“That’s awesome. And it sounds almost meditative.” Olive adjusted her glasses. “Which step are you on?”
Levon pointed at a page in the booklet she was holding. Olive smiled. “Mind if I help?”
“I’d love it if you did.”
His ready answer surprised her, but she kept a carefully neutral expression, same as him, as he passed her a step-by-step visual figure sheet. “Okay, so; you’re on figure four...?”
Time passed as they worked together, and the more she watched his sure, precise movements while constructing their object, the more her curiosity rose. As usual, she couldn’t stop herself from asking questions. “So, where did you first learn to do these kinds of projects?”
They’d talked about a lot of things back in high school when she’d been his tutor, but never anything like this.
Levon glanced up at her, blinked, then frowned down at his hands again. “When I was nine. At rocket-science camp.”
At first, Olive thought she must have misheard him. He’d said the last part so quietly, she would have missed it entirely if she hadn’t been paying attention. “I’m sorry? You went to rocket-science camp?”
He winced slightly, putting down the small screwdriver he’d been using and picking up what looked like a fancy pair of tweezers. “Yes. For about a day. Then I accidentally almost blew the place up, so they sent me home.”
“Oh.” Now it was her turn to blink at him. The memories must have been painful for him, because even now he looked like someone had just kicked his puppy. She bit her lip, thinking through how to proceed. Whenever she talked with one of her students who was having a problem, the best way she’d found to help them was to let them talk it out, without judgment or interference. So she kept silent. Eventually, Levon continued.
“I should’ve known the first day I showed up there that it was a mistake, but when we’d gotten the brochure at my house, I thought it was just shooting stuff up into the air all day and how cool would that be, right?” He gave a sad little chuckle. “Then the teacher who was in charge stood there going over his list, turning his nose up at me, asking me if I was in the right place or not. Asshole.”
That was pretty much Olive’s take on it too, but she didn’t say it. She’d never make one of her students feel unwanted like that. Horrible.
“But the minute I was sitting in that classroom listening to the guy drone on and on about chemical reactions and equations and stuff, I knew he was right. Then when I saw all those bottles of chemicals and the labels kept moving around on me when I looked at them…” He cringed and shuddered, and Olive wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and comfort every part of him, from the misunderstood boy he’d been to the wonderful man he’d turned out to be despite his setbacks. She sat on her hands to keep from reaching for him. He needed to get this out and she needed to listen. “Anyway,” he said, picking up the tiny screwdriver again to affix the final part of their object in place. “After all the endless lectures, the teacher took us out to the football field to launch our experiments. I thought I was doing it right, but some of the stuff in my bottle spilled and the grass started sizzling. Before I knew it, the teacher came running over and took my experiment away and told me to leave. Said I could’ve killed everyone at the camp because of my mistake.” He shrugged and looked away from her, but not before she’d glimpsed the sadness in his eyes. “I left, but I was too embarrassed to go home, so I took a walk. On my way, I passed a hobby store and went inside to look around. I still had the lunch money my mom had given me in my pocket. Despite what that teacher said, I’d always loved puzzles and putting things together, so I bought a small motor kit and instead of going home, I went to the park and put it together.” Levon’s smile finally returned, like the sun breaking through the clouds, and Olive was dazzled. “From then on, I was hooked. I’d spend nights and weekends putting together new kits, everything from lamps to model cars. It’s become my guilty pleasure.”
“That’s wonderful,” Olive said, grinning along with him. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“Thanks for listening,” he said. “And for not laughing at me.”
“I’d never laugh at you,” she whispered, the moment drawing out between them, sparkling with possibilities. “I…”
She’d almost said she loved him, but that was silly. She didn’t love Levon Asher.
Do I?
He broke eye contact first, frowning down at the model in his hands and giving it a few more tweaks before screwing a small light bulb into place at its center. “There. Done!”
Olive looked down at the completed night light in his hands, then back at Levon. Honestly, she hadn’t helped him at all with the project, but she felt much closer to him just the same. “Can we try plugging it in?”
“Follow me.” Levon led the way into the bedroom, and plugged it in while Olive switched off the lights. The room was instantly bathed in a soft blue glow. Olive gasped and turned, admiring the cosmic shapes thrown across the walls. She was gazing upon an imaginary star system, but she also couldn’t shake the sensation that she was underwater—deep, deep underwater, swimming in a secret grotto that no one before her had ever laid eyes on.
“It’s beautiful.” Her breath hitched, and tears threatened once more. This time she scrubbed them away with the sleeve of her robe. It was just a nightlight. That was all...
“For you
