TGIF

It wasn't just another school day, it was Friday. Which meant there was a dance that night. Of course, Matt had to survive school first and he had his concerns. Jordan and Freddy would be gunning for him. {if cindidate=true}If his sister had heard that he'd done those lifts, including lifts of Natasha, the jerks would for sure.{elseif wendydate=true}Enough people had seen him at the deli the previous night for word to get back to them. While Wendy might not be their top pick, she was a girl and they'd told him to stay away from girls.{else}By now they'd probably heard he intended on going to the dance and they'd told him not to.{endif}

As usual, Matt managed a few pushups while waiting for the bus. Amy arrived when he was in mid-grunt, and his sister ran up just as the bus pulled into the stop.

{if Ophelia>20}Naturally Matt stopped to flirt with Ophelia who wore a plunging top that put her assets on a fantastic display.{endif}

Looking at Ophelia gave Matt a really good idea. "Say, Ophelia."

"Yes, Matt." She sounded exasperated but Matt wasn't sure.

"You in a hurry after you deliver us kids or can I buy you a cup of coffee?"

"I don't date students."

"It isn't a date, just a cup of coffee... sort of as a thank you for all the work you do."

"I get paid for this."

Matt shrugged. "Think about it." He was pretty sure that if he was with Ophelia, the jerks would leave him alone. Sure they were racists and later they might call him nasty names involving the N word, but he doubted they'd dare confront Ophelia directly. And if they did, he suspected she could handle herself.

Yeah, using Ophelia as protection from the jerks was kind of low, but on the flip side, spending more time with her and buying her a cup of coffee wasn't all bad, either.