Page 56 of Fostering Chemistry
We jumped.
We landed with a big explosion. Leaves flew everywhere as we sank into the midst.
Laughing, I twisted around on my back and had a clear view of the blue sky, at least until leaves floated back down, almost completely covering me.
It made me think about when Diego had pulled that leaf out of my hair. It would be a full-time job if he tried to do that now.
Aaron shoved an armful of leaves out of the way so he could see me.
His hair had so many leaves in it you couldn’t tell its color. "You look like a Sasquatch."
"So do you."
I wiped my hands on my shirt, but it didn't do much good. There were bits of leaves and twigs everywhere. Then I slapped my hand over my eye, giving a little shriek.
"Ow!” Still holding my eye, I managed to make it to a sitting position, my butt sinking further into the pile, and looked at Cody. "Where’s the water bottle? I have to flush out my eye.”
He came over, and I turned my head, shooting Aaron a quick wink with my other eye. He bit back a smile, and we waited. Then Cody was there, holding out the water bottle.
I reached out for it but grabbed his wrist instead. Aaron snagged the other one, and we pulled.
After landing in between us and sinking deep into the pile Cody didn’t hesitate to dig his way to the surface and extract his revenge.
So then there were three of us acting like little kids, but it was fun, and I regretted nothing.
Not even the hour I was going to have to spend brushing twigs and debris out of my hair later tonight.
“Cody! Hey, Cody, wait up.”
It was the Monday after Halloween, and he’d made a beeline out of class as soon as the professor dismissed us. He was already ten feet ahead of me on the sidewalk, but he stopped—without looking back.
“Are you avoiding me?” My voice was joking.
“Yes.” His wasn’t.
“Really? Why? Are you mad about the leaves on Friday? We hauled them all away.”
“No.” He resumed walking.
It took real effort to dodge through the crowds of students and move fast enough to get in front of him.
He stopped, perhaps sensing that I wasn’t going away. “What?”
“Tell me why you’re avoiding me.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Finally, he shook his head as if resigning himself to actually having to use words and sentences. “I talked to Aaron last night.”
“And he told you to avoid me?”
The long-suffering look Cody gave me wiped the smile from my face.
“Sorry, I was just kidding. Please tell me why you’re upset.”
“You’re the one who should be upset,” he muttered, managing to slip past me and continue toward the music building.
I had to jog to catch up yet again. Why did all my roommates have such long legs? Well, except Evan. He was about my height. “What do you mean?”
He kept his eyes on the ground, his hands in the pocket of his jacket. Finally, he said, “I didn’t hear you.”
