by Destiny, A.
“Logan?” She stopped the leg lifts and stared at me, a smile playing around the edges of her mouth. “What about him? I’m right, aren’t I? You finally decided you’re destined to be together and want me to be the first to know?”
“No. I mean maybe. I mean . . .” I took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, okay? That’s why I need to talk to you.”
She did another leg lift. “Tell me,” she said simply.
So I did. I filled her in on everything that had happened in art class, and the confusing thoughts and feelings that had resulted. She listened quietly, her legs steadily pumping up and down.
“. . . so then we walked out together, and we were saying good-bye out in the hall before he went to his next class, and things got a little awkward again,” I finished. “He kind of squeezed my arm, and then acted like he wished he hadn’t, and—”
“Wait—he touched you?” Her big brown eyes got even bigger. Dropping the weights, she sat up and spun on the machine’s vinyl seat so she was facing me. “Okay, that’s major!”
“No, wait, it wasn’t a big deal.” I immediately guessed by her reaction that I must have overstated what had happened. “I mean, it was just a quick shoulder squeeze. Like this.”
I demonstrated on her. She nodded.
“Okay, but it’s still him touching you. That’s key,” she said. “I mean, how often do random boys just touch you?”
I thought about that. Not counting adults (like my dad and uncle) or little kids, or random idiots crashing into me accidentally in the halls because they were horsing around, I couldn’t remember the last time a male of the species had made casual skin-to-skin contact. Or skin-to-shirt. Whatever.
Still, I wanted to be logical about this. Study the issue from every angle. Not jump to any conclusions.
“Okay,” I said. “But still, Logan has lived all over the world. Maybe he’s used to, like, touchier cultures or something.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Why can’t you get it through your thick head, Bails? Logan is totally into you! It’s obvious you’re both—”
“Shh!” I hushed her, noticing that Zoe, Matt, and Darius were coming toward us.
“Hey.” Darius flopped down on the rowing machine beside us. “Did I hear you guys talking about Logan?”
“No,” I said at the same time Simone said, “Yes.”
I shot her a dirty look. She didn’t notice, since she was tipping her head up so Matt could give her a quick kiss while Ms. Wren wasn’t looking.
“So what’re you doing talking about some other guy?” Matt asked Simone in his fake macho voice. “Don’t forget, you’re my woman.”
Simone rolled her eyes. “I don’t belong to you or anyone else, man,” she retorted with a smirk. “Anyway, it’s not me he’s interested in.” She slid her eyes in my direction.
“Really?” Zoe looked interested. “Bailey and Logan? Cute.”
“No, wait.” I didn’t want to start this. Not in front of everyone.
Matt leaned against an empty elliptical machine and studied me. “I talked some with Logan in homeroom,” he said. “He seems pretty cool. Maybe even cool enough to be worthy of going out with Bailey.”
“I agree.” Simone shot me a smug smile. “You guys need to help me convince her to give him a shot.”
Zoe reached over and punched me lightly on the arm. “Go for it, Myers. Logan’s hot.”
“Hold on, hold on—give the poor girl a break, matchmakers,” Darius put in with a laugh. “I mean, she just met the guy. And so what if he’s got the hots for her—doesn’t mean she has to like him back.”
“He doesn’t have the hots for me,” I blurted out. “I mean, I don’t think—I mean . . .” I was totally embarrassed and a little confused. It was becoming an all-too-familiar feeling lately.
“But how does she know if she likes him if she doesn’t give him a chance?” Simone argued. “I’m not saying she has to marry the guy or anything.”
“Yeah,” Matt agreed.
Zoe shrugged. “Hey, Bailey’s probably the smartest person I know—she can make up her own mind.” She grinned at me. “But for the record, I still say you should go for it.”
“Me too,” Simone said. “And I know Ling would vote with us if she were here. I was talking to her about Logan last period, and she’s already a big fan too.”
“Whatever.” I could feel that my face was bright red, and it definitely wasn’t from pumping iron. “Can we stop talking about this now, please?”
“But—” Simone began.
“Seriously!” I glared at her. “Enough.”
Simone shrugged. “Fine.”
Matt and Darius traded a look. “Uh, Wren’s giving us a dirty look. We should probably get back to it,” Darius said.
“Let’s hit the power cage next, bro,” Matt suggested.
The two guys headed off, with Zoe wandering along behind them. That left me alone with Simone again.
“Um, sorry?” she said, shooting me a sidelong look.
I gritted my teeth. “Does everything have to be a group discussion around here?”
“They just want you to be happy, like I do.” Simone got up so I could take her place on the weight machine. “That’s why I want you to give Logan a chance. I can tell this guy’s different.”
“You can?” I asked cautiously.
“I’ve never seen you react this way to anyone before.” Simone gazed at me earnestly as I sat down on the bench and slid my legs under the weight bar. “You’ve got to see if there’s something to this. I’ll do whatever I can to help—maybe you guys can double-date with Matt and me if that makes you feel better. Just tell me what you need.”
Ms. Wren walked by just then, giving me an excuse not to answer for a moment. I pumped my legs like a madwoman, turning over what Simone was saying in my head. Could she be right? Was it worth trying to find out whether those sparks were real? It was just so hard to believe that someone like me could ever have anything in common with a good-looking, effortlessly popular guy like Logan.
Closing my eyes, I pictured Logan—his adorably crooked smile, his blue eyes, those broad shoulders under his MIT T-shirt . . . Hmm. The MIT shirt reminded me of his science-genius family. Come to think of it, maybe we did have something in common after all.
Hearing a shout of laughter from across the weight room, I opened my eyes and saw Matt and Darius goofing off over there. They were both popular, good-looking guys, and neither of them had seemed weirded out by the idea of me going out with someone like Logan. Neither had Zoe.
So what was the worst that could happen if I gave it a shot? If I decided to follow my heart instead of my head for once, just to see where things might go?
It wasn’t such a crazy idea, was it? I mean, even the best scientists had to make a leap of faith once in a while. Otherwise, maybe Darwin never would have come up with his theory of evolution. Alexander Fleming might never have taken a closer look at that mold that became penicillin.
Okay, not that this was the same thing. At all. But maybe that was how I could think of it: as a science experiment.
Like Simone said, what did I have to lose?
Chapter Six
How’s my hair?” I asked Simone as the two of us headed down the narrow, windowless hallway leading to the science wing. “I hate having gym so early in the day.”
She glanced up from her notes, which she was shuffling through frantically as she walked. “Huh? Oh, it’s fine. You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” I was actually kind of glad she was so distracted. I was nervous enough about seeing Logan again without Simone giving me flirting advice or trying to put more makeup on me.
When we stepped into Mr. Ba’s classroom, more than half the class was there already. Most of them were at their desks, looking pale and anxious as they paged through notes and textbooks, muttering about RNA and nucleotides and stuff.
Simone rushed over to say hi to Taylor and Megan, who
were in their seats over near the windows. Taylor had wrapped a strand of blond hair around her pinky finger and was tugging on it, like she always did when she was nervous. Megan looked even paler than usual, and I was pretty sure she was doing a yoga move in her chair to calm herself down.
I lingered just inside the doorway, looking for Logan without quite admitting to myself I was doing it. Mr. Ba’s classroom was actually two rooms in one. The front half followed the typical layout with rows of desks. Behind that was the lab, which held a dozen big worktables and all kinds of other equipment. Tall sliding doors could be pulled shut to separate the two areas when necessary (like during dissection weeks, when the smell back there could get a little too strong).
Today the sliding doors were wide open, and there was no sign of Logan in either half of the classroom. What if he’d made a mistake—what if he wasn’t in this bio section after all? Maybe he’d changed his schedule since I’d talked to him last, or—
“Bailey! Hey,” a voice said directly behind me.
I spun around. “L-Logan!” I blurted out.
“Sorry.” He smiled. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You didn’t. I mean, you did. But it’s okay. I mean . . .” I forced myself to pause and take a deep breath. So far this wasn’t going quite how I’d pictured it. “How was English class?”
“Okay. We’re reading Of Mice and Men, which I did last year.” He stepped aside to let a couple of students hurry into the classroom. “I’m a little more worried about this class, actually. I think it might be more advanced than I realized when I signed up.”
“It’s not so bad.” I shrugged. “I mean, yeah, Mr. Ba can be pretty intense sometimes. But hey, you live with two super-successful scientists, right? Should be a piece of cake for you.”
He hesitated, scanning the room. “I don’t know. I just—”
“What’s going on here?” Mr. Ba’s lightly accented voice interrupted him. “You’re not thinking of making a run for it before the test starts, Bailey?”
Seeing Mr. Ba always made me smile, and only partly because he taught my favorite subject. He was brilliant and energetic and passionate about science—basically everything I admired and wanted to be someday. He was tall and lean, with skin so dark it was shiny and a wide smile that seemed to swallow up half his face.
“Hi, Mr. Ba,” I greeted him. “Nope, not staging an escape. I was just talking to Logan. He’s new.”
“Yes, so I hear. Welcome, young man.” Mr. Ba looked Logan up and down, then pulled a computer printout from the pocket of his corduroy blazer. “Logan Morse, yes?”
“That’s right,” Logan said. “I hope I’m not too far behind to manage this class.”
“Anyone who’s willing to open his mind and learn can do just fine here. Come on in.” Mr. Ba smiled at Logan, then strode past us into the classroom. “Good morning, class,” he said loudly. “We have a new student joining us today—Mr. Morse. He’ll be sitting between Mr. Menendez and Ms. Myers. Please adjust yourselves accordingly.”
A chorus of groans and complaints rose from the class. “What’s going on?” Logan murmured to me.
“Mr. Ba likes alphabetical seating,” I whispered back, trying not to grin like a loon when I realized what this meant—I’d be sitting right behind Logan for the rest of the year. “Just one of his little quirks, I guess.”
Mr. Ba clapped his hands. “No dilly-dallying! Everyone from Ms. Myers through Ms. Whitman simply move one seat back.”
“But the test . . . ,” Taylor whined. Her last name was Rhoads, so she was one of the people who needed to move. Since she and Megan had been right across the aisle from each other, it also meant they’d be split up. Too bad for them, but I was sure they’d survive.
“The test shall begin once everyone is in their new seats.” Mr. Ba turned toward Logan. “Hmm, now what to do with you?”
“He doesn’t have to take the test today, does he?” I asked. Even with Logan’s science-savvy DNA, that seemed like too much to ask.
“Of course not,” Mr. Ba replied.
“Whew!” Logan blew out a sigh. “That’s a relief.”
“Take your seat please, Bailey.” Mr. Ba gestured for Logan to follow him.
I sat down in my new seat right behind the old one—which was now Logan’s. Then I turned and watched as Mr. Ba led Logan through the classroom into the lab area. The teacher’s voice carried to the rest of us as he patted the smooth, chemical-resistant top of one of the lab tables.
“Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Morse. Once I get the others started on the test, I’ll return and advise you on the reading you’ll need to do to catch up. You can take the test in a week or so.”
“What?” someone called out. “If he’s not even sitting out here today, why’d we have to move seats?”
Mr. Ba ignored the question. He slid the doors shut, blocking Logan from view. “All right, class,” he said. “Let’s get started.”
Once the test paper was in front of me, I forgot about everything else for a while. I was ready for the test. I could have taken it underwater and upside down with one hand tied behind my back. I delved into it, my brain clicking along in overdrive as I filled in the answers.
I was almost disappointed when I finished. Going back over the whole thing, I checked all my answers carefully. Then I looked up. Everyone else was still bent over their papers. Glancing at the clock above the door, I saw that I’d finished early. There were still almost fifteen minutes left in the class period.
After glancing through my answers once more, I stood and walked to the front of the room. “Finished?” Mr. Ba asked, looking up from the book he was reading.
I nodded, dropping my test paper on his desk.
“Show-off,” someone muttered from behind me. I was pretty sure it was Taylor. She didn’t always deal too well with pressure.
“All right, Bailey, take your seat,” Mr. Ba told me. “Or wait, I have a better idea. Why don’t you go back and see how Mr. Morse is making out? Perhaps you can help fill him in on the syllabus and answer any questions he might have about the material.”
“Oh!” I felt a flutter. “Okay. Sure.”
I turned and hurried straight past my desk and all the others. Sliding open the big door just a smidge, I slipped through. Logan was bent over his textbook, but he looked up when he heard the squeak of the door.
“Bailey!” he said. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I perched on the edge of the other stool at his lab table. “I finished early, so Mr. Ba said I should come back here and hang out.” Okay, that wasn’t exactly what he’d said. But it was what came out of my mouth. Besides, I doubted Logan actually needed my help getting up to speed in bio. He was practically born and bred to be a whiz in any science class.
“Cool.” Logan pushed away the textbook and ran a hand through his hair. “I need a break from this stuff anyway.”
“Yeah, I bet it can be tricky trying to figure out exactly where we are compared to your old school.”
“It’s not just that.” Logan sighed and shot me a look. “See, biology isn’t really my thing. Every time I try to understand it, my mind just goes all mushy.”
“What?” This didn’t compute. “But you—I mean . . .” Suddenly I realized what he must be talking about. “Oh, wait. What are you, more of a chemistry guy? Or physics, like your mom?”
“Nope.” He shrugged. “I know it’s weird, what with my parents and all. But I’m just not really into science.” He shot me his lopsided smile. “I think it’s really cool that you’re so into it, though.”
That was sweet. But I was too stunned to take it in just then.
He didn’t seem to notice my shock. “I guess I just don’t have the kind of mind that works that way, you know?” he said. “I’m way better at English, history—that kind of stuff.” He shrugged. “I actually do pretty well in those classes. You know—just so you don’t think I’m a total idiot.”
“I don’t think that,” I said
quickly.
My mind was spinning. Ever since I’d heard about his parents, I’d assumed he was like me, at least in that one very important way. That science was what the two of us had in common. That our common interests might possibly be the source of those sparks. A meeting of the minds or something.
Now? I wasn’t sure what to think.
Before I could figure it out, the sliding door slid open a bit. I looked up, expecting it to be Mr. Ba. Instead, I was surprised to see Megan slipping her curvy form through the small opening.
“What happened?” I blurted out. “Did you give up?”
Megan laughed, tossing her head so her luscious red waves danced around her shoulders. “Don’t be silly, Bailey. I finished early, just like you.”
“You—you did?” That was a first. Megan wasn’t normally a star student in bio. Far from it, actually.
But I wasn’t too worried about Megan’s newfound science smarts. I was still focused on Logan’s confession. This changed everything. Didn’t it?
Megan slid a stool over to join us. The lab tables were meant for two people, so we all ended up sort of squished together, with Logan in the middle.
“So how’s it going?” Megan asked him. “Is Bailey helping you get caught up? She’s, like, the smartest person in the class, so you can trust what she tells you.”
“Yeah, she’s been great.” Logan flashed me a smile.
Megan leaned on the table, chin in her hand and green eyes focused on Logan. “So Ling tells me you’ve lived all over the world, Logan.”
“Yeah, she was asking me about that in English class,” he said.
“Oh, right.” I suddenly remembered that Ling had English third period. “I forgot she’d be in your class. I would’ve told you to look for her.”
“She found me,” Logan said. “She’s really friendly.”
“Yeah, she’s cool.” Megan played with the ends of her hair. “So what’s it like to live overseas? We’re always fantasizing about traveling through Europe, right, Bailey?”
“Um, yeah?” I vaguely recalled Megan and Simone giggling about fantasy shopping trips to Paris or Milan a few times.
