I don’t believe him, so I look up. “You did?” I say with a sniffle.
“See?” His voice has softened to a near whisper. “Got him.”
“Oh.” My voice sounds pathetic and a little soggy. I look at his open palm and see a dead bug. Not a spider, thankfully, but more like a little beetle. “Thank you.”
“So, I saved you,” he says with a smirk. A cocky one.
“Yeah.” I snort. “You’re a real superhero.” My sarcasm is on full display.
Before I can think, he reaches into his backpack and retrieves something. I watch as he slides on a pair of dark-rimmed glasses.
“Holy Clark Kent,” I whisper. This guy in glasses is better than anything I’ve ever seen. In. My. Life.
He must hear me. “See. Iama superhero.”
I snort again at his words. “Shut up.”
I guess whatever I said is funny because he laughs, loudly. When he stops, I distract myself by fiddling around with the old-timey computer. I’ve plugged it in and attached the keyboard and mouse to the main box. Pressing the Start button, it chimes to life. “Wow. It works.”
“That thing was cool. It changed the world, but you can’t do much on it––maybe type a few things on it. There’s not much on them––some games, a drawing program, that sort of thing.”
“Really?” I look up at him. “How do you know all that?”
He shrugs. “Com sci major.”
“Computer science? You’re anerd?”
He points to his eyewear, then nods down at my textbook. “Guilty. What’s yours? Hydraulics?”
No way is this guy a nerd. At least not any nerd that I’ve ever seen. The illusive “hot nerd” is just that. Mythical. “Oh.” I look down at my textbook. “Environmental engineering with a focus on hydropower.”
He blinks at me. No, he’s staring. And I know why. Because I just gave myself away.He knows.“I see. What do you want to do with that degree?”
“Save the planet.” Ugh. Why did I say that?
“Now who’s the superhero?”
I giggle. I can’t help it. “Not me.”
“So, what is it about hydropower that will save the planet?”
It sounds like he really wants to know. “Hydropower is a climate-friendly energy source.”
“I see. How does it work?”
“Oh.” I titter. “It generates powerwithout producing air pollution or toxic by-products. Usinghydropoweravoids approximately two hundred million metric tons of carbon pollution in the US each year, equal to the output of over thirty-eight million passenger cars.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It is.” I smile brightly. I love my major. I could’ve chosen other areas to study but I’ve always been fascinated with water. I’m an Aquariusanda Pisces, having a birthday on the cusp, both of which are water signs. Therefore, water is my jam.Just don’t make me swim in it.The few times I’ve been to Chicago, I’ve always wanted to spend the majority of time at the beach. Just sitting by Lake Michigan soothes me.
Someday, I hope to visit the ocean. Now, that’s a dream….
“That major sounds liked it’d bedammmmmmmhard.”
Oh, balls.
He knows.
