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Gabriel clenched his jaw.
“He’s not running,” I said.
“Great,” Jasper said, in a way that made clear he didn’t believe me.
Had Gabriel run off from every event in the past? I didn’t think he was that kind of runner. Avoider, absolutely. I figured he simply would choose not to come to these kinds of things as much as possible, but if someone dragged him to it, he’d suffer through it.
Gabriel’s grip on me tightened, like he was afraidIwas going to flee. I didn’t plan on going anywhere. If anything, I made up my mind on trying something entirely new to me—I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. See, we could all stretch our comfort levels tonight.
Jasper led us around through the crowd. People gladly talked to me, and seemed unbothered when Gabriel stayed silent except for the occasional comment here or there. Gabriel kept his hand on my hip, holding me close the entire time.
Pictures were taken—lots of pictures. My cheeks started to hurt from smiling so much. Time passed. Hors d'oeuvres were eaten.
Eventually, Maisel Turnbottom reappeared to drag Gabriel to the end of the room and slap a clear statue, shaped like a microscope, into his hands.
“As you all know, I’ve been trying to wrestle Gabriel Stryker into accepting an award for years now,” she said. “And I know I’m not the only one.”
Some whispers and chuckles carried through the crowd.
“Due to Mr. Stryker’s efforts, the city of Epiphany has had an eighteen percent decrease in waste piling over the last five years. The air here contains fewer toxins because of it,” she said. “And while he’d rather be in his lab working to make the world another eighteen percent better of a place than mingling here with us tonight, he came. And so I proudly thank him for taking the time, for putting in the work, and for continuing his pursuits so the rest of us can keep doing what we do, knowing we’re in good hands.”
Applause followed.
Maisel handed off the microphone to Gabriel.
My stomach fluttered. I clasped my hands together and watched, waiting to see what he would say.
He looked like a statue on display rather than a living, breathing person standing up there. And he was staring at me.
You can do this,I mouthed at him.
He pulled note cards from his pocket in as stiff a motion as possible.
“Distinguished guests, we gather tonight in recognition of incremental scientific progress. While my contributions to waste management are scientifically significant, much work remains.”
He looked at me while he spoke, like out of the crowd here, he could only see me.
“Some view science as distant, cold, inhuman. Logic over passion. Process over impulse. But there’s nothing logical about my passion for genetically engineering eukaryotic organisms. Itcomes from a place much deeper than that, from a need I can’t quite comprehend or control.”
And I was starting to think maybe he wasn’t talking about science at all.
“Change necessitates patience and diligence. One failed experiment cannot derail necessary progress. Neither can twenty failures, nor one hundred. One mistake cannot fracture composure. Persistence wins the day. A dash of hope doesn’t hurt, either.”
My chest felt tight.
“Tonight, we celebrate a slight betterment of conditions for all species. Long-term thinking over short-term reward. I accept this honor not for myself, but for the scientific community’s collective commitment to reason and discovery. Lead not with ego, but evidence. Progress depends on it. Our fragile world depends on it. Thank you.”
He wasn’t talking about us. His view of order and routine over everything else had led him to his scientific discoveries.Iwas what he couldn’t comprehend or control. Maybe that was okay.
Being here, doing this with him, was thrilling. We felt like a team instead of opposing forces. It was like somehow, at some point without me realizing it, we’d stopped pretending and really had become friends.
As he slowly crossed the room, people stopped him to talk and shake his hand. I stood in the back, waiting next to Jasper.
Gabriel’s words from the other night repeated in my head over and over on loop, just like they had a billion times since he’d said them.
I don’t like pretending with you, Layana.
I’d taken it as he didn’t like being around me, that he didn’t like acting like my friend. But the things he’d told me after, andthe way he’d responded to that over-enthusiastic fan, had me thinking maybe I was wrong.
