Grace

9. Angela

The result of Caleb's email was that Jordan was able to put a brave face on for school the next day. When kids looked at his weird nose, he winked roguishly at them, and when they asked him about it, he casually told them that he had injured it in the line of duty, which confused them enough to leave him alone. When Dylan tried to surreptitiously trip him as he was coming out of Geometry class, he brought his soccer skills into play and weaved lightly around him. He even chatted with Grace for a few seconds when he spotted her in English, ignoring Adam's knowing smirks.

The worst that happened to him academically was a failed social studies quiz. Since he didn't really care about school, the big red 'F' didn't bother him unduly. The teacher had threatened to call his mom and discuss his grades, but this didn't worry him either. With luck, his mom would be so engrossed with her writing that she wouldn't hear the phone ring.

Jordan rushed out of school at the end of the day feeling like maybe life wasn't so bad after all.

It was windy outside. Jordan's jacket flapped at his sides until he zipped it up, and around him girls were struggling to keep their hair under control. Grace popped up out of nowhere at his side, her ponytail whipping across her face and into her mouth.

Oh yeah, there would be another drawing session today. He would do it for the cookies.

"Can you still draw in this wind?" Jordan asked.

"No problem!" said Grace, spitting the hair out of her mouth. "I love the wind."

Jordan was rather skeptical, but he stayed silent.

As before, they stopped by Grace's house for her supplies. Jordan chose to wait outside rather than go into that crazy house again. He noticed Ears and Braces farther down the sidewalk trying to fly a kite. The two boys had evidently given up on battling against each other and were now fighting together against the wind. So far the wind was winning. Every time they got the kite about six feet in the air, the wind would throw it into loop-de-loops and send it skittering back to the ground.

"Shtupid kite!" Braces slurped.

Ears happened to glance over his shoulder and saw Jordan watching them.

"Hey look," he pointed, "It's Grace's boyfriend!"

Luckily, at that moment Grace came running out of the house, hugging her sketchbook and pencil case to her chest.
"Sorry I took so long," she panted, "Benny needed a diaper change..."

"No problem," said Jordan quickly, wishing she hadn't mentioned it. Frankly, everything concerning babies pretty much disgusted him, and the less he was reminded of the details of Grace's life, the better. He was relieved when they finally left her street.

*****************

At the Park Bench of Awkwardness, Jordan watched as Grace arranged her drawing supplies, curious to see how she planned to draw with all the wind. The wind seemed determined to show her that it was boss, because as soon as she flipped open her sketchbook, a particularly strong gust came and flapped through the pages. Grace cried out as several loose drawings that had obviously been tucked in the book for safekeeping now blew out and went flying in five different directions.

Grace said, "Darn it," which was probably the strongest language she knew. Then she jumped up and dashed off after the runaway papers. Jordan quickly got up and followed. Bringing his soccer skills into play, he ran after the drawings that had blown farthest. He snatched one out of thin air and rescued another just before it blew into the duck pond. When he looked around, he saw Grace easily re-capturing the other three.