Evolutionary Romance- The Complete Trilogy

by Sarah Biglow

  Latina_Black_Widow: You’re right. I’m just scared. I can’t let Papi know.

  Next_Gen_Prof_X: I wish I could be there. I’d go with you in a heartbeat.

  Latina_Black_Widow: Me, too.

  Next_Gen_Prof_X: Just promise me you won’t keep this to yourself.

  Latina_Black_Widow: I promise.

  I’d kept my promise. I’d gone and reported Jason to the authorities. I’d ended up with a few months’ probation for my involvement. He’d ended up in jail for six months and I hadn’t spoken to him since. I’d shared the news with Prof X only a couple weeks ago.

  Revisiting our shared history piqued my curiosity to see if I could spot him in town. We’d never shared photos or real names in the two years we’d been talking. It hadn’t seemed necessary until now. Still, I had a strange feeling I’d be able to pick him out if I ran into him.

  “Papi, I’m going for a walk,” I called down the hall as I grabbed my purse and left the house behind.

  Everston was small enough that even as new as I was, I could find my way to the library. It was difficult to miss. Easily the largest building in town, it reminded me more of a government building than a place people went to relax among the great literary works of years gone by. I marched through the pneumatic doors and a rush of cold air hit me in the face. My eyes instantly watered and I blinked away tears.

  It wasn’t obvious where I should go, but the main circulation desk seemed a good place to start. A tall, dark-skinned guy who couldn’t be much older than me sat at the desk. He made eye contact as soon as I started over and smiled.

  “Can I help you?”

  I approached the desk, resting my hands nervously on the edge. “I heard you were hiring?”

  “We’ve got some spots open in the afternoons for manning the circulation desk. Is that what you were interested in?”

  Not really.

  “Yeah. Is there an application or something I should fill out? I’m eighteen if that matters,” I said quickly.

  “I’ll go grab the application.” He extended his hand to me. “I’m Henry.”

  I shook his hand, my palm sweaty against his. “Marisol Esparza.”

  “Nice to meet you, Marisol Esparza. I think you’ll like working here.”

  Henry darted out from behind the desk, leaving me to stand awkwardly waiting for his return. I noticed a teenage girl with a shock of blue hair sitting at the desk, earbuds trailing from each ear. She only looked up from her tablet when she noticed Henry was no longer a buffer.

  “Don’t waste your time,” she said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “On Henry. You’re not his type.”

  Presume much?

  “Okay.”

  “He’s like really gay.”

  “Got it,” I muttered, silently wishing I could make her stop talking.

  Henry’s reappearance cut the conversation short. He handed me a single-page application form on a clipboard, complete with pen attached.

  “Why don’t you go do the filing.” Henry addressed the blue-haired girl.

  She rolled her eyes, tugged the earbuds out of her ears, and stormed off to a cart full of books. I caught her flip Henry off. He didn’t seem bothered.

  “Sorry about her. Tina thinks she’s entitled to act however she wants because her mom is on the Board of Trustees for the library.”

  “Oh.”

  I focused on scribbling my information down on the form. I had to double check my phone for the new address. Henry waited patiently until I handed it back. He made a show of looking over the information.

  “Can you start tomorrow?”

  “Uh, I guess so.”

  “Great. You’re hired. We’ll see you here from four o’clock to six-thirty.”

  “I’ve never really done a job like this before.”

  His smile disarmed any apprehension I had. “You’ll learn. It’s easy. You’ll be working with either me or Tina most of the time.”

  The idea of having to spend time with Tina didn’t thrill me. Why she assumed she needed to butt into my life by suggesting who I should or shouldn’t pay attention to really bothered me. But Henry seemed nice enough. As I headed out the front door, I momentarily considered sharing the news with Prof X. But, if I wasn’t ready to meet him in person yet, was giving him my exact location a good idea?

  Chapter Three

  Spencer

  I’d had had no word from LBW since I sent back my message. It wasn’t like her to ignore me. I’d spent the better part of the day combing through people’s thoughts, praying I’d find someone consumed by worries over finding classrooms. I’d come up empty.

  I had the message app open and was about to fire off a note asking if everything was okay when I realized she was probably busy unpacking and getting situated. She needed time and space, not a pushy friend. I put my phone in the front flap of my backpack and snuck down the flight of stairs by the cafeteria to the old computer lab that no one ever used. It only had one working computer—courtesy of Tina—and that meant we weren’t typically interrupted. We’d also gotten lucky enough to have overlapping study periods in the afternoon. I wasn’t convinced Tina hadn’t messed with our schedules to exert more control over our lives.

  “You know you’re never going to have a real relationship if you don’t get your head out of the Cloud,” Tina muttered as I sat down beside her.

  Declan lounged a few seats away. He’d never liked being in close physical proximity to the two of us. I’d read Tina’s thoughts on occasion and she assumed he was just being a jock and projecting an “I’m too cool” vibe in case we were discovered. I happened to think he just didn’t like being near me when he wasn’t hopped up on adrenaline. It meant his emotions were clearer and I’d picked up on a few fleeting thoughts about other guys in very little clothing.

  I’d never out Declan. I wasn’t a jerk like that. I felt bad he couldn’t be honest about it with us. Then again, maybe I was being selfish. If Tina thought she had a chance with Declan still, at least she’d split her focus.

  “Seriously, my love life isn’t your business,” I finally replied.

  “He’s got a cyber girlfriend,” Declan offered.

  “No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know if she’s really a she. For all we know, it’s some creepy dude in his forties, catfishing Spencer. That’s why you never trust people online.”

  “She is a real person. And definitely a she,” I argued. Sure, I had no definitive evidence to back up my statement but, I wasn’t going to give Tina an inch. “And she happens to be moving to town, so we’ll meet in person soon.”

  I expected Tina to give me crap about being gullible, but she didn’t say a word. Her brows knit together, and she tugged on a few loose strands of blue hair as she contemplated whatever had her attention. I wasn’t in the mood to have her berate me for entering her mind uninvited.

  “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I think you’re right.”

  Declan and I shared a confused look. “About what?” I asked.

  “Well, I mean, I didn’t think any of it but, there was a girl who came looking for a job at the library.”

  My heart hammered in my chest at the possibility that my dream girl was that close. “Are you sure? When is she working next?”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Relax Captain Horn Dog. I don’t even know if it’s the one you’re looking for.”

  “I’ll know,” I insisted. “Just tell me if she’s working or not. Please, Tina.”

  “Maybe. Honestly, I wasn’t really paying attention. Besides, she was busy flirting with Henry.”

  I knew it was a dig at me. We all knew Henry. He’d graduated a couple years ahead of us and it was common knowledge around school that he was openly gay. He didn’t flaunt it or anything but anyone from town knew where his interests fell. I focused on Declan, hoping the mention of Henry would draw him out of his shell, but he’d had four years to get to know the feeling of my mind trying to invade his
. He put a wall, reciting sports stats and I slumped in my chair.

  “I’m just going to show up and see,” I announced.

  “So, uh, not to change the subject or whatever but, are we all clear with the cops? I don’t need them hounding my parents or anything,” Declan said.

  “Uncle Nick was just doing his cop thing. It’s fine,” Tina answered, her attention half on the computer in front of her.

  “You say that but again, neither of you were the ones in handcuffs. It was too close last time.”

  “We’re lucky he’s on our side,” Tina sniffed.

  “Did you forget he threatened to rat us out to your mom? Which means she’d probably rat us out to our parents, too? Did you even think about what would happen then?” I snapped.

  “We all chose to do this. We knew the risks,” she shot back.

  “You didn’t give us a choice. You came to me and said I know you’ve got super powers. Go out and help people.”

  “Oh please, don’t act like this isn’t your chance to fulfill some weird nerd fantasy.”

  “You want to talk about risks? We’re out there putting our asses on the line and you’re sitting behind some damn computer, all safe and out of harm’s way,” Declan interjected before I could process a response to her last comment. She wasn’t entirely wrong. But it did hurt she was the one pulling all the strings.

  “And what about your promise that you’d figure out where these powers came from? It’s been four years, Tina. Either admit you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing or give us the answers,” he added.

  “Screw you both. I’m out of here.” Tina grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. I felt her anger wash over me and the computer in front of me fizzled with sparks as her powers flared.

  “You gonna run off like a whiny bitch, too?” The anger in Declan’s tone started to recede.

  “Don’t call her a bitch, man. Look, I get this thing isn’t going like any of us thought. But she is trying to figure it out.”

  It was Declan’s turn to storm out, leaving me alone. This wasn’t how I expected my day to go. I clung to the small bright spot that I would finally get to meet LBW in a few short hours and finally put a face to the friend I knew could be more.

  At five o’clock, I stood outside the library, unable to get my legs to follow the simple command to enter the building. For all the bravado I’d shone Tina and Declan earlier, my nerves were getting the better of me. This needed to go well. I couldn’t mess up our first meeting. I had formulated a plan to make sure it was her. I’d send LBW a message and wait to read the new girl’s mind to see if my handle came to mind. If it did, I knew I had my girl.

  Sucking in a breath, I forced my legs to move and marched through the sliding doors. The circulation desk came into view. I spotted Tina at one end of the desk. To no one’s surprise, she was pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist. Sitting beside her was a girl about our age with dark curls and a caramel complexion. My heart raced aggressively in my chest as I pulled out my phone, ready to hit send on my pre-typed message. I skimmed it one last time to make sure it wasn’t too obnoxious.

  Next_Gen_Prof_X: Hey, hope you’re settling in. Can you believe senior year is almost over? I can’t wait for summer and real freedom.

  I hit ‘Send’ and waited, trying to gauge the girl in front of me. I could see a cell phone perched on the counter beside her, but she barely glanced at it. Maybe it was taking longer to get from my inbox to hers. Finally, her phone went ‘ping’ and my heart hammered against my ribs. Tina chose that moment to look up and we made eye contact.

  You’re such a creepy stalker, Spence, I heard in my head.

  Oh, how I wished I could send my thoughts back to her and tell her to fuck off. I flipped her off for good measure as the other girl checked her phone. I zeroed in on her, hoping to catch the single piece of intel I needed. At first there was nothing of interest to pick up. And then:

  Should I message him back? I know he wants to meet.

  No need to message me back. I’m right here. I plastered on what I hoped wasn’t a creepy smile and closed the distance to the circulation desk. At first, I stood there waiting for her to notice me. She seemed so engrossed in her phone I had to do a fake cough to get her attention. When she looked up, her cheeks darkened.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you standing there. This is my first day,” she rambled, her Spanish accent adding to the cuteness. She brushed a few curls away. “How can I help you?”

  “I, uh, was hoping I could talk to you for a minute in private?” I said. I wanted to cringe as soon as the words passed my lips. Despite the fact my “normal guy” disguise included glasses like Clark Kent, I had none of his smoothness with the ladies.

  “Um, why?”

  God, could I come across any more like a crazy person? I was desperately trying to come up with a response that wouldn’t sound insane or make me out to be a stalker like Tina claimed.

  “This is Spencer. He’s an idiot and he thinks you are some girl he’s been talking to online,” Tina said, injecting herself into the conversation.

  Leave it to Tina to turn her annoying meddling into genuine help. The girl across from me looked at me and turned her phone over and held up the message I’d just sent. I showed her my phone, too.

  “Oh,” she mumbled.

  “I know you said you weren’t ready to meet but I just couldn’t wait. I know that sounds crazy,” I apologized.

  “Look, why don’t you two sort your shit out not near me,” Tina said and made a shooing gesture.

  LBW—I really needed to ask her real name—walked around the side of the desk and we walked to an empty table. She sat down, and I mirrored her.

  “It’s just a lot all at once,” she said, studying her hands.

  “I’m such an ass. I’m sorry. I got excited that we could finally meet in person, but I should have waited until you were ready.” I could sense the general anxiety coursing through her thoughts. “I’m gonna go,” I said and stood up.

  She reached across the table and grabbed my wrist. “I thought about telling you I started working here. But I got scared. I think after everything that happened with Jason, I am a little wary of people. But I’m happy we finally met.”

  ‘At least it’s out of the way now,’ she thought.

  “You’re sure?” I slid back into the chair.

  “It happened sooner than I was expecting, but it was going to happen eventually.”

  “What are you doing tomorrow after school?”

  “Oh, I’m not taking classes at the high school. I’m finishing my courses online.”

  “Then what are you doing after three-thirty tomorrow?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “Want to meet up and just get to know each other, no screen names?” God, I hoped she’d say yes.

  She pulled her hand back from my wrist and toyed with her hair again. I suspected it was a nervous habit. It was kind of cute. Just like everything else about her. “I think that would be okay.”

  “Great. I’ll meet you on the front steps of the high school tomorrow.”

  “Sure. I’ll be there.”

  I got up, catching the glare Tina was sending my way. She did not want to have to deal with library patrons. So LBW needed to get back to work before Tina decided to bad mouth her to her mom, who controlled hiring decisions.

  “If we’re going to get to know each other, I should probably know your real name,” I mentioned as we started back toward the circulation desk.

  She laughed, and it made her eyes sparkle. “Marisol. Marisol Esparza.”

  I offered her my hand. “Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Marisol.”

  “You too, Spencer.”

  I couldn’t hide the grin on my face as I relinquished her hand and left her to the rest of her shift. It hadn’t gone anywhere near as smooth as I’d hoped, but she’d agreed to see me again.

  Chapter Four

  Marisol

 
I watched Spencer leave with a big grin on his face and settled back behind the circulation desk. Tina had her headphones back on her ears like I didn’t exist. I tried to process my feelings over what just happened. Why had I given Spencer a chance by agreeing to see him tomorrow? I’d come here feeling firm in my belief I wasn’t ready to meet in person, yet I’d given in so quickly. But, why?

  His excitement was infectious.

  “Hey, did you finish the re-shelving yet?” A voice beside me asked before I could go deeper into analyzing my feelings.

  I turned to find Tina hovering over me, headphones now slung around her neck. For someone who claimed to not care to about this job, she made a habit of nosing in on other people’s business. Sure, it had been mildly helpful she had introduced Spencer, but generally she only irritated me. She fixed me with a fake smile and tapped her hand against her upper arm. I glanced at the pile of books sitting in the return bin.

  “I was getting to it,” I said, returned the smile, and scooped the books from the pile.

  I snatched up my phone and shoved it in my pocket on my way to the shelves. Re-shelving was something of a mind-numbing process and something that had taken Tina all of five minutes to explain. Read the reference number, find the shelf, shove it in, repeat. By the time my phone read five to six, I had two books left. I hadn’t been able to find where they went in the stacks. I was about ready to stick them back in the return bin, so they became someone else’s problem when I remembered I noticed a restricted area Tina mentioned housed rare books.

  These titles didn’t fit the strict definition, but it was worth a shot. I passed by circulation to find Tina had disappeared. The fact she’d left the desk unattended bothered me, but I bit my lip and kept going. The restricted area wasn’t cordoned off with a velvet rope or anything fancy. Rather, the door simply bore a sign saying ‘RESTRICTED’ in angry, red, capital letters. An electronic keypad adorned the wall to the right, and by the row of green lights on the pad, I assumed the door was unlocked. I tried the handle on the left-hand door and it swung in on silent hinges.