Since I didn’t want Vaughn to know my train of thought, I blurted, “Do you know where MIT is?”
If I’d wanted to distract Vaughn, I’d definitely managed it because he looked completely caught off guard. “MIT? The school?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Um, yeah, it’s in Massachusetts. It’s not far from Boston,” he answered.
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“MIT?”
I nodded again.
“It stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
“Do you have to be really smart to go there?” I asked.
“Yeah, pretty smart,” Vaughn acknowledged. “It’s one of the best engineering schools in the country.” When I didn’t respond, Vaughn asked, “Why? Are you hoping to go there someday?”
I laughed at that.
The sound felt foreign and I automatically covered my mouth to stifle the noise. I sent Vaughn a sidelong glance, but he didn’t seem irritated by my outburst. I’d gotten used to laughing around Dante and Magnus, but I was careful about doing it around other people. Granted, I wasn’t really around other people enough to even have the opportunity to laugh. The exception was Matty… and of course, his besties, Leo and Jamie.
And it was hardnotto laugh when a very naked Leo would go streaking down the block with one or both of his beleaguered fathers chasing after him with a handful of clothing.
I felt my mouth tug into a smile.
“What?” Vaughn asked.
I looked at him and saw he was smiling in that way that people did when they saw something they liked.
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
His face fell and I felt my stomach drop out.
“I was thinking about something,” I added. “Someone, actually.”
“Who?”
I could see he was really interested so I said, “Magnus has a grandson named Matty. He’s seven. His best friend is Leo. Leo doesn’t like to wear clothes so he usually takes them off as soon as he gets the chance. His fathers live on the same block as Matty and his fathers. Magnus and Dante just bought a house a few doors down earlier this year… anyway, every once in a while I’ll see Leo running down the sidewalk, completely naked. His fathers are usually chasing after him. Their neighbor, Mrs. Finney, she’s in a wheelchair and she and Leo and Matty and Jamie race each other down the street, but Leo says he runs fastest with only sneakers on so he gets undressed first…”
I felt my cheeks heat when I realized how caught up I’d gotten in telling the story to Vaughn… he’d asked a simple question and I’d basically given him a book’s worth of an answer.
“Leo’s poor fathers,” Vaughn said with a smile, which made me feel better. At least I hadn’t annoyed him.
“He’s finally taken to wearing underwear recently,” I explained. “But Connor thinks it’s only because it’s been so cold out.”
“Connor?”
“One of Leo’s fathers,” I said. “He’s also one of my tutors.”
“Is Connor helping you get ready to apply to MIT?”
“What? No,” I said, horrified. “I’m not… I could never…”
I snapped my mouth shut because I hadn’t been expecting the topic change.
“You could never what?”
