Tuesday morning when Trevor got on the bus, he smiled at her, but it was not, That smile. Something was up. As soon as Lolly and Munch were off the bus, Trevor was beside her. He said, “We need to talk.” It was not a request. There was an edge in his voice, she had never heard before.


    She said, “Okay.”


    Munch gave her a look, and said, “I guess I will go to the Art room.”


    Lolly said, "Be careful." She knew he didn’t want to risk seeing Spence alone.


    "I will." Alert and anxious he made his way into the building.


    For the first time, since he''d kissed her, Trevor didn''t take her hand. She followed him inside to the Trophy case in the lobby. What was wrong with him? He stood with his back to the trophy case. Lolly could see her reflection in the glass. She looked worried.


    Trevor began, “Last night when I got home from practice Jake and I went for a run. We passed by Munch''s house and we thought no one was home. Munch''s mom''s car wasn''t there. When we looped back around, I heard Etta James wailing. The studio light was on. I thought, Munch is hard at work. Later, when I called you, your grandma told me you were at the Dutchendorph''s. I asked her when you''d be home and she said, probably not till almost nine.” His voice became hard, “Of course after nine, I am not allowed to talk to you." He paused and asked, "So were you and Munch alone?"


    Seriously? Was he jealous of Munch? “Uh, yeah.”


    “Okay. I don’t understand your grandma’s rules. You can be in a house in the middle of nowhere alone with Munch at night, but you can’t go on a date with me to play miniature golf in a public place. Besides that, why didn’t you tell me you were going over there?” His eyes were hard.


    First off, Lolly got mad. He had just accused Grandma Toady of being unfair and inconsistent. Secondly, he implied that she, Lolly, could not be trusted, nor could Munch. “I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t know I was going over there until we reached Munch’s stop.”


    “And your Grandma was okay with that? She knew y’all would be alone?”


    The word ‘alone’ was accusatory. “Yeah, she knew. And if you have not forgotten, Munch is about to be my stepbrother and he is my best friend.”


    “Why is your best friend a boy? Why isn’t your best friend a girl?”


    Now Lolly was really mad. “My best friend is a boy, because when all my damn hair fell out, he was the only one who didn’t call me a freak or think of me as a freak. When I was scared and ashamed he was there for me. I don’t know what your imagination or your buddies have been conjuring up about Munch and me, and yeah, I’ve heard the gossip.” She turned and walked away from him. Tears stung her eyes. How had this gone so wrong so fast? With blurred vision and a heart that hoped he would call her back, she made her way to the Art room. He did not call her back. At the Art room door, she took a deep breath and opened the door.


    Munch was surprised when she walked in. He saw her face and asked, “Are you okay?”


    She shook her head.


    “What happened? Did you see Spence?”


    “No. Trevor and I just had a difference of opinion.”


    “About what?”


    “Grandma Toady’s rules and you.”


    Munch lead her into the far corner of the room and dropped his voice down low, “What about me?”


    “Basically, he knows your mom wasn’t home last night and that we were alone together.”


    A funny quirk came to Munch’s lips. He said, “The boy is jealous of me.”


    “It would appear so.”


    “Well, I’ll be damned.”


    The way Munch was taking this was not helping. He was obviously pleased. Trevor saw him as a threat of some sort, or at the very least like a guy who had privileges he didn''t have. She punched Munch in the arm. “You are not supposed to be happy about this.”


    He rubbed his arm and said, “I know, sorry. Its just no guy has ever been jealous of me. Excuse me while I savor that for a sec.”If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    “Oh, my God, Munch.”


    “I know, I’m too much. Still, this is an amazing day for me, a jock is jealous of me. Let me have my moment.”


    “I am leaving.” She turned away from him. Boys were so stupid.


    He caught her arm. “Don’t go, I’m sorry. Do you want me to talk to him?”


    “Not sure it would do any good. If you want to talk to him, fine, but I am not asking you to do anything.”


    “I know, you got your pride and I got mine. Either he trusts us, or he doesn’t.”


    Softly, Lolly said, “Yeah.”


    Munch continued, “Either he respects Grandma Toady’s judgement or he doesn’t. You can’t change how he feels. Maybe he will get over it.”


    “Maybe.”


    The bell rang. It was time for Lit Class. Munch gave her a hug and said, “It is gonna be okay.” Was it?


    Out in the hall, Lolly didn’t see Trevor. Munch walked her to class. They passed Spence. This morning he looked right through them, as if yesterday hadn’t happened at all.


    At the door of her Lit Class, Munch gave her arm a squeeze and said, “Trevor will get over it. You’ll see.” Lolly wasn’t sure she would see anything.


    A feeling of being disembodied took hold of her as she made her way to her desk. All her emotions felt jammed. There was this weird void in the pit of her stomach. On the chalk board written in big letters was the assignment of the day. She pulled out her Lit Book and flipped through the pages. Edgar Allan Poe. It was his short story, "Eleonora.” Great. She was not a fan of Poe. He creeped her out.


    The second bell rang. Mrs. Beasley closed her door, took roll and then perched on her stool. In her lovely British accent she said, “Today I will be reading Sara Teasdale’s poem, ''Tides.''" The title alone made Lolly think of Saturday night on the pier with Trevor. Mrs. Beasley recited:


    Love in my heart was a fresh tide flowing


    Where the star-like sea gulls soar;


    The sun was keen and the foam was blowing


    High on the rocky shore.


    But now in the dusk the tide is turning,


    Lower the sea gulls soar,


    And the waves that rose in resistless yearning


    Are broken forevermore. *


    Tears formed in Lolly’s eyes. She didn’t know how Mrs. Beasley managed to choose poems that hit her so accurately, but she did. Was what she and Trevor shared broken? Was it over? It couldn’t be over. It mustn’t be over, but she didn’t know how to fix it. Could it even be fixed? After Grandma Toady and Pa, she loved Munch next. Nothing was going to change that. Not Trevor and not gossip. It wasn’t like she had snuck around on Trevor. That was something she would never do. It hadn’t occurred to her that he had any real problem with her relationship with Munch. Obviously, he did. He either trusted her or he didn’t. Grandma Toady said, “Trust has to be earned.” Was it possible that she had not yet earned Trevor’s trust?


    When class was over, to her dismay, Jake approached her. She really didn''t want to talk about Lisa, or get a note for Lisa. He looked her directly in the eyes and said, “Trevor just doesn’t get it. Let him cool off. He hasn’t been here long, so he doesn’t understand about you and Munch.”


    This was unexpected. Lolly asked, “You think it will be okay?”


    “I hope so. He really likes you.” Jake gave her an encouraging smile. He changed the subject and said, “Guess who called me last night?” He was smiling so it could only be one person.


    “Lisa.”


    “Yup. We talked, got some things sorted out.”


    Lolly thought, perhaps there was hope.


    *


    At lunch when Lolly came to the table, Lisa gave her a hug. She said, "Gees Lolly, I''d expect something like this from Jake, but not Trevor. He just seems so perfect."


    Munch looked up from his sketch pad and said, "No body''s perfect."


    It was true. No body was. Lisa and Lolly sat down. Lisa said, "If you want to talk, we can talk, if you just want to chill we can do that too."


    Lolly glanced at Munch. He gave her an encouraging smile. What would she do without Munch? What was she going to do without Trevor? She told Lisa, "I''m not ready to talk yet. It hurts too much."


    "I get it." Lisa moved on to safe topics and Munch followed suit.


    After lunch, Lolly didn''t see Trevor. In fact she didn''t see Trevor after Geometry. The only way that could happen was if he was purposefully avoiding her. She knew high school romances didn’t last, did she really think she and Trevor would be the exception? Yes, she did.


    During Home Economics, an announcement came over the loud speaker instructing the boys varsity basketball team to head to the gym. They had a game in La Marque. There was no way she would see Trevor again today. Would he call her tonight? She didn''t think he would. All her insecurities started romping around in her brain. She just wanted to go home.


    After school when Lolly got on the bus, Munch was already on board. He tried to distract her with his silly talk, but she couldn''t focus on a word he said. Had she done something wrong going to Munch’s yesterday? Was Grandma Toady inconsistent? Deep down she knew the answer to both questions was no. Knowing this didn’t make it hurt any less.


    Max and Kevin walked with her from the bus stop to the trailer. Max asked, “Are you okay?”


    “I guess.” She wasn''t.


    After Max went over to Kevin’s, Lolly went into the rummage room where Grandma Toady was quilting. From the kitchen came the sound of Mitzi tap dancing with Puccini. Lolly sat down on Pa’s bed. Grandma Toady glanced up and asked, “You okay?”


    “No. Trevor and I got into an argument this morning. He found out I was alone with Munch last night and he got mad.”


    Grandma Toady put her needle down and said, “Trevor seems like a really nice boy, Lolly, but he is a boy, a teenage boy. And, I can see why he could be confused. He knows why I don’t want you to be alone with him, yet. Do I have a double standard about boys where Munch is concerned? Yes. Munch loves you. I trust him. Trevor likes you, I don’t trust him. Simple as that. You are not the first teenage girl I have raised.” The tap dancing in the kitchen became thunderous. Grandma Toady sighed. “And you probably won’t be the last teenage girl I raise, but I hope to God, Mitzi is.” Carefully, she put her quilt blocks aside and stood up to give Lolly a hug.


    Safe in her arms, Lolly asked, “Do you think its over?”


    “I honestly don''t know. Still, people have disagreements and they get over them. That could happen."


    "Maybe."


    "Sweetie, don’t waste time or energy concocting every worst case scenario you can come up with. Also, be kind to yourself, okay?"


    “I''ll try."