Tuesday morning Therese awoke with a purpose. She got dressed as she always did, picking out clothes she thought she would like to wear that day, but hesitated a few times until she found the right shirt. She brushed her hair and put on her favorite ribbon. The ribbons always came loose, but they didn’t irritate her like elastic bands. They were as much source of frustration to her as helpful, although she thought the ribbons pretty.

Therese then made an extra mocha with her espresso machine, added an extra shot of espresso because it seemed to make sense, and walked to school. Therese stepped on a few cracks that morning and was not concerned. She focused on the drink in the cup in her hand. She did not want to spill a drop. Therese walked carefully, and very deliberately to the first class, the dreaded math class.

Peter had arrived early, even if it was just to catch a nap before class started. Therese sat the mocha on Peter’s desk, he stirred awake. “It was hot when I left my house.” said Therese as she apologized.

“It’s fine,” said Peter, taking a sip, then truthfully stating “It’s perfect. Thank you. Why?” asked Peter while he looked at her, not understanding the kindness that was returned to him. He had simply just tried to do the right thing by helping her the day before, and once that effort resulted in him standing close to Therese, he could not back away. Peter felt unworthy of the reward.

“It’s very stimulating.” explained Therese, raising a single eyebrow.

Their teacher noticed the drink, went to scold Peter on a drink in class, then saw Therese, shrugged his shoulders, and thought maybe some coffee might do Peter some good. It was in the least a decent experiment he thought, as he thought he saw Therese smiling as she sat down, looked again and saw her usual serious and focused look on her face. It would not do to upset his best student he thought, as he took a drink from his own coffee. Therese looked over at the teacher drinking coffee and felt bad for him, it was in a Styrofoam cup. It must taste terrible she thought.

Peter did stay awake for the entire class, and even answered a question correctly, then another. Peter even impressed himself with his alertness. He was very sad when he reached the bottom of the cup. Peter went to throw the cup away, then stopped, threw the paper cup with the lid away, and stuck the cardboard sleeve in his pocket where Therese had written his name with a marker. He might need to save it for some reason he thought, but he really just liked the way Therese wrote his name. At the end of class, he ran to catch up with Therese. “Thank you for the coffee, I needed that. What was it?”

“An orange mocha. I work at a coffee shop.” said Therese flatly as she normally did, but with a hint of pride.

“Really, which one?” asked Peter.

“The Cowffee Cup.” said Therese, struggling to properly say “Cowffee”.

“Oh yah, that place is great. My friend Vivo’s girlfriend owns it. I go there a lot, when I’m not working.” said Peter

“You do?” asked Therese, trying to hide her excitement, none of it which was visible. Therese fought to control her display of excitement which was almost invisible. She felt it would not do her well to seem eager.

“Yah. Erin and him, they helped me out when I moved here.” said Peter, trying to not reveal too much. “I see you walking home after school, can I give you a ride today?” said Peter pointing at the clouds turning gray outside the door.

Therese thought about it, she hated walking home in the rain, especially if it might thunder. She hated the thunder because it was loud. “Okay.” said Therese, trying to hide her smile which was already not visible.

“Meet me by the flagpole, after school.” said Peter, already running to find his next class. Therese hoped he was a good driver and did not play the radio loud.

Therese went to her next class, English composition, which somehow was less writing and more reading than she ever imagined. Therese was kind of used to sitting alone, and in English class, she sat by herself, although she was no less excited to be in the class even if was usually boring. Their teacher did her best to keep the class interested, but as a second-hour class it was also an exercise in staying awake. This made Therese wonder how Peter survived his second-hour class, but she hoped the coffee would help. Therese mostly looked at the pictures in the book, she had hoped to learn to write better in the class, and somehow felt writing about things other people wrote wasn’t much help at all.

The English class teacher continued to talk, and Therese continued to look at the pictures in her book, especially enjoying the paintings until eventually, she was only thinking about what she would be painting in the next class. Finally, the bell rang, and Therese was liberated.

Therese walked as fast as she could to art class, and accidentally bumped into someone, knocking their bag off of their shoulder. Therese froze mortified, but was relieved when she saw it was Bre, one of the nicest girls in her class. “Therese-tastic, that was awesome, I bet where you’re going is better than my next class.” said Bre while picking up her bag.

“I am so sorry.” said Therese, embarrassed at running into Bre.

“Oh no, that was me that cracked ass.” said Bre.

“I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry I ran into you.” apologized Therese again.

“Don’t worry about it, I have to hurry or I’ll get detention, again, for being late.” said Bre, running the other way. Therese hurried to class, she was glad she ran into someone nice and promised herself to be more careful next time.

Therese was glad to be in her art class and quickly ran to pour the paints she needed. Oblivious to most of the class, Therese returned to her desk and began painting a picture of rabbits in a field, but with a more impressionist style than before. Therese was lost in thought and enjoyed each stroke of the brush, but eventually noticed her teacher watching her paint. “I know, rabbits again.” Therese said. She smiled flatly, but the teacher could tell she meant her comment to be funny and he smiled.

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“Don’t mind me, I just like the warmth in your paintings, I don’t know, it makes the whole day better, paint all the bunnies you want, just don’t stop painting.” said Mr. Monty, her art teacher, as he walked away. The teacher enjoyed Therese’s art, he felt better inside after looking at her work, no one could be taught to paint happiness, and hers radiated from within.

Therese continued to paint until the bell rang, then hurriedly stashed her paints and art in her “art slot” on the wall and took off as fast as she could, but carefully to avoid running into anyone else.

Therese was surprised her lab partner was in chemistry class because usually, he had a reason to not be there. Therese’s lab partner was a boy she called Benjamin, who unlike her Ben at the coffee shop was usually silent, but much like Ben took about his duties absentmindedly, although Therese needed this Benjamin because he was after all her lab partner and that was a job everyone else had avoided. Even if Benjamin was the only lab partner she could get, she still expected better of him.

“Good morning Benjamin.” said Therese, glad to see her lab partner, insisting on calling him by his full name, since her friend Elijah and cued her in that he preferred it to a shorter version of his name, Binger, everyone else used because it made him sound more dignified. Benjamin had never brought it up, but Elijah had let her know, and he and Benjamin were good friends.

“Good morning.” Said the boy, looking up.

“Hi, I am glad you’re here.” said Therese. Benjamin could be prone to infuriating her, but his absence was worse.

“Yeah, I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I figured I’d come here, it’s cheaper than eating at Denny’s.” said Benjamin honestly, then added, “I’m glad you’re here, I think I’d be lost without you here.”

“It really does make more sense when you show up.” said Therese as she scolded Benjamin, he might let her down, but she had little tolerance for him letting himself down. Benjamin lowered his head, there weren’t too many people left for him to disappoint, but he genuinely hated disappointing Therese. He didn’t care much about high school and was grateful to coast by, but somehow she ended up being his lab partner and he fought against his worse self to not fail her.

“I’m trying. I swear I didn’t realize this class was a year-long when I signed up for it. It’s not like I read the catalog.” said Benjamin. Therese facepalmed, she had done her best and should be grateful for this much progress.

“If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.” Offered Therese. She looked up, her face was flat and her soft eyes forward, but he knew by now this was a look of concern.

“It’s complicated.” said Benjamin, avoiding the subject.

“I need you. This class is hard for me too.” confessed Therese. Everyone had avoided her for a long time, and the first day of class, Benjamin had simply sat next to her when he walked in the door and just as easily asked Therese if she wanted to be his partner when they were told they would need to pair up. Benjamin might be mostly oblivious, but this too was appreciated by someone who felt mostly shunned.

“Really? I thought you are like a genius or something.” said Benjamin. Therese shook her head no but grinned a little at the compliment. Benjamin was confused, girls confused him in general, but Therese confounded him. He could never tell how pleased or upset she was with him.

The teacher came by and passed out their lab experiment. They would be working to identify elements of their solutions that were passed out. Therese adjusted her goggles, and Benjamin laughed at her never-ending struggle of her hair versus the goggle strap. Benjamin thought she was cute when she was frustrated, and that irked Therese because she hated when people thought she was cute when she was mad.

“Stop it.” said Therese as she teased Benjamin who was smiling at her struggle.

“I don’t come to class, you complain, I come to class, you complain.” argued Benjamin back with a grin.

“Just read me step one.” said Therese, following the instructions as Benjamin read them. She was glad he was there.

The lunch bell finally rang and having secured her lab equipment, Therese started out the door, sadly alone. Therese walked by herself and found a spot in the sunlight against a wall because the day was cold and she needed the warmth. Therese sat alone, normally it didn’t bother her, but today she was saddened by it. Therese wished more people liked her, but she thought to herself that she can’t make people like her, she can only be likeable. In the warm sunlight, Therese took her lunch box out of her bag and began eating her sandwich, chewing carefully and deliberately as she looked forward.

Therese sat in the sunshine alone eating, she liked the way the sun felt warm, and she missed it in the winter. Therese took out her juice boxes and drank them. She wished she had a friend to share lunch with, she wondered if she should have asked Benjamin to go to lunch, but she had no doubts he was going out to eat and would miss the next class. The lonelier Therese felt, the colder the breeze was, and soon the winter sun was not enough. Therese felt the cold air blow through her clothes and she pulled herself in tight for warmth and huddled alone until the bell rang.

Therese was annoyed at the slowness of the rest of the day. She was grateful to hear the last bell, even if it was loud and two classes later. Therese walked carelessly and very deliberately to the flag pole after school, not even looking for cracks in the cement to avoid. She stood patiently, motionlessly, and trying to block out the hundreds of conversations around her. Peter caught up with her, she jumped when he said her name behind her.

“Sorry,” said Peter, realizing he startled her.

“Don’t be. I didn’t think you knew my name.” said Therese sadly, hiding her sadness, which was not visible. Peter wondered how she could think he did not know her name, every day she walked into class was like waking from a dream, especially since he often was catching a nap.

“Come on, let’s find my car. She’s not much, but she runs.” said Peter, as they began walking, even though it was usually easy to find as few dared parking next to him as if they feared the dents in his car might jump to theirs.

“I hope you have seat belts.” said Therese, running her hand over the dried and oxidized paint. She was surprised she liked the terrible texture. She rubbed her hand on the paint again, surprised at her pleasure of the terrible sensation. The door squeaked as she opened it, and instead of jumping back, Therese giggled as Peter opened it. She climbed in, leaned over, and unlocked Peter’s door for him.

Therese was pleased to see her seat belt worked, and it made a nice loud click as she buckled in. Peter did drive carefully, not that he cared to, but out of respect. He drove unusually carefully with a forgotten caution. Therese thought his engine smelled terrible, but she enjoyed the trip.

“Would you like to come in?” asked Therese nervously, inviting him into her house, half out of politeness, and half out of a curiosity that caused her to feel uncomfortable.

“No sorry, I have to get to work.” said Peter, and drove off, waving, somewhat grateful to be able to drive in his usual half-hazard manner.

Erin dialed her phone quickly. She felt a panic. “I just read your text, what is the emergency?” asked Erin. She heard Therese crying into the phone.