Mx. Hendrix glanced over her glasses and gave him that familiar half-smile. “Tell me about your week.”

  Thomas exhaled slowly. “I really don’t know where to start. Honestly, I’m just grateful this week was slow. I sort of… overloaded myself last week.”

  She nodded, waiting.

  “I’m not sure if I told you,” he added, “but I think I finally figured out what they expect me to understand about Summa Theologica.”

  Her brows lifted slightly. “Just tell me.”

  “It’s kind of ironic, actually,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “It wasn’t the text itself that mattered so much—it was the structure of it. Aquinas doesn’t just tell you what to think. He builds everything through questions and objections, like a mental courtroom. It’s about exploring the nature of God and virtue, but more importantly, it teaches a process—how to examine your own beliefs, how to work through contradictions. I think the next stage is using that structure to reflect on yourself. To actually change yourself.”

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Mx. Hendrix leaned back, folding her arms. “Now you’re just holding out on me. Sounds like you got Shoshana and Veronica over the line too.”

  Thomas gave a soft nod. “Yeah. I did.”

  “Anything else on your mind?”

  He hesitated, then rubbed his hands together. “I’m nervous about this weekend. We’re staying at Shoshana’s place.”

  She raised an eyebrow, lips quirking in amusement. “Only you could have two girls interested in you, get invited to one of their homes for the weekend, and still sound like you’re being sent into a lion’s den.”

  “It’s not that kind of nervous,” Thomas said quickly, then added, “Well—maybe a little. But there’s more to it. I’m supposed to talk with her about the whole eighth grade experience. That’s a delicate subject, and I have no idea how it’s going to go.”

  He paused, then sighed. “And just to make things extra fun—I’m not allowed to even hold her hand the whole time.”

  Mx. Hendrix chuckled. “That sounds like an exercise in restraint.”

  Thomas gave a tired smile. “Yeah. But honestly… I should be grateful. A few weeks ago, I didn’t think I’d even see her again until Thanksgiving. Not until I figured out what they needed from me.”

  She studied him quietly for a moment, then said, “Sounds like you’re learning something even Aquinas didn’t write about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “That sometimes, discipline is less about what you can’t do—and more about what you choose to hold sacred.”