Tuesday morning, Trevor was not on the bus. The Cross Country District meet was being held in Bay City. His race started at 8:00, so he was already there. She hoped he did well today. If he placed in the top 3 in his division he would go to Regionals in Corpus Christi. Once long ago, Lolly had been to Corpus Christi. She still remembered the clear water, the sunlight and the pristine beaches. She remembered how the seagulls had swirled around her, begging for a bite of her hotdog. Pa and Grandma Toady had been with her. Pa had just gotten back from the war. He had been so thin, and the constant aroma of cigarettes clung to him. In memory, he was a stranger, it had taken awhile before he became her Pa again. He never talked about the Vietnam War or what he experienced. It was something he kept locked deep inside of himself.

The bus was nearing Munch's stop. He was wearing a long denim jacket with a tiger head embroidered on it. He had made it for himself. It was gorgeous. When Munch got on the bus he did not just ignore her, he looked straight through her and it hurt. He didn't sit beside her. He went to the seat he had sat in yesterday. Mrs. Anderson didn't get onto him for not being in his assigned seat.. Lolly looked out the window. Today, was not going to be a good day.

At school, she watched Munch rush through the doors. She made her way in slowly, avoided the cafeteria all together and went to the library. There was a single chair by the back window and she took it. The silence of the place settled over her. She took out her Emily Dickinson paper and read over it. All that was left was for her to type it. She groaned, how she hated typing. She made so many stupid mistakes. If only there was a typewriter that automatically corrected mistakes. That would be heaven!

The bell rang. The day officially began. She headed for American Literature. One class passed into another. At lunch Lolly was not hungry. She went to the library and sat down in the chair by the window. She opened her novel, Up a Road Slowly. As she read, she was surpised when the main character, Julie, found out her father was going to get married again. Inside she got very still. There were so many things about this novel that echoed her own life. Her mother had not died, but she had left her, she did not live with a maiden aunt, but she did live with Grandma Toady. It felt as if this novel had come into her hands by some purpose. That happened sometimes. It was one of the reason's she revered books and stories. She never new when one might meet her right where she was. While she was reading, she became aware that someone was standing over her. She looked up. It was Lisa. “Uh,” Lisa said, “I read that book, it’s pretty good.”

“Yeah, it is.” Was Lisa seriously here to discuss a book with her?

“Um, it is none of my business, and I would not be doing this at all but, Viv is such a pain in the ass...” Lisa’s voice trailed off. “Are you dating Trevor?”

Wow, this really was none of her business, or Viv’s either. Besides, Lolly wasn’t allowed to date until she was sixteen. There was no way she was going to tell Lisa that, though. “No comment.”

“Okay, I get it. Sorry.” She walked toward the door. When she opened it, Lolly saw Viv on the other side.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. When the last bell rang for the day, Lolly made a bee line for the bus. When she stepped outside, Mrs. Dutchendorph was there. Lolly waved at her. To her dismay, Mrs. Dutchendorph came towards her. She either wanted to talk about Pa or Munch or both. Personally, Lolly didn’t want to talk about either of them. When Mrs. Dutchendorph reached her, she gave Lolly a big hug and asked, “Can we talk?”

Though she knew, she still asked, "What about?"

Mrs. Dutchendorph's lips formed a straight tense line. She dropped her eyes and said, "About Michael."

"Um, I would but I got to catch my bus." Lie. If she could would not talk about Munch. All she wanted was to just go home.

Mrs. Dutchendorph said, "Let me take you home.”

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Great! Though she wanted to say, No, she would not be rude to Mrs. Dutchendorph. “Okay. What about Munch?”

“He has an Art Club meeting. I’ll be back in time to get him.”

Somehow this felt a bit like an ambush. Lolly said, “Oh," and followed Mrs. Dutchendorph to her red VW Bug. Munch had been trying for three years to get her to let him paint black dots and wings on the Bug, but Mrs. Dutchendorph wouldn't let him. Mrs. Dutchendorph unlocked her door and leaned over and pulled up the lock on the passenger door. Lolly took in a big breath and opened the door. She really wished she was on the bus right now.

An awkward silence fell between them as Mrs. Dutchendorph drove out of the parking lot. Once they were on the road she said, “I hope it is okay, but your Dad told me about the fight you and Michael had. I am sorry, about his behavior. He's being awful. I never knew he could be so cruel, but then, I am at fault, I have handled things badly. I should have been more open with Michael about your father, but you know how he can be.”

Lolly said, "Yup, I know."

“Have y'all made up?"

"No. He's not talking to me."

Mrs. Dutchendorph sighed. "I hate that. At least when he wasn’t talking to me, I knew he still had you. I haven’t told him about the wedding yet. I will on Friday.”

Lolly thought, after Pa is gone.

"It will be bad, I know it. I guess he thought I was going to be single forever. I haven't dated. I haven't wanted to, until one day I was thinking about Trace and I don't know it was just like I felt differently about him. I didn't know if he would care about me. I mean your mother is beautiful. Its no wonder he fell head over heels for her. I know I'm scrawny and weird and awkward, but I had to at least try. I never expected him to love me back." Her eyes held a soft glow.

They turned on to the highway. Mrs. Dutchendorph continued, “The problem is, Michael idolizes his dad. He was only seven when his dad died. Honestly, he doesn’t remember much, so he has filled in a lot with his ever vivid imagination. The truth is, if Henry were still alive, our lives would be very different. Henry was an Armed Forces Man. Regimented, predictable." She paused. Her voice dropped low, "Michael's birth father was a man of dreams and visions. So creative. I was a goner the minute I met him. We had to keep our relationship a secret because it was illegal. This little Country Bumpkin felt like she was living in a spy movie, all the sneaking around we did." She stopped abruptly. Sudden tears filled her eyes. "When I lost him, I thought I would never love again. Then Henry came along. He was kind and good and I am grateful to him. Still, if I am honest with myself, I know that Henry would never have allowed Michael to be who he is. He would have forced sports on him, wanted him to join ROTC. Could you honestly see Michael in ROTC?”

“He likes the uniform.”

Mrs. Dutchendorph smiled. “Yes, he does. In fact he has one. The point I am trying to make, the point I hope Michael will realize is that, your Pa has always accepted him just as he is. Michael is a lot. He always has been.” She let out a sigh. The car stopped. They were at the trailer. She asked, “How are you doing with all this?"

"I am okay. I know you make Pa happy and he hasn't been happy in a really long time. I don’t have any idea how all this is going to work out, but I do know I love you, and I have always had a secret wish that I had a mom like you." Lolly felt her face grow hot. She had no idea, that secret was going to jump out of her mouth, but it was true. Maybe it was also why Munch's comment about how lousy her mom was had stung so much. Even though she had never said anything, he had known how she felt about her mother and how she felt about his.

Mrs. Dutchendorph, wrapped her arms around Lolly and gave her a tight squeeze. "I feel the same about you." She released her.

Lolly's voice broke a little when she, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you. You aren’t going to be Mrs. Dutchendorph much longer."

"We will figure it out sweetie."

The front door of the trailer opened. Pa stepped onto the porch. The speed at which Mrs. Dutchendorph exited the car and ascended the stairs was amazing.Pa wrapped his arms around her.

Lolly looked away. God, what was it going to be like when they got married? She climbed out of the car and shut the door rather loudly. Mrs. Dutchendorph laughed and said, “I best get back to the school.” She gave Pa another hug and rushed back to her car.

Pa came to where Lolly stood. His happiness just oozed off of him. It was disgusting. Lolly went inside while he watched Mrs. Dutchendorph drive away.

In the kitchen the phone was ringing. Lolly ran to answer it. “Hello?”

“Hey Lolly, it’s Trevor.” There was a lot of traffic noise. Was he calling her from a pay phone again? In an excited voice he said, “I qualified for Regionals! Can you believe it? I can’t!”

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations!”

“Thanks, Lolly. I just had to tell you.” There was a loud honk, “I gotta get on the bus. See you tomorrow. Bye.”

“Bye.” She hung up the receiver. A little bit of happiness glowed inside of Lolly.