Page 39 of Fostering Chemistry
"Tomorrow,” Aaron answered.
"Tomorrow?" I echoed, my pitch rising.
"Yeah. For Halloween." He said it like it was obvious.
Oh god, I’d forgotten that tomorrow was the real Halloween, since I’d already been to that Halloween party. Which I didn’t want to think about while Diego was in such close proximity. Or while we were both near a sofa.
"Isn’t it too late to enter?" I asked, half hoping it was.
"I don’t think so, but I can find out."
After a few seconds, I came up with another objection. "I have class in the morning."
"It’s in the afternoon. You don’t have class then, do you?"
"No, but..."
"I think this is a good idea," Diego said.
"That’s because you don’t have to run all over campus like a crazy person."
"We could do something else," Aaron said, turning back to me. "Maybe go to a Halloween party? Diego, you want to come too?"
Diego and I both said "no" at the exact same moment, and I glued my eyes to the floor, not looking anywhere near him.
"All right then. I’ll find out more about the scavenger hunt,” Aaron said. “It starts at noon, so can you meet here at ten thirty tomorrow?"
"Yes. That’s after my chemistry class."
Of course, that meant I wouldn’t be able to go out for coffee with Cody afterward, but he might not want to go anyway, given how the last time ended.
"All right, well... ten thirty it is."
"Good." Diego stood up. "Good luck on your travels. Do our house proud." His voice was a trifle sarcastic, but it honestly seemed like he was pleased by this development.
I shook my head as he left. What the hell had I just agreed to?
"Happy Halloween,"I told Cody at the end of chemistry class the next day. Though he hadn’t exactly sought me out after class, for the first time, he didn’t look like he wanted to dash off. In fact, if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say he was waiting for me to walk up to the back row.
"Oh yeah. Halloween. I forgot."
I laughed. "You did notice that Professor Beringer had on a black cape and false vampire teeth, right?"
He frowned, looking to the front of the room, but our professor had already left. "No.”
Was he ever going to listen in class? “I guess it was a good day to tune out. The fake teeth made him lisp the entire time."
“Not sorry I missed that.”
"I’m going back to the house to meet Aaron. Are you going there, or headed somewhere else?"
He was silent for a moment, thinking it through. I didn’t want to set up the expectation that we would do something after every single class. That might make him feel suffocated. To be honest, I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted either.
But I liked the fact that he didn’t look ready to bolt.
"The house."
We didn’t say much on the walk, but it was nice to be side by side. It was a pretty day, too—at least while leisurely walking along the uncrowded sidewalk. I somehow doubted the scavenger hunt would be this peaceful.
