Page 15 of Through Quick and Quinn
Immediately after Mr. Erickson took attendance, he had us begin our partner work. Quick sauntered over to my desk and broke the ice with his very first question. His tone was casual and ambiguous. “So do you want to work together or just kinda do our own thing?” He was shuffling about when he spoke, scooching his chair and settling into his new space, and it struck me that he needed to ask that before we had ever even spoken to one another. I sensed that he was as uncertain about the upcoming experience as I was, and for some reason, knowing that he was nervous caused my conflicting emotions to reconcile. We would work well together, I could tell. I felt myself relax, and I took a deep breath to solidify my new mood.
He stopped fidgeting and looked up at me. His eyes were dark, so much so that I could barely tell where his brown irises stopped and his black pupils began. We held our gaze for a moment before I replied, “Your call,” through a friendly and genuine smile. Quick seemed to study my face, taking the time to really evaluate his impression of me and his options regarding the next week of history class.
“I purposely wrote down a weird topic the other day so I could work alone. I didn’t think anyone else even knew what vibrational frequencies were,” He looked down and flipped open his laptop, presumably to start researching. Alone.
“Oh, okay. No problem. I can w—” I stammered. Why was I feeling disappointed?
Quick continued speaking as though he didn’t pause and as though he didn’t hear me. “I didn’t mean weird as in lame. I think it’s a cool topic and it’s awesome that you are interested in it.” His fingers clacked away at the keyboard while he continued his monologue. “What do you want to learn about? The potential to heal illness? We can do something else if you want. It’s up to you.”
He looked up at me and made eye contact before finishing his ramble with, “Your call.”
He smiled.
I stopped breathing.
It wasn’t because Quick was drop dead gorgeous or anything. He was handsome, yes, with clear skin, straight white teeth, a strong jawline, and floppy hair of various dark tones. Actually, he was gorgeous. That was not why I stopped breathing, though. When he smiled at me, a warm feeling of friendship washed over me. It was as if there was already a connection; at least that’s what I felt on my end.
That night, in the peace and quiet of my own room, I was able to sit with my thoughts and really delve into my feelings. Was I crazy for thinking that he and I would be fast friends? Shouldn’t I have some reservations about this stranger? Was I overthinking all of this? Yes, yes, and yes. I decided to just enjoy the project and the present moments, without needing to label the friendship or guess what it would be like one week later.
Those five days in history class zoomed by. Quick and I were both completely enthralled with resonance frequency, and the more we discovered, the more we wanted to share with one another. At one point, when watching a video about a bridge collapsing, he whooped, “What? No way!” He had no idea how loud he shouted, partially because he was wearing earbuds and partially because he literally lost himself in his research. The class erupted in laughter, jolting him back to reality, but he just smiled at me and kept scribbling words in his notebook. I completely identified with the exuberance, and he knew I did, since I had squealed a few minutes earlier when I came across evidence of resonance frequencies killing cancer cells under a microscope.
After gathering information for two class periods, we spent the third day organizing our research and planning our digital presentation. It was so refreshing to be paired with someone who also had a strong work ethic and a common vision. By the fifth day, even though neither of us wanted to be done, we had completed something that we were both proud of. As it turned out, Mr. Erickson was quite proud as well.
“I have been watching you two all week, and I must say, I am impressed. Not only did you tackle a unique and difficult topic, but you worked together to create a phenomenal project.” Mr. Erickson patted Quick on the back and nodded approvingly at me as he spoke. “I’d like for you to orally present your project to the class tomorrow. Would you be willing to do that? It would be wonderful for them to see what the gold star for REED looks like.”
Quick and I looked at each other. How on earth were we already communicating through our eyes? We grinned at each other, and Mr. Erickson knew that we were agreeing to share our work with the class. “Great! Thank you both. I’ll have the projector set up for you and ready to go!” he exclaimed as he headed back to his desk.
It was just about time to transition to our next period, so Quick asked if he could text me that night to go over the slides. With a new feeling of nervousness, I dialed my number from his phone with fumbling fingers, all the while praying that he couldn’t feel the frequency of my heart pounding in my chest.
Quick:
Wonders
Being given class time to dig? Awesome. Learning about the potential of resonance frequencies? Fascinating. Working with Quinn? Such a trip.
Quinn was an enigma. Well, not really. She wasn’t a mystery at all, actually. She was an open book and probably the most authentic person I had ever met. The enigma was how she came to be so unique. She made no apologies for being exactly as she was, which was nothing like the rest of the girls at school, and I found it to be vastly refreshing. I barely learned anything about her that week, other than the way she chewed on her lip and furrowed her brow when she was concentrating, but I spent more and more time outside of class wondering about her. I wondered what she did for fun. I wondered what led her to meditation and if she meditated at home, too. I wondered if she really was friendless and how that could even be possible.
We nailed the project, so much so that Erickson had us share with the class. I was curious to see if everyone else would think our topic was as cool as we thought it was, which it seemed they did. How could they not? The microscope video alone was enough to convince anyone that frequency is fascinating. By the end of the presentation, every single one of our peers was intrigued in some way.
Erickson used our presentation as a way to pump up the crowd, so to speak. Right after Quinn and I shared our work, Erickson announced that he was sponsoring a new club after school. Since it was the first year of The REED Club, whoever joined would be considered a founder, a distinguishing inclusion for our college applications. He was also sure to tell us that the members would be able to determine all the logistics regarding meeting days and times, and that he would bring snacks to every meeting. I found it amusing that Erickson was blatantly bribing us to join. He was trying to electrify the class and get them excited about research and discovery, but I wasn’t certain that our presentation or his bribes accomplished that goal. Club attendance would answer that question.
The first meeting about the club was scheduled for Tuesday of the following week after school. I decided to go, not only because this club would provide me with scheduled times to dig but because I wanted to support Erickson. I liked the guy and I respected his passion for helping to develop critical thinkers in his students.
And I wondered if Quinn would go.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Note to self:
My junior year is off to the best start! I love, love, love my APUSH teacher and I’m finally excited to get to school each morning. Working with Quick on the REED project turned out to be pretty dang fun and I am still shocked at how well we hit it off. Not that we’re friends or anything, but it was nice to interact with someone at school. He was so easygoing and nonjudgmental that I immediately felt comfortable around him. We laughed more than I expected that we would, but throughout the whole week, I kept sensing a sadness about him. Honestly, it weighed on me a little. He’s distant and guarded by choice. I saw people giving him fist bumps and trying to chat with him all week, but he is totally disinterested. I don’t know why it concerns me a little and I’m aware that it’s crazy to worry over this fully functional stranger, but I can’t help it. I feel bad for him, and I don’t even know why.
Anyway, Mom is still bugging me to join a club at school, which I have been dreading… until today! When Mr. Erickson announced his after school club, I felt like the skies opened up so the universe could present me with the most beautifully wrapped gift! Maybe my mom is right and I should participate in something at school. I enjoyed the REED process and I learned a ton, so that’s a plus. And a club is formed of people with similar interests, right? Maybe I will actually make a friend or two this year. No, I don’t think a lot of my classmates will join. I don’t even know if Quick will, now that I think about it. It’s one thing to work with someone else because it’s required for a class grade, but he doesn’t strike me as the type to volunteer to do it. What if it’s just me? What if I’m the only one who shows up at the meeting next week?
It is what it is. I’ll go to the meeting and see. Maybe it’ll be just me and Mr. Erickson. Or maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Maybe Quick will be there.
Fingers crossed.
…Q
