“It won’t affect the specimen. It came from space.”
“Exactly. Where it’s cold.”
“Who says the planet it originated from wasn’t able to retain higher temperatures?”
“Like Venus?”
“Exactly like Venus. I mean…I’m sure that it’s possible. I’ll look into a space heater.”
I watched him expectantly.
“What?”
“No Uranus jokes? I’m disappointed.”
“What do you mean?”
I chuckled. “Never mind.” My fingers began clicking against the keyboard again, and from the corner of my eye, I was sure that I caught Cy staring at me. I glanced over at him. “What?”
“You’re much more attractive when you smile, and your laugh is lovely.”
“Uh…thank you.”
“You’re—”
“I’m welcome. It’s okay. I say thank you to you a lot, apparently.”
“I just want you to…I don’t know what I want.”
He stared at me for a few moments more and then continued with his work. My face caught fire as the blood pooled under my cheeks. My fingers wouldn’t work after that, and I couldn’t concentrate on the numbers.
Cy stood up and left the room without a word. Right about the time I decided to get up and look for him, he returned, setting a Butterfinger on my desk.
“Trick or treat, right?” he said.
“Is that a Halloween joke? I mean, that’s cool. I just didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”
“I’m surprised you’re here. There are costume parties all over campus.”
I shook my head. “I don’t really do parties. Just once in a while when I’m bored out of my mind, but I avoid Halloween parties at all costs.”
“Why is that?”
“Fake blood. Dead people. Slutty costumes. None of it screams fun to me.”
Cy grinned. “I suppose not. We still have an hour or so of work to do. Would you mind if I walk you home when we’re finished?”
“Why?”
My response took Cy off guard.
He blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. “I think that maybe my insistence not to form attachments here was incorrect. We spend a lot of time together in this lab, and I’d like to get to know you better. As much as one can in the time I have left.”
“You’re going back home?”
He nodded.
“When?”
“Soon.”
“So, that’s why you’ve been ignoring me? Because you know you’re leaving?”
He hesitated. “In part, yes.”
“What’s the other part?”
He squirmed in his chair. “You…intrigue me.”
I wanted to high-five myself. The few times we’d interacted before I thought he was being nice in spite of feeling an extreme loathing toward me. Instead, it was the opposite. To Cy, I was intriguing.
I shrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t irrationally pleased. “If you want.”
He smiled and then continued with his work. Despite the difficulty I had focusing, I forced myself to get through the pages of data on my desk. My mind kept wandering off, questioning why I felt so drawn to him. Cy wasn’t my type. He was leaving. His lack of concert tees told me that we likely had nothing in common. But even then, I had a strong feeling that there was a reason life had thrown us together.
An hour later, I put the last sheet in the bin and turned to Cy. “Need any help?” I asked.
“No, I was just working on a few things for tomorrow while you finished up.”
“Show-off,” I said, grabbing my bag.
Cy and I walked out of the building, toward my dormitory.
“Would you like my coat?” Cy asked.
I shook my head.
“So,” Cy said, shoving his hands into his pockets, “what is your major, Rory?”
“I’m considering Bio Med. I have a thing for Astrobiology though, and Dr. Z and my father…” I began, but got lost in the thought.
“Were astrobiologists? Nothing wrong with having similar interests as a parent. It’s quite honorable where I’m from.”
“It just feels as though I’m repeating something that shouldn’t be repeated.” I shook my head. “It’s hard to explain.”
“No, I get it.”
“No, you don’t,” I said. It wasn’t the right thing to say or even remotely polite, but I became weirdly defensive when it came to my pain and memories. No one got anything about me, not even Dr. Z, and they didn’t get to say they did. If they understood or related to me, it meant I had to share something that belonged only to me.
When Dr. Z, my counselors, or my social worker tried to offer understanding, I let them know they weren’t within a thousand light-years of my truth. Pretending was a waste of everyone’s time, and I had endured hell to keep mine. It felt wrong to waste it.
“You’re right. That was inconsiderate of me. I’m sorry.”
“What’s your major?” I asked, trying to pretend I didn’t just make our little nature walk completely awkward.
“Interplanetary Culture.”
I laughed once. “I’m pretty sure Kempton doesn’t offer that.”
“I chose Kempton for my semester abroad. It’s part of my curriculum at home.”
A group of students dressed like various characters of The Wizard of Oz jogged by. Dorothy, of course, had hairy legs and a goatee.
Cy smiled, and we continued. “Your culture is definitely one of my favorites.”
“You don’t celebrate Halloween?”
“No, but if you mean dressing up and begging for candy, then technically, neither do you.”
“Touché.”
“Did that really just happen? I won an argument?” he asked, grinning.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did you just gloat?”
“I guess I did.”
“Feel better?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Good. I would say that’s out of character for you, but you seem like the gloating type. You’re kind of a show-off in general.”
Cy seemed offended. “I most certainly do not show off. I am quite focused on remaining in the background.”
“No. You’re definitely a show-off. All those off-the-wall questions you ask in Dr. Z’s class? Show-off.”
“I suppose gaining information is not what university is about then?”