"Who can explain the Avogadro Constant to me?" asked Professor Schilling, as she set down her notes and scanned the class for volunteers.
Jay bit his lip and raised his hand, and braced for the inevitable wisecrack.
Sure enough, it came. "Jay!" exclaimed the professor. "It's a miracle!"
"Never mind, then," Jay said, putting his hand down and doing his best to ignore the titters from elsewhere in the room. Worst of all, he feared he might have heard Kathy's laugh among them. But he didn't dare look back to the corner where his lab partner always sat with her pal Jen to see if they were joining in the gaiety at his expense.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jay," Professor Schilling said. When the laughing didn't stop with her apology, she added, "That's enough!" in a firmer voice. "I'm glad you're trying harder to participate, Jay. You're right, I shouldn't pick on you for that. Now, can you explain the Avogadro Constant?"
Jay forced a smile through his irritation; he did appreciate the apology, after all. "The amount of...sorry, I did study this last night, but I had to read it about five times to make any sense of it...the amount of molecules per mole?"
"Close," the professor said. "Not necessarily molecules, and it's in the amount of substance in one mole, but you've got the right idea. Those of you who were laughing just now, did you know that?"
Silence. Jay's annoyance turned to bittersweet satisfaction.
"That's what I thought," she continued. "We're going to be working with it on Wednesday and most of your next problem set will involve it, so I suggest you all follow Jay's lead and try to make some sense of it between now and then, understood?" With that she gave the entire class her patented don't-you-dare-disappoint-me look. She then dismissed the class, but added, "Jay, can I have a moment before you go?"
"Of course," Jay said. He turned to his friend Bill and shrugged.
"I'll wait for you out in the hall, guy," Bill said.
Jay nodded and finally dared a look in Kathy's direction, and was thrilled to see she was already looking at him. She grinned and gave him a triumphant thumbs-up as she and Jen filed out of the room with the others. Bill followed, gazing longingly after Jen as always.
"Jay, I just wanted to apologize again," Professor Schilling said as soon as they were alone. "I know class participation doesn't come naturally to you. Good for you for trying."
"Thanks," Jay said. "I have to admit you had me feeling damned if I do, damned if I don't for a minute there."
"Damned if you don't? Have I ever given you a hard time about not participating, Jay?"
"Yes," Jay said with a look that was bolder than he felt. "Well, it wasn't you, it was Professor Blake, that time last semester when he came by during class and got in my face...'Jay, shhhh, quiet down!' But you did agree with him. You said, 'Yep, we can never shut him up!'"
"I'm sorry, Jay, I don't remember that, but I believe you," Professor Schilling said. "But I am sorry if you felt picked on."
"Honestly, I'm used to it," Jay said. "All through high school, just about all my teachers gave me a hard time about not talking more. You're the first one ever to apologize, though, so thanks for that."
"You're a good student," she replied. "Lots of improvement since last fall. Don't let an arrogant jerk like me convince you otherwise just because you're shy, okay?" She offered a conciliatory smile, which he couldn't help returning.
"Aw...thanks, Ms. Schilling." He thought of adding that Kathy deserved credit for most of the improvement, but opted not to. She probably knew that already anyway.
Out in the hall, Bill had positioned himself at a safe distance from Jen when he saw her waiting outside the women's restroom. Pretending to read the bulletin board, he was innocuous enough to go unnoticed but close enough to overhear the conversation that resumed when Kathy came out of the bathroom. "So did you teach Jay about the what's-his-name constant?" Jen asked her.
"No!" Kathy's pride in her lab partner was evident. "I mean, I know what the Avogadro Constant is, but I didn't tell him. I haven't even talked to him since last week's lab! He's really improved a lot. Every week it feels more like we're a team instead of me supporting him, you know?"
"No doubt he just couldn't stand getting his ass kicked by a girl," Jen said, as they both headed for the exit. Bill, despite his offer to wait for Jay, followed at an inconspicuous distance and tuned in to every word about his old friend.
"He's not like that, Jen," Kathy said. "Honestly, I was expecting that at first, last fall when he didn't know anything about chem. But he never gave me a hard time about it no matter how on the ball I was and how clueless he was. I do think he started studying harder because of that, but I don't think he was jealous."
"Kathy, no offense, but you're awfully naïve about men," Jen said. "They hate it when we're smarter than they are! Why do you think you never get a date?"
"Because I'm too busy and I don't want to go out and get drunk on the weekend anyway?" Kathy asked. "And Jay doesn't hate me. He was thrilled when I aced the final last term. He only got a B on it, but he was happy with that. And I was happy for him -- he worked awfully hard for it."
"God, listen to you, girl!" Jen said. "You sound just like the princesses in those Laura Stanford novels you love so much!"
"That's Laura
Stewart
, and she doesn't write about princesses, Jen!"
"Whatever," Jen said. "I don't get you sometimes, Kathy. I love you, but I don't get you. You're a genius in this science stuff the rest of us barely understand, kicking everyone's ass in chem, but you love these silly romance novels that are probably aimed at housewives who can barely read!"
"We all have our guilty pleasures," Kathy said. "Laura Stewart is mine. She gets me where it matters most."
Right between my legs,
