15

When the replacement bus pulled into the school parking lot, the team parents were huddled together, some holding coffee cups. Most of them rushed toward the bus when it approached the curb. Tyler searched the crowd for his mom or dad, looking for either of their cars. He was surprised to see that they were standing together.

The bus stopped and the driver opened the front door. Mr. Dwyer climbed out first and stood outside the bottom of the steps, fist-bumping each student stepping off the bus. Daniela was the first one off the bus. She opened her arms to greet the fresh air. Sha’relle pushed past her and headed right to her mom. Tyler saw Kevin standing with his grandparents, pointing at his eyes and looking as if he was retelling the incident when storm sand got in his eyes. José walked nonchalantly off the bus, but he rushed over to his dad and step-mom as soon as he saw them. L.J. limped down, his ankle still swollen.

The other kids filtered to their waiting families. Julia, Ethan, and Tyler were the last ones off the bus. Mr. Dwyer held up a fist for Tyler, but then Tyler remembered the painful cut on his hand and fist-bumped with his left one instead.

Tyler’s mom and dad hugged him at the same time when he finally made his way over to them. He’d never been so glad to see them. “We’re so glad you’re all right,” said his mom as she hugged him again. “They said over the radio that you helped perform CPR?”

Tyler nodded. “Well, I helped Ethan keep count. I couldn’t do the CPR myself because of the asthma . . . and I sort of hurt my hand.”

His mom gasped, reaching for the hand still wrapped up in Julia’s scarf, which was now covered in dried blood and dust.

“I’m fine, Mom,” he insisted. “It’s just a scratch.”

“You know,” his dad said to his mom with a smile, “he’s turning into quite the young man—and I’d still say that even if his speech team hadn’t gone to the State Championship.”

“We’ve got a pretty great kid,” his mom agreed. Tyler felt his mouth spread into a grin again. The joy of seeing his parents getting along gave him a spark of courage. He wanted to catch Julia before she headed home. He quietly ducked away while his parents kept talking.

Tyler searched the crowd. Where was she? Then he spotted her short brown hair and brightly-colored messenger bag. She was walking through the parking lot with her mom.

“Hey, Julia! Wait up!”

She turned around and pushed up her glasses. Even though her hair was disheveled and her clothes were covered in dust, she still looked cute to him.

Tyler jogged across the parking lot.

“Hey,” she said, smiling.

“Well, we made it.” Tyler shifted nervously on his feet.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “We did.”

“Come on, Julia,” her mom called.

Julia turned and said, “Give me a minute.” She sighed and turned back to Tyler. They stood there another moment. Julia chewed her bottom lip.

“How’s your hand?” she pointed at his blood-soaked bandage.

“I’ll put some antiseptic on it as soon as I get home. I’ll be fine. It’s already starting to feel better, thanks to your bandage,” he said, even though the cut still burned.

“I’m glad,” she said, smiling.

“I can get it back to you if you want . . . ”

“No, that’s okay,” Julia lifted her hands and laughed. Tyler had to admit, it was pretty gross now. “I really don’t need it.”

She kept smiling at him. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Do you like to eat?” Tyler burst out. He shook his head. “I mean, uh, what do you like to eat?”

“Oh. Um. I like Italian. Pizza. Pasta.” Julia rocked on her heels. “Why?”

“I thought . . . maybe we could go eat something—together—sometime.”

After a moment, she said, “I’d like that.” Tyler couldn’t help but grin. So she does like me! he thought to himself. Julia paused another moment. “Well, I have to go.” She motioned toward her mom’s car. “My mom’s waiting.”

Tyler looked around her at her mom, who was watching them. Julia turned and started to leave. It’s now or never. He mustered his courage.

“Wait!” Tyler said, a little more loud and desperate than he had wanted to sound.

“Yeah?” Julia shifted her bag onto her other shoulder.

Tyler stood there. He scratched the back of his head. “Um . . . ” For the second time today, he couldn’t find his words. This wasn’t at all how he’d wanted this to go. “I’m sorry,” he said hastily and laughed. Well, this isn’t going well.

Julia smiled again and touched his arm. “Would you want to go to Spring Fling together?” she said.

Tyler stood there, dumbfounded. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and his eyebrows shot up.

“We could go with a group,” she quickly added. “Two of my friends are already going. It’ll be fun!”

Tyler exhaled. “Yeah,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Yes, I would love that.” He was glad she hadn’t said they could just go as friends. That left the door open.

“Great. So I’ll talk to you at school on Monday?”

“Yeah. Definitely,” Tyler said. He watched her walk to her car and get in. Her mom glanced over at Tyler and waved from the open window. Tyler waved back as his face heated up. It seemed like he had a real chance with Julia now, with their first date and Spring Fling coming up. He was ready to give it his best shot. His dad’s words echoed again: You appreciate things more if you have to earn them.

Then Tyler had a sudden burst of energy and jogged back to where his mom and dad were still talking.

They turned to Tyler as he walked up.

“Okay, let’s go.”

His parents were smiling knowingly at each other. “What was that about?” His dad’s eyes flashed over to where Julia’s mom’s car was pulling out of the lot.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later,” Tyler said, wishing the flush in his cheeks would go away. “Can we go home now? I’m starving.”

“Absolutely,” said his dad. “You can tell us everything over dinner. Your mom’s going to join us, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, I mean, sure. That’s okay by me,” Tyler said, trying to seem nonchalant about it despite the grin taking over his face again.

He slid into the front seat of his dad’s car, watching as his mom’s SUV pulled up behind theirs to follow them out of the parking lot.

Now Tyler had better things to focus on than his mistake at State or even this disaster of a day. His team had survived a dust storm, his parents were getting along, and he was going to the Spring Fling dance. This was going to be an awesome spring.