After class a few days later, Crutchie and Davey were sitting in Davey's dorm room. Their book for English was sitting open in Crutchie's lap as he tried to read it. Davey started by pointing out words to him and having him read them. Crutchie got them right almost half the time, but it wasn't enough.
"What if you try reading full sentences? Then maybe it'll make more sense because the words will be in context and you can guess what they are." Davey suggested. The other boy nodded and flipped to the beginning of the book. He began to read, out loud, the sentences. He struggled a bit and every time he did, Davey quietly helped him with the words. As the afternoon wore on, Crutchie noticed how kind and gentle Davey was as he was helping him. Most, upon discovering his dyslexia, would either brush him aside or tease him. Davey did neither of those things. He was helpful and extremely polite when he corrected Crutchie's mistakes. Crutchie found himself falling even more for the new kid than he already had. After a little while, they ended up taking a break.
"So, what're you even doing in a lower level English class anyways?" Crutchie asked. "You're practically a genius."
"I'm hardly a genius… But I'm in lower level in all of my classes because I'm a transfer student. My folks moved me and my little brother to this city a few weeks ago." Davey explained.
"You've got folks?"
"Of course. And you… don't?" he asked carefully.
"No. I don't."
"Then… Pardon my asking, but how do you pay money to go here if you're an orphan? Isn't this school expensive?"
"Me and some of my friends go here as part of the orphanage's education program." Crutchie shrugged.
"Oh… I'm sorry. About you not having parents, I mean."
"It's not that bad, I promise. All I'm really not missing out on much, except for home cooked meals." he joked, trying for a laugh.
"If you miss home cooked meals that much, you should come over for dinner sometime… I'm sure my parents would love to meet you." Davey offered with a gentle smile.
"No, I couldn't, I'd just be a bother."
"Not at all! My mother loves cooking for my friends. Like I said, you're a really nice guy, my family will love you."
"If you say so…"
"I do say so. What do you think? Next Friday sound good?" Davey smiled.
"Yes, t-that sounds great…"
"So, uh, should we get back to work?" Davey suggested.
"Actually, I'm kinda tired. I'll see you in class tomorrow." Crutchie said. Davey nodded and helped him up. Crutchie limped back to his own dorm room and shut the door behind him when he got there.
"Oh, hey, you're back! How'd it go?" Elmer asked, looking up from his comic book.
"It was fine…" Crutchie replied, sitting on his bed and tapping the floor nervously with his foot.
"What happened?" Elmer said, sitting up and looking at Crutchie. He could tell something was bothering his roommate.
"Davey invited me to his folks' place for dinner next Friday… What am I gonna do? I'm gonna mess up, his parents are gonna hate me, it's just going to be terrible. How do I prepare for this? I'm so scared…" Crutchie said, looking for his laptop as he talked.
"Wait, you're going to his house for dinner? That's great!"
"Are you really that naive? No wonder everyone knows you've never had a girlfriend…" Crutchie muttered.
"Hey-! Oh never mind, you're completely right." Elmer shrugged as Crutchie turned on the laptop.
"I'm going to call Jack. He'll know what to do. He always knows what to do."
Jack wasn't as knowledgeable as the boys thought, which made Crutchie even more nervous. If Jack didn't know what to do, then who would?
"Sorry, Crutch. I've never had to meet somebody's parents before. I mean, I met Katherine's dad before, but that was before I knew her and he already hated me anyways. So, that was never really an issue."
"You never tried to fix your relationship with him so he wouldn't hate you?" Elmer asked, somehow a part of the conversation now.
"Elm, this is Principal Pulitzer we're talking about."
"Oh, right…"
"Anyways," Crutchie said loudly, interrupting them. "Now what am I going to do? I mean, it's not like anyone knows I like him but I'd still like to make a good impression."
"Just be yourself. As cliche as that sounds, there's no way that he and his folks wouldn't like you for who you are." Jack replied after a moment of thought. "Just don't accidentally set anything on fire and you'll be fine."
"That was one time!" Crutchie protested.
"Listen, you'll be fine, okay?"
"You promise?"
"I promise."