by Kyanna Skye
“Sure.”
“Thanks,” he said. He was just about to replace the sticky notes and the pen when he stopped; his eyes rolled in their sockets for a second before he scribbled a second note, folded it and passed it to her as well.
“Another note?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied as he opened the door. “But that one’s for you.”
She was confused by his words and it must have shown because he winked at her as he closed the door behind him, “See you in class tomorrow.”
Alone in her room again she looked down at the second piece of paper in her hand curiously. She began to sense that there might have been another prank involved in this and began to think that maybe Rick’s momentary lapse of humanity had faded.
Just when I had a moment of thinking he wasn’t so bad, she thought irritably as she unfolded the piece of paper. When she looked at it, a short message was written across the surface.
Let this be one time you need help.
Pluripotent.
- R
She stared at the small message, her confusion growing until at last it dawned on her. The obviousness of it all hit her like a Mack Truck at top speed.
That’s it… that’s the answer to the damn problem! It was so simple it was beyond obvious! It was almost childish that she didn’t know the answer. It was like that day in class when Rick hadn’t known that “photosynthesis” had been the answer to their teacher’s question. But now she was the one who looked childishly foolish.
“Oh my god,” she murmured, looking at the closed door and the figure that no longer stood there.
He knew… he knew the damn answer! Did that really just happen? Did I imagine it?
She looked down at the small note in her hand. No…, that simple scrap of paper, was proof enough for her that what had just happened was real. As real as listening to Rick talks about how Nichole was giving him shit and that he was upset about it. It didn’t seem real… it was like a dragon had just entered into her room and played “Johnny B. Goode” on a xylophone or something.
She could only sit there on her bed, amazed.
Jenny walked into chem lab the following morning with a curious sense of apprehension. The same thought kept circling in her mind the same way buzzards circled over a carcass.
Rick knew the answer to the homework issue!
She still couldn’t wrap her head around it. From what she had learned of Rick in past weeks, he had been an ass hat to the umpteenth degree… but at least he did his work. He never did his work this well, but at least he had something to turn in by the end of it all. But this… it was like finding out that one of those smart monkeys that could type Shakespeare had just gotten a degree in advanced biology. Even she hadn’t been able to figure out what the solution to their homework had been, and she was one of the top contenders in the class. But Rick Tigh, of all people, had literally given her the answer as casually as if he had been passing a note in class.
It was almost… brilliant?
Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch… but then again, maybe not. She had considered the possibility that Rick had simply gotten lucky. Maybe he’d read something in their text that she had missed… or asked someone else in the class for help? No, that didn’t seem likely. Rick barely asked her for help, and the only thing she’d seen him do with his textbook was to use it for a pillow once or twice when they were supposed to be studying.
But his answer to the problem, pluripotent, was actually insightful. It was a solution that she hadn’t even considered. She knew that they hadn’t read about such things in their text, and she hadn’t seen any notes given on it in class. The only explanation that held any plausibility was that Rick had actually thought about it and figured it out.
Even now, with the entire night and most of the morning to think about it, it still amazed her. And that made two instances in half as many days in which Rick Tigh had managed to impress her. First was what she had seen for herself to be a moment of genuine emotional vulnerability and the second had been some genius-level academic insight. If she hadn’t been there to see them both herself, she wouldn’t have believed that they actually happened.
She found that she was indeed looking forward to the lab today. They were supposed to discuss the homework issue in class and if Rick had been so inclined to share his thoughts… well, she was looking forward to seeing how well he worked with a little insight.
When he entered into class, tight shirt and all, she found herself stirring with a little honest excitement. When he sat down in his seat next to her, she felt a little… giddy? Maybe… but she wasn’t able to contain the smile that grew on her face.
“Good morning,” she said to him as he sat.
“S’up?” she replied in his usual jock-ish kind of way.
She felt her heart falter a little at that. She had expected something a little more normal than that, but she pressed on. “That was an interesting solution to the homework issue,” she said, anxious for a little more academic conversation from him.
He snickered. “You mean you actually did it?”
She nodded. “I never would have thought of it if you…”
“Good morning, everyone,” said the old professor as he walked into the room, depositing his old-fashioned leather briefcase on his desk and facing everyone with a warm smile. Everyone in class snapped to as the elder man spoke, books and notepads opening wide. “I hope you all had a good brainstorm over your assignment this past weekend. Let’s begin the discussions, shall we? Now, who here can tell me what the most likely solution is – biologically speaking – to the problem that I posed to you?”
Jenny knew what was about to happen and waited, almost excited to hear what was about to happen as the professor’s eyes came to rest on Rick. This was part of his usual routine since Rick was likely dead-last in the class academically speaking the old teacher liked to make an example of him to others. “Mr. Tigh,” he said, his voice filled with predictable anticipation, “what solution did you arrive at?”
Jenny looked at her partner and waited. She was eager for him to give the single word that would undoubtedly astound and amaze their teacher. Just to hear Rick utter the simple word would feel like a breath of the proverbial fresh air and fuel her hopes that maybe he wasn’t so bad and that their studies were important to him as well.
“Uh… cornstarch… some kind of syrup… red dye number 5 I think it was…” Rick began to utter, his eyes rolling as if he were plunging the depths of his memory and taxing his mind to great degrees.
Jenny frowned.
“Hold it right there,” the prof said, holding up a hand and stopping him. “What are you getting at, Mr. Tigh?”
“I was looking at the ingredients to the energy drink that I had this morning… it’s all I could remember.” He shrugged. “I thought it sounded smart.”
There was a small titter from the class, but the professor looked unfazed.
Jenny felt the familiar weight of disappointment settling down on her whenever Rick did something stupid that made her look bad. Only this time she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. What? What the hell is he…?
“Mr. Tigh,” the professor said, his voice neutral as if he had anticipated this very response from Rick, “did you even do the homework that was assigned to you?”
Rick shook his head. “No, sir… I was busy with practice this weekend.”
For a moment, there was a tenseness that hung in the air, but Jenny didn’t have the heart to break it. She wanted to smack Rick across the shoulder and make him tell the truth. She wanted him to be that insightful and emotional person that she had seen in her room last night. But it seemed that that person – whoever he had been – had gone.
“Disappointing, but not unexpected,” the prof said, looking to her. “Ms. Tyll, I’m sure you fared better than your partner. Would you care to share your insights with the class?”
For a moment she felt a new weight upon her, this one settling
upon her and making it feel as if she had the whole class standing upon her chest. For a second the word would not form in her mouth until she took a short breath and responded, “Pluripotent.”
The professor’s eyes brightened and his old wizened teeth shown with a look of unmistakable glee. Out of her periphery, she could see others in the class looking down at their own homework papers in disappointment and then look at her as if she had had a stroke of brilliance that none of them had considered.
“Yes!” the professor said, his voice filled with awe. “That… is a very clever solution, Ms. Tyll. Hypothetically speaking, yes, pluripotent would serve very well indeed!” He gave an astonished gasp. “I must confess, even I had not considered that option… I’m impressed Ms. Tyll. Why don’t we start with that today?”
Jenny felt like her lungs had just been filled with tar and then set ablaze. She was thankful that the professor turned his back to her and quickly rushed to the dry erase board and began to write out the definition of a pluripotent and its various attributes because she couldn’t bear to look at the older man for a second more.
She did, however, look to Rick.
He looked as unconcerned as ever and opened his notebook. His pen began to move in lazy shapes on the page, drawing more naked women.
Her fist tightened around her own pen as she forced her gaze forward, watching the professor as he kick-started their class discussion.
Jenny sat alone at a table in the dining hall that night. She followed her usual routine of waiting until the dining room had cleared out so that she could sit and study while she ate. When she waited until the dining hall was nearly empty, well after the dinner rush, she found that the large room was actually quite serene. It made for a perfect study place.
She had found a table where she could sit alone and was busy re-reading a chapter from chemistry when the familiar voice of the biggest ass hat that she knew drew her attention away from her book.
“Can I sit with you?”
She froze, not bothering to turn around. She felt her fist tighten around her fork and rather than answer she took another spoonful of the gravy-laden mashed potatoes into her mouth and chewed softly and silently as if she hadn’t heard him speak. She didn’t want to be near him right now. She didn’t even want to look at him after what he’d said – or hadn’t said – today.
After only a few seconds he circled around to the side of the table opposite her and settled down, holding a tray that was laden with a serving of the same food she was half-finished with.
She wasn’t able to hold her silence. “I didn’t say it was okay for you to sit down.” She kept her eyes forward and glued into her book, watching him only peripherally.
He shrugged. “My dad says that sometimes it’s best to take unilateral action. Sometimes it has results that one doesn’t expect.”
You don’t say, she thought sarcastically, and she nearly scoffed at him. “Unilateral? That’s a big word for you to use.”
“Yeah?” he asked, stirring his gravy into his mashed potatoes. “You think so?”
“Yes,” she replied, unable to hold back the venom that was building up inside of her. “But do you know what would have been a more impressive word for you to use today?” She paused, allowing the silence to build tension. “Pluripotent.”
He chuckled as he took a mouthful of his potatoes and began to cut a small piece of the beef brisket that he’d gotten. “Yeah, that would have been impressive, wouldn’t it? Especially coming out of me… who would have believed it?”
She couldn’t answer that. The truth was that the only person who would have believed it would have been her, but only she would have known the reason why. And if he had said it then everyone would have assumed that she had been the one to tell him the answer. That was getting to be the routine that she and he fell into while they were in class. But up until today, she had been able to honestly take credit for the more interesting insights.
But today… it felt like she had cheated. The feeling made her stomach churn.
“You’re such an asshole,” she said through gritted teeth but still didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes forward, but she wasn’t able to continue reading. She stared at the page blankly, not taking in another word of what was written there.
He slowed in the carving of his meat for only an instant, like her insult had actually given him pause, but then his pace returned to normal as he took his cutlet into his mouth. “Do you really think so?”
“I know so,” she shot back and unable to help herself she finally looked him in the face. His eyes were watching her, the dark brownness of them was almost captivating, and his depleted beard made him look… distinguished somehow. “That was a brilliant idea you had… why didn’t you tell the professor the truth? We both know that it was your idea!”
He looked down at his plate, a small look coming over his face that resembled… shame? “It’s complicated.”
“Then un-complicate it!”
He sighed as he cut a second piece from off of his meat. “My dad.”
She furrowed her brow. “That’s your complicated reason for not letting everyone see that you can actually think about something other than football and naked women?”
He nodded. “Pretty much,” then he paused and looked at her. “You don’t know who my dad is, do you?”
She kept her face neutral. She had no idea who his father was.
He grew a small smile. “Well… that explains a lot.”
She shook her head uncomprehendingly. “What does your father have to do with any of this?”
“Oh, my ‘father’?” he asked, his voice amused. “I like the way you say that… it makes him sound so important. Of course, that wouldn’t be far from the truth.”
“You’re still being an asshole,” she retorted.
The second insult seemed to pierce him again and after only a moment he sighed. “My dad is kind of a big deal… you might have heard of him. NFL superstar Neil Tigh.”
Jenny had no idea who that was. She didn’t follow sports in the least of ways when there were plenty of other names in the world of science that she had to keep straight. She shook her head again. “I don’t get it.”
He took a sip of water from his cup. “Well, allow me to try and… what did you say… un-complicate it? I’m pretty sure that you’ve reasoned it out already that I’m here on a football scholarship. My dad was too, he laid the whole game plan out for me; as long as I do the bare minimum and keep my grades at average, I can focus more on ball than anything else. If I play dumb in my classes, the Profs go easy on me and don’t expect a whole hell of a lot out of me.”
Jenny almost wanted to laugh. It sounded like the kind of thing that a father on a sitcom would tell his son to do. But just as she had the previous night, she couldn’t detect any sign of a lie from him. He was telling the truth.
“But… I’m sorry if I embarrassed you today. I really am.”
That took her by surprise. Of all of the things that she had expected that he might say, she hadn’t thought he’d apologize for being stupid. Or rather that he was pretending to be stupid. “Huh?”
“I saw you flush,” he said casually, “when the old fart looked at you to give him the answer. Your cheeks turned red. Haven’t seen that look on your face since…” he paused; looking a little embarrassed himself, “since the morning that you and I… met.”
Again, she couldn’t detect that he was lying. And again she was impressed to hear such a detailed observation come from out of him. Yup… he was definitely pretending to be stupid.
“And for the record,” he went on, “I do think about other things besides football and naked women.”
“Speaking of which,” she interrupted, looking at her watch, “where’s Nichole? I thought you two had a party to go to tonight?”
He took another drink from his cup. “No.”
“No?”
“No. It’s kind of awkward to go to a party with someone when you’v
e just broken up with them.” He looked across the table at her. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever been in that situation, though, have you?”
She froze, looking curiously at him. “You broke up?”
“This morning… right before class.” He said it so casually it was like he was telling her that he stepped on a cockroach on the sidewalk.
She was stunned. Again, he had managed to surprise her with his words. Rick Tigh had always seemed to her like a stingy kid who refused to share his toys. And for him to have a plaything like Nicole and suddenly let her go…? The ideas didn’t even sit together inside of her mind.
Unless, Nichole was the one who broke up with him? That seemed more likely. She remembered what he’d been saying the previous night about how Nichole was filling his life with the kind of excitement that he didn’t like. Maybe her redheaded roommate had finally reached her limit?
If that was so, then Rick seemed to wear his rejection as easily as he wore their teacher’s bereavement of his intelligence. Maybe there wasn’t a beating heart underneath all of that muscle after all.
“I’m sorry she dumped you,” she said simply.
“No, I dumped her,” he said. Again, his words were so casual it was like he was telling her the color of the shirt he was wearing. And yet again, she was surprised to hear him say so. But before she could say anything he pressed on. “I was tired of her shit, and she’s getting bat-shit crazy.” He paused, “Besides, my dad doesn’t want me to get – shall we say – too attached to any one girl.”
Jenny only stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. “Why?”
He shrugged. “If they get too attached to me, I’m supposed to unload them. My dad had three ex-wives before I was born. He only stuck to my mom until after I was born. He tells me that having women won’t be a problem when I get drafted by the NFL.”
