Ty woke up to his alarm clock, as usual on school days. He went through his usual routine. He passed Dustin in the hallway, but nothing was said. June called them to breakfast. Mark was reading the newspaper. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Ty thought, but then he realized that it was quieter than usual.
After breakfast, June cleared the dishes. "Ty, dinner is planned for 6:30," she told him. "You may have Lisa come over here earlier, if you like."
"Thanks, Mom," Ty replied. He was looking forward to it. While this wasn't a normal occurrence, by previous standards, he hoped that it was indicative of the start of a new normal.
As Ty and Dustin waited for the school bus, Dustin was still quiet. When the bus arrived, Dustin let Ty board first, and they both took seats. The bus was full of the usual sort of conversations, and Ty didn't really participate, as usual. The way Dustin usually hassled him had made him somewhat of an outcast. He had some friends at school, because he and Dustin were a grade apart, and didn't share any classes. He noticed that Fustin was just sitting quietly, not engaging in normal banter. "Geez, Dustin is really not taking this well," Ty thought to himself.
Ty's morning classes passed uneventfully. He had hoped to encounter Lisa in the hallway between classes, but he wasn't sure what her schedule was. At lunch, he sat in his usual spot. He was surprised when Dustin asked, "Mind if I join you?" Usually Dustin ate lunch with a group of his friends, and if he took any notice of Ty at all, it would have been for the usual bullying.
"Sure, Dustin. What's up?"
"Oh nothing," replied Dustin. "I can't just have a nice lunch with my brother?"
Dustin's laying it on kinda thick, Ty thought. He'd expected to be ignored. Does Dustin want something from me?
"Sure, Dustin. Have a seat," he gestured, and Dustin set down his tray and sat. They both started eating quietly.
After a while, Lisa showed up. "Is this seat taken," she asked Ty.
"Please join us," Ty said. Gesturing, he said, "Lisa, this is my brother Dustin."
"Hi, Dustin," she said, "Pleased to meet you! I think I've seen you around."
"Hi, Lisa," Dustin replied. "I think we were in the same English class last year."
"Oh, that's right," Lisa said.
Ty was feeling a bit jealous of Lisa and Dustin talking, and worried that Dustin might try to steal her away from him. Not that there was any chance of that working. But Dustin seemed to be on his best behavior, and the three of them chatted pleasantly. Ty felt a bit guilty about his pervious thoughts about Dustin. "He probably really is just trying to be nice to me," Ty thought.
Lisa already knew where Ty lived, but he didn't want to let on to Dustin that she'd already been there. He tore a page out of his notebook, wrote down his address, and passed it to her. "Here's my address," Ty told her. "Mother said that dinner will be at 6:30, but that you're welcome to arrive earlier if you like. I'll be home by about 3:45. If you want to come over directly from school, you could take the bus with us."
"Thank you," Lisa said, "but my parents are expecting me to come home after school. I live not too far from you, and the weather is nice, so I'll walk over. I'll plan to be there by 6 o'clock."
"Sounds good," said Ty.
Dustin added, "I'm sure our parents will enjoy meeting you."
As lunch period drew to a close, Lisa said, "If you two will please excuse me, I need to go to my locker for my geography textbook. I'll see you this evening." She stood, picked up her tray, and headed for the door.
"Damn, bro," Dustin said quietly, "you've landed quite a looker!"
Ty was still suspicious of Dustin's behavior, but decided that he should give Dustin the benefit of the doubt. "That she is, Dustin. And smart, too."
He half expected Dustin to ask what Lisa could possibly see in Ty, but instead he just said, "We'd better get to class, too. See you after school!"
"Sure, see you later," Ty replied, and they both headed their separate ways. Ty thought, "If this is normal, I could really learn to like it." He still had a feeling that there was another shoe waiting to drop.