RYAN

I stroll into chemistry on Tuesday with an extra spring in my step. I can't help but feel enthusiastic about seeing Becca again. We didn't know each other well, but I definitely hoped to change that.

As I take my seat, I realize class is starting soon and I'm actually disappointed that she's not here yet. Before I can brood over it too long, she bursts into the room just before the bell rings and hops right onto her stool.

Mr. Monty begins his lecture immediately, sadly thwarting any opportunity I'd have to talk to her. Glancing over between the fast-paced note taking, I notice Becca's cheeks getting suspiciously pink. Her small frame is hidden by an over-sized sweatshirt and even though I'm positive that she's too warm, she isn't taking it off. Living in Washington in early September does cause the temperatures to fluctuate, but today it's in the low seventies, so why is this gorgeous girl wearing a ratty old sweatshirt?

"Do you want to get the equipment and I'll get the chemicals?" she suddenly asks softly, snapping me from my chain of thoughts.

"Uh, what?" I obviously wasn't paying attention to the lecture at all. I feel so stupid until she gently giggles.

"We're supposed to set up the experiment."

I glance around the room and sure enough, everybody is bustling about trying to set up their chemical apparatus. Becca slides her notebook across the table and points to the neatly written list of necessary gear that Mr. Monty must have mentioned.

"Sounds good," I say confidently.

Taking her notebook with me, I gather everything on the list from test tubes to protective eye goggles. Becca is patiently waiting for me when I get back to the lab table and we follow the directions for the experiment setup. Once that's ready, her instructions say to wait for reactions to occur and record your observations every ten minutes for the next half hour. I find this to be the perfect time to get to know this girl a little more.

Blanking on any interesting conversation starters, I just utter the obvious: "What an exciting experiment, huh?"

Becca laughs, showing cute dimples on both cheeks this time.

"Well at least we will get a good grade." She jokingly adds: "no thanks to me."

Now it's my turn to laugh.

"Yeah, that's my bad. I promise I'm not usually like that."

"Oh, I believe you! I don't think you would be in this class otherwise."

She keeps smiling and I catch myself thinking that I never want it to end. My mind is telling me that I'm a fucking idiot for thinking something so ridiculous, but I honestly can't help it.

"Well," I start, "we have half an hour to kill. What do you want to talk about?"

I'm answered with a shoulder shrug.

"How about twenty questions?" I ask. "I mean we're going to be lab partners for a while so we might as well get to know each other; you can ask whatever you want, and I'll do the same."

Becca nods and utters, "You ask first."

"I'll start simple. What's your favorite color?"

"Red. What's YOUR favorite color?" she responds without skipping a beat and I chuckle.

"You know you can't just repeat my questions."

Another shoulder shrug.

"It's blue though. What's your favorite animal?"

"Like as a pet or in a zoo?" she asks.

"Either," I answer with a goofy grin.

"Well, I think I would have to say dolphins."

"Dolphins?"

"Yeah." She gives no more explanation before firing off her next question. "What's your middle name?"

"Oh boy, get ready!" I roll my eyes to exaggerate my point. "It's Francis."

Becca bursts out laughing but I'm not embarrassed, I've had that middle name my all my life and have gotten a lot worse than her amazing laughter for it.

"Okay, my turn," I say after our laughter subsides. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen. How old are you?"

"Eighteen. When's your birthday?"

I instantly realize what I just asked and assume she will think the worst based on the context. Why would I ask when she's legal? More importantly, when did I become so insecure?

"November first," she responds, blushing adorably.

There's a bit of an awkward silence, so I check the time on our experiment. Seven minutes in, twenty-three to go.

"Your turn," I remind her.

"Do you play any sports?" She's blatantly staring at my arms now, so I flex 'accidentally' to show off, and more realistically, boost my ego.

"Yes, I play football and baseball. I have since I was about five years old. Are you in any sports?"

"Uh, no. Are you in all advanced classes or only chemistry and biology?"

"I'm in all advanced classes. How about you?"

"I have these two and advanced English but that's it. We have to write our observations down," she adds quickly, seemingly self-conscious about her class schedule.

"Where did you transfer from?" I ask, completely skipping her turn but wanting to keep her engaged in the conversation instead of shying away.

"Just a few towns over. My step-dad has a new project out here."

"What does he do?"

"He's an attorney," she replied quickly while avoiding eye contact.

Without warning, a flask shattered noisily at the table behind us. Becca's blue eyes went wide and she flinched so violently that she started falling off her stool. I reached out to simply lift her back and keep her from falling but she instantly backed away. Everyone else, including Mr. Monty, had immediately become interested in the accident so nobody noticed her strange behavior.

"You okay?" I asked gently and Becca nodded her head, looking at the floor. "Hey," I slowly reached forward and tipped her chin up with my index finger.

She just stared at me, panicked and frightened.

"Nobody else saw you. It's alright."

She smiled shyly so I retracted my arm and reciprocated. The mess got cleaned up quickly and the class went back to their own experiments.

"It's your turn to ask a question," I remind her once again.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I have three brothers, two older and one younger. Matt and Mike are twins who are twenty-two. One plays baseball on a minor league team and the other is a nurse. Alex is sixteen and he's a junior here. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope. What's your favorite class?"

"Chemistry and biology," I answer quickly, "because you're in both. I'm not trying to sound creepy but I don't talk to anybody else in my other classes so these ones are more interesting and the time goes faster." She gave me a weird look.

"How don't you talk to anybody in your other classes? Aren't you kind of popular?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of popular, but it's different associating with people who want to talk to you because of your status rather than people who genuinely want to have a conversation."

She beams at my response and writes out another observation on our experiment.

"Do you know what question we're on?" I ask politely.

"No, but we don't need to keep count," she replies and slips her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Why do you do that?"

"Why do I do what?"

"Bite your lip like that."

"I didn't know I was doing it. Next question."

"What's your favorite class?"

"Chemistry," she answers plainly.

"Really?! Would it have anything to do with your handsome lab partner?" I ask while wiggling my eyebrows. Becca swats my arm playfully and rolls those beautiful eyes.

"No. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy chemistry and did not take this class just to meet egotistical boys."

"Could have fooled me," I joked.

Before we knew it, chemistry was over and we went our separate ways. The time seemed to pass in slow motion after that until it was finally time for the lunch period, where I was absolutely determined to sit with a certain someone...

(Final - 7/31/19)