by Perrin Briar
“How much more?” Zoe said, sitting beside him.
“I want it all,” Bryan said. “Living together, exclusivity, the works.”
“I’m not seeing anyone else,” Zoe said.
“Neither am I,” Bryan said. “And I want to keep it that way. Forever. I want to wake up beside you in the mornings and look forward to seeing you every evening. And if we meet sometimes in the middle of the day like this, all the better.”
Zoe nodded, thinking it through.
“I’ve got a lot going on in my life,” she said.
“I know,” Bryan said.
“Are you sure about this?” Zoe said.
“Absolutely,” Bryan said. “I can’t think of anyone – or anything – I want more.”
“I come with baggage,” Zoe said.
“We both do,” Bryan said. “But I’m willing to try, if you are. If things don’t work out, then we can just keep what we have now. This is new territory for me. New for a long time, anyway.”
“Do you think I’m any different?” Zoe said.
“You always seem so calm, so in control,” Bryan said.
Zoe laughed.
“You’re saying that to me?” she said. “It’s all cover, I assure you. This is the first serious relationship I’ve had since… Well, you know.”
“We’ve both had our heartaches in the past,” Bryan said. “We deserve something strong and long lasting.”
“So, we just need to bite the bullet,” Zoe said.
“They’re the ones who’re going to have to bite it,” Bryan said. “We’re the ones who’re going to have to pull the trigger.”
“What if they refuse to accept it?” Zoe said. “If they refuse to accept us?”
“They’ll have no choice,” Bryan said. “They’ll get used to it. We can’t spend our lives living for them and wait until they’re all grown up. Each of them lost a parent. They deserve to have another one. And I can’t think of anyone I would rather have as a mother to my daughter than you.”
Zoe smiled.
“Now that’s romantic,” she said.
“You asked for it,” Bryan said. “And you got it – both barrels.”
Zoe wrapped her arms around Bryan.
“Do you think she’ll like me?” she said. “I always wanted a daughter.”
“You’ll get on like a house on fire,” Bryan said.
“Is that supposed to be good?” Zoe said. “You’re saying there’ll be a lot of fallout?”
“All right,” Bryan said. “Like two peas in a pod.”
“Locked together forever with no way to escape?” Zoe said.
“Is there any way I can say you’ll get on well without this kind of response?” Bryan said. “You don’t hear me worrying about yours.”
“Boys are easier,” Zoe said. “Make a few comments about things he likes, play a few games with him, and he’s wrapped around your little finger. Girls are harder.”
“I won’t deny that,” Bryan said.
Zoe wrapped her arms around Bryan’s head and kissed him on the lips. He responded, kissing her on the face and neck, working his way down…
“No!” Zoe said, pushing Bryan’s head away.
“Aw!” Bryan said. “Why not?”
Zoe put on her underwear and pants.
“Because unlike you, who is God of his company, I actually have to get back to work,” she said.
“Do you really?” Bryan said. “Can’t you just tell them you’re wining and dining a prospective new client?”
“I think I’ve wined and dined enough,” Zoe said.
Bryan began to get dressed too. He stole glances at Zoe.
“Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?” he said.
“Certain,” Zoe said.
“One hundred percent?” Bryan said.
“One thousand percent,” Zoe said.
Bryan sneaked up behind her and kissed her on the neck, nipping at her skin with his teeth.
Zoe closed her eyes and sighed.
“I think I just missed my bus,” she said, dropping her bag. “It’s a bummer because they only come every hour.”
“Don’t forget, you’re now in charge of the biggest account at Environment Solutions,” Bryan said. “They should be wrapped around your little finger.”
“I don’t like to take advantage of the situation,” Zoe said.
“Another reason you’re perfect for me,” Bryan said. “You come complete with gold-plated morals.”
“I can be immoral sometimes,” Zoe said. She pushed Bryan back onto the bed. “In fact, let me show you…”
3
AARON GOT his chemistry books out of his locker and tucked them in his bag. He closed his locker door and jumped a foot in the air.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that!” Aaron said.
“Do what?” Pete said.
“Creep up behind my door and stand there with that expression on your face,” Aaron said.
“What expression?” Pete said. “This is my default expression.”
“Then you need to hit the reset button,” Aaron said. “You’re terrifying when you smile.”
“People say I have a beautiful smile,” Pete said.
“Your mom says that,” Aaron said. “Moms don’t count as people.”
Aaron slung his bag over his shoulder and weaved through the other students in the corridor.
“But I do have something exciting to tell you about,” Pete said. “You’re never going to believe this, but I was watching a lecture by Jack Horner – you know, the dinosaur guy – and he was saying how all the dinosaur fossils we’ve discovered so far might not all be different. He said the fossils we have might only show the gradual change in age, like teenagers to adults, adults to the old. Isn’t that great? I can’t wait to tell Rae about it.”
Pete’s life mission was to bombard Mrs. Rae, their science teacher, with as many theories counter to established science as he could find. He often didn’t believe what he read, but he couldn’t help pestering Mrs. Rae with his nonsense. But so far she had always managed to counter his arguments.
“Are you listening?” Pete said.
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “I’m listening.”
And he was, but with only about five percent of his brain. The rest was focused on the memories that floated through his mind. Seven years ago – almost to the day – he had seen his father for the last time. He’d come up to his bedroom to wish him goodnight, give him a gift, a kiss on the forehead, and then left his life forever. To disappear without saying goodbye wasn’t like Aaron’s father at all, and for the past seven years he’d been fostering his own theories of his disappearance.
When Aaron turned to Pete he caught the end of his monologue.
“…I’ll have Rae in a corner with that one, don’t you think?” Pete said.
“Sure,” Aaron said without commitment.
“What’s wrong with you today?” Pete said. “I present you with material that will drive Rae crazy and you’re not even listening to me.”
“Sorry,” Aaron said. “I just have other things on my mind.”
“What could possibly be more important than this?” Pete said. “A chance to embarrass Rae. It’s the chance of a lifetime!”
Mrs. Rae was a strict teacher, and ensured a mutual exchange of respect at all times. One such requirement was for the students to wait outside her classroom for her to arrive. The class had instinctively divided themselves into two groups, one along either wall. There was a clear social gap between them. There were the cool skirts-hitched-up girls with the sporty muscular guys on the left, and the dorky pigeon-chested guys with bookish girls on the right. Talk about subscribing to stereotypes. Aaron and Pete joined the latter.
“It’s totally going to work,” Pete said. “Rae is going to hit the roof, you watch.”
Despite a world increasingly dominated and shaped by tech geeks with high foreheads and even higher IQs, the social strata at Moore’s High School
was still in the primeval stages of critique. Someone on a sports team still ‘outranked’ someone on the chess or electronics team. One such figure was Clint, captain of the football team. He made a comment, and it must have been funny because his friends howled with laughter, slapping their knees and grinning like idiots. With the glances they made toward Rahul, the Indian exchange student, Aaron supposed he must have been the butt of the joke.
Clint looked around at the other people in the class, looking for fresh bait. The kids lined up along Aaron’s wall diverted their eyes down, looking at the floor, the ceiling, anywhere but across the corridor. Clint was at his most vicious when he was in a good mood, and they all knew it. The only person who didn’t lower his gaze was Aaron, who looked at Cassie, Clint’s girlfriend.
She was pretty, tall, with short blonde hair. She wasn’t a cheerleader, but she had the build for it. She was smarter than the others by a considerable margin, which only made her worse. To be stupid and do cruel things was one thing, but to be smart and know what they were doing, that was another. The reason Aaron knew she was smart was because of her grades. She got the minimum amount necessary to stay in the top sets for everything, no doubt keeping her parents happy, but low enough not to incite dislike from her peers. She and her friends were all part of the brat pack, each with rich parents. Cassie was an enigma to Aaron, not that he had ever really given her much thought.
His mind began to wander when Clint caught him looking at Cassie. Aaron hastily looked away, but it was too late.
“What are you looking at, Tate?” Clint said. “Were you checking out my girlfriend?”
“Clint, leave it,” Cassie said, placing her hand on his arm.
“You want a taste, is that it?” Clint said.
“Clint, come on,” Cassie said.
“You do, don’t you?” Clint said to Aaron. “You little perv! I bet he does! He wants to do things to you, babe. No wonder your father ran away, Tate. Who would want an embarrassment like you as a son?”
It was a direct hit. Aaron’s face screwed up in rage, but he had not totally taken leave of his senses. Clint was big, and any violence was bound to end badly for Aaron, who was small and weedy.
He blustered past Clint and headed for the boys’ bathroom. Clint’s cohorts laughed and cheered, making sniveling, crying motions with their hands and faces. But before Aaron got to the toilet, Mrs. Rae floated down the corridor. She wore long billowing dresses that gave the appearance she was floating. The students followed her into the classroom and took their seats.
Mrs. Rae stood in the doorframe.
“Well?” she said to Aaron. “Aren’t you going to join us?”
Aaron scrubbed his brain for an excuse not to enter the room, but none came to mind. He entered the classroom and took his seat beside Pete.
“You have to learn to ignore him,” Pete said. “Idiots like him have nothing useful to say.”
But Aaron couldn’t let go. He fumed, turning Clint’s words over in his mind.
“Now,” Mrs. Rae said. “Last lesson we looked at the period of Earth’s history when the dinosaurs existed, and their eventual extinction. Today we shall learn about rocks and how they tell us what happened in the past.”
Pete wet his lips with his tongue in anticipation and raised his hand.
“Miss,” Pete said. “I saw an interesting lecture last night. It was about how all the dinosaur fossils we’ve got might not have all been different species after all, but stages in a dinosaur’s natural life cycle.”
“Who said that?” Mrs. Rae said.
“The esteemed Jack Horner,” Pete said. “What do you think of that?”
“I suppose he could be right,” Mrs. Rae said. “But until he or someone else discovers evidence to support his idea, that’s all it is. Just an idea.”
“But it’s a good idea, don’t you think?” Pete said, still trying to get a rise out of Mrs. Rae.
“There are many good ideas in the world that haven’t been adopted by the mainstream yet,” Mrs. Rae said. “But there’s no reason to accept them until there’s plausible evidence. Now, onto today’s lesson…”
Pete’s shoulders sagged.
“Go deep enough into the Earth and you can see the entire history of our planet,” Mrs. Rae said to the class. “In 1909 a paleontologist called Charles Walcott discovered a rock formation called the Burgess Shale. It catalogues a large swathe of our planet’s animal history. We can even see our earliest ancestors – the first creatures to have backbones and spinal columns. We can see many creatures, most of which – ninety-nine percent, in fact – are now extinct. They did not survive. But our ancestors did. And they went on to evolve into a plethora of new creatures – including the dinosaurs.
“But how is it that we know these things with any certainty? How can we be so sure they are correct? Because of the overwhelming evidence. We have found fossils and other artefacts left behind, encased in amber, or deep within tar pits, or in the icy landscapes of the arctic, and in the caves of Africa and Asia.
“Now, you’re all going to split up into twos. You’re going to analyze these rock samples with the use of microscopes and identify what kind of rock type they are. Feel free to use your textbooks. As usual, we’re going to pair up with different partners.”
Mrs. Rae went through the register, coming down the list.
“Pete, you’re with Graham,” she said.
“Oh great,” Pete said, lowering his voice. “I get to spend all class with the smell of pickled onions.”
“Aaron,” Mrs. Rae said. “You’re with Cassie.”
Pete turned his wide eyes on Aaron.
“You’re so lucky!” he said.
“What are you talking about?” Aaron said. “Clint’s going to kill me if I look at his girlfriend the wrong way.”
At that very moment Clint glared at Aaron as if he had somehow rigged the whole thing.
“This could be your ticket out from under Clint,” Pete said. “Don’t you see? Control Cassie and you control him.”
“How am I supposed to control Cassie?” Aaron said.
“Don’t blow it!” Pete said helpfully before moving away.
Cassie sat down with a huff beside Aaron, dropping her books loudly on the workbench. Clearly she was as excited about the pairing as Clint was.
“Hi,” Aaron said.
Cassie looked at him as if he had just burped in her face. She sat there, tapping her pen on her notepad, watching the clock. Other pairs were already discussing animatedly, figuring out the answers.
“Shall we get started on these rocks?” Aaron said. “Would you like to do the first one?”
He picked up the box Mrs. Rae left on their table.
“You know, believe it or not but I’m actually not a bad guy,” Aaron said. “Despite whatever Clint has told you, I’m the same as any of the other guys in school. I might not be good at sports, but they’re not as good at studying. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.”
“I don’t believe in weakness,” Cassie said.
“Then you’re not going to like me,” Aaron said. “I’ve got just about every weakness under the sun.”
“Like what?” Cassie said.
Aaron took his glasses off.
“Try these,” he said.
Cassie peered through them. She took them off and rubbed her eyes.
“Your eyes are terrible!” she said.
Aaron reached into his pocket and extracted an asthma pump.
“If you think that’s bad, check this out,” Aaron said. “If I run around too much or get out of breath, sometimes my lungs collapse. Without this I’ll die.”
“How does it work?” Cassie said.
“You just breathe in, press the button and a chemical comes out that helps expand my lungs,” Aaron said. “But the chances of me getting out of breath are pretty slim anyway.”
“Why?” Cassie said.
“Flat feet,” Aaron said. “I can’t walk or run very far
without them killing.”
“You are weak,” Cassie said. “Good thing we don’t rely on survival of the fittest any more.”
Aaron smiled. He knew she was smart. He took a deep breath. Hopefully he’d softened her up with how weak he was and she would take pity on him.
“Look,” Aaron said. “I know we hardly know each other, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”
“Like what?” Cassie said.
“Would you mind speaking with Clint and getting him off my back?” Aaron said. “High school’s hard enough without guys like him beating on me.”
“What makes you think I have any control over him?” Cassie said. “You saw what happened in the corridor.”
“I also notice it never happens to you,” Aaron said. “He likes you.”
“I’m his girlfriend,” Cassie said.
“So you have some sway over him?” Aaron said.
Cassie hesitated.
“Yes,” she said. “But I’m going to use it myself one day.”
“What do you mean?” Aaron said.
“Life is about knowing the right people,” Cassie said. “Better to get a head start now.”
“Who said that?” Aaron said.
“My dad,” Cassie said.
“Clint is the right kind of person?” Aaron said.
Cassie shrugged.
“I don’t make the rules,” she said.
“How are you doing?” Mrs. Rae said, coming over.
“We’re all done,” Aaron said.
“But you haven’t written anything down,” Mrs. Rae said.
Aaron picked up the small pieces of rock and held each one between his fingers, occasionally peering at them with his naked eye.
“This one’s sedimentary,” Aaron said. “This one metamorphic. And this one’s igneous.”
Mrs. Rae was taken aback.
“Uh, right,” she said, moving on to the next pair. “Carry on.”
“How did you do that?” Cassie said.
“I want to be a seismologist when I get older,” Aaron said. “I need to know all the different rock types. So, can you help me with Clint?”