Page 95 of Fostering Chemistry
That explained a lot. “I’m sorry you were in that kind of place.” I couldn’t help wondering what he’d be like if he’d been taken in by a caring, loving family.
Raymond toed at something on the floor with a scuffed tennis shoe. “Sometimes I forget that all of us have been through crap. I’ve been talking with Evan. He’s like Aaron—a little less fucked up than the rest of us. He’s a nice guy.”
“He is.”
“I’m glad I’m here. Living in this house.”
“Me too. I mean, I’m glad I’m here, and I’m glad you are too.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t seem to know what to say to that.
Inspiration struck. “When I get better, Aaron and I are going to start a new season ofAmerican Adventures. Do you want to watch with us?”
His expression turned skeptical and more Raymond-like. “That ridiculous show with all the dumb challenges? I’ve heard it’s all staged, and they decide on the winner before the race even begins.”
“Maybe,” I said, not wanting to pick a fight. “Want to watch it with us?”
He hesitated only a few seconds. “Yeah. I’d like that.” His smile was genuine and just a little bashful. “Let me know if you need anything. I’m just right across the hall.”
“Thanks. See you, Raymond.”
27
CODY
It tookme quite a while to hear the pounding on my door. After telling Mia that I liked Beethoven, I’d put his seventh symphony, movement two, on repeat in my headphones. I liked how it kept building on itself, eventually becoming relentless, but beautiful.
Then the knocking.
As I pulled off my headphones, I half hoped it was Mia, but I couldn’t imagine her climbing an extra set of stairs for me in her current condition.
It was Aaron. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi.” I blinked at him, a little surprised. We were friends, but we usually met up in the common rooms of the house, not here. “What’s up?”
He stepped inside, scanning my room. It wasn’t a mess, exactly, just full. There was a keyboard on the bed. A guitar on the only spare chair. And sheet music on every flat surface.
I moved the guitar, and he sat. I returned to my desk which held another keyboard, two monitors, and a sound board and audio mixer. Then I waited.
“It’s about Mia,” he said at last.
“She okay?” I’d stopped by a few hours ago, and she’d seemed fine then.
“Yes.”
That was it, that was all he said. And I was supposed to be the silent one. “And?” I finally prodded.
“And, I saw the flowers you got her. I should’ve thought of that.”
It took me a moment to digest this. “So why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know.” He stared off into the corner of my room where there was nothing but an old metal music stand. “I… I’d hoped that after she went with me to my grandparent’s party, that things might…” He looked frustrated, with either the words not coming or at himself. Both were sentiments I could identify with. Finally, he looked at me. “I’d like to ask her out on a date, but when I saw those flowers… I thought maybe you and I might have a problem.”
He said it so dramatically that I had to bite back a grin. “Should we fight for her?”
“No,” he sounded shocked, and then seemed to realize that I was kidding. I gave him credit for that—most people had no fucking clue. “I just wondered what we should do about it. If you like her too.”
“We don’t do anything,” I said, side-stepping that last part. “It’s completely up to Mia.”
