by Jamie Grey
“And give away my secrets? Never. But I will show you how to bypass security and sneak into the kitchens. I might even show you my secret stash of cookies if you’re really good.”
I grinned. “Cookies? How did you guess they’re my Kryptonite? You’re on.”
“Let’s go over the original calculation again.” Asher brought up Dr. Avery’s work on his computer. We’d spent every afternoon for the last week in his office, working on deciphering the jumble of letters and numbers and strange symbols filling his huge monitor.
I groaned. “I’m never going to admit it to anyone but you, but I still have no idea what I’m even looking at, let alone how it all fits together.”
Asher lounged back in his chair, arms behind his head. “Well, isn’t it lucky I do? And I’m an exceptionally patient teacher.”
“I’ll believe that when I see it.” I opened my notebook. “Let’s try again.”
We’d fallen into an easy, joking sort of friendship, and for the first time, I let myself hope I might fit in at QT. I still battled with my own feelings of stupidity, though. I could feel things getting easier, my brain seemed to pick up concepts quicker, but I hated I couldn’t just look at the equation and know immediately what it meant. I hated Asher had to waste his time explaining things to me I would have already known if I’d been at QT for more than a month. Every time I asked a question, I felt like an idiot.
We’d been at it two hours when Asher shook his head and turned off his monitor. “Stop it, Lexicon,” he said. “You have that look again.”
“What look?”
“The one that says you’re ashamed of yourself for not knowing something. You need to give yourself a break.”
“You need to mind your own business,” I muttered.
Asher smirked. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you. Listen to me, Lexie. I like answering your questions, and they’re not stupid. They’re making me think about this whole formula in an entirely different way. That’s a good thing.”
“If Amy or Zella or Max were here, you’d already be done.” I frowned at my tablet, and the squiggly line that meant Sigma.
“If they were here, we’d still be working on it, too. This is a tough assignment. Why else do you think I picked you to help?”
“Because you felt sorry for me?”
“Because I knew you were the best person for the job. Sometimes we need an outsider’s perspective and ideas to catch the holes in something.”
My laugh was angrier than I intended. “And what an outsider I am.”
Asher sighed. “I think we’re done for the day. When you start feeling sorry for yourself, it’s time for us to quit.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “How about some dinner? We’ll stop by the lab and let your dad know I’m taking you out.”
I hated he was right. I was feeling sorry for myself. And I could feel myself getting grumpy from being hungry, so I nodded. “Fine. But only because my dad said he might have to work late and I don’t want to get stuck here all night.”
Asher smirked. “You’re always so gracious, Lexicon.” He locked his computer and shoved his tablet into his messenger bag before we left.
As we made our way toward my dad’s lab, I snuck glances at him walking easily beside me, hands shoved into his pockets. It amazed me that we’d become friends. He still tried to flirt with me, but I realized now he usually did it when he was feeling nervous or uncomfortable. His flirty personality was like armor, something he pulled on to face his enemies or hide from his friends. When we were alone together, working on the calculation or talking through one of the lines of formula, he was just Asher. Brilliant, funny, vulnerable.
“Why so serious?” he asked in his best Joker voice. It bounced off the walls and echoed eerily in the silent hallway. Most of the labs on this floor were empty since Dr. Danvers had transitioned all the Project Infinity staff to Division Nine to work on the wormhole device.
I shook my head. “Not serious. Just thinking.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t push me. I liked that about him. Somehow, he always knew when to leave things alone. And then I realized I just liked Asher in general. Not in that “he’s cute and I want to date him” sort of way. I genuinely liked him as a person. He was the first guy I’d ever felt like that about.
Of course, he was cute and I definitely wouldn’t mind dating him, but I shoved those thoughts away. Focus on the project, Kepler.
We reached my dad’s office, and I pushed open the door, letting it bang against the wall to announce our presence. There was no way I wanted to risk a repeat of last time. I was still scarred from seeing Jordan all over him.
Dad’s office was unexpectedly empty, but I spotted him and Jordan down the hall, bent over one of the lab computers. He looked up as we entered. “Don’t tell me I’m late. I swear it’s only four o’clock.”
“You’re fine, Dad. Asher and I are going to grab dinner. Feel free to take as long as you need.” I knew he was stressing over his Project Infinity assignment; he’d been spending more and more time locked in his labs. He was even distracted when we were home at night, constantly tapping on his tablet or staring off into space.
“Good idea. I have some catching up to do, so I might be a bit late. Don’t worry if I’m not home before you go to bed.”
I tried not to think too hard about what might make him that late. Or if it had to do with Jordan. “Sure. See you later, Dad.”
Jordan waved. “Bye, Lexie.”
I pulled Asher from the room, eager to escape her sickly sweet personality and grating voice.
“She’s not that bad,” he said as we waited for the elevator.
“She’s trying to hook up with my dad. Of course she is.”
He shrugged as we stepped inside the elevator. “Maybe you should give them a chance. Your dad’s been alone a long time. He deserves some happiness.” My jaw fell open, and he grinned at me. “Doesn’t hurt she’s hot. He’s kind of my hero.”
I punched him in the shoulder. “Oh my god. Don’t even go there. I don’t care if she’s the ugliest woman on the planet. He’s my dad, and he should not be making out with someone just a few years older than me. Or an employee. It’s just gross.”
“Where else is he going to find someone?” Asher gestured. “It’s not like we’re in the middle of a huge town. QT is about the only place to meet people. He’s hardly the first to date a coworker here. Some of the scientists have taken to calling it ‘fishing.’ You know — catch and release.”
I put my hands on my hips. “And of course you’d know all about that?”
He gave me a crooked grin, and my stomach swooped.
I shrugged and tried to play it cool. “I guess I’ll have to find out firsthand. There’s no shortage of smart guys around. Maybe I should do some fishing myself.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” He wagged a finger at me. “I was here first.”
“What about Amy?”
“I don’t think Amy’s interested in you like that.”
The elevator doors slid open, and I laughed at him over my shoulder as I exited. “Ha ha. Very funny. Just so you know, I’m not dating someone based on a game of dibs. Sorry, Ash.”
“Are you two dating?” Dr. Rosen asked, looking puzzled. “Did I miss something?”
My face went from zero to red in 2.5 seconds, and I stammered out a laugh. “Um, no, Dr. Rosen. We were just joking around.”
He glanced between us, raised one bushy eyebrow. “I see.”
Asher scuffed the toe of his Chucks on the marble floor. “We’re grabbing some dinner at Coco’s. Want me to bring you back something?”
Dr. Rosen shook his head. “I’m fine. I’ll try to grab something from the cafeteria. I’m probably going to be late. Avery has us all working around the clock to get this first round of testing done. He’d better ease up soon. I can’t have the staff walking around here like zombies.”
“Make sure you set a reminder,” Asher said with a frown. �
�You know you won’t remember.”
But Dr. Rosen just waved a hand and turned to me. “You worry too much. And how are you feeling, Lexie? Any more side effects from Grant’s shot?”
“Not as far as I can tell.”
He studied me before nodding. “Good. I’m still running tests, but it seems like whatever it was just didn’t work. Please let me know if anything changes, though.”
“Thanks, Dr. Rosen.”
“My pleasure. Now, go have your dinner. I’ll see you at home, son.” He paused, turned to me with his eyes sparkling. “And Lexie? Go easy on him, Asher’s a good kid. Most of the time.”
I smiled over at Asher. “Yeah, he has his moments.”
Coco’s was dead when we walked in. We’d beaten the dinner rush by a good half hour, and most of the tables sat empty. Coco waved at us, a chunky bracelet with skulls and flowers around her wrist jangling with the movement. “Sit wherever you want. I’ll be over to get your orders in a minute.”
Asher picked a booth along the back wall, and I slid in across from him. We were tucked in a back corner, semi-secluded from the rest of the place, and I wondered if he’d picked this spot for a reason. The thought made my pulse speed up.
“So what’s good here?” I asked, scanning the menu, trying to play it cool.
Asher’s eyes widened. “You haven’t eaten here yet? What have you been doing for food?”
“I can cook. Kind of. And Dad has the pizza place on speed dial. We’ve been managing.”
He snatched the menu from my hands and tucked it behind the ketchup. “I’m ordering for you today.” He raised that eyebrow at me again. “You’re not vegetarian, are you?”
I couldn’t stop my laugh. “I grew up in Ohio. We’re firmly steak-and-potatoes kind of people.”
“Good. Because Coco makes this burger. It’s…indescribable.”
“In a good way I hope.” I brushed my bangs out of my eyes and looked around. Coco was chatting with a scientist at the bar, but otherwise, we were alone.
“Definitely.” He slouched back in his seat and tilted his head, studying me with a half-smile.
His gaze made my skin feel too small for my body, and I shifted on the bench. It always felt like he saw things other people missed, like he used his amazing brain to understand people in a way nobody else could.
“I’m glad you finally came to your senses. I’m not used to working this hard to get a girl to go out with me.” The dimple flashed in his cheek, and his eyes darkened.
I shook my head, biting back a laugh. As much as I wished otherwise, I knew by now that Asher’s flirting never meant anything. “That was working hard? Wow, I’m going to have to step it up then. I’ve made it way too easy on you.”
“Lexicon, you could never be easy.” His blue eyes were serious, at odds with his playful tone. “That’s what I like about you.”
“Ah, so the more complicated, the better? Doesn’t that scare most guys off?”
“I’m not most guys. You should know that by now.”
I had to look away from his intense gaze before I could even find the words to respond. “Aren’t you ever serious?”
“Why are you always serious?”
I looked down at the scarred surface of the table, traced one of the gouges with my finger. The words rushed out before I could think them through. “I’ve had to be. It’s the only way I know how to act. Hide behind whatever character someone expected me to play. Daughter. Student. Classmate. How could I be myself when I didn’t know who I was? Until last month, I was someone else. Someone with a different brain and different way of seeing things. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Asher leaned forward, his eyes searching mine, but before he could respond, Coco showed up to take our order. Like a flip had switched, Asher was bright and funny again, his sudden seriousness gone. I wasn’t the only one who played roles around here.
“This is Lexie’s first dinner here, Coco. Let’s give her the works. She’s going to need a basket of chili cheese fries, one of your deluxe burgers, an Italian soda — cherry, I think — and a piece of your cheesecake when we’re done. Might as well give me the same thing.”
Coco grinned. “You sure do know the way to a girl’s heart, don’t you, darlin’? You’re in for a treat, Lexie.” She slipped her tablet in her pocket and made for the kitchen.
I smiled cheerfully at her pixie cut and her slight frame. The girl was nothing I would have expected to find in Oak Ridge, and that made me happy. It also made me happy that she’d interrupted a conversation that had gotten way to serious.
I waved my hand around the restaurant. “This place is amazing. I’m eating dinner made by a Goth girl chef — who also happens to be a scientific genius — in a town full of the smartest people in the world. I can’t get over it.”
“Luckily, you don’t have to. Come on, Branston has nothing on us. I mean, I’m not there.”
I smirked. “And what makes you so special?”
“Besides resident genius status?”
“Ha ha. Seriously, if you pull that out one more time, I’m going to start wondering if you’re trying too hard.”
“Only with you, Lexie.”
I didn’t know whether to roll my eyes or blush, so of course, I went on the defensive. “You say that to all the other girls, too? What about Amy?”
He shrugged. “There are worse things than having lots of friends who happen to be brilliant…and female. That’s what Amy is. A friend. Besides, I just like to get to know people. To figure them out.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You play catch-and-release, too?”
“I used to.”
My mouth went dry. Was that what he was doing with me? I thought we were friends, but once he’d figured me out, would he release me, too? Some of my worry must have shown in my face because he reached across the table to touch the back of my hand.
“Lexie, it’s not like that. No matter how much I joke about it, I’m genuinely interested in people. I like figuring them out. I like learning who they are. Especially you. Because maybe if I can figure them out, I can figure other things out as well. Like…why I feel the need to impress you more than anyone else.” He looked away, but I caught the vulnerability in his eyes.
The door jangled as a group of laughing QT students walked in. I spotted Amy the same time she spotted us. A surge of disappointment twisted through me.
She made for our table, sliding in beside Asher and bumping him with her shoulder. She glared at his hand touching mine until he pulled it away. I dropped my hand to my lap and rubbed the spot where his touch still seared my skin.
“You guys should have called. I would have met up with you,” Amy said, her gaze darting between us.
His face was expressionless. “We got done early.”
“Well, I’m here now, so it’s all good.” She turned to me, though she still leaned her shoulder against Asher’s. “How’s everything going, Lexie? With all the project stuff going on, we haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other yet. How do you like QT?”
“I’m getting used to it. Slowly. It’s not quite like Columbus High.”
“Right. You went to public school.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t imagine having to deal. Were there cliques and bullies and stuff?”
I shrugged. “It was just a normal high school. And there are cliques in QT, too.”
“Yeah, I guess there are. I just don’t think I could handle some place so…understimulating.” She watched Asher from the corner of her eye. “But you probably fit in better there, huh? I mean, with people more your level?”
I forced myself not to react, though more than anything I wanted to reach across the table and slap the smug expression off her face.
She smiled sweetly. “Oh, look, your food’s here.”
Coco carried a huge tray over to our table and slid the burgers in front of us. A basket of chili cheese fries hulked in the middle of the table. My stomach growled loudly.
Amy laughed at me and shook her head at Coco. “Can I get a Caesar salad and a Diet Coke please?”
“Sure, darlin’. I’ll bring it right over.”
Amy turned back to me. “Asher and I used to come here every Wednesday for the burgers, but then I started getting a little pudgy. I had to stop.” She patted her flat stomach, and I tried not to glare at her. I wasn’t fat, but I wasn’t rail-thin like her. More importantly, what I looked like had nothing to do with who I was, and I hated this girl for making me feel like it did, even for a split-second.
Asher seemed oblivious to the subtext in our exchange and was busily shoveling down his hamburger. I ignored Amy’s sneers and tried mine, closing my eyes at the deliciousness. “Oh my god, Asher.”
“Right?” He grinned at me. “Just wait till you try the fries.”
“I may have to sneak one, even though it’s so not on my diet.” Amy’s giggle made my head ache. She snagged a gooey fry and popped it in her mouth, then shook her head. “Oh, Ash, you have mayo all over your chin.” She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and dabbed at his face.
My chest ached, and I forced myself to chew deliberately as I stared down at my plate. They were just friends, huh?
Amy spent the next half hour chatting about friends I didn’t know, about things that obviously had nothing to do with me. It didn’t take a genius to see she was trying to exclude me, but playing the game just seemed too exhausting, so I focused on my amazing hamburger instead.
When Coco wandered over to check on us, I put on my best smile. “This whole meal is fantastic. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything like it. Will you move in with me, Coco?”
“As long as your daddy’s there, I’m packing my bags right now.” She grinned at me. “But seriously, I’m glad you like it. Next time you’re in, you’ll have to try my portobello lasagna. It’s amazing if I do say so myself. Everything else all right?”
I nodded. “I think I’m ready for my check when you get a chance.”
“I got this, Coco.” Asher waved his hand. “My treat.”
Amy kissed his cheek. “You’re the best. Thanks, Ash.”