The F Factor by Diane Gonzales Bertrand Page B

Didn’t Pat tell you we’re broadcasting morning announcements on school TV?”
    She shrugged. “Pat doesn’t say much. He’s asleep all the time.”
    Javier looked in the backseat. Sure enough, Pat’s head leaned against the headrest and his eyes were closed. Javier shook his head. If he was going to get Feliz’s help, it looked like he was flying solo.
    â€œPat and I were the first pair of students to read on TV,” Javier said, now giving the pretty girl in the driver’s seat his full attention. “Pat and I didn’t know each other well, but we ended up making a decent team. Pat reads well and he stayed calm, even when one of the guys goofed on visuals.”
    â€œThat’s so weird. He never wanted to be on TV before.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Feliz took off her sunglasses and looked at Javier. “Don’t you know who our father is? Haven’t you ever heard of Berlanga Motors? My dad does TV commercials all the time. I’ve done a few, too, but Pat and my mom never wanted to do them.”
    Now that he could see her sparkling brown eyes, Javier tried to maintain steady eye contact. He pretended they were already friends and asking her a favor would be easy. “Now that Pat is taking this elective, maybe he’ll do a commercial with your dad,” Javier told her. “But right now, we need to worry about how we come across on school TV. Pat had an idea to create a backdrop to cover up the whiteboards behind us during the broadcast. He told me you’re a good artist, and we hoped you could help us sketch an outline of the city.”
    Before she could answer, the light changed. Feliz put on her sunglasses and drove up so close to the car in front of her that Javier could read the labels on the boxes in the backseat. Feliz kept up the tailgating and slipped through a yellow-to-red light, only to be stopped again by another light several cars away. She sighed again and reached for the button on the dashboard, probably to turn up the music.
    â€œFeliz, if you draw the outline, we can paint in the rest of the picture.” Javier quickly spoke up before tortured voices started screaming inside the car. “Pat sketched an idea that should be easy to follow. You can help us, right?”
    Her fingernails tapped an impatient
click-click-click
on the steering wheel. “I have a lot of homework to do tonight.”
    â€œNo problem. We don’t need the backdrop until Monday. We can work on it over the weekend. I’ll just walk over to your grandmother’s house.”
    He could see her frown even around the sunglasses. “No, you can’t do it at Welita’s. There’s no room. Besides, Pat’s airbrushes are at home.”
    â€œNo problem. I can get a ride over to your house.” Javier smiled at his quick responses. Every word was coming out so easy now.
    A voice called out from the backseat. “Javier can just stay over at our house after the football game Friday night. We’re going to give him a ride anyway.”
    Javier whipped around and stared into the backseat. Even with his eyes closed, Pat’s smirk revealed his self-satisfaction. Had Pat
really
been asleep, or was he only pretending so Javier had to do all the talking? But it was hard to stay irritated with the guy who just created a good solution to any final obstacles.
    Javier looked back at Feliz and smiled. “I guess we could start Saturday morning at your house.”
    He didn’t anticipate Feliz’s quick mood change. She sat up straight and looked into the rearview mirror, no doubt at her brother. “You just assume I’ll help you with your dumb painting and that I
want
to be your chauffeur, Pat. What’s in it for me?”
    The voice from the backseat spoke smoothly, as if he was on camera. “You need a friend like Javier. He can help you pass chemistry. He’s the smartest guy in the