He squeezed Coop’s hand. “Thank you.”
“We’re not even inside yet.” But Coop squeezed back.
It felt like a real date. School and his textbooks and the competition seemed galaxies away. He and Coop were in the Philly bubble, and there was no other place Matty would rather be.
Chapter 25
Coop
Truth be told, Coop was not looking forward to this robotics expo. He planned to zone out during the main presentation in the theater. He was going because of Matty. He wanted to make Matty happy and watch his eyes light up with the magic of science and shit.
But damn. Dr. Kobayashi hooked Coop in ten seconds flat.
A mini helicopter flew over the audience with a camera attached, and the image projected on a screen. It extended out arms from its bottom and tossed Hershey Kisses to those below. Dr. Kobayashi, in a swanky suit, came onstage and controlled the helicopter with his iPhone. He landed it on stage and went into his presentation.
Coop didn’t blink for two hours. He saw a robot that looked like the bulked-up son of Wall-E and EVE who did a special handshake with the other researchers in the lab. An identical model rolled out and built a pyramid with children’s blocks. Dr. Kobayashi showed video of microscopic robots that could go inside the body to clean out a clogged artery or heal internal wounds. Coop kept looking at Matty slackjawed.This is all happening, in real life? Science is awesome.
His favorite parts were the times he looked over during a presentation and Matty’s face glowed with wonder and excitement. He was a kid who had the whole toy store to himself. He didn’t want to just make a difference. Matty wanted to change the world. And Coop wanted to be by his side as he did it.
After the presentation, they strolled around the campus. Nighttime took over. Cute streetlight lamps and the usual blue lights of the police phones brightened the quads. A slight chill rustled in the air. Matty held Coop’s hand.
“Thanks for doing this,” Matty said.
“Are you kidding? That was beyond awesome. What should we do now?”
Matty’s fingers slipped under Coop’s sleeve and ran down one of his tattoos. “I have an idea.”
It wasn’t an inkling. Matty led them with certainty through Penn’s campus, which bubbled with activity. Matty’s eyes held on Coop’s for an extended moment. Coop thought he saw something ravenous in them, just a flicker.
Matty stopped in front of Fisher-Bennett Hall, one of the many ivy-encrusted buildings. Coop waited for Matty to speak, since this was his night.
“I did some research, and there’s something fun going on here tonight.” Matty pointed at a sign for an open-mic poetry slam taped to the front door.
Oh hell no.
“What are we doing here?” Coop asked. He knew, and he slowly backed away.
“You should do this tonight.” Matty slowly moved forward. It was a tug of war without the rope. “You can perform in front of an audience of complete strangers who you’ll never have to see again.”
Coop’s stomach tightened and was nearly pulling him in the opposite direction, like it had the alien fromAlieninside.
“I’m going to pass.”
“Coop, give it a chance.”
“That is not my venue. It’s going to be a lot of poetry about sexual assault or abuse or drugs or other hella serious issues that people need to get out through poetry. Nobody’s going to do a funny poem or a funny rap or anything like that. I just…I don’t talk about serious stuff like that.” Coop shrugged his shoulder as if that were all.
“Maybe you should. You need to talk about getting bullied and your dad losing his job. You can’t keep holding in your pain.”
Coop’s jaw tightened, tighter than his stomach. He was ball of rubber bands. “I don’t want to talk about that stuff.”
“You don’t or you can’t?” Each step Matty took towards Fisher-Bennett made Coop’s insides twist.
He waited for an answer Coop couldn’t give him. This was supposed to be a fun night, not an inquisition on his interior life.
“It’s okay to let people in, Coop.” Matty rested a soothing hand on his shoulder.
Coop was so on edge he couldn’t enjoy it. “Why does everyone say that to me? We can’t all be open books. We need to self-protect.”
