| OCR Text |
Show -15- Peppermint Monday I cried for days once too. That was when I just got my braces. But when I saw Russ being so brave about something much worse than braces, I accepted my tinseled teeth and made the best of it. If there is such a thing as making the best of braces. The bus coughed and sputtered as if it refused to go another mile, shaking me aware of my whereabouts. Only Jason, a senior girl named Marcy, and me got off on our corner. It was the next to the last stop in town, so we almost had the rattly thing to ourselves. I stood up and vibrated down the aisle to the open doors at the front. Andrea and I always sat in the back of the bus with the boys. We didn't talk to them much or anything, but we sat there and listened. I could never quite decide if the back was better because Renae's group sat at the front, or because the boy's were more interesting to listen too; crude but interesting. Either way, we always sat there, and nobody ever questioned our right to be there. Jake and Russ were out back with Cheddar when we got home. Since the bird was doing so well, it annoyed me when Jake came around. Their backs were turned, so I could study old Jake thoroughly without his knowing it. When he is looking directly at me, I never feel comfortable. No matter how dumb he is, those narrow slits of gray can look you over until you're the one feeling stupid. He never looks at Russ that way, though. With Russ, there's an odd sense of respect and caring visible in the hard, craggy-like features. They were both intently watching something over past the strawberry bushes. Russ was in his wheelchair and had his nose pressed close to the chain-link fence around our back yard. Jake stood next to him, a large, brown hand resting on the slumped shoulder. A crudely patched pair of |
