Mr. More Than Average (On Hold)

-1: Max the Less-Than-Average Boy

-1: Max the Less-Than-Average Boy

Her name was Jess, and she would be Max's greatest friend.

But before Jess, there were Sam and Luther. And right now they were celebrating because Luther had just passed his road test. Since Luther was held back in the third grade for reading comprehension, he was one of five people in the sophomore class to have his license. "This is just my temporary license," Luther said. "The real one should come in about a week."

Luther had reddish-brown hair and a freckled face and wore only striped polo shirts. Max had never seen him in anything else.

"Do you have a car yet?" Max asked.

"I'm working on it," Luther said. "You can't exactly get rich from working at Burger King."

"Are they hiring?" Sam asked. "Zoe wants me to get a job."

Sam was a lovable, pudgy boy with an unfortunate bowl cut, and despite his pudge, he was actually the most active of the three.

"You don't want to work there," Luther said. "Trust me."

Max didn't feel the immediate need to get a job, and Sam didn't either until his older sister advised him to. Zoe occasionally gave Sam advice, which he then passed onto the group. Even if he wanted one, his parents would think it was a bad idea. They would blame his less-than-mediocre grades on his lack of time rather than his lack of motivation and/or intelligence.

They spent the next weekend job hunting for Sam. They looked briefly at the newspapers Max's parents read in the morning, but checked online for most of it. "What're you guys up to?" Mrs. Bishop asked.

She chuckled when they told her. "You know, I got my first job when I was your age. I was a waitress at the Blue Pontoon." She laughed to herself. "Such an odd place to work. Are you looking too, sweetie?"

The others waited for Max to realize he was the only "sweetie" in the room. He shrugged. "Should I?"

"I don't want you to have to juggle school and work like I did. Focus on getting into college, okay?"

Max nodded absently as she walked out of the room. "She just roasted you," Sam said.

"No way," Max said.

"She did it nicely. Like, instead of on a stick over a fire, it was in an oven on Thanksgiving."

"Nicely put, man," Luther said, giving him a high five.

There was a lull in the conversation before Luther subtly mentioned Annie. "I think they're going to break up soon."

"Who?" Max asked.

"Who else?" Sam said. "Annie and Charlie."

"I heard it from Louisa."

"Louisa actually told you?" Sam said.

"Well, no. I heard Louisa and Annie talking about it in the band room after school."

"She probably was just complaining," Max said. As much as he wanted Annie and Luther to be together, Luther saw meaning in even the most trivial of things. "It's not like Louisa's a stranger. She's her best friend."

While Luther would deny this, Max thought part of the reason Luther wanted her so badly was because she was dating his sworn enemy. Max knew that Luther would never stoop so low as to break them up. He wasn't that type of guy, and even if he were, it's not like Annie would forgive him.

When Mrs. Bishop politely excused Sam and Luther, Sam declined Luther's offer for a ride home. "I don't mind biking," he said. Sam was nicer and less lazier than Max would ever be. He respected that.