Chapter 15: Back to basics.

The rest of the day went by quickly. When the carillon struck four, I was halfway between Mudd and the library, and not in any particular hurry. Let her wait a little, I thought. And yes, I can be that petty. Not often, but enough.

Amy was sitting at one of the tables in the back. The place was fairly busy, but she had picked a table away from most of the crowd. She looked up as I approached, an uncertain smile on her face. "Sorry I'm late," I said as I slid into the seat opposite hers. "How are you?"

"Pretty good, thank you."

"So, what's up?"

"I haven't seen you since June."

"I know."

"And you've been actively avoiding me. You don't even call Liz anymore."

I shrugged. "As I recall, we broke up. Ending a relationship tends to put a strain on normal interactions."

"You agreed with me that we weren't working out."

"I didn't want to make the situation uglier than it was; you wanted out, and I respected your opinion. Still, I didn't really want to see you afterwards."

"So why did you come?"

"You asked, after all. I was curious why you'd want to see me after all this time."

"I never said I wanted you to disappear from my life."

"You never said you wanted me to stay."

"What if I asked you to? Stay in my life from now on?"

"As a friend, I take it?"

"Yes."

I buried my head in my hands. "You're not helping in the out of sight, out of mind department."

"I miss having you around."

"Just not as a boyfriend." After a brief pause, I looked back up at her. "Can we just start with me not avoiding you from now on, and we'll see how that goes?"

"I'd like that." A quick pause, then, "There is one more thing."

"Hmm?"

"Liz and I are throwing a party a week from Friday. Can you make it?"

"I'll try. Thanks for the invite."

"See you around." Her hands reached out to touch mine for a second, then let go. She stood up, and waved goodbye before walking away. I stayed at the table and watched the afternoon coffee crowd for a few minutes, then went back to lab.

I have few enough friends; certainly not enough to turn a willing one down.

I came in early Tuesday morning to prep a few things, and set up for the day. My sense of competition kicking in, I guess. Couldn't let a near-beginner show me up in lab, now could I? The motivational value was incredible--I've never had a stronger urge to go in early and start working. When she came in, I waved hi, then promptly started going through the schedule for the day.

"A little ambitious, aren't we?" she asked.

"The incubation is the only step that's time-intensive; everything else should be quick and easy."

Work breezed by. She went over to Levering around 12:30, and brought back pizza just as I finished setting up the incubation. I could get used to lunch, I thought to myself.

"Is everything done?"

"Yep. We can plate the cultures in four hours, and then we're finished for the day."

"Cool." She took another bite and swallowed before talking again. "Could I ask you about fall classes?"

"I'm probably not the best person to ask, but go ahead."

"Are there any science classes for non-majors that are worth taking?"

"Not in this department. Especially not for upperclassmen, as far as I know."

"The stuff you have me working on is fun, but I'd like to know some of the background. I don't want to take the pre-med classes, but all the interesting classes seem to require biochem or o-chem as a prereq."

"Yeah, that is a problem. Hmmm... you told me before that you read 'Scientific American, ' right? And that you don't have a problem with understanding the material."

"Most of the articles are fairly clear, yeah."

"There are a few classes like cancer bio or immunobiology that don't require that much advance knowledge. If you have the time, try auditing a lecture or two, and talking to the professor teaching the course. They might be able to suggest some appropriate reading. Of course, you could always ask me any questions you have, though it'd be more like the blind leading the blind."

"Oh, stop. The auditing idea is a good one, though. Thanks."

"No prob."

"Did you say that we can plate in four hours?"

"More like three and a half, now."

"Does that mean we get to leave early?"

"Only if we get tomorrow's prep work done."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"As milady commands."