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Chapter Seven
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“So I was thinking...” Alec takes his normal spot next to me in Chemistry class. It’s been two weeks since he started here and we’ve already formed this weird type of routine between the two of us.
“Uh oh,” I tease.
“Would you maybe want to get together after school sometime this week and work on our project?” he asks.
We found out two days ago that we have to present a science project to the class with our lab partners in two weeks’ time. As much as I love the idea of working with Alec more closely, even though I shouldn’t given that him and Lulu have been hanging out non-stop, I also hate public speaking. I get the worst case of anxiety every time I think about it.
“We still haven’t even figured out what we’re doing,” he adds.
“Um, sure. Yeah, I guess we could do that,” I agree, knowing there’s no other way we’re going to get anything done.
We only have a limited amount of class time to work on it and it’s not some quick project we can nail down in a couple hours. We actually have to come up with an idea, implement it, which will take a lot of time all on its own, and then present our findings with a PowerPoint presentation and physical evidence that proves our theory.
When the teacher said two weeks, I thought he was joking.
“How’s today work for you?”
“Today?” I push past the nervous knot lodged in my throat.
“I mean, if you’re free. We can do it at my place. It’s pretty small but it’s only me and my mom so we can spread out.”
“Yeah, um, okay. Today sounds good.”
“I know it’s a bit overdone, but I thought we could do the whole acid in soda thing.”
“Acid in soda?” I question.
“Yeah, you know. You put rusty nails in different types of soda and whichever removes the most rust is the one with the most acid.”
“Let me guess, you googled chemistry projects and that’s the best you could find.” I laugh.
“Not exactly.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I kind of did the same project in seventh grade. I don’t have any of the stuff, but it’s pretty simple to recreate.”
“At this point, I don’t really care,” I tell him honestly. “I just want to do something that’s quick and easy.”
“Well this one certainly is. The longest part is letting the nails sit. Even then you don’t have to do anything but take a picture of the nail each day to track the progress. I figure if you came over today, we could get everything set up, do the initial pictures, and then split up who is going to work on what so we have a shot in hell of getting it done on time.”
“That all sounds good to me.”
“Perfect.” He pulls out a piece of paper and scribbles something down on it before sliding it in my direction. “Here’s my address. Say three-thirty?”
“That works for me.” I nod, not sure if I’m more nervous or excited about an afternoon alone with Alec at his house.
I’m a ball of nervous energy the remainder of the day. I don’t know why going to a friend’s house to work on a project has me coiled so tight. Then again, Alec isn’t justanyfriend. He’s the boy I like. And as much as I hate to admit it, the boy Lulu likes.
I have a few minutes to kill after school, so I run to the bakery and get us some sweets to snack on and grab myself a caramel latte. I arrive at Alec’s apartment building five minutes early and end up waiting in the car until three-thirty before heading up.
When I knock on the door, he answers almost immediately. He’s changed into a pair of athletic shorts and a white t-shirt that shows off his lean frame and broad shoulders.
God, this was such a bad idea.
But even knowing this, I still go inside when he steps out of the doorway to let me enter.
Alec’s apartment is new. The complex was built roughly six months ago and most of the units have never been lived in. It’s your standard, two-bedroom apartment with a small dining room, decent size living room, and galley style kitchen. It’s sparsely decorated and very tidy. Though I’d say that’s more his mom’s doing than his.
