Page 74 of Stealing Home

“Good. Because I can accept the Mia thing, but that? No way.”

“I like her, Cooper.” He meets my eyes. I swallow, pushing past the awkwardness that comes along—always—with honesty. “I like her a hell of a lot. You fell for Penny from the first moment you saw her, right? Something felt different. I think—I think the same thing has been happening with me and Mia. I need you to apologize to her.”

After a moment, he nods. “I will. When did you hook up for the first time, anyway?”

“January. Right after winter break.” I smile as I remember her scowl, and the way it softened once I got her alone. “But we started talking before then.”

“You kept it secret that long?”

“It’s how she wanted it.”

“So at my birthday party, you were together?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“Huh.” He scratches at his beard. “You know what? We should do a double date.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “Words I’d never have expected to hear from your mouth.”

37

MIA

“Simplify the equation here,”Alice says, pointing to my computer screen. “We don’t need to calculate for mass under these conditions.”

I nod, grabbing a stack of sticky notes from my desk drawer. “Makes sense.”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you basic stuff like this,” she adds, because of course she needs to get a jab in.

I school my expression into something approaching neutral, even though I want to snap at her, and scribble her feedback onto a sticky note. I slap it on the edge of my computer with way more force than necessary. It wouldn’t kill her to stop with the negative comments. Every day it’s something else.

Professor Santoro is away at a conference, but before she left, she reviewed the program so far, and Alice and I have spent most of the morning picking our way through her thoughts. It’s times like these when I’m the most energized; when I’m filled with so much love for what I’m doing, the challenges I’m facing, that my heart races as I try to keep up with the thoughts crowding my mind. This feeling, shining with possibility, heady with what feels close to magic, is why I can’t give up on this career. Not now, not in the future, not ever. Not even if every other comment that comes out of Alice’s mouth is condescending and rude.

She jots down something too. “This is marginally better than the last model you showed me.”

Gee, thanks.

“You’ll be able to make the changes by the time she gets back, right? She’s thinking that we’ll be able to—”

My phone starts ringing. I glance at it as she keeps talking. “Sorry. It’s my sister. Do you mind if I take this?”

She tucks her pencil behind her ear as she shuts her notebook. “I guess I can give you a minute.”

“I have that lunch thing in a bit, too.”

She sighs, giving me a look.

“I’ll be able to make the changes in time. I promise.” I accept the call, pressing the phone to my ear. I settle in my chair, crossing my legs. “Giana?”

“Mi-Mi,” she says. “Guess what?”

I frown. I know that tone of voice—it means she has something to share that she’s convinced everyone else will love too. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I was talking to my friend April; you know the one who teaches middle school science? She’s going to a science pedagogy conference day and thinks she can get you one of the student spots. It’s not even that far from Moorbridge, I checked for you. Want me to send her info to you?”

I clean my glasses with the hem of my t-shirt. I called that one right. Crap. “Um—”

“It would be such a good networking opportunity.”

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