David happened to check his cell phone one lunchtime and noticed a text had come in from Bud. Opening the message, David read,
Can you meet me at the pizza parlor in the shopping mall after school?
Puzzled, and a little anxious, David replied that he would be there.
All through classes that afternoon, which seemed to go on forever, David wondered at Bud’s message. Did he want to make their separation official? Was he going to try and make a go of living with Lisa, for Adam’s sake? Though a small part of him hoped Bud would have good news, David’s natural pessimism drowned out such possibilities.
The bell signaling the end of school finally sounded. Seeing out the last of his student’s, David made his way along the empty hallways and out to the staff parking lot. Part of him didn’t e
