A Difficult Choice

Mike insists he doesn't have a girlfriend. Lucy calls him a liar, Tess calls it a Freudian slip, and Paulo calls him a cheater — repeatedly, and with a bat. Freshman year is off to a wonderful start.

A Difficult Choice
Chapter	22 of 127 (list of chapters)
Published	September 12, 2006 (2006-09-12)
Page count	5
Major characters	Mike, Lucy, Tess, Paulo
Minor characters	Daisy, David, Yashy, Sandy, Sue, Katie, Gym Teacher (High School)
Locations	Roseville High School
Collected in	Volume One, Omnibus 1
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Synopsis

Between classes, Tess welcomes Mike and Lucy to high school with the advice that Mike simply shouldn't get a girlfriend. When he insists he doesn't have one, Lucy rounds on him with a disgusted "You goddamn liar." and walks off.

The girlfriend rumor also reaches Yashy, who swears to kill whoever has upset Lucy, but Lucy insists with a frighteningly severe glare that nothing is wrong.

At lunch, Lucy quietly tells Tess that Mike is in a long-distance relationship with a girl he refuses to call a girlfriend, even though she plainly is one. Mike, dozing at the table, dreams of Sandy and wakes up with his arms around Lucy, murmuring "Sandy?".

Mike's lunchtime nap goes about as badly as a nap can go.

Tess talks Mike through his denial afterward, and between the slip and Sandy's recent romantic gift he finally admits that maybe they do have something serious, and that he needs to talk to her. Paulo decides that pining after Lucy while a girlfriend waited on him makes Mike a cheater, and the guilt trip escalates into punches, a bat, and a chanting crowd.

In gym class, a bruised Mike apologizes to Lucy, admitting that Sandy really is like a girlfriend to him and that pretending otherwise was cruel. Lucy looks glum for a moment, then turns away with a "Duh, like I even care" that Mike happily takes as forgiveness.

When he reaches out toward her, a dodgeball knocks him out cold, and Paulo rallies the girls into burying him under a mountain of balls. Lucy stares at the pile, then throws a ball back into the game with a quiet "Just let me win this one round."

Character dynamics

• Mike and Sandy: The two have been stuck in long-distance limbo for years, trading letters without ever putting a label on things. Tess's prodding, plus the memory of the bonsai tree Sandy left him in Hot Pursuit, finally gets Mike off the fence. She really did wait for him, he decides, and he needs to talk to her. By the end of the chapter he's saying out loud, to Lucy of all people, that Sandy is like a girlfriend to him.
• Mike and Lucy: Lucy has known about Sandy ever since the letter fell out of Mike's mail in Unfulfilled Fantasy, and his flat denials are what set her off here. Getting hugged and called "Sandy" doesn't help matters. She does accept his gym-class apology, but only from behind a wall of feigned indifference, and she'd rather win the dodgeball round than dig him out. Veronica's commentary on the first page puts it plainly: Lucy is "slowly closing off."
• Tess and Mike: They only met the day before, but Tess slides straight into the confidante role, prying the truth out of Mike one smirk at a time and pointing out that the bonsai was Sandy's answer.

Trivia & observations

• All five pages carry the same publication date. The whole chapter went up on 22 March 2010 in one go.
• This is a redrawn and rewritten chapter, and the rewrite changed the ending's meaning. Per Veronica's commentary, Mike originally "just plain ol' decides he's dating Sandy, without actually confirming it with her". A fan pointed out the problem, so the new version makes it clear he intends to actually talk to her first. Veronica credits the fan with "You changed history!"
• Yashy hears about a girlfriend here, yet Sandy still comes as a shock to her much later. Veronica has since explained that Yashy dismissed the whole thing as a stupid rumour, since nobody ever told her who Sandy was.
• Speaking of Yashy, Veronica's commentary explains that she almost always comes to school with Lucy, riding in her bookbag or being carried, unless she stays home to play games with Blur and Lily.
• David does his "AWK-WARD" bit twice in this chapter, once spoken and once sung, and then never again in the entire comic.
• Veronica admits to feeling a bit bad about Mike reaching for Lucy right after his apology: "it's obvious he still has feelings for her. Rude boy.. this is why Paulo assaults you.."

Related chapters

• Enter High School: This chapter picks up one school day later. That one introduced Roseville High, sorted the gang into their three English classes, and brought Tess to the lunch table.
• Unfulfilled Fantasy: This is the root of Lucy's grudge. A heart-covered letter slips out of Mike's mail, and Lucy learns he's been writing to Sandy for years.
• Hot Pursuit: The bonsai tree comes from here. Mike misses Sandy's visit, and his mom hands him the gift Sandy left behind for him.
• A New Leaf: The very next chapter is the direct payoff, with Mike phoning Sandy to ask where they actually stand. Veronica has said it was made specifically because a fan found this chapter's ending a bit confusing.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: A flashback there restages this chapter's mob, with Mike getting egged while a crowd chants "cheater".