Page 50 of Fostering Chemistry
"Yeah, but you're the one I landed on.” I glanced back up at the bronze nest up there. "Thank you for catching me.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced up. "Guess we owe Jenna a new tutu."
"We can pay for it out of our winnings," I joked, trying to get back into the spirit of the competition.
"Do we even know what the prize is?" Diego asked.
"No. Aaron probably does, though."
I looked down at myself. Without the tutu, I was just wearing the pink camisole and the white leggings. I wasn’t indecent, but I didn’t usually roam around outside wearing thin, skin-tight clothing. And the absence of the tutu sure made the leg warmers look out of place.
Diego reached out like he was going to touch my face and then he paused. "You have a leaf in your hair."
I angled my head, giving him access to the side he was reaching for, and I heard the crunch of an old, dead leaf. But as he pulled it away, it tugged on my hair, and suddenly the bun just gave up. My hair popped and bounced around my shoulders, finally coming to a rest.
"Oops," said Diego.
He dropped the leaf and then, with both hands, straightened my tiara. It felt almost as intimate as when he'd been holding me by the waist.
I needed to get things back on track, so that we were on more solid footing. Literally.
"Did you upload the picture?"
"Yes. Here's your phone."
"What's next?"
He studied me. "Do you want to take a break? You just had a bit of a scare."
"I'm good. We should keep going. I can't imagine that many other teams have already reached as many checkpoints as we have."
Of course Tori and Jayden had, and possibly others as well.
Diego pulled the folded list out of his pocket, and I studied it.
"I think the last two are by the gym."
I actually knew which way that was, so I took off at a light jog, and within seconds he was by my side.
He was obviously slowing his pace for me, and I remembered that he went for runs in the evenings. I also remembered what he looked like when he got back from one of those runs, all sweaty and shirtless.
Which wasn’t what I was supposed to be thinking about right now.
The two checkpoints by the gym were fairly easy. The last checkpoint, which was the finish line, was somewhere in the vicinity of the student union.
We passed by the political science building on the way back from the gym, and students poured down the steps, surrounding us. Evidently, a big class or two had just let out. People were everywhere, and I lost sight of Diego.
It felt like I was in the middle of a stampede. I tried to push through, but I kept getting bumped back. Then I saw Diego ahead of me, his hand held out. I grabbed it, and he pulled as he weaved his way through the swarm of people.
When we were free on the other side, we resumed jogging… but didn’t let go of each other’s hands.
As we neared our final destination, I slowed to a walk, scanning the instructions at the bottom of the list. “To finish, we have to find a sign with our names on it, located somewhere on the union grounds. We both have to be in the picture with the sign,” I continued reading. “First team to submit the picture wins."
"The union is a big place," Diego said, tugging slightly to get me moving faster.
"Yeah, but it says it’s outside."
"That’s not much help. The perimeter has all those courtyards, alcoves, and staircases. And the park behind it is practically a botanic garden.
