Unable to sleep, Munch got out of bed and went to the kitchen. He noticed the back door was slightly ajar. He peeked through. Lolly was wrapped in a blanket sitting on the first step. Her head was tilted back as she looked at the stars. Should he join her, stay inside? He didn’t know. Without turning to look at him, Lolly said, “I want some company.” Munch went onto the porch. The air was chilly. He should have put on his robe. He sat down beside her. She asked, “You cold?”

“Yeah.”

With one hard tug, she disentangled herself from the blanket and draped it over both of them. It was warm. Lolly slipped her arm through his and sighed. Munch asked, “You okay?”

“No.”

“What’s up?”

A long slow sigh escaped her. “Tonight I just wanted Pa to catch Trevor kissing me, so he would know how it feels every time we walk in on THEM.”

“Uhm, y’all weren’t just kissing.”

“I know. For a while Trevor was so excited he didn’t know what I was up to, and then he figured it out and called me on it. I’m so embarrassed and disappointed in myself.” Her voice broke and she said, “I think I opened a door I’m not ready for.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s private. I just wish things could go back to the way they were before Trevor’s dad got so sick.” She let out another sigh.

Munch’s brain was spinning. What had Lolly done with Trevor? She was pretty straight laced and something trivial might seem horrible to her. He hoped that was all it was.

Lolly asked, “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

He wasn’t ready to talk about what Thahn Ho had said. Gosh, she was pretty straight laced too, maybe more so than Lolly. Life really sucked right now. “I found Max in the barn.”

“I figured that was where that little shit was hiding.”

Lolly usually didn’t talk like this.

“He ruined my whole day. I should never have invited Tina. Its just she hasn’t made many friends, if any at school. Junior High is tough. Grace is worried about her. I am too. Its terrible to no have friends. I don’t know what I would have done without you all these years.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Ditto.”

“How did Max get home?”

“He snuck into his trailer and called his dad. Made up some really lame excuse and then waited for him to pick him up by the side of the road.”

“Wow. Max used to go through girls so fast. I never thought he would get so hung up on just one.” She asked, “Did Max ruin your day too?”

“Not really, I thought he was going to, but him being there actually worked to mine and Thahn Ho’s advantage.”

“By the way you looked when y’all came up the house I thought you were mad.”

“I wasn’t mad as much as I was upset. I think Ong noi saw Max. I think he figured out what was going on with Max and Tina…” His voice trailed off.

Lolly said, “Probably, he so wise and so different. Max really messed up things for Grandma Toady. She was really looking forward to having tea with Ong noi.”

“Do you think she likes him?”

“No. Grandma Toady swore off men years ago. She just likes to make friends.”

Though Munch had his doubts, he didn’t argue the point.

For a while they sat in silence. Both were thinking their separate thoughts. Once upon a time they told each other everything. It wasn’t like that anymore and sometimes Munch missed that. Right now he missed that, but he also wanted what he and Thahn Ho shared to just be for them.

Softly Lolly said, “I don’t think I like growing up.”

“Me either.”

*

Sunday morning at church had been weird. Thahn Ho had been quieter than usual and she had stayed close to her mother, so she hadn’t really talked to Munch outside of saying, “hi,” and “bye.” When the bus let them off at the school Monday morning, Munch was nervous. Would the weirdness continue? He hoped not. A head of him, Lolly and Trevor were walking into the school. As usual, they were holding hands, but there was tension between them. They didn’t go to the library but turned into the cafeteria. Lisa was at their table with Quack, Grace was there and so was Thahn Ho. She was between Grace and Lisa. This morning shewasn’t meeting him in the art room and he couldn’t even sit by her. Not a good sign at all. Anger and hurt rose inside of him. So was this how it was going to be? Okay.

When he reached the table, Thahn Ho smiled at him. It was friendly, but wary. Munch took the seat beside Grace. In his back pack was the drawing of the outfit he wanted her to model. What the hell, he might as well show her, all she could do was say, “No.” It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard that before. To Grace he said, “I got something to show you.”

She turned to him and said, “Okay.” One look at her eyes told him, she was not in a good place either. In fact, with the exception of Quack and Lisa, no one at the table was in a good place.

Usually, when Munch showed one of his drawings, he did so with a flourish, but his fear of Grace and her rejection, caused him to just open his sketch book and show it to her. She looked at it for a second and then did a double take. “Is that me?”

“Yeah. I’d like to make this for you and have you wear it at the Art Club’s Spring show in April.”

She picked up the drawing. Her eyes were big and round. “Wow. I heard you were good, but I had no idea.” Grace was actually impressed and that was very rare. She asked, “Can I have this drawing when you’re done?”

“Uh huh. You get to keep the outfit too.”

“Wow! Really?”

“Yes.” She sure sounded like she was interested. Hope began to grow inside of him.

She asked, “Okay, I’m in. Is there anything I need to do?”

Munch had learned his lesson about measuring girls. “Yeah, just one. If you could come by the art room, Mademoiselle Petite can take your measurements, so I can get the right fit for you.”

“Sure. When?”

Munch didn’t know what got into him, but he said, “We could do it now.”

“Okay fine.” She stood. He stood. The difference in their heights was always so obvious when they stood.

Munch waved a general, Bye at everyone without making eye contact with Thahn Ho.

*

After Algebra, it was Driver’s Ed. On Friday, Munch had been looking forward to this class for only one reason, Thahn Ho. Now, as he walked through the hall, he felt very uneasy. He wasn’t sure what would happen when he walked through the door. Would she be in a desk surrounded by others with no space for him? When he did step through the door, she wasn’t in class yet. The temptation to take a seat where she wouldn’t be able to sit near him, did flit through his mind, but he thought, no. Thahn Ho was a quiet girl. Maybe Grace sat down beside her or clueless Lisa did. Still, she hadn’t gone to the art room. Conflicted he took a seat. She could sit behind him or in front of him or no where near him.

As the bell rang, Thahn Ho stepped through the door. She glanced at Munch, ducked her head and walked to the desk in front of him. When she sat down, she didn’t look at him or speak. Still, she was there. She was close.

Coach Smith handed out booklets to the class that had a traffic light on it. Inside the book were all the rules for driving. Many in this class, drove already, many were excited. Munch was not. Mama had used his interest in Thahn Ho to get him to take this freaking class.

Seated at his desk Coach Smith began to drone on and on and on. Boring, boring, boring, until he read the part about car accidents. With glee in his eyes he launched into gruesome, gory, details of young driver car accidents. It turned Munch’s stomach. The way Coach Smith was smiling it was obvious he got a kick out of trying to scare the crap out of kids. Not cool.

In front of him, Thahn Ho sat rigid with her shoulders hunched. He leaned forward and asked, “Are you okay?”

She shook her head.

When the bell rang, everyone stood, eager to get out of that class. Thahn Ho turned to him. Her eyes were wide and frightened. She whispered, “I don’t think I want to drive.”

“Me either.”

The smile she tried to give him didn’t make it. She looked up at him and asked, “Its out of your way, but could you walk me to my next class?”

“Sure.”

Silence hung between them as they made their way down the hall. All around them bodies moved and shoved. More than once Munch was jostled into Thahn Ho. At the door of her class, she said, “Thank you, Michael. See you in painting.”

He smiled and said, “Yeah, see you then.”

This time she managed a smile. It wasn’t full blown or ecstatic, but it was there, it was real and it was for him.