Page 53 of Lessons in Chemistry

“Would you tell me about it?”

“What?”

“How you knew you were gay.”

“Henry Cavill.” I sigh dreamily.

“Well, fuck, if he’s your type, I’m not worthy.”

I snort. “You’re more than worthy. You’re gorgeous.”

“Why, thank you. You’re pretty damn hot yourself. Holy crap, I am shit at not flirting.”

I laugh and clutch my stomach. It takes me a few minutes to recover.

“You said you went through a questioning phase?” Auggie asks.

“Yes. Having a crush on an unobtainable actor wasn’t proof I was gay. Okay, maybe it was, but I still questioned whether or not I was only into guys. What about you?”

“I blame single-sex boarding school.” He winks.

“Really?”

“No. Like you, I had a raging crush on a sexy film star. And a couple of musicians. There might have been a few footballers in the mix too. The point is they were all men.” He nudges my foot beneath the table. “In the future, we’ll be able to revisit this conversation with Casey.”

“What do you think he’ll say?”

“That he discovered his sexuality thanks to two amazing guys. That’s us, by the way.”

I stare out the window. “Transformed.”

“Come again?”

“Nothing. What you said made me think about something Carl Jung once said.”

“Wasn’t he a shrink?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you were into science.”

“Can’t I be into psychology too?”

“Are you?”

“I took it as one of my GCSE options.”

“Wow. I learn something new about you every day.” He leans across the table and touches my fingertips. “I’d like to keep learning new things about you.”

“Me too. About you. Not about me.”

He laughs. “You can’t keep me in suspense. What did Carl Jung say?”

“‘The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed.’”

“I knew it.”

I frown. “What?”