The Smartest Girl in the Room (17 page)

"Sounds good. See you then."

Richard. Now she was really awake. That first
meeting was awkward even by first meeting standards. She was trying
to think of conversation to make with him and wished she had a
smart phone so she could look up the latest and greatest on solar
cars.

In honor of a guest coming over, she made the
bed. She washed up, put on some lip gloss and then looked in the
kitchen cabinets to see if there was something she could make. She
found an old box of instant hot chocolate, the kind with the tiny
marshmallows. She boiled a kettle of water, and then mixed three
cups. There, now it was like a home.

Five minutes later, Drew opened the door.
"Emily?"

"Hey there!" she called from the kitchen.
Drew came in and gave her a kiss. She waved to Richard. "And hello
again!"

Richard came over. "Nice to see you again,
Emily. So tell me, what terrible, dark secrets has Jessie already
told you about me?"

Emily forced a laugh. "Would you be offended
if I said that 'terrible and dark' has not come up on the text
messages?"

"Very, because she hasn't been able to stop
talking about you. In the good way which is unusual for her."

"I wouldn't take it too seriously. Besides,
I’m sure she likes Zainab better."

"I'm sorry," Drew interrupted
absent-mindedly. "Would you excuse me?" Before they could answer,
Drew walked toward the kitchen and then into the bedroom. Emily
looked after him, puzzled. She turned to Richard, who also looked
confused.

"Sorry," Emily said after a moment. "You were
saying?"

"Actually, you were saying."

"Huh? Oh, never mind. What's your story? Your
story at school."

Richard looked at her like he was waiting for
her to say something else. "I’m a senior," he said at last. "I'm
getting a double major in Engineering and Business. I like
Vietnamese food. Solar power is my life." He shrugged and
sheepishly grinned. "I’m not that interesting."

"Oh, I don’t know." There was good stuff
there. "Let’s start with the double major. How did you manage
that?"

"I’m an older student, but in my case not
because I wanted to be on co-op for the rest of my twenties, but
because I needed to get a lot of class work in. I was on co-op for
what seemed like an eternity, but I was in class just as much.
What’s so funny?"

Emily was smiling. "You’re an ‘older
student’; I’m a ‘younger student.’ I’m going to be very pleased
with myself if I get out of here at the end of the spring quarter,
but I won’t have a double major to show for it. So, you rock!"

Richard chuckled. "And how young are
you?"

"I’ll tell you if you tell me how old you
are."

"Twenty-six."

"Oh."

"’Oh?’ Am I that old?"

"No, not at all, I..." She had to finish her
sentence. "I thought you were closer to twenty-eight."

"I see. And that would make you, what,
seventeen?"

"Oh! Nineteen."

"That’s... not much older than seventeen, and
barely older than Jess. Hey Drew, how old did you say you
were?"

Emily turned around, expecting to see Drew in
the kitchen. But Drew had closed the bedroom door. "Drew?"

Drew came out a moment later, looking a
little frazzled. "Sorry, what?"

"I was just telling Emily not to get too
upset with you because you’re a lousy host."

"Sorry," Drew said sheepishly, walking into
the kitchen. "I was just making sure I had some space for Emily’s
things. Ooh, is that hot chocolate?"

They sipped their hot chocolate while sitting
on the couch. Emily got to learn a little bit more about the solar
car project from Richard. "Our prototype is good. I think we can
take it to market in a few years." But generally the conversation
stayed pretty light, with Drew providing most of the anecdotes and
entertainment. "So," Richard said around six, "what are everyone’s
plans for the holidays?"

Drew looked guiltily at Emily. "I just found
out my parents are demanding my presence next week for
Christmas."

Emily’s face dropped. "The whole week?"

"I’m sorry," Drew sighed. "I was hoping we’d
be able to spend Christmas together, but my dad is very into the
holidays. And aside from trying to be a good son, I need to keep
him happy. He’s the one holding the purse strings to my
scholarships."

"That’s a good reason to keep someone happy."
She looked at Richard and squeezed Drew’s hand. "And what about
you?"

"I’m having a little party on Christmas, and
if you’re looking for something to do, you’re more than welcome to
come."

"I think Jessie already invited me."

"I hope you'll be better behaved than some of
her previous invites."

"Depends on the food you put out. If there is
no vegetarian fare, it’s going to get ugly."

"Consider it done. And since Jessie can be a
little mischievous, I'll even make sure that she doesn't sneak any
meat in it after the fact."

"What a gentleman."

"I try." Richard finished his hot chocolate
then stood up. "Alright, I’m going to leave you two crazy kids
alone now. This little conversation reminded me of a few things I
need to tidy up before the party."

"Isn’t that in a week?" Emily recognized a
kindred worrier.

"I do have a very nice home after it’s been
cleaned for a few days straight. Bury a few bodies, stuff a few
skeletons into the closet, and of course all the drug
paraphernalia."

Emily laughed. So did Drew, but not as
heartily. Richard smiled. "Don’t worry. Jessie and I won’t corrupt
her while you’re gone. "

Emily smiled sweetly. "You couldn’t if you
tried."

"If you say so." Richard turned to Drew. "But
if I don’t see you for at least a few hours this weekend-"

"Say no more!" Drew said, then stood up and
shook his hand as he escorted Richard to the door. "See you!" he
called as Richard walked down the landing.

"I think I like him," Emily said after Drew
closed the door.

Drew turned around. His face was blank. "Do I
have to worry about you at this party?"

"What?"

"You certainly laughed at most of his
jokes."

"Because they were funny, or maybe a few
times I was trying to be nice. That’s what you’re supposed to do
when friends come over, right? Make them feel comfortable."

"You were doing a really good job of it."

"He’s nice. He’s funny. He’s your friend.
He's my friend's cousin. Was I supposed to make him feel
stupid?"

"Give me a break. Don’t try to make me feel
guilty because you were flirting with someone right in front of
me."

Emily blinked. "Flirting? Are you crazy? I
was having a conversation with someone, and yes, sorry, I was
enjoying myself. Again, silly me, I thought that’s what you were
supposed to do with friends. No problem. Next time I’ll make sure
to look as uncomfortable and put upon as I can and speak only when
I’m spoken to. Is that going to satisfy you?"

"Do you always start calling people names in
the middle of an argument?"

"Oops. I didn’t realize we were in the
middle, because as far as I’m concerned this is the end of it."

"You can’t just end a conversation like
that."

"True, but I can end an argument like that,
especially one where you start accusing me of flirting with your
friend in front of you."

"But it would be okay if it wasn’t in front
of me?"

Emily stood up. "That’s it. I’m going to
Zainab’s tonight, and I’ll be back for my stuff tomorrow."

"What?"

"This is crap. I’ve been here for a day and
you’re already pulling the jealous psycho? Whatever."

She tried to get her coat, but Drew moved to
stop her. "Wait, just calm down a second."

"You’re telling me to calm down? You’re the
one making ridiculous accusations."

Drew closed his eyes. "You’re right. I’m
sorry. It drove me crazy to hear you laugh at someone else’s
jokes."

Emily softened a little bit. "That’s touching
in a semi-crazy way."

"It wouldn’t bother you if I started chatting
up Zainab or Jessie the next time we were together?"

"I’d be happy that you liked my friends, and
then I’d feel like you were trying to make me happy, and then I’d
be even happier."

"So the world is just one big happy place for
you?"

Emily put her arms around Drew’s neck. "It
was this morning."

Drew kissed her on the forehead. "Will you
stay?"

"Will you stop being crazy?"

"I’ll try."

"Then I’ll stay while you’re sane."

"Then I’ll try really hard." She smiled as he
kissed her again.

Mitch and Kyra boarded their plane to Ireland
the week after finals ended. The program had made plans to open
with a Christmas party with the other students in their program.
There was a lot of grumbling, but Mitch shrugged it off. It was
just that much sooner to his final destination.

Mitch was seated on the plane next to Martin.
"Nice!" Martin said when Mitch sat down. "Now I'll have someone to
talk to on the way over."

Mitch grinned. "Let's save the silent
treatment for the students from the other programs."

"I don’t want to avoid them. I want to see if
they fit my preconceived notions. Of course, the people in our
classes probably aren’t going to represent the average European,
but it’s some insight."

"Why won’t they?"

"Students are always more opinionated than
the general public. Take Vietnam. People protested, but on average
college campuses were much more radical than the outside
world."

"Even our university?"

Martin laughed. "Yeah, I think even we
managed to get off our apathetic asses a couple of times in the
sixties, but generally speaking not enough to risk getting our
heads bashed in."

"The mark of a real thinker: knowing when
it’s okay to take a calculated risk."

"We have our moments. The gays in the
military issue saw a lot of activity in the nineties. Not so much
now though."

"Since they seem to need everybody they can
get, they can’t really afford to ‘ask’ or ‘tell’."

"Wonder what the Irish would have to say
about that?"

"Not sure. They’ve gotten much more open and
maybe even ‘progressive’ in the last ten years, but abortion is
still pretty much illegal, so go figure."

"Change takes time, right? Maybe a little
longer in some cases."

"I’m going to be much happier contemplating
some other country’s messes for a few months rather than our own."
Or
, Mitch thought,
my own
.

"Good luck with that! I bet half the reason
they let us to come over is so they can bitch at us about the
Middle East, oil prices, greenhouse gases and intelligent design.
Enjoy this plane ride, because it will be the last time in a while
that you won’t be ashamed of being an American."

Mitch was about to ask Martin where else he
had visited when he saw Kyra standing next to him. "Hey there!"

She lightly tapped her fingers on his seat.
"Thought I’d come and visit now that the seatbelt sign is off."

"Oh, sorry, I should have come to visit, but
Martin here was giving me a preview of the grief we’re going to get
once we land. Martin, this is Kyra, Kyra, this is Martin."

Kyra extended her hand and Martin shook it.
"Pleased to meet you," she said sweetly. "I’m jealous. My seat mate
has been whining for the last half hour about how she just dumped
her ex-boyfriend and how lonely she is. It’s too bad. She’s pretty,
and she seems smart, but she’s so needy I feel like she’d hop into
bed with the first guy who smiled at her."

"Oh, really?" Martin said lightly. "What’s
her name?"

"Nikki. And she’s sitting in forty-five
B."

Martin turned around then turned back. "You
know, it looks like you guys deserve a little alone time. Why don’t
you and I just switch seats for the remainder of the flight?"

"Are you sure you don’t mind?"

"Not at all." He grabbed his book and stood
up. "Mitch, I’ll catch up with you later and Kyra, nice to meet
you."

Kyra looked over her shoulder to make sure
Martin was seated then sat down. Mitch grinned. "You better have
been telling him the truth. He’s going to be around for the next
three months."

"It was the truth. Mostly. Her name is Nikki
and she is attractive. Maybe not that smart, though."

"That’s a little cold."

Kyra snuggled against his chest. "I said she
might not be that smart, I didn’t say she was mentally challenged.
And I wouldn’t feel too bad, because the boyfriend in question
hasn’t exactly been dumped, but more... Postponed? Delayed?" She
looked up and smiled. "You know, out of sight, out of mind."

"Oh yeah?" Mitch felt the heat rising to his
face. "And that’s okay with you?"

"I just met the girl, I’m not her
mother."

"You know what I mean."

Kyra stiffened. "When are you going to stop
throwing that in my face?"

"I’m not trying to start anything, but maybe
you can appreciate how being so light about someone cheating on
their boyfriend might get me a little defensive."

"Right, because you’re the one I was cheating
with."

"And it doesn’t seem to bother you." No, that
wasn’t what he wanted to say. Something else was bothering him, but
he was so warm he lost it.

"Would you like to call Todd yourself and
verify that I broke up with him?"

"Can you keep your voice down?"

"Can you stop being a jealous ass?" she
hissed. "Fine, what am I guilty of today? Trying to sit next to
you? Okay, sorry. Why don’t I just save your poor friend and send
him back over here?"

Mitch sighed. "That’s not what I want."

"Then what do you want? Because having me
doesn’t seem to be good enough for you."