret shared a love of music and both sang and danced, entertaining the family. Little Millie tried to be a part of the show, but she only got in the way. Teddy humored her, letting her dance with him. Billy made faces in the corner, reading a comic book. I sat back and enjoyed the entertainment.

Teddy shared more chocolate with me. He had a sweet tooth and bought a chocolate bar almost every day. If he wasn't in the mood that day, he stored them in his drawer.

"I think you should be an entertainer," I said as Teddy sat in front of me on the bed. "You and Margaret are great."

"George and Dorothy can sing, too, but I think you make Dorothy nervous. I don't know why. You could never make anyone nervous. Sure, you can be uptight at times."

"You're being nice when you say 'uptight.' I'm really just an asshole."

"You're not an asshole. I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight. I won't if you don't want me to."

"Of course you can stay with me."

"And tomorrow we'll get Jimmy to talk." Teddy stroked the side of my head while I ran a finger over his collarbone.

"You may have to threaten him with bodily harm."

"Yeah," he said with a small laugh, scooting closer to me. "We'll get him to tell us everything."

I hoped Teddy was right.

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