The conflict in today's chapter was inspired by a class I took while still in high school. In order to take Physics, I had to attend the local Community College since my school didn't offer that elective. As I recall, the professor teaching the class was an aging Lothario, complete with the shirt unbuttoned past where age and decency dictated, and with his bushy white chest and belly hair on display for all to see. He even wore the obligatory gold chain.
Needless to say, the two ladies we had in the class dropped it quite quickly, opting out of the stares and uncomfortable leers he provided along with the subject matter.
What's unfortunate, besides the detrimental effect that teachers like that have on students, is that the quid pro quo scenario I included isn't too hard to imagine.
I included this scene for two reasons. First, as I'm sure you're aware by now, one of the themes of this story has been Tim's progression from a teenager to an adult, and the maturity that accompanies his growth. I thought that the way he deals with this can be contrasted with the way he reacts early on when his dad approaches him about selling their family home.
The second reason is more selfish, and that is that I wanted a last bit of conflict in the story. Please remember that this is amateur fiction and I know I broke a lot of basic rules by introducing new characters quite close to the end of the story.
Speaking of endings, tomorrow sees us wrap things up. I thought about posting the epilogue separately on Saturday, but you deserve to have things come to a conclusion without the wait. I'll open up the comments once tomorrow's chapters post.