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“So? It was awesome music! I'm nailing my new sets, man! Those DJ classes are totally paying off. Hell, those bitches next door should’ve come over and paid me for the privilege of hearing the dope beats I was droppin’.”
“Well, that's your opinion, but I overheard her talking to some guy in class about it today, and she wasn't happy. She might call the cops if you do it again.”
“What?! Dude, what a bitch!”
“She needs to study, man. That doesn’t make her a bitch. And as awesome as your beats are, they're not exactly conducive to studying, ya know.”
“'Conducive to studying,’ huh Emerson? Bro, you sound like a nerd.”
“Chris, college isn't a joke for me. I really want to get through this year with solid grades. I need to make up for last year's disappointments in that area.”
“Well, it's not a damn joke for me, either, bro!”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You sure? Did you even go to a single class yesterday?”
Chris folded his arms defensively across his chest. “I had a lot of important stuff to do!”
“More important than actually passing your classes, huh?”
“Whatever, man.” He turned to walk to his room. “I'll talk to you later, nerd,” he said and slammed the door shut behind him.
I actually felt bad, even though I knew I was right. Chris needed to slow down with the constant partying and start taking his studies a little more seriously. He had come pretty close to flunking last semester and was pretty much guaranteed to flunk this one if he kept on like he was. Considering I hadn't done too well last semester, either, we both needed to buckle down. It didn’t help that I was a little concerned regarding what I'd overheard Brooke and the new guy—who I had to admit I felt an immediate dislike for—talking about. If she called the cops, we'd be in a world of trouble. Chris and I each had a couple of months to go before turning twenty-one and underage possession of alcohol wasn’t something I wanted to face the dean over, for more than one reason.
My blood heated a little as I thought about that new guy and how quick he was to suggest Brooke call the cops. But what bothered me more was how open she was to his suggestion. She’d just met the guy and he seemed to be able to influence her. There was something in my gut that instinctively didn’t trust him. And, the way he eyed Brooke when she wasn’t looking only made me distrust him more. I’d seen guys like him before. He was hiding something.
Also, I had to admit I was a little jealous about how easily he had gotten Brooke to open up in conversation. While it seemed that she was content to answer my questions with short, awkward, one-word sentences, she'd seemed pretty at ease when chatting with him.
But what could I do about that? Not much. I could try to be a decent neighbor and a good lab partner. As much as I wanted to get to know Brooke better, it seemed that she wasn't interested in getting to know me and I guess I just had to accept that. Still, I was eager to see how our first lab session together would go. I decided I'd better brush up on my reading so I wouldn't look like a total fool when it came time to get down to business in the lab.
With that thought in my mind, I went to my room, closed the door, and hit the books.
***
“You're early,” Brooke said as I walked into the lab the next afternoon.
“I am. So are you,” I replied with a smile.
She responded with a strange half-smile. I couldn't tell if it was forced or if she was merely feeling a little shy. I went with the latter option. It was the option I was hoping for, at least.
“You've done all the reading, right?” she asked, leaning across the counter in a white lab coat.
I tried not to think about it, but she looked pretty sexy in that thing, whereas I was fairly certain I looked like a complete dork in mine. “I have,” I assured her.
“Brought all your notes? And, a pen and a notebook, of course? We've each got to record all of the details of the experiment.”
“Yep! I was a boy scout once upon a time, and you know what they say about boy scouts!”
“That you're all a bunch of nerds?” she replied with a wink and a grin.
I laughed, feeling pleasantly surprised that the Ice Queen had something of a sense of humor, after all. “Yeah, yeah,” I replied. “The other thing they say.”
“Always prepared,” she replied. “And you are?”
“Totally prepared. I've got everything you need… I mean, I need,” I stammered, trying to recover from my Freudian slip. Brooke arched an eyebrow. I wanted to smack myself in the forehead.
“Well, okay then. Let's get started, shall we?”
She headed to the cabinet to get the beakers together and started setting everything up. Straight down to business. I felt a little disappointed, having hoped to have been able to at least get a little more conversation in. On the other hand, I did want to demonstrate that I was taking this class as seriously as she was. “Should I measure out the chemicals while you're doing that?” I asked.
