Page 17 of The Chemistry Test
Penny
The next day, there’s a knock on my bedroom door.
‘Who is it?’ I call, trying to sit up a bit.
‘It’s Amy!’
‘And Ro!’
‘Oh, you can come in, you two!’ I shout back, knowing they’ll understand why I’m not able to get up yet.
‘We saw a boy drop you home,’ Ro blurts as he opens the door, before he even steps over the threshold. He throws the cushions off the windowsill and sits down while Amy crawls under the duvet beside me, into what has now become her side of the bed.
After CJ dropped me home yesterday, I was so dizzy and tired out that I headed straight to bed when I got in. Both of their bedrooms overlook the path to our front door, so I must’ve been too unwell to notice them when I came past their windows to let myself in.
‘We want all the details,’ Amy squeals, shaking my arm and bringing me back to the conversation. ‘I wasn’t wearing my glasses, but Ro said he was cute!’
‘I mean, he’s not my type, but I know a cute guy when I see one,’ Ro says, winking at me.
Ah, this is awkward. I didn’t tell Ro about CJ as I didn’t think there’d be any need to. Evidently, I was wrong.
I turn to Amy, hoping she can help me explain why this isn’t as exciting as it seems. ‘It was the guy, Amy. As in the guy. The one who didn’t want to be seen with me.’
‘What? Penny!’ she squeals – but not in her usual, joyful way. In a sharper, almost verging on disappointed, kind of way. ‘How did this happen? Actually, hold that thought. Ro, you don’t know about this yet?’
He shakes his head.
So, together, Amy and I explain how CJ suddenly left me stranded at the doctors’, and again when he was supposed to be showing me around the campus. Both times, leaving me feeling like I’d been stood up.
Ro scowls. ‘Standing you up is one thing, but what he did was even worse. He left your sorry arse sitting down. ’
‘Right?’ Amy says. ‘Way to kick a girl when she’s down. There’s no coming back from that.’
Jeez, hearing them say it like that, even I start feeling sorry for myself.
But, with everything that happened yesterday .
.. I can’t help feeling like he did come back from it.
Maybe not completely. And I wouldn’t exactly say I understand him still.
But I don’t think he’s as bad a guy as the stories make him sound.
I fill them in on the latest plot twist, trying to be as accurate and thorough as I can.
Although, I can’t deny, recounting the events collectively like that has put me back in Sherlock mode too.
Because even though I don’t want to admit it, I think they might be right.
Something isn’t adding up. ‘I’ve thought about it a lot, and the only thing I can think of that makes sense is that he doesn’t want to be seen with someone in a wheelchair .
.. around young people? As in, people our age,’ I explain, knowing how ridiculous it sounds.
‘Because he was fine with me at the doctors’ with all the old people and he was also fine with me in the café off campus. ’
Ro is shaking his head. ‘That’s just so weird, though.
I mean, I suppose he didn’t have to go into the campus café to help you, so he can’t be a complete arsehole, right?
Unless you made eye contact with him and then he felt pressured to come in and save you?
’ he says dramatically, pressing his hands into his temples.
I hide my face in my hands. ‘Jeez, Ro, what sort of a damsel do you take me for?’ I say, trying to laugh it off.
‘But no, I didn’t even see him come in. I have no idea what to make of the whole thing,’ I say, reaching for my pill case in my bedside drawers.
I get so out of breath before I take my POTS medication in the morning.
‘So, do you like him?’ Amy asks. As if that would change anything. I actually can’t believe she’s even asking that.
‘What? No! I mean, it isn’t like that. I don’t even know him,’ I point out, which is true but somehow doesn’t feel like it is.
I sit up and lean over the side of the bed to pick up my microwavable teddy, Sooty, who fell out overnight. The barriers may be tall, but they’re no match for him.
‘Just be careful, okay? Because if you do like him and he only likes you in front of certain people, that’s not good enough,’ she huffs, and from the way she’s looking at me, you might think I’m the one she’s annoyed at.
I turn to Ro, but he doesn’t look much better. ‘She’s right. You need to find out what his deal is, at least.’
‘I didn’t even say I liked him,’ I say. Which is correct. I didn’t say it, even though a not-so-tiny part of me might have been thinking it. Maybe. Possibly. Potentially? I’m not sure what to think, in all honesty. ‘And I can’t just ask him about all of this. The moment’s been and gone for that.’
‘Are you going to see him again?’ they ask, nearly at the same time, but not at all in unison.
‘Nope,’ I say, emphasising how pointless this whole conversation is.
‘I really think he thought he was doing some sort of goodwill thing or something, taking me to that café. It’s not like he asked for my number or anything.
’ I look at my phone in my hand. I didn’t mean to sound so dejected, but I guess I did, as Amy snuggles up next to me even more and tucks Sooty in with us too.
‘Who needs boys, anyway?’ she says.