No . . . not an odd number . . .
I felt my heart race, the way it always did when there was a chance that I might end up alone. One year in gym class, I’d been the odd girl out for square dancing two weeks in a row, standing in solitary shame against the wall until the teacher forced somebody else to switch out so I could have a turn. And even though chemistry was my best subject, that was no guarantee that Jill Jekel would find a partner here, either.
As I moved to get my manual and book, I tried not to look desperate, even as I made vague attempts at eye contact.
Becca was in the class, but she was so popular . . . I looked in her direction, but Seth Lanier was telling her some joke, making her laugh. She’d probably team with Seth . . .
Tucking my stick-straight, brown hair that was forever escaping from my ponytail behind my ear, I reached for the lab manual, trying to look relaxed and nonchalant. I could always act like I wanted to work alone, if worst came to worst.
“Hey, Jill.”
I glanced over to see Darcy Gray edging in next to me, snapping up a manual, and I felt a surge of hope, albeit one tempered with skepticism.
Darcy seemed to be winding up to tell me something. Or ask me something. Was there a chance that Darcy Gray was going to ask me to partner? Because we were the two best students in the room . . . It made sense . . .
“What’s up?” I greeted her, hoisting the heavy book Mr. Messerschmidt had picked for us. Sterne and Anwar’s Foundations of the Chemical World, 17th Edition. A classic, trustworthy text. My father had kept an earlier edition in his office at home. It was, of course, still there, if we ever unlocked the door to that sacred, forbidden space.
“I just wanted to tell you that station three sucks,” Darcy said, taking her own copy from the pile. She scowled at the cover, like she disapproved, not even looking at me as she spoke. “I had three last year, and the Bunsen burners don’t work right. It totally screwed me over, and Messerschmidt wouldn’t let me change.”
“Oh.” So that was it. Darcy was tipping me off about a faulty lab station. Which was nice, I guessed. But not what I’d hoped for. I felt my cheeks warming, wondering if Darcy had any clue that I’d sort of expected her to ask me to be her partner. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said, still not looking at me as she headed for station one—and her boyfriend, Todd Flick. Gorgeous Todd, not a brain in his head, but he’d take Darcy’s directions without complaint or question. He was probably the perfect partner for somebody as domineering as Darcy.
But why had she bothered to warn me about the lab? We were competing for valedictorian, and she could have just let it go. Could have let fate take its course, maybe to my detriment. Was Darcy that confident that she’d take first place?
Probably.
Hugging my books, I took a deep breath and turned around to face the whole class. As I’d expected, most of my classmates already seemed to be pairing up as surely as the animals on Noah’s ark. It was like watching that square dance all over again as students moved around the room, coalescing into teams, gravitating toward desks. A few stragglers were still coming up for books, but in general, it appeared that the world was, as usual, operating two by two, with me as the odd girl out.
The odd, odd girl.
Just try to have some dignity, I told myself, squaring my shoulders and starting my solitary march toward the back of the room, eyes fixed on the farthest station, in the corner. I figured I might as well take the last table if I was going to work alone. At least I wouldn’t have people staring at the back of my head, thinking about the empty chair at my side.
But just as I was about to put my books down, Becca grabbed my arm, laughing her easy laugh. “Jill, where are you going? Get over here!”
I blinked at her with surprise. “What?”
“Our station,” Becca said, pointing to lab three. “I grabbed one for us.”
“Us?”
Becca looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Duh, Jill. We’re partnering, right? I mean, you have to save my butt! You’re the one who understands this stuff!”
“I . . . I . . .” I stammered for a second, still uncertain. Becca Wright had picked me not necessarily because we were friends—she had too many friends to count—but because I was serviceable for her. Which, I supposed, in her eyes was a pretty darn good reason for us to link up. Not insulting at all to a person who would never imagine worrying about having a partner.
So why was I little hurt to be seen mainly as a human study aid?
And Becca had set us up at station three, which Darcy claimed didn’t work right. “We should switch to lab ten,” I suggested, pointing to the back of the room. “I heard lab three . . .”
“No way,” Becca interrupted, still smiling. “I want to be near Seth, and he’s on five, right behind us.”
I hesitated for one more second, knowing that if Becca had her heart set on being near Seth, she wouldn’t budge, even if the malfunctioning burner threatened to set us both on fire.
I gave one last glance
