-Sang's POV-

I am waiting at the diner for Mr. Blackbourne. He said he wanted to catch up with me and he would pick me up here at 3pm. Of course, right as my cell phone kicked over to 3 Mr. Blackbourne's BMW pulled into the parking lot. He hopped out and came to open my door – no, hop is not the right word. Mr. Blackbourne would never hop. Glide is more like it.

Once settled we headed out of the neighborhood. "I thought we would go to the park and take a walk, would that be okay with you?"

"Yes, that would be great." That's all we said in the car. It wasn't an awkward silence, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to start the catching up. Did he have something he was specifically looking for me to share? Thankfully I saw the signs for a park up ahead. Once we were out of the car, Mr. Blackbourne gestured to a tree lined paved trail and we headed over to it.

I walked right beside him and clasped my hands behind my back to keep from putting my finger to my lip.

"I wanted to update you on what was discussed at the family meeting last night." A few hours after school Nathan got a call to drop me off at the hospital with Dr. Green so he could meet up with the rest of the guys. He said it was a family meeting and I admit I was a little disappointed. I thought I would be included in the family meetings now, maybe the guys were second guessing including me. Maybe that is what Mr. Blackbourne wants to talk about now; maybe they want me to back off again, like when the guys first started wearing the uniforms. I was snapped out of my pity party when I realized Mr. Blackbourne had stopped walking and I was now a few feet in front of him. "Miss Sorenson is something wrong?"

"No, sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"No need to be sorry Miss Sorenson, but I would appreciate it if you were honest with me. I hope you remember you can tell me and ask me anything."

"Ok. I was thinking about last night when I found out that there was a family meeting but I was being sent to Dr. Green instead. I thought I would be included on the family meetings now."

Mr. Blackbourne took two large strides so we were only a few inches apart. "Miss Sorenson, please don't think that we did not include you because we are second guessing our feelings for you." He always reads my thoughts, it is unnerving and calming all at the same time.

"Why couldn't I go to the meeting?"

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you today. We did talk about you at the meeting, but not in the way you fear. Do you remember what we spoke about at Middleton?"

"You mean spending time with all of the guys and following my gut?"

"Yes, exactly Miss Sorenson. And during that discussion you implied that you would be open to being a girlfriend to more than one of the boys, do you still feel that way?"

I hesitated. Once again, he didn't look appalled at the idea, and he didn't sound angry that I might feel that way. "It is confusing to know what to do. I know at school I am supposed to be Silas's girlfriend, with Kota's mom I am his girlfriend, and at the diner I am Luke's girlfriend. I am not complaining, I know why they decided to do it that way, I think, but we don't actually do anything like the other couples I see and I hear the other girls talk about dates, not that I want to make the guys do that if they don't want to. I don't know what it means to be a girlfriend, but I think if I was to be someone's girlfriend I wouldn't be able to choose between the guys. What I mean is I think it would be nice to spend time with each guy with just me and maybe be their girlfriend too." There that wasn't so bad – I am pretty sure I took a few breathes in between words, hopefully I won't have to repeat myself.

I finally have the guts to look up at Mr. Blackbourne and I see that he is staring at me with an expression that I cannot read. "Are you saying that you want to date everyone Miss Sorenson?"

"Yes, that is what I want…if they guys want it of course. Is that okay?"

"It is more than okay Miss Sorenson. As we both agreed before, our situation is not one to try and fit into a perfect box. Try not to compare our situation and your feelings to what you see around you and read in books. What we discussed at the meeting last night was exactly this. Everyone would like to date you and we have all agreed to share you so you do not have to choose, unless there comes a time that you want to."

"Everyone will share me? What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that you will be everyone's girlfriend. You can go on individual dates with everyone and of course you can continue to hang out as a group. How does that sound Miss Sorenson?"

"It sounds wonderful. I don't know if I can be enough for everyone though, but I want to try."

"I think you will see soon enough that there is nothing to worry about in terms of being good enough or being able to juggle everyone. This is new for all of us, but I think we are all committed to making this work, so we will. So are you ready to date 9 guys Miss Sorenson?"

Nine? Was he counting himself? I hadn't really thought about it. I had kissed Dr. Green – I knew he thought of me as more than a student – but Mr. Blackbourne? He did give me roses at Victor's concert, but it was from the team, right? "Do you want to go on a date with me Mr. Blackbourne?"

Very briefly I saw his eyebrows raise right before he said "Very much, Miss Sorenson." And then it hit me…I had just asked out Mr. Blackbourne! On a date! I could feel my cheeks start to burn with my blush. "Of course, both Dr. Green and I will need to be careful. We are still in a teacher and administrative role while you are at Ashley Waters. We will not be able to spend as much time with you as we would like, so we will just have to make the time that we do spend together mean even more."

This is exciting. I feel a warm glow rising in my stomach at the idea of going out with Mr. Blackbourne. Not just him though, with everyone. Can this work? Will they all really accept this? I have to trust them. I have to trust that they wouldn't start this if they didn't really think it would work.

"Where would we go on our first date Mr. Blackbourne?"

"O Miss Sorenson, I thought our first date was lunch at the country club. However, I do have a lot of ideas for our date. But first I need to let everyone else know that you are interested. If you can do me one favor Miss Sorenson. In hopes that you would say yes, the boys have already started to think about how they will ask you out for your first dates. Please give them the chance to ask you out in their own way. After that you can work out dates and where you will go and what you want to do however you want. Just give them each the first one."

That worked for me. Even though I am excited I don't think I have enough guts to ask them out yet. "Of course Mr. Blackbourne, I can definitely do that."

We finished our walk around the gazebo and back to the car. Mr. Blackbourne drove me to the diner and walked me inside, making sure that Gabe saw me before he nodded once and headed back out to the parking lot. Gabe's crystal eyes were twinkling and I knew Mr. Blackbourne had already sent a text out to everyone that I had agreed to their plan. Is he going to ask me out now?