Monday morning when Munch got off the bus, he fell behind Lolly and Trevor. The ease they had together always made him feel a little jealous. In the past the jealousy felt like being left out, at this moment, he just wanted to be able to publicly treat Thahn Ho the way Trevor could treat Lolly. He swallowed hard and forced himself not to go down that rabbit hole. In less than minutes he would be breathing the same air as Thahn Ho. Swiftly he made his way to the art room. He was almost there when Lisa stopped him. She wore a turquoise dress made of this filmy stuff that made her look like an angel, except for her eyes. They were red rimmed. The girl had been crying again. Jake was an okay guy but it seemed Lisa was not done with him yet. He really hoped she got over that doofus soon. In a wavering voice she said, “Grace told me Mademoiselle Petite let her do some volunteer work in the art room.”

“Yeah.” He knew where this was headed. “Where is Grace?”

“She had to go in early to take a make up test in Algebra.” Lisa’s voice broke, “Sitting with Lolly and Trevor in the library…I-I uhm, can’t face that this morning.”

Munch knew the feeling. Those two had their own world and while they were far from exclusive, they still had what others wished they had. It could be down right depressing. He asked, “You want me to see if she needs a volunteer this morning?”

Lisa nodded her head.

“Okay, come on.” This was NOT what he wanted, but he couldn’t leave Lisa standing there alone. He knew all too well what that felt like.

“Thank you Munch. You are the best!”

“That I am.” Lisa walked with him down the hall.

Thahn Ho was waiting for him outside the door. She saw Lisa and she too looked a bit disappointed. Still, she gave Lisa a welcoming smile and asked, “Will you be volunteering this morning?”

Lisa said, “Yes, if Mademoiselle Petite will have me.”

“Oh, she will.”

Inside the art room, Mademoiselle Petite was thrilled to have another volunteer. She said, “Oh Michael, if you keep recruiting volunteers for me, we might just bring some order to this chaos.”

Munch smiled. He joined Thahn Ho at their table. They only had minutes before Lisa came to sit with them. Shyly Munch and Thahn Ho looked at each other. His eyes traveled to her lips and he thought, I’ve been there and by the grace of God, I will be there again. Such thoughts left him utterly tongue tied. He glanced at Lisa, so did Thahn Ho. Mademoiselle had put Lisa to work taking down an out dated bulletin board. That thing was covered in faded construction paper. Lisa was not coming back to the table. Thank you Jesus! Munch and Thahn Ho turned to each other and smiled. The table was theirs. From their backpacks they pulled out their sketch books.

Thanh Ho asked, “Have your signed up for Driver’s Ed yet?”

In his hurry to see her he had forgotten all about stopping by the counselor’s office. Inwardly he chided himself, Dummy! Aloud he said, “Uh, not yet, guess I better go do that.”

The disappointment in her eyes was obvious. She didn’t want him to leave.

He didn’t want to leave either. He told her, “I can do it after Algebra.”

Her eyes brightened and she smiled. “Don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

As they worked on their sketches, Munch launched into his story of the Wild Boar. He could hear himself talking but he felt oddly like he was disconnected to himself. “That critter was huge! Almost as big as a hippopotamus!” Not quite. “And he had these beady eyes that looked death.” It was too dark to see the boars eyes. “His tusks were this long.” He held out his hands over eight inches apart. Not even close.

He had Thahn Ho’s full attention. She shivered. “Oh Michael you are so brave! When you have your next lesson with Ong noi, you must tell him. He will enjoy that story.”

Pure pleasure coursed through Munch. His girl thought he was brave! He had never thought of himself as brave, but wow, Thahn Ho did.

The first bell rang. Munch and Thahn Ho gathered up their sketch books and pencil boxes and put them in their back packs. At the bulletin board Lisa was talking to Quack. A body would never know Lisa was that sad little girl he’d brought into the art room. Her eyes were bright and she looked interested. Surely, she couldn’t be so desperate that she’d consider going out with Quack. As for Quack, he was totally lit. A girl like Lisa just didn’t talk to him on purpose. Munch and Thanh Ho exchanged glances. Neither of them thought this was a good idea. He and Thahn Ho headed for the door. Lisa saw them and told Quack. “I better go.”

Quack smiled and said, “I’m headed the same way Munch is.” He walked with her to the door.

Thahn Ho was not entirely comfortable with Quack. Lisa was totally absorbed. They headed down the hall. Quack and Lisa were side by side and they were still talking. Munch left Thahn Ho at the door of her lit class and continued on down the hall. Quack and Lisa had slowed down and were walking behind him. Why did Lisa have to be so stupid?

In the math room, poor Grace was hunkered over her make up test. Time was quickly running out. She wrote down an answer. Erased it and tried again. Mr. Flynn said, “Grace, it’s time.”

She wrote down another answer and took her test to Mr. Flynn’s desk.

She said, “I sure hope I pass this one.”

Mr. Flynn gave her a sympathetic smile. He told her, “If you’d like I could set up a morning tutor for you.”

Ruefully Grace said, “I hope that’s not necessary, but if it is, it is. My daddy don’t believe in failure.”

“Well, Grace, I think failure is just a necessary step toward success. You are a bright girl and I am sure you will pass.”

“Thanks. I wish I had your faith.” When she turned to go back to her desk, something in the hall caught her attention. Munch could guess what it was. With more speed than was necessary, Grace returned to her seat, leaned forward and said, “Tell me I did not just see Lisa with Quack.”

“Sorry, You did.”

Grace shook her head. “That girl’s got no standards.”

Munch wouldn’t go that far, but Quack really was out of his range with Lisa and Lisa would discover that in the not too distant future. .

Just before the bell rang, Quack strutted into the room. He gave a nod to Munch and took his seat. The boy was happier than Munch had seen him in the entire ten years they had known each other. Poor Quack. For a moment, Munch actually felt sorry for him.

*

After Algebra, true to his word, Munch went to see his counselor, Mrs. Renfro. Before Grace arrived, Mrs. Renfro had been the only other black person in the school. She smiled at him. She had the most gorgeous smile with a tiny diamond chip in her tooth. It was not tacky at all, it was just right. This woman had class. Her green suit was impeccable as was her hair and make up. She smiled at him and asked, “What can I do for you Michael.”

“I need to sign up for Driver’s Ed for next semester. My mom has completed all the paper work.” He pulled the papers out of his back pack and handed them to her.

She got up, went through her filing cabinet and pulled out two folders. Once was for Driver’s Ed and the other was his. She laid them out on her desk and said, “Well, it looks like there are just two openings left.”

Dammit! He prayed he hadn’t waited too long.

“One is in fourth period and the other is in second period. The only class you can drop is PE and you have that seventh period. I think we should be able to move your English class to seventh period and that would free you up to be in Driver’s Ed second period. Will that work for you?”

Indeed it would. No PE and Driver’s Ed with Thahn Ho! Score! Aloud he said, “Yes Ma’am that will work.”

“Good. I will get this done for you. Have a nice day.”

“You too.” His day had just got a whole lot nicer. It got even better when he saw Thahn Ho coming down the hall toward him.

Briefly she stopped and asked, “How’d it go?”

“I am in.”

The smile she gave him made him feel taller, smarter and better than any smile he had ever received. She said, “I am so glad. See you in painting.”

“See ya.” He watched her walk away.

*

At lunch Lisa had the audacity to bring Quack to their table. The girl was even holding his freaking hand. If the smile on Quack’s face got any bigger the bottom of his face was going to literally fall off. When they sat down, Grace gave Munch an eye roll, she was none too pleased. Lolly reached the table and hesitated, momentarily confused by Quack’s presence. She said, “Hey,” and sat down. She glanced in Munch’s direction and raised her eyebrows. He shrugged.

If Quack noticed the table was less than enthusiastic about his presence he didn’t seem to care. Really it looked like he was so mystified by Lisa’s interest nothing else could get inside his thick head. Munch was pretty mystified too. Was Lisa genuinely interest in this art freak Neanderthal? At the moment, it seemed she was.

Without any finesse at all, Quack flopped his sketch book onto the table. He asked Lisa, “You want to see my drawings?”

Lisa made this shrill, OOO sound and said, “Yes, I would.”

This was going to be interesting. First of all, the women in Quack’s comic had boobs beyond the laws of physics. Secondly, there was a good bit of violence and dismembered body parts. Lisa could be squeamish. Munch watched as Lisa turned to the first page. Her eyes grew round. Hopeful, she might be totally offended, Munch waited for her full reaction.

“Oh, Jordon, these are so good.”

Who the hell was Jordon? Was Quack’s real name Jordon?

A deep shade of red flushed Quack’s fair skin. He said, “Thanks Babe.”

BABE! Surely, Lisa would react to this.

She just batted her eyelashes at him.

Beside Munch Grace mumbled, “I think I am going to be sick.”

Lolly didn’t say a word, but her face said it all. This was going to be a disaster.