Sure as heck, Nathaniel was waiting for Dallas in the corridor behind the shop class the next day. He was there the day after that too…in fact, a few weeks went by before Dallas realized they’d had lunch together every day for almost a month. Nathaniel was always waiting for him in the corridor behind the shop class and he’d smile when he saw Dallas.

“Hey Dallas! What did Rosalie send today?” he’d ask in greeting.

“Hey yourself!” Dallas would reply with pretended hurt. “Are you here for my conversation or for my lunch?”

“Both, of course,” Nathaniel would say with another grin. 

Lunch was the only time they shared together during the school day, since Nathaniel was in all the honors classes and Dallas was…well, not in honors. But for Dallas, it was the best half hour of every day. They shared out the generous portions Rosalie sent with Dallas (she’d started packing even more when she noticed he finished everything) and they talked, usually about their classes or about little things that had happened the evening before in the Carpenter household. Rico was a favorite subject and Nathaniel almost always asked how Dallas’ family was doing; Dallas wondered if he should be asking about Nathaniel’s family too, but the few times he’d dared to bring up Reverend Westerson or his wife, Nathaniel had gotten cagey and withdrawn. So Dallas stopped talking about them; not that he cared how they were doing, anyways.

It wasn’t until the day that Mrs. Hozicki proudly presented Dallas with his first ever ‘F’ on an essay that he realized exactly how comfortable he’d become sharing with Nathaniel. Usually he tried to keep his temper to himself because he didn’t want to start any new rumors, but that day he arrived to their lunch spot in a huff and then unleashed all his frustration into a rant when Nathaniel asked him what was wrong.

“I mean, it’s not the greatest essay in the world,” Dallas said as he showed Nathaniel the accursed essay, “But I’ve never gotten an ‘F’ before! Plenty of C’s and D’s, but never an ‘F’! Hozicki has it out for me – I KNOW it!”

Nathaniel’s brow wrinkled with concern and he read over the essay.

“You might be right,” he said. “This isn’t a great essay, but it’s not bad. I’d give it a ‘C’ at least. Your sentence structure just needs some work…this isn’t a fair grade.”

“Thank you!” Dallas sighed, and he rested his head against the wall. “The timing of this is super great too – Mr. Brown is trying to get me a practicum at the local trade school for my senior year so I can start learning about car mechanics, but I have to keep up my grades in all my other classes in order to qualify. If Hozicki keeps her grudge against me, it’ll tank my English grade and I won’t get in!”

Dallas blinked his eyes to hold back tears of frustration; he usually didn’t let other people’s opinions of him bother him, but he couldn’t deny that right now his family’s reputation was becoming a problem. Nathaniel was quiet for moment, thinking.

“What if…” he said slowly, “…I said something to her?”

Dallas looked at him.

“I mean,” Nathaniel continued, “she’s a regular church-goer and she’s always trying to get into my parents’ good graces. I think she wants to be appointed to the church flower committee or something. What if I tell her that I want to practice mentoring ‘disadvantaged students’ in preparation for becoming a teacher and I’ll ask if I could help you improve your essays? She’ll have to agree, since she’ll want me to tell the Reverend what a considerate woman she is. And then she’ll be too afraid to fail you because then I’ll definitely report back that she’s a nasty woman!”

Dallas stared, stunned.

“You…you would do that for me?” he asked, his voice croaky for some reason.

Nathaniel nodded.

“I’ll even help you edit your essays if you want,” he said. “Or you could just turn in your papers as is…I’m pretty sure your grades will improve either way. And it’s not a total lie – I’ve been thinking about studying to become a teacher when I graduate.”

“Really?” Dallas asked, and he grinned. “I can see it.”

Nathaniel grinned back, flushing as if Dallas had given him a great compliment.

“Thanks,” he said. “I think it’s pretty cool that you want to be a mechanic. I’d really like you to get that practicum.”

“Me too,” Dallas said. “Well, if you don’t mind tutoring my stupid ass, I’ll take all the help you can give me with Hozicki’s class. You could come over to my house after school when you’re not working and I’ll pay you with Rosalie’s snacks! Oh, unless…”

Dallas quickly realized that it might not be good for Nathaniel Westerson to be associating with the Carpenters, but Nathaniel looked as though Dallas had offered him a sip from the Holy Grail instead of one of Rosalie’s quesadillas.

“My parents will let me visit a classmate’s house if it’s for academic purposes,” he said eagerly. “How about twice a week? I think I can manage that much without it looking like I’m trying to weasel out of my church duties or my job at the grocery store. Would that be alright with your parents?”

“Fuck, you could come over every day if you wanted and they wouldn’t care,” Dallas replied. “My dad usually works late and the afternoons are when Rosalie watches her telenovelas. As long as we aren’t too loud and you don’t mind Rico butting in, you’re welcome whenever.”

“Wonderful!” Nathaniel said, giving Dallas another one of his beautiful smiles. “I’ll talk to Mrs. Hozicki after school today and make the arrangements with my parents!”

He touched Dallas’ hand just as the bell rang. It was a fleeting touch, but it made Dallas’ body feel alive and aware of Nathaniel. He wanted to reach back and touch Nathaniel too…maybe do more than touch Nathaniel…but the other boy was already on his feet.

“Come on!” he said to Dallas. “It won’t do your practicum any good if you’re late to class!”

Reluctantly, Dallas stood up and followed after Nathaniel, trying to steady the fluttering feeling in his chest.

* * * * * * *