Friday morning, Munch was awakened by the ringing of the phone. He climbed out of bed and went into the kitchen. Soft morning light spilled through the kitchen window. He picked up the phone, “Hello.”

Grandma Toady said, “Hey Sweetie. Lolly’s not going to make it to school today. She had a rough night. She has a really bad stomach ache and she’s puking. Could you pick up her assignments today.?”

Munch’s heart fell to the floor and bounced. What! This could not be happening!

“Did you hear me Munch?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I will. Hope Lolly gets to feeling better.”

“Me too. Take care. If you need anything let me know.”

What he needed was for Lolly to NOT be sick. What lousy timing! “Yes, Ma’am. Bye.” Munch hung up the phone. Last night he had barely been able to go to sleep thinking about Thanh Ho…and now…now she wasn’t going to come over at all. A long stream of cuss words poured out of him. He had the very worst luck in the world. He headed for the shower.

After he got dressed and had his breakfast, he picked up his back pack and headed for the bus stop. It was weird being out there all by himself. God how he wished Max had not moved away. The bus came. The brakes squealed and Munch got on. Mrs. Anderson asked, “Is Lolly coming?”

“No Ma’am, she sick.”

“Well I hope she doesn’t have that nasty stomach virus that’s going around.”

“Me too.” He really did. A stomach virus was on his list of Things Not to do in This Life Time. He started to sit in his usual seat, but didn’t. What if the virus that Lolly had was crawling all over his assigned seat? Better be safe than sorry. Of course he was probably already infected. He had sat right beside Lolly yesterday. Only time would tell.

Mrs. Anderson drove right by Trevor’s house. He had a track meet today, which meant he probably didn’t even know Lolly was sick.

The bus stopped at the junior high. As Kevin headed down the aisle, he asked, “Is Lolly okay?”

Munch replied, “She’s got a bug.”

“Oh no! That’s terrible. If you see her, please tell her I hope she gets to feeling better soon.”

The look in that boy’s eyes was pitiful. He was so worried. At that moment it registered in Munch’s head that maybe he should be a little worried about Lolly too. “I’ll tell her.”

“Thanks.” Kevin took his skinny self down the steps and out of the bus.

After all the junior high kids were off, Mrs. Anderson drove to the high school. Munch dreaded what came next. The bus came to a halt, Munch got off and made his way to the art room. In the hall Grace and Thahn Ho were waiting for him. As he approached, Thahn Ho said, “Grace is going to help Mademoiselle Petite today.”

“Cool.”

Grace asked, “Were’s Lolly?”

Munch glanced at Thahn Ho before he replied, “At home sick.” Instantly, Thahn Ho looked concerned about Lolly and disappointed at the same time. Their time together had just been cancelled.

Grace exclaimed, “Oh, that sucks! I was worried about her yesterday. Her stomach was hurting. I told her to go to the nurse, but she wouldn’t do it.”

Munch took this information in. Lolly hadn’t said a word to him about feeling bad. Was it possible her foul mood might have been related to coming down with something? She really hadn’t been herself at all yesterday. He felt like a bad friend. Grace swung the art room door open and the three of them walked into the art room.

*

When the bell rang for first period, Grace and Munch walked Thahn Ho to Literature class. At the door Thahn Ho said, “I will tell Mrs. Beasley about Lolly and get her assignment for you.”

Munch said, “Thanks.” Dejectedly he walked to Algebra with Grace.

Grace asked, “You okay man?”

“Yeah.”

“Right.”

They walked into the class and took their seats. Grace leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “You really like her don’t you?”

Not sure this was anything to confess, Munch shrugged.

Grace whispered, “Damn you got it bad.”

Munch said nothing.

Grace leaned very close to his ear, so close he could feel her breath. “How bout I see if Thahn Ho can go to the movies with me tomorrow night? And you could just happen to meet us there?”

He asked, “Seriously?”

“Sure. Last thing I want do this weekend is sit around with my grounded sister. I’ll call Thahn Ho tonight. Don’t say nothing to her yet, I gotta ask Daddy first. If you pray, pray he says yes.”

This offer completely surprised Munch. “Thanks.”

“I’ll call you after I talk to her. Okay?”

“Okay.” The weekend might not be a total fail. At the moment he had two things to pray for, first that Mr. Thibodaux would say yes, and second was that he, Munch, was immune to whatever bug had latched onto Lolly.

*

Sixth period painting class was underway. The painting he was working on was monochromatic and it was a beast. Sally came into the room carrying a pink slip of paper. She must work in the office during sixth period. To Munch’s surprise she brought the pink slip of paper to him. All she said was, “This is for you,” and she turned and left the room.

Munch opened the message. It said: Mrs. Phelps, called, Lolly has been taken to the Lake Jackson Hospital. She will call you as soon as she knows something.

Lolly must really be sick. He had been so worried about being with Thahn Ho, he really hadn’t thought that much about Lolly.

Thanh Ho asked, “Is something wrong.”

He nodded. Lolly just had to be okay. Unable to speak, he passed the message to Thanh Ho.

After she read it she said, “Ong noi is picking me up today. If you want we can take you to the hospital.”

Munch wanted this very much. “Yes, please.”

“You’re welcome. When the bell rings, I will go to the office to call Ong noi.”

Munch slipped into a world of white noise. Guilt ate at him. Why hadn’t he noticed something was very wrong with Lolly? Why had he been so self centered and preoccupied when she didn’t feel good? Yesterday he should have known something was up with her. The rest of class dragged long and hard. Munch couldn’t even focus on his painting. At the rate he was going, he was going to ruin it. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was fast ricocheting to nausea. Had he caught what Lolly had?

When the bell rang, Munch went with Thahn Ho to the office. Mrs. Renfroe, the counselor, took him into her office and let him use her phone, while Thahn Ho called Ong noi on the counter phone. His hand shook as he held the receiver. A voice said, “Lake Jackson Hospital, how can I direct your call?”

The receiver was slick in his sweaty hand. His voice cracked when he said, “I am calling about Lolly Phelps. I want to talk to Grandma Toady, um I mean Ruby Phelps. Can she come to the phone?”

The receptionist said, “Just a sec hon. Gotta put you on hold.”

It was weird how time lost all momentum when something bad was happening. It seemed like forever before the receptionist said, “She is in emergency right now. Would you like to leave a message.”

“Yes. Tell Grandma Toady, um I mean Mrs. Phelps, I am getting a ride to the hospital after school.”

“Will do.”

“Thank you.” Munch hung up the phone. His eyes pricked with tears. Lolly just had to be okay. He mustn’t blow it all out of proportion…but it was too late. He was already having visions of her funeral. Good Lord he needed to get a grip.

Mrs. Renfro asked, “Michael are you okay?”

He shook his head. “Do you want to go to the nurses office?”

“No ma’am, I don’t. I will go to class.”

“Okay, but if you need anything I’m right here.”

In a daze Munch walked out of the office. His brain was jumping to every bad conclusion it could possibly conjure. Thanh Ho was waiting for him in the main office. She said, “Ong noi said web can take you to the hospital. I will walk you to class.”

He nodded. In silence, he walked with Thanh Ho to his next class. He had no memory of the class or even what it was. All he could think about was Lolly and how very much she meant to him. A friend like her was a rare thing. He hated that she was sick. He hated that she was in the hospital. All he could do was pray it wasn’t anything serious.