Tied Up in You

by Erin Fletcher

  “Innocent would have been calling a friend to stay with her. A girl friend. Good night, Jackson.”

  “Wait,” I said.

  By some miracle, he did.

  “I know I messed up. I owe Malina an apology. I figured she wouldn’t necessarily listen to how sorry I am, so I wanted to show her. That’s why I’m here. Not to talk to her. To do something for her.”

  Mr. Hall’s expression changed very slightly from anger to curiosity. He motioned for me to come in so he could close the door.

  “Explain,” he said.

  I kept my voice as quiet as possible. “I know she’s stressed and hasn’t been able to get her STEM project to work. I want to look at it. See if there’s anything I can do to help.”

  Mr. Hall scoffed. “Malina has worked on that for months. You think you can fix it in a few minutes?”

  My face warmed. Of course the plan probably sounded idiotic. It probably was idiotic. But I had to try. “I’ll work on it all night if I have to. I want to show her that I’m not giving up on her, and she shouldn’t give up on herself. Plus, I have a trick up my sleeve.”

  He narrowed his eyebrows. “What kind of trick?”

  “A brilliant friend who’s waiting for my call. Please, Mr. Hall. Let me stay and work on this for her. Let me apologize.”

  He considered it for a long time. Too long. I squirmed under his stare. But finally, he nodded. “Okay. But mostly because I’m curious. And because, even though she made some terrible decisions, I still love my daughter.”

  Relief washed over me. The hardest part was over. Well, at least the hardest part except the reason I was there. “Thank you.”

  He hesitated before walking away. “You should know that I’ll be sleeping with the door open. And I’m a very light sleeper.”

  “I’m not going to step foot upstairs. I don’t even want her to know I’m here.”

  “Good,” he said. “Get to work.”

  With quiet footsteps, I walked into the living room and over to the planets. It looked like everything I’d need was there…all of her materials, her laptop, even some notes. It was overwhelming, like trying to play hockey in a pitch-black rink while using a pool cue and a ping-pong ball instead of a puck and a stick.

  I powered up the laptop. Thankfully, I knew her password, which she hadn’t changed in years. I also knew enough to know which program she was working in. The first thing I did was back up the file, so that if I broke anything, there would be an automatic reset available. Then I powered up the project and started it, hoping that maybe I’d stumble upon some beginner’s luck. That maybe all that was needed was for someone different to try the program on a different day. But like Malina had said, only the rotation of the planets, around their axes and around the sun, worked. The lights stayed off. I fumbled my way through the code, and after a few false starts, I figured out how to turn off the rotation and ran the program again. This time, the lights worked. It really was beautiful, with the sun giving off the majority of the light, and the other planets giving off varying amounts depending on their location and whatever other factors Malina had studied. My pride swelled over how much she’d accomplished so far. The lights even dimmed and brightened and shifted on a semi-regular schedule, as if they were supposed to rotate, but couldn’t.

  A quiet throat clearing made me jump. Thankfully, it wasn’t Malina, but Mr. Hall. He held out a mug to me.

  “Thought you might need some coffee.”

  I accepted the peace offering. “Definitely. Thank you.”

  He nodded and let me return to work. My eyes and head started to ache as I struggled to catch up to the places Malina had spent weeks and months getting to. I was so caught up in the work that I almost didn’t hear Mr. Hall say, “What do you need to go downstairs for?”

  Instantly, my heart shot into my throat. It was late enough that Malina should have been getting ready to go to bed—she was definitely an “early to bed, early to rise” kind of person—but those were her footsteps on the stairs. I jumped up and ran over to the armchair, diving behind it so that if she looked in the living room, she wouldn’t be able to see me.

  “I need to get my laptop. I guess I need to start looking for more scholarships.”

  Shit. If she went for her computer and saw that it was on and open to the project program, my plan would fall apart. All I could do was hope and pray that Mr. Hall would be able and willing to stall somehow.

  “Malina,” he said, “you had a rough day. I know you’re still upset, and I know you’re tired. Is now really the time to be looking for more scholarships? Is that really putting your best foot forward? Why don’t you call it a night and start fresh again tomorrow?”

  There was a pause—too long of a pause.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I—”

  “Why don’t you go on upstairs? I’ll bring you some of that tea Tutu makes to help you sleep.”

  “Why are you spoiling me when I messed up so badly?” she asked.

  “Because I realized that everyone makes mistakes. Even me. Now head on up. I’ll be right there.”

  A second later, I heard Malina’s footsteps retreating up the stairs. The anxious pit that had formed in my stomach disappeared. I gave myself a few extra seconds, then poked my head up over the armchair. Mr. Hall was standing there with a smile on his face, like he was incredibly proud of what he’d done.

  “How’s that for distraction?” he asked.

  “Amazing,” I said. “Thank you.”

  Then I headed back to work while he went to the kitchen to make tea.

  I continued studying for a while, getting acclimated and making sure Malina was, in fact, going to sleep. Finally, when the house was completely quiet and I’d gotten about as far as I could without any assistance, I took my phone out of my pocket. I tapped into my contacts and started a FaceTime call. It only took a second for Troy’s face to appear on the screen.

  “You’re in?” he asked.

  I adjusted the volume so I could hear him, but definitely no one else in the house could. “I’m in, and so far outside of my comfort zone, I don’t even remember what my comfort zone looks like.”

  “Sometimes that’s what it takes to get the girl,” he said.

  “Yeah. And sometimes it takes the help of a friend.”

  Troy rubbed his hands together. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Malina

  When I woke up the first time on Sunday morning, I remembered everything that had happened the day before, groaned, rolled over, and went back to sleep so I wouldn’t have to deal with reality for a little while longer.

  When I woke up the second time, the house smelled like coffee and pancakes. As much as I didn’t want to face the day and deal with the mess I’d made, making things right would be a lot easier to do with caffeine and sugary syrup.

  I sighed, stretched, and unplugged my phone from the charger on my dresser. For a second, I let myself believe that I’d have an email saying I could reschedule the interview. Or a text from Jackson saying that everything yesterday had been a mistake and we could make it through this. Or both. Instead, there was neither. Just a text from Izzy, asking how the interview went.

  As much as I loved the girl, I couldn’t deal with responding to that text right then. She’d have to wait. I threw off the covers, went to the bathroom, and headed downstairs.

  Dad was flipping pancakes at the stove. “Good morning,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Did you sleep well?”

  Despite the stress of the day, I had slept well. Maybe being that stressed out was not only emotionally exhausting, but also physically exhausting. “Yeah, I did. Thanks. How’s Tutu?”

  “Well, she complained about the hospital breakfast, so I guess that’s a good sign.”

  It was a good sign, and I’d take it.

  “Pancakes will be ready soon,” Dad said.

  There wasn’t any hint of the anger or frustration from the day befor
e in his voice. Whatever my mom had said to him in that hospital waiting room must have been the right thing to say. I grabbed my favorite mug, filled it most of the way with coffee, and then added enough flavored creamer from the fridge so it wouldn’t actually taste like coffee. When I closed the fridge, Dad was waiting for the next batch of pancakes to cook.

  “Why don’t you go have your coffee in the living room?” he suggested.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I can wait in here.”

  Then I heard a noise from the direction of the living room. I froze, suddenly suspicious. If the only people home were in the kitchen, who was out there? And why did my dad want me to go out there? Clutching my mug, I walked cautiously out of the kitchen. Someone was standing in the corner of the room near my project. But not just someone. “Jackson?”

  He turned and smiled. “Good morning.”

  Despite our argument the day before, my heart still gave a little jolt seeing him. Then I realized that I hadn’t even looked in the mirror when I went to the bathroom. I quickly set down my mug and ran my fingers through my sleep-styled hair. The good news was that I wasn’t wearing embarrassing pajamas. “What are you doing here so early?”

  “Actually, I’ve been here all night.”

  The words made it to my ears, but then bounced right back out. “What? Why? And what are you doing with my project?”

  The same excited smile he got when he talked about hockey players and NHL teams crossed his face. “You know how you couldn’t get both the rotation and the lighting to work together?”

  I frowned. “Yes.”

  “I found the problem.”

  Maybe it was because I hadn’t had caffeine yet or maybe it was the words themselves, but my brain couldn’t process that. “You what?”

  “I figured out why it wouldn’t work. It’s a few lines of code that need to be fixed.”

  “But…but I’ve gone over every single line of code with a fine-tooth comb.”

  He waved me over to my laptop, which was resting on the coffee table, the cord running over the couch to the outlet on the wall. When I went over, the first thing he did was hold up his hands in innocence. “I haven’t changed a thing. This is your original code.”

  Yeah. The code I’d struggled with for months. I was familiar with it. “Jackson, I’ve already tried everything. The project is due tomorrow. I’m not going to make it. I’ve accepted that.”

  “No offense,” he said, “but you haven’t tried everything. Look at these lines.” He highlighted some of the code on the screen.

  That was where everything seemed to fall apart, which I already knew. But I could humor him.

  “Okay. I’m looking. But what am I looking at?”

  “You’re really close, but the problem is that you coded them so that the lights and rotation work separately and together, or that’s what you wanted to happen, right? But what you have to do is concatenate them using the logic that they fail if separate, but both execute if together.”

  My jaw dropped open. “How do you know that? And when did you learn the word ‘concatenate?’” But before I could wait for an answer, my curiosity got the best of me, and I looked into the code. Maybe he was right. It was something I’d never tried before. Breaking the logic to require the two to be dependent never would have crossed my mind. I backed up the current code so I could start messing around.

  Before I could get too absorbed, Jackson said, “I’ll let you work. I have to get to practice soon anyway. If I miss another one, I’m pretty sure I’ll be kicked off the team. But there’s one more thing I wanted to show you.” He tapped his phone screen a few times, then held it out to me.

  On the screen was an email from the University of Southern California, thanking him for his application. A warm feeling started radiating out from my chest. I was pretty sure it was pride.

  “You applied to USC?”

  He shrugged. “The coach has been bugging me. Who knew a school in California would have a decent ice hockey program, right? Plus, it happens to only be thirty minutes away from one of the best astrophysics programs in the country.”

  Caltech. If I let myself dream, it would probably be my first choice. Well, my first realistic choice after Harvard and Princeton. And Jackson applied nearby. Jackson applied to a school. The pride in my chest grew. I threw myself at him in a hug he obviously wasn’t prepared for, because he had to take a step back to steady himself. But then he hugged me back. Like my best friend. Like more than my best friend. Like everything could possibly be okay again.

  I pushed back so I could see his face. “Wait. You did that last night, too? Were you up all night? And how did you know all that coding stuff? I always knew you were smart. You should be the one submitting this project and going to Caltech, not me.”

  He laughed and held up a hand to stop me. “I’m not that smart. I did look into the code a lot, but I had to call in some help.”

  I narrowed my eyebrows. Who could he have possibly asked for help on this?

  “Troy,” he said, answering my unspoken question. “I FaceTimed with him about fifteen different times last night until we figured it out.”

  “Oh my gosh,” I said. “You did that for me? Jackson…thank you. I…” I stammered. “I don’t even know what to say.”

  “We didn’t fix it for you. Wanted you to be the one to do that so you can take all the credit. I have no clue if this will actually work, but Troy seems to think it will, and if there’s anyone in the world who can make it work, it’s you. I have complete faith in you, Malina. And I have faith in us, too.”

  Those words made the warmth in my chest explode. I hugged him again, but this time he was ready for it. “I’m sorry I said all those things about you yesterday. I was upset about the interview.”

  He held me tighter. “I know. It’s okay. And I’m sorry for the way I called you out, too. That wasn’t cool.”

  “I think it was the nudge I needed.” I let him go and said, “Honestly, I think missing that interview might have been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  He grinned. “I agree. And I’m glad a good night’s sleep changed your perspective on that.” He checked his phone again. “I really have to get to practice. I’ll come by after to see how it’s going, okay?”

  “Thank you, Jackson. For doing this. For believing in me.”

  “You’re welcome. And thank you for pushing me.”

  “Thank Troy for me, too.”

  He waved me off. “You know he’s into all of that kind of stuff. It was fun for him. The people I really need to thank are Krista and all of our teammates who have to deal with both of us on no sleep.”

  I laughed. “True.”

  He gave me a quick kiss, which I was glad was quick because I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet. We said good-bye, and then he was gone.

  Instead of sitting down with my cup of coffee, I sat in front of my computer and got to work.

  “Pancakes are ready,” Dad said, sticking his head into the living room.

  “Can I get some in a few minutes? I have to do this while it’s fresh in my mind.”

  “Sure. Did Jackson leave?”

  “Yeah, he had to get to practice. Thank you for letting him stay here last night. What he did was…kind of amazing.”

  Dad gave a little smile. “You deserve amazing.”

  That comment gave me hope that we might be able to have the conversation we needed to have.

  “Hey, Dad, can I talk to you for a second?”

  He walked over and sat on the edge of the couch. “Sure. What’s up?”

  I took a deep breath. “I want to go to Caltech. Or maybe Rice or Berkley. I don’t want to go to an in-state school, because none of them have the program I want. I don’t want to go into business. I want to go into astrophysics. I know it’s expensive and I know it’s hard and competitive and it might not work out, but I feel like I have to try.”

  For a second, Dad didn’t react at all. I wasn’t sure what I expect
ed. For him to blow up at me? To kick me out of the house? To give me a list of 432 reasons why this was the worst idea in the history of ever? But then he sighed. “Okay.”

  All of the defenses that I’d mentally prepared slipped away. That certainly wasn’t what I’d expected.

  “What? Did you say okay?”

  “I did a lot of thinking last night. I don’t think you would have missed that interview if the path I had you on was the path you actually wanted to go down. The bottom line is that I want you to be secure, Malina. I don’t want you to have to struggle like I did, and I thought I found a solution for you for that. But the truth is that you have people in your life who are going to make sure you don’t struggle. And the last thing I want is to stand in the way of your dreams. I’ve been doing that too much, and I’m sorry about that.”

  All of the oxygen left my lungs. Whoa. “Dad…that means the world to me.”

  He nodded once. “I may not be able to pay Caltech’s tuition for you, and I may not be able to fix code for you, and I may not have a connection to get you a job in a field you really want, but I can support you. Be there for you. Which is what I’m going to do. No matter what.”

  I jumped up from my computer and wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you. You’re the best.”

  He patted my back before letting me go. “I’m not the best. I’m not the one who stayed up all night studying code for you.”

  “That is awesome, but you’re still the best.”

  “Good. Now get to work. I expect to see that up and running, or else no pancakes for you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Jackson

  If I thought being nervous before a big game was bad, I was wrong. This was worse. Way worse. I was sitting in an uncomfortable, metal folding chair in a packed room, watching the STEM scholarship competition finalists give their presentations. I bounced my leg up and down, the same way I did in games when the backup goalie was in the net and I was on the bench with nothing to do but watch. The first few projects had been cool, but I’d barely been able to focus on them because I couldn’t stop thinking about Malina. What was she doing backstage right then? Was she nervous? What would happen if her project didn’t work the way she wanted it to?