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He leans in for another peck.
“I just really like you, baby girl. You’ve touched me in ways you can’t imagine. But now, let me feed you some ice cream. This wouldn’t be a date if we didn’t do cringey couple shit like that,” he grins. I giggle and accede because this man is quickly becoming everything to me, and I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to.
7
Patty
Six months later.
“Careful!” I hiss, rolling my eyes as I grumble to myself.
I nearly knocked over a whole tray full of glass test tubes while I was reaching for one of them, which would have been disastrous if I knocked one, or god forbid, all of them over. “Damn, it’s like I want to ruin all my hard work!” I huff.
But then again, I’m fatigued. I’ve been in the lab for hours running tests, and if I make one little mistake—such as knocking over about fifty test tubes—all my hard work will be ruined. I can’t afford for something like that to happen so late in the semester when my grade is riding on the line.
“You need to take a break, Pats,” Lorraine calls from across the lab, shaking her head at me. “You’re talking to yourself like a maniac. You’re just a few heated words away from being categorized as a mad scientist.”
I giggle because that’s a bit hypocritical for my buddy, of all people, to say, seeing that Lorraine is the literal definition of a mad scientist. She’s a chemist and she happens to be an absolute genius when it comes to mixing up concoctions. She’s always in the lab, running tests or working on projects, whether they’re part of her school assignments or for her own personal interest. I know she’s been working on something top secret at the moment, although she hasn’t mentioned exactly what it is yet.
“You’ve been in the lab longer than I have,” I retort. “If anyone needs a break, it’s you.”
She flashes me a grin.
“No way I’m taking a break right now. Can’t you tell?” she asks, twirling a brown curl around her finger while sticking her tongue out at me. I giggle because Lorraine reminds me a lot of myself sometimes. She’s a cute girl with brown eyes and curly brown hair, plus her body is similar to mine too. She’s a bigger person, with curves in all the right places. Sometimes, we like to joke about being long-lost twins.
“So what are you working on?” I ask curiously.
She grins. “Funny you should ask because I’ve just put the finishing touches on my latest venture. Fingers crossed that I’ve done everything right, but I think I’ve just figured out a new way to test for human pregnancy!”
I blink.
“Really?” My eyes widen. “Wow, Lorraine, that’s kind of a big deal! I mean, that’s amazing! How do you even do that? Oh, never mind. I doubt I’d even understand it if you explained it to me,” I laugh. “You’re a certified genius, girlfriend.”
“Thanks.” She beams. “But don’t give me too much praise just yet because I’m not sure if it actually works. I’ll have to run some tests first, but … hey, wait a minute. Aren’t you seeing that guy? Would you be my guinea pig, Patty?”
I start waving my hands.
“Oh no,” I gasp. “No, no, no, I don’t think that’s necessary—”
But Lorraine puts on her sad puppy dog eyes.
“Come on,” she pouts, making a frowny face. “You have to! Who else am I going to ask? Pretty please?”
I stare.
“Literally anybody else. Not me, Lori.”
She shakes her head.
“But you’re the only friend I have that’s currently in a relationship with someone. I mean, lots of my girlfriends are hooking up, but you know how that goes. It’s totally unpredictable. Meanwhile, you have a steady and it’s a hot older guy too,” she winks.
I stare.
“No way, Lorraine. Why don’t you take the pregnancy test yourself?”
She throws her hands up in the air with exasperation.
“Because I’m not getting any!” she exclaims in a vehement tone. “But you, Patty Reston, happen to be dating that older guy—what’s his name again? Larry?”
“Gary.”
“Oh right, Gary!” she smiles. “Now, I know damn well you and Gary are having your fair share of fun together. You can’t convince me otherwise because you’re always mooning over this man, so you’re the perfect candidate for my little test, hmmm? Please? Please, please, please!” she begs, clutching her hands together.
I sigh, holding my palms up to put a stop to her pleading.
“Alright, alright, fine! I’ll be your guinea pig and I’ll take the test, but I know I’m not pregnant, so it’s not going to help.”
Lorraine shakes her head.
“No, it’ll help,” she says. “I appreciate this so much, Pats. Okay, just let me get everything ready. Give me five minutes!” she exclaims, darting away to grab everything she needs. I can’t help but smile as I watch my friend bustle around, clearly excited. I’m happy for her because this is such a cool project and it obviously means a lot to her.
