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“Me?” That squeaking sound again.
He rocks back in his chair. “It has to be you, New Girl.”
“Grrr,” I growl at him, my annoyance at him overriding my unbelievable attraction to him. “My name is Natalie!”
He stares at me and then, almost like it’s in slow motion, he pushes my glasses back up my nose, his smile growing as he does. “What do you say? Will you help me?”
My brain has officially shut down. I’m now a glob of bones, muscles and skin. There is no form of life left here to find.
“OK, I’ll help you.” I breathe these four words out with the last of my air and sink back in my seat as he grins at me, and then stands.
“Excellent news, New Girl. Let’s start tomorrow.”
I nod, unable to offer anything more. With stars, planets and the rest of the solar system in my eyes, I watch him bounce out of the library. Taking my teenage heart with him as he goes.
*****
And so, this is how the unlikely friendship between the star of the soccer team and the master of all things popular, Matthew, and the lowly girl with glasses and no social status begins. It happens so slowly that I barely notice it. One minute I’m hyperventilating in panic attack mode, triggered by his mere presence, the next I’m teasing him about his pronunciation of the word ‘placebo.’
“Did you just call it place-bow?” I’m doubled over with laughter, once again unable to breathe around him, but this time for completely different reasons. He’s not perfect! And it’s amazing.
“How are you supposed to say it?” Matthew rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing a bright shade of pink.
I can’t stop laughing long enough to tell him, instead using what little air I have left to gasp ‘place-bow’ over and over again.
“Shut it, New Girl.” Then he tickles me under the ribs, making me laugh harder. By now my glasses have fogged up and tears are running down my face. Luckily, I was running late again this morning and had no time for mascara.
“I can’t, I can’t,” I giggle. “It’s too good.”
“OK, we’ve established that I’m a dumb jock.” He smiles like he’s amused by my antics. “I told you I need a tutor.”
This sobers me up. He’s not dumb at all and from what I’ve seen over the last month of ‘tutoring’ him, he doesn’t need my help in the slightest. Not that I’m going to tell him this and put an end to all of our delightful one-on-one time together.
“It’s a simple mistake to make.” I put my hand on his arm and he immediately puts his over mine, trapping it there. Wow, this feels good. “It was just cute, is all.”
He grins wider at this. “You think I’m cute?”
My face heats and I pull my hand back, missing the warmth of his instantly. “I’m not dignifying that with a response.”
He gives me puppy dog eyes, and I turn away, determined to ignore it. This is how it’s been since our first session together, which happened out of nowhere when he’d found me in the science lab after school and declared it to be the perfect time for our tutoring to begin. I’d been so shocked that he knew where to find me, that he actually went out of his way to do so and that he seemed invested in getting my help that I’d ignored all my instincts screaming at me to stay away from the handsome senior who I was crushing on in a big way, and we’d started studying together.
And for some strange reason, this has continued every other day for four weeks now. My need-to-know-everything nature is having a hard time just going with the flow of it all, but I’m doing my best not to overthink it. It’s not like he’s interested in me in any way other than as ‘science geek to the rescue.’ Still…there have been several times when he’s looked at me a little longer than necessary or he’s thrown out a flirty compliment, and I’ve needed to keep myself in check and rein in my romantic teenage fantasies of the two of us falling madly in love and living happily ever after.
This is one of those times. Those times when he sets his creamy chocolate-coloured eyes on me and I melt into a puddle of goo. And promptly forget everything around me.
“What were we saying?” Case in point, I know we’re in the middle of a conversation, but I’ve lost all my train of thought.
“You were just telling me how cute you think I am.”
Oh yes, here we are. Back to the flirty not-flirting. “I actually think we were talking about how you pronounced placebo as place-bow.” This sets me off again, a round of giggles that I don’t think will ever end.
He sighs. “You’re the only person who’d think this is funny. Not one of my friends has ever heard of the word placebo before.” He says it correctly this time and I reward him with a high five, where he captures and holds my hand in his again. Doesn’t he know all these casual hand-holdings are giving my heart a real workout?
What were we talking about again? Oh, science. That’s right. “Then your friends haven’t been paying attention. Most clinical trials need a control arm to analyse whether the active arm is effective. They use a placebo in the control arm to correct for any biases in the reporting.”
Matthew blinks at me.
Great, that’s it. I’ve nerded out too hard and now he’s seen the real me. Well done, New Girl!
