Free Wishing for Someday Soon by Tiffany King

and I finished the laundry as the sun was setting outside, making the temperature fall rapidly. While we waited for Jim and Lucinda to return, I made Kevin change out of his thin worn-out jeans into a pair of the long johns and thicker jeans we had purchased earlier. He also grabbed one of his hot-from-the-dryer, long sleeved shirts to put on over his t-shirt.
    Lucinda and Jim pulled into the parking lot as I was sliding into one of my new hoodies. The warmth from the dryer engulfed me and chased away the chill that had begun to creep into the badly-insulated laundromat.
    I handed over the change and watched Lucinda as she counted out the three remaining bills.
    “How many loads did you do?” she asked, causing Kevin to stiffen beside me.
    I patted his hand in the dark, reassuring him. “Four,” I lied easily, not feeling any guilt. Kevin having something in his empty belly outweighed lies in my book. “The washers were seventy-five cents each, and each load took fifty cents worth of drying,” I added before she could ask, accounting for every cent we’d spent.

Chapter 5

    The next day of school went much like my first day had gone except I now had my own desk in each of my classes.
    As luck would have it, my new desk was located smack dab next to Max’s which seriously shook my resolve to ignore his advances. He was as attentive as the day before and I couldn’t help but respond to his easy nature as he continued to pepper me with questions.
    “How'd your assessment go?” he asked as we headed out of math class later that afternoon.
    “Um, I’m not sure. Hanson said he would go over it tonight,” I said, trying to sound blasé.
    “Well, my offer still stands,” He said.
    “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
    “But…”
    “No buts, I’m just not sure what I'll need help with,” I answered, trying to skate around the real issue.
    “No prob. It all comes easy to me.”
    “Wow, cocky much?” I asked, laughing at his pretend hurt expression.
    “Ha-ha. Nah, I'm not sayin I don't have my faults. Don’t even think of asking me to make anything in the kitchen, that's a complete disaster.”
    “Ha, me too,” I laughed.
    “Great, our future kids will starve,” he said, grinning at me.
    “Guess that means marriage is out,” I joked.
    “No way, we'll just hire a cook or order out,” he said, finding a solution to a moot point.
    “Genius,” I said, still bantering as we took our seats back in Mr. Graves’s class.
    “So, what are your plans this weekend?” he asked just before Mr. Graves could start in on our science experiment.
    “Unpacking,” I lied, sidestepping what he was really asking.
    “The whole weekend?” he persisted.
    “Yeah…” I was cut off as Mr. Graves called our attention to the front of the room.
    I glanced back at Rebecca to see if she had caught our exchange and saw the resigned look on her face. I was confused on the whole who-was-dating-whom situation. They all seemed so close. Even earlier that day, I was convinced Clint and Alicia were dating until he hit on me during P.E. class. Alicia had been standing right beside me, and I tried to prepare myself for a verbal attack, but she merely laughed when I turned him down.
    The rest of the day passed quickly after Mr. Graves paired us up to do the experiment listed on the board. The steps for the experiment were extensive, so my partner Courtney and I spent little time chitchatting as we did the appropriate calculations needed to complete the task. Mr. Graves strolled around the room, stopping at each group to offer pointers or praise.
    “Good job, girls,” he said, stopping at our table to compliment us.
    “Thanks, I did a similar one last year,” I said, feeling a little guilty for the step-up I had.
    “Excellent, half the battle is remembering what you’ve learned,” he said, patting my shoulder as he strolled away.
    “Man, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a teacher even half as nice as the ones here,” I told Courtney as