Page 122 of The Scientist

“Nothing important,” Lex said. “Our team got invited to Lookout Mountain this weekend. The guys from the astronomy department are hosting an event to observe some cosmologic occurrence.”

Stuart rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, just some silly star show,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Are you insane?” He shot Lex a look of annoyance. “Hadley, this is a once-in-a-thousand-year meteorological event that Lex has decided he won’t attend unless you’re there.”

I turned to Lex. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We were busy,” he said with a roguish grin. “Besides, you already had plans.”

“Whatever they are, cancel them,” Stuart cut in. “Alpha Monocerotids is going to be visible to us here in California for the first time in over a thousand years.It’s a cosmological phenomenon, Hadley.You’ll get to see streams of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere on parallel trajectories at speeds of up to sixty kilometers per second!”

That did actually sound pretty cool. “Do you want to go, Lex?”

“Not without you,” he said, still lazily stroking my knee.

Stuart groaned impatiently.

“Would I be the only one there who isn’t part of the astronomy department or Lex’s team?” I asked Stuart.

“No, we were told we could bring guests. I just happen to have no one to ask, thanks to you,” he said, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Jace told me yesterday he was asking Sarah to go,” Stuart added. He said it like he was dangling a carrot in front of my face, but it was working. If she was going, I’d definitely feel more comfortable.

“You want to go?” Lex asked.

“If you do,” I answered.

“What about Lucy?” he asked, smiling.

“We’ll save that for another time. They play the reruns more than once in a thousand years.”

“So you’ll come then?” Stuart asked impatiently.

“He hasn’t told you everything,” Lex said. “The show doesn’t start until well after midnight.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“And there’s camping involved. We’d have to share a tent.”

“Could we share a sleeping bag too?” I said, wiggling my eyebrows.

His answering smile had my heart picking up speed as he leaned over, pressing his lips to mine.

“Okayyyyy,” Stuart said uncomfortably. “It’s settled then. You’re both coming?”

“Yes,” Lex said, his mouth still pressed to mine. “Now get out, Stuart.”

“See you at work, buddy,” Stuart said, making his exit as Lex carried me back up to the bedroom.

???

“I’m sexy and I grow it”was the tune I was humming to myself as I spent the morning working in my garden with a few tips from Professor Dunbar. Per his instruction, I started the day by digging out fistfuls of clay from the cold ground, trying to make room for my new larkspur plants. The tall, spiked petals were adeep shade of indigo that mixed beautifully with the pink and white rhododendrons Professor Dunbar had already planted.

The morning was cool, but California was living up to its name as the sun was shining brightly above without a cloud in the sky. I spread the loamy soil around each plant with my bare hands, loving the feel of the damp earth beneath my fingertips. The crisp smell of fresh mulch filled my nostrils as I grabbed handfuls of it from the bag to start covering the roots.

The me of six months ago would have laughed in your face if you’d told her she’d one day be planting a garden in her spare time when she wasn’t in the classroom teaching. How quickly things could change. That was the wildness of life though, holding the beauty with the chaos.

As I scattered handfuls of the warm mulch around my new shrubbery, my mind drifted to Lex, wondering how his day was going having to work with Nicky for the first time since this all happened. He hadn’t wanted to talk much more about it last night besides telling me he didn’t know how he was going to keep working with her. I told him he did the right thing. She owed him so much more than an apology, but she had been with their team for so long. It didn’t seem fair that she lose everything over this.

Lionel and Sarah had called to check on me, and I let them know everything that had happened yesterday. They both said they were sharpening their icicles. I ended up telling my mom what happened too, and she had a similar reaction.Despite what Nicky had done, my feelings were still mixed. Maybe it made me a complete idiot, but I think there would always be some small part of me that felt sorry for her.

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