Page 108 of Tripped By Love

“This. This is the best gift,” I said quietly.

She nodded, and I leaned over to capture her lips as Chevelle wiggled and the baby mewed, and I thought I would never in my life feel anything as good as this again. This moment took everything I’d ever gone through and cast it away as if it was a life that was no longer mine. It was someone else’s haunted memory.

My heart and soul now belonged right here in the present and in the bright future our love made possible.

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UNMASKED DREAMS

Chapter One – Violet

LOST

“Life gets heavy,

Your heart's like stone.

No, I won't let you disappear,

You'll never be alone.”

Performed by The Goo Goo Dolls

Written by Kim / Kim / Ro / Park

Microscopes and music. What could bebetter than that?

Watery Reflection was singing about making dreams come true in my ears as I danced around the lab, putting things away. My feet were silent in my protective gear, adding a smooth, Michael Jackson-ish glide to my motions that brought a much-needed smile to my lips. Lab work always cheered me up. It was the very best kind of scientific activity. Theories trying to be proven. So much hope.

The tinge of heartache plaguing me since receiving the latest rejection from the nanoparticle committee was easing away. If I couldn’t work on my own experiment, helping one of my best friends with hers was the next best thing.

I pushed the button for the exit doors, walking through the first set of them into the gowning room. I waited for the hiss of the seal behind me before removing the white Gore-Tex suit. I threw it in the laundry hamper before pulling off the initial layer of disposable masks and shoe coverings. Then, I walked out the final set of doors to the office area, tossing the last layer of gear away.

The explosion of color and personality in the office area was a stark contrast to the metal and tile sterility of the lab itself. Proof of life. The desks were littered with coffee mugs containing nerdy science puns, and the walls were plastered with vibrant posters. It had become a joke to see how many stickers the lockers could fit even as the Stanford administration continued sending notes about it being against the rules.

Raisa walked in as I moved to the computer I’d claimed as mine. My beautiful friend could easily be on a runway. Blonde hair with dark undertones that hairstylists everywhere killed to replicate, flawless white skin, and beautiful brown eyes surrounded in the darkest lashes I’d ever seen—even when she didn’t have makeup on.

“Have you already checked the numbers?” she asked. Her excitement allowed her Russian accent to pop up when her English was usually more perfect than mine.

“I did! You’re going to be happy with them. Come see,” I responded, pulling up the stats I’d just keyed in.

Her smile grew wide, her face lighting up as she reviewed them.

Raisa was two semesters into her bioengineering doctorate, and her photovoltaic nano cells were a hair away from being viable. Changing the world one cell at a time.

My heart twisted with longing and anticipation. I wanted to be in her shoes?close to finishing my project. She was a year ahead of me, but at the pace I was going, it was likely she’d be done before I even got the okay to start.

“The committee rejected my thesis submission,” I breathed out, playing with the ends of my braid.

“Oh, Vi, I’m so sorry,” she said, meaning it.