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Avery
Despite my claims to Grayson that loving to learn didn’t make me a dork, the truth is, I knew I was a geek. I didn’t mind, though. I really did enjoy learning, and I spent my entire life in the blissful world of social obscurity. Grayson Ke
Suddenly I was the subject of many rumors—the most popular being that I was Grayson’s new girlfriend. Everyone in school knew my name. People who’d never spoken to me before acted like we were best friends. It was crazy. Not that I didn’t appreciate what Grayson had done, but I wasn’t sure if he’d made things better for me, or worse.
I missed all of fifth period because I had to go to the nurse to take one of my pills that they keep on hand for when I can’t control my panic attacks. That led to my guidance counselor asking questions as to why I was having such bad anxiety. I threw her for a loop with the unprecedented change in social status. I guess that kind of thing didn’t happen a lot in high school.
The only truly relieving thing that came from all the madness was that Grayson and his friends had given me an idea for a science fair project—a project that I technically already had a decent start on, so even without a partner, I had a good chance of getting it done on time. By the time school was over that day, I had a full outline of my project scribbled down to show Mr. Walden in science club.
I’d been so busy putting my project outline together that I managed to block out all the whispers and stares. I hardly noticed when Aiden changed seats and completely ignored me in Honors English. Okay, I noticed, and it killed me, but thanks to the outline (and the very powerful medication), I’d been able to live through it and not have another breakdown.
I was the last one to arrive in the science lab after school because Grayson’s friends Pamela and Chloe found me and tried to convince me to go with them to Chloe’s for a makeover. I said I had science club, but they wouldn’t leave until I’d promised to go with them the next day.
When I got to the science lab, Libby, my friend who’d been with me at lunch when Grayson hijacked me, tackled me. Since I’d missed fifth period, we hadn’t seen each other yet. “Oh my heck, Avery!”
Libby was my best, and only, girl friend. She was brilliant and nice and very spunky. She was very outgoing and so fu
She threw her arms around me and forced me to jump up and down with her. “Can you believe that happened?”
“What exactly are we talking about? Aiden getting a girlfriend? Or Grayson almost killing him in front of the whole school?”
“I’m talking about how your romantic, hot new boyfriend came to your rescue in front of everyone! Seriously, Avery. Didn’t you just die?”
I flushed at her phrasing. “Grayson’s not my boyfriend, and yes, I did almost die, actually. That’s why I missed calculus today. I had to go take a pill and have a major freak out in the guidance office.”
“Seriously, Aves? You had to go to the office?”
Libby looked over my shoulder at the new voice. I didn’t need her bugged-out eyes and squeak of excitement to tell me who was behind me sounding so concerned.
Before I could ask Grayson what he was doing at science club, he grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me over as if searching for signs of distress. “You okay?”
“Yes. I keep special medication in the nurse’s office for emergencies, so I’m okay now.”
Grayson’s face fell. “You had an episode?”
“It wasn’t too bad. There were just so many people staring and whispering after lunch.”
“I’m sorry. That was all my fault.” Grayson crushed me to his chest. “I knew I shouldn’t have made a scene like that, but Aiden was being such a jerk, and I totally lost my temper. Forgive me?”
I carefully untangled myself from Grayson’s grip. My face was flaming from his attention. I knew all of science club was watching us. That may have only been four other people besides me, but they were pretty much the only four friends I had. I was sure they thought I was crazy by now.
“What are you doing here?” I finally asked.
Grayson shrugged. “Detention,” he said and then smirked. “Got a lot of texts after lunch today. Did you know that you’re my girlfriend?”
I ignored that comment and said, “You’re taking Mr. Walden’s class?”
“Failing his class, actually,”
“Failing!”
Grayson gave me a sheepish smile. “Physics isn’t my best subject. Bombed the final.”
“Bombed is a good word for it,” Mr. Walden said, walking into the room with a fresh mug of coffee.
“Do your parents know?” I asked.
“Yeah. They got the report card right before break. That wasn’t so bad. It’s Coach that was pissed. I’m benched until I can get my grade up.”
“You can’t play basketball? But you’re a senior. If you don’t play the rest of this season will you still be eligible to play for Utah Valley next year?”
“School policy.” Grayson ran a hand through his hair like he was really stressed out but then looked at me, startled. “How’d you know I want to go to UVU next year?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve practically lived at your house my entire life. I know where you want to go to college.”
“I have no idea where you want to go to college,” Grayson said, frowning.
“That’s not very surprising.”
Grayson’s frown grew even bigger. “Where do you want to go to college?”
“I’ll tell you if you agree to let me help you with your physics grade.”
“You mean like tutoring?”
“Sort of.” It was my turn to smile at him for a change. I’d just gotten the most brilliant idea. I looked over at Mr. Walden, who was watching us from his desk with a surly expression. I suspect the only reason he didn’t have Grayson doing extra homework yet was that Grayson was talking to me, and Mr. Walden loved me.
“Hey, Mr. Walden?”
Mr. Walden’s eyes narrowed, but he must have been listening to our conversation, because he looked very curious. “Is it important, Avery? Science club is waiting for you, and Mr. Ke
Grayson winced, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at him.
“I assume Aiden spoke to you about quitting science club?”
Mr. Walden sighed. “He did. It’s a real shame.”
“Did he tell you that he wouldn’t be doing the science fair with me, either?”
“Aiden wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to quit on you with such short notice. Everyone else is already paired.”
I pushed back the urge to cry again. “I’m on my own.”
“That is so disappointing. I’m sorry. I’ll have to speak with him.”
“That’s okay, Mr. Walden. I do have a project in mind, and I was just wondering . . . well, I need a partner, and Grayson could use some extra credit.”
Mr. Walden blinked. So did Grayson. “You want me to do a science project with you?”
Grayson sounded comically horrified, but even more hilarious was the disbelief in Mr. Walden’s tone. “You want Grayson to be your partner?”
I gave them both a look. “You haven’t heard the project yet. It was Grayson’s idea to begin with.”
“Mine?” Grayson sounded startled.
“Yes, yours. And you’re already doing it anyway. Sort of. Remember your experiment in the cafeteria this afternoon? My project is sort of like that.” I handed Mr. Walden my outline. “I’m going to prove that the cure for a broken heart lies in the seven stages of grief.”
As Mr. Walden read over my outline, Grayson looked at me skeptically.