The Smartest Girl in the Room (3 page)

"It’s right on the way home. How about if you
can’t get out before ten I’ll give you a lift?"

"You're usually around this late?"

"I have homework too! Plus I've been working
on some stuff with Joe, and since he lives on campus he doesn't
always think about time constraints."

Emily made a face. "I'll never know what
people see in him."

Mitch shrugged. "He's an overzealous dork but
essentially harmless."

"And here I was going to go with ‘ambitious
whore who thinks he's smarter than he is’."

"Yeah- dork." Emily laughed again and Mitch
smiled when she did. "So will you call me if you need a ride?"

Emily held his eyes. "Okay."

They continued to look at each other, then
look away, then look back to each other. "So," Emily said,
gathering up her bags, coat and courage, "I’ll see you
tomorrow?"

"Yeah, yeah. I’m assuming Zainab will find us
both in her inimitable Zainab way."

Emily chuckled. "Nice fifty cent word to end
the evening."

"Just trying to keep up. But why don’t I give
you my number in case she can’t?" Emily copied his number into her
phone then gave him hers.

"Great," Mitch said softly. They looked at
each other again as if they were expecting the other to say
something. Emily couldn’t stand it anymore and giggled. After a
moment Mitch did too.

Emily finally forced herself to leave. "Thank
you again. Drive safely!"

Once inside, Emily walked through the
darkened house. She went into the bathroom, washed up and then went
into the study that she used as her bedroom. She moved papers off
of the loveseat which also functioned as her bed. She went to the
little closet that kept her tiny wardrobe and changed. Then she got
out her blanket and pillow, turned off the light and lay down.

"Hmm," she said to herself, still smiling.
Then she laughed a little bit.
Sleep
, she thought,
or you
won’t catch the early bus
. She closed her eyes, but opened them
again, and when she did, she thought she saw stars twinkling at her
in the darkness of her room. That had happened only once before,
and that made her smile even more as she drifted off to sleep.

~~~

Mitch had figured out how to get to the Pike
from Emily’s house. It wasn’t that far away. This might almost
qualify as a shortcut.
Don’t get ahead of yourself
, his
reasonable voice boomed inside his head. He remembered that she
hadn’t mentioned her age but he could guess: nineteen. He was going
to celebrate his twenty-third birthday in less than six months.

She’s legal and she isn’t stupid.
You’re
not going to go to jail
, his other inner voice countered.
But do you really want to be the guy who dated the
nineteen-year-old?
He made a face at the thought. There was an
ick factor to dating someone still in her teens.

She might be turning twenty soon
, he
thought hopefully.
I could wait until then.

Great. But would she? While you’re in
Ireland?

Ireland. For the first time it wasn’t making
him happy just to think about it. It was the only thing that had
kept him from sinking into a deep, pharmaceutically qualified
depression after the falling out with his "brothers". He still felt
pangs of guilt over never having visited his Grandma Lulu’s
hometown before she died. Why did his chance have to come right
now?

A lot can happen in a month.

True, but is it fair to start something
that has to end by then?
He thought.

He pictured himself with Emily, walking in
the snow, watching TV and laughing. Maybe it didn’t have to end.
Let’s see what happens tomorrow, he thought, as he turned into his
exit.

Emily went to the library after her last
Friday class. In spite of her best efforts, she found herself
thinking about starlight and smiling.

"Look who’s burning the Friday afternoon
oil."

Emily looked up. "Hey, Drew!" She’d never
seen him at the library before on Friday. "What are you doing
here?"

"As if you’re the only one who likes to study
on Fridays!"

"I think ‘like’ is a strong word."
Be
nice, but not so nice he stays
, Emily thought. "I just want to
free up the weekend for other things."

He sat down. "Such as?"

"Oh, impromptu movie fests, casual dinners, a
big assignment." She shrugged. "And you?"

"Same thing, although without the movie or
dinner part," he laughed. "I need my weekend free for the solar
car."

"You guys do the bulk of your work on the
weekend?"

"Most of the guys are there pretty much all
through the night, every night. I’m just there on the weekends. I’m
sort of the president, helping them come up with public relations
strategies." He nodded, as if to agree with himself.

"So you don’t actually install solar panels
or anything like that?"

"Not unless they’re in a rush but I have been
known to get out the sandpaper."

"Okay..."

"For the body of the car. We usually start
with fiber glass, and then we need to shape it and smooth it down
before we put the components in."

Emily really did think solar cars were cool.
"Are you guys still constructing the body?"

"No, that’s finally done. How these guys can
be perfectionists on so little sleep I’ll never know. All of a
sudden the frame is constructed, the engine is ready, the panels
are installed, and boom! It’s ready to go."

"And where is all of this going? Are you guys
competing somewhere?"

"Are you kidding me? Not at this school!
Maybe by next year but I think it will be a few years before we’re
even close to being prize-worthy."

"What it is about ‘this school’ you find so
contemptuous?"

He snorted. "So much of the coursework is
dumbed down for people who still get Cs, and that’s with the grades
jacked up, unless you're an athlete. Then they've got to make sure
you get the B. I get that people are trying to fit a lot into their
lives, and it’s tough for them, but their strategy obviously isn’t
working for them or us. Everyone knows what a joke we are."

This wasn’t the greatest university in the
country but Emily worked hard for her grades. "So what are you
doing here then?"

He looked down and shrugged. "They made me an
offer I couldn’t turn down, but if I’d known then what I know now,
I would have bitten the bullet and gone to Harvard instead."

"Well, yeah." Now she was a little jealous.
"Go to Harvard even if you have to scrub floors at night."

"I would have scrubbed floors, but it would
have had to have been at night, in the morning and while classes
were in session, which would have gotten in the way of studying.
Even then I still would have to have taken out some big loans." He
shrugged. "Harvard doesn’t give merit-based scholarships."

So you’re trapped here. "Make the best of it,
right? And at least you’re getting a free ride."

"Not entirely free. The first year was free,
but since then I’ve gotten half of a year. Plus I have to pay for
my room, board, food and fees."

"You’re not a Kay Scholar? Sorry, I just
assumed- "

"No, if I had been as smart as I say I am, I
would be, but my high school guidance counselor got confused and
only told us about the Achievement Scholarship. I think he thought
I would be a slam-dunk for that one but not the Kay Scholarship. It
wasn’t until I got here that I found out about it and then I saw
the people who did qualify. I almost left that weekend."

"Well, you’ve made it this far. You’re what,
a junior?"

"Yeah, I’m a junior, even with all of the
co-ops."

"Don’t those help pay for the balance of the
tuition?"

"Yes, but not everything. I’ve gotten good
assignments, but the real money is through the Engineering and
Computer Science schools. But," he blew out through pursed lips,
"I’d have to be lobotomized before I started hanging out with that
crowd!" He laughed at his own joke.

"So how do you pay for the rest of it?"

"High-interest student loans, the American
way."

"For those who have the collateral, I
guess."

"You’re awfully calm about the whole tuition
thing. What are you, a trust fund baby?"

"Ha!"

"Are you a Kay Scholar?"

"God, no. I’m not ‘in need.’ My mother works
here, and one of the few perks she gets is tuition reimbursement
for her family."

"Oh, snap!" he said very loudly. "That’s a
great deal!"

"I can’t complain but sometimes the commute
can be a pain."

"Anytime you need to crash, my couch is your
couch."

"That’s sweet of you..." She tried not to
cringe. "But Zainab usually has me covered, and if not, there is
always the couch in the math lounge. But shhh."

"How can I compete with that?" he laughed.
"But let me give you my number in case you change your mind." She
copied it into her phone then gave him hers. "So are you and Zainab
BFF besties?"

Emily made sure she didn’t laugh. "We’re
trying not to put any labels on it so we don’t lose the magic of
our relationship."

"Do you guys ever do anything that isn’t
cafés and studying?"

"We’ve been known to log some marathon hours
in front of the television."

"Sounds exciting."

"Don’t dis USA and TNT."

"Could you guys be interested in going to
someone else’s living room?"

Emily wished she could grip her seat without
being noticed. "It depends on the living room."

"Two of the Solar Car guys are having a party
next Friday, and if you and Zainab aren’t busy, I thought maybe I
could talk to you there instead of having to listen to more about
the engine design."

Saying "I have to study" a week in advance
would be a really bad excuse, even for her. "Do these people have
names?"

"Carlos and Vijay are the ones with the
apartment, but they’ll be joined by Jordan and Richard. And I think
Richard said something about a Jesse and Michael."

"Okay, well-"

"There’s always a lot of beer."

Emily smiled and shrugged. "Have a great time
but-"

"But no one will make you drink it," he said
quickly, "and they also put out a lot of food."

Damn, why was the prospect of free food
making this more attractive? "I’m a vegetarian."

"To my knowledge no animals are killed while
making the guacamole, but if you’d like I can check."

She was out of graceful excuses. "Let me
check with Zainab."

"Awesome! I’ll text you the address. No, I’ll
see you in class on Monday, have a great weekend." Before she could
say anything else he grabbed his bag and left.

Emily scowled. Maybe she’d get lucky and
Zainab would have made plans already.

By five Emily was at the café. She felt like
she won the lottery when she got one of the plush chairs. She
nursed her cup of tea slowly so she wouldn't have to worry about
people looking at her like she didn't belong there.

She found a battered copy of the Globe. There
never seemed to be much local news on Fridays but at least there
was movement afoot in the rest of the world.

"Anything good?"

Emily looked up into smiling green eyes.
"Mildly amusing," she said, "but never good."

Mitch sat down next to her. She remembered
the night before he had been dressed like a hot preppy. Today he
was still in jeans but he’d traded the button down and crewneck for
a dark blue shirt with a white tee peeking out and a dark grey
jacket. His clothes made his eyes stand out even more.

"You clean up well."

"Thank you very much. And...is that what
you’re wearing?"

She took out a folded black dress from her
bag. "I was thinking of this." The dress was from a thrift shop but
the original owner hadn’t worn it more than once. It had been in
very good condition when she bought it for all of fifteen dollars
and she hadn’t worn it more than three times herself. It was the
kind of dress that was comfortable, but still clingy in the right
places.

Mitch put his hand on the dress and rubbed it
between his fingers, then pulled it over to him. "I’m sure this
will have just the right effect."

"And what effect is that?"

"I bet you know."

"Oh, right, when does a woman dress for
anything other than a man’s interest?"

"You’re the ones with the heels."

"For your information, I dance better in
heels. And it’s nice to have some part of your wardrobe function as
a weapon."

"And the dress? What’s the advantage of
something that shows off that much of your legs and arms?"

"What can I say? I get pretty warm when I
dance." She pulled the dress back from him slowly. "Why are you
wearing what you’re wearing?"

"I think the shirt’s a little cooler than the
sweater." He shrugged. "I can get pretty hot myself."

"Promises, promises."

"You’re nineteen, aren’t you?" There it
was.

"You caught me. Don’t worry, Zainab knows a
bunch of places where I won’t be carded. I wouldn’t want to cramp a
frat boy’s style."

"There you go. You don’t seem like a big
drinker anyway."

She could tell he was disappointed. Should
she leave? "I never picked up the taste. Beer is disgusting. Wine
isn’t as much of a turnoff, but all it does is make me sleepy. I do
cook with it though."

"What a lush!" Mitch laughed, and then
stopped abruptly. "You cook?"

Was there something wrong with cooking? "How
else do you expect me to eat?"

"You don’t get enough sustenance from the tea
and snacks here?"

"On my budget, I think I could eat about
three times a month here before I ran out of money. It’s much
cheaper to cook at home and bring it with me."