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“I did.”
“No,” she shakes her head. “I mean, you got lucky because I’m hardly ever on this side of campus.”
“Eli told me this is where most of the science and engineering classes are.”
She looks down into her lap. “I have a confession to make.” When she meets my eyes again, she looks worried for some reason. “I’m not a biology major. I’m supposed to be, and my parents believe that I still am, so it’s just what usually pops out of my mouth when people ask. I changed my major after my first semester last year.”
“You never told them?”
She lets out a cheerless laugh. “No. My parents are both doctors, so it’s just expected that I’ll follow along the same path.”
“What are you majoring in?”
“Education. I want to be a teacher.”
“That’s great. You don’t think they’d be cool with that?”
“They wouldnotbe cool with it. In fact, they’d cut me off if they found out.”
“How have you managed to keep it from them for so long?”
“They’re super busy, the both of them. The downside is that my parents have no time for their children. The upside is that I pretty much do what I want.”
“They don’t look at your grades?”
She shakes her head. “I’m what they consider to be average. Don’t get me wrong, academics have always come easy to me, but there’s smart and then there’s gifted. When I didn’t get into their alma mater, they kind of stepped away and focused their energy elsewhere.” Blessed with parents who always had my back, I can’t easily wrap my head around this and I guess it shows in my expression. “They’re not terrible people,” she assures me. “And when they do find out they’ll get over it. My brother is the golden child. He’s brilliant. They’ll still get their doctor.”
“How old is your brother?”
Her smile tells me she loves him and that they’re most likely close, and just that has me falling for her a little bit more. “Aiden is sixteen. He won some major national science competition last year, which is like, an amazing thing to do as a high school sophomore.”
“That’s impressive.”
She nods as she chews. “It’s beyond impressive. He’s already been approached by department heads from some of the top schools in the country, so he takes most of the pressure off me.”
“So maybe they’d be fine with the teaching thing.”
She shakes her head. “They’re big on the wholethose who can’t do, teachphilosophy. Well, unless you’re teaching future doctors or research scientists.” Her eyes twinkle when she adds, “But they actually look down on those professors, too. My mother did a stint at Johns Hopkins when she was on maternity leave andstilltalks about the experience as if she was some oracle gracing them with her vast wealth of hands-on experience. My mother and father are intellectual snobs.”
“I don’t think they’d approve of a college dropout like me.”
Grace studies me for a moment. “No, they probably wouldn’t, but don’t take it personally. And if it’s any consolation, I like you.”
“I’m good with that.”
“My plan is to break it to them over Christmas this year. You know, when everyone’s feeling all joy to the world-ish.”
“Sounds like a good plan. Except you’ll be home for a few weeks, right? That could be rough. Maybe you should wait until they pay next semester’s tuition and then tell them as you’re walking out the door on the last day of break.”
Grace cocks her head to the side. “Youarea little bit evil, aren’t you, Damien?”
“Just looking out for you, Gracie.”
“Gracie.” She looks lost in a memory for a moment before she comes back to me. “I had a teacher who called me Gracie. Miss Poole, my seventh-grade teacher. I loved her. It’s weird…No one has ever called me that since.”
“I’ve never had a nickname either. Kind of hard to shorten Damien.”
“What’s your last name?”
