Page 11 of The Love Simulation

This time I don’t give him room to hold me up any longer. I step around and continue on, past the attendancewindow, through the administrators’ half-empty desks, and right to Principal Major’s door. I knock two times and open it without waiting for an answer.

Principal Major snaps his head up from his computer. “Miss Rogers? What are you—”

I hold up a hand, just like I did with Roman. Principal Major looks both shocked and outraged, and it’s like I’ve unlocked a new superpower. Hell yeah. I’ll need to put my palm to good use more often.

“I have something to say,” I announce. “All year you’ve done nothing but try to make my job miserable, even going against what you must know will benefit students. All because I took the VP spot you want your precious boy to have.”

“If you wanted to resign, an email would have sufficed. No need to burn bridges while you’re at it. But if this is how you want to go out, by all means, then, continue.” He leans back in his seat and regards me with cool eyes.

I smile sweetly, ensuring my dimples are on full display. “Oh, I’m not resigning. I wanted to let you know I’m not going anywhere. And you were right when you called me stubborn, because I haven’t given up on the library either. I found another way to get the money, and I estimate by this time next year, Juanita Craft Middle School will be known for its new state-of-the-art library.”

I turn around and stride out of his office with my head held high, leaving the door open on his confused and annoyed face. He doesn’t know my plans yet, but by the time he’s got it all figured out, it will be too late for him to stop me.

I’m still operating off the high of Principal Major’s outrage when I get back to my office. I collapse into my chair and smile up at the ceiling, not remotely bothered that thepanels above are in obvious need of replacement. I open the drawer with my cell so I can send Camille a play-by-play of what just happened. But when I turn the screen on, I see there are four missed calls and five text messages from her, each reading more and more concerned.

Camille:Old Man Willie? Girl, what are you thinking of doing?

Camille:Call me so we can talk about whatever it is you’re considering.

Camille:Hello? Where are you??

Camille:Did you really send me that message then disappear?

The phone buzzes in my hand, and one last message pops up.

Camille:What have you gotten yourself into this time?

I stare into the youngerspitting image of my dad’s face through the screen. Dark brown skin with contrasting light brown eyes. These days, there’s a little gray at his temples, which I’m sure he’d say makes him look all the wiser. Rather than get back to Camille (at least right away—I will eventually call her before she decides to show up at my school), I reached out to my older brother, Vincent.

His eyes glitter with excitement and his mouth twitches. “I have to say, my little sister joining a Mars simulation was not on my bingo card for this year.”

I roll my eyes. “You don’t even play bingo.”

“You don’t know my life. I do lots of things.” I continue staring at Vincent and he smiles. “Fine. I don’t play bingo. Yet. So, did you tell Mom about the simulation?”

“No. I’ll just text her later.”

“No, you should call her. And let me be on the phone when you do. Better yet, let’s do one big family conference call.”

I narrow my eyes. “Why? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“After all the fuss she made about me going to the moon, you better believe she’ll think it’s a big deal. I, for one, can’t wait to see you take the heat instead.”

I shake my head. At least Mom had good reason to worry about Vincent. The daredevil among us did what some only dream of by becoming an astronaut and then making history by going to the moon for six months. There was actual cause for her to be legitimately worried about him. But worried about me? I’m still going to be in Texas. As large as the state is, I can’t imagine she’d think it’s as big of a deal.

“It’s really not that serious,” I say, and there’s no way he can convince me otherwise. But before he can try, I go on. “So, about this simulation. What should I expect? Nothing but jars of mushy baby food? Alien invasions?”

Vincent looks up to the ceiling and squints as he thinks. “Before my mission, we gave them a list of our favorite foods and they were able to get it manufactured into the flavors we like. It may not look appetizing, but once you get over the mush texture, it’s not bad. I tore down on the hamburger flavor after a while.”

I push away my burger from the cafeteria, which wasn’t even that great to begin with. “What? I was just playing.Vince, please tell me they aren’t about to send us out there with jars of baby food.”

“Jars?” He shakes his head and I’m almost relieved. “That would be too heavy for transport. It’s all about being authentic and mimicking exactly what life would be like on Mars. It’s in pouches, and you slurp the food. Mimi?” He looks to his fiancée off-camera. “How long did it take me to get used to chewing food again so I could digest it properly? About two weeks?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” comes her distant voice.

I slide a hand over my face and sigh. “This is honestly going to be way more challenging than I thought.”

I thought they’d be sending us with the kind of dehydrated foods I use for camping or taking long hikes. God, this better work out, and we’d better win that money for the library, or I swear I’ll…

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