I liked it.
“Okay then… what does that mean?”
“It’s the study of movement in space, like rockets or satellites, but also planets like Jupiter…” I caught her little smile out of the corner of my eye. “And moons, stars, asteroids… anything natural.”
“Did you know Jupiter’s the fifth planet in the galaxy?” I started and then groaned because the fact I loved to use to make myself sound smart only turned me into an idiot in front of this chick. “Never mind, of course you did. Anyway, what are you doing with all this space learning?”
“I’m going to M.I.T. in the fall.”
My eyes briefly flicked off the road to her. “Really? How old are you?”
“Sixteen, nearly seventeen.”
I forced myself to look back to where I was going before we veered off into the traffic cones. “And you’re already going to college?”
She nodded. “I applied for early qualification.”
“No shit, seriously?”
“Yeah.” She began flicking the corner of the pages with her thumb, making a soft zipping noise.
“Did you apply anywhere else?”
“No, I only want to go to M.I.T. I’ve wanted to ever since I was a kid.”
I’m not sure I really understood what she was studying, but maybe we weren’t that different. I could definitely understand the drive to want something that badly. “Yeah, I get that. I’m the same with baseball. What are you going to study at M.I.T.?”
“I’m studying a combination of aeronautical science, aerodynamics, and physics. I want to work on rockets going into space.”
“Like the one on your shirt?”
She looked down and brushed her fingers over the little embroidered patch. “Yeah, something like that. This is the N.A.S.A. space shuttle logo. I want to work there one day.”
“Really? I like that you know what you want, and you’re going for it. Me, too. I’ve always wanted to play baseball, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Oh, yeah?” She turned slightly in her seat. “Good for you. I’ve never seen you in tutoring.”
“Do I look like someone who needs tutoring?” I shot back, only to see her cheeks redden. I definitely wanted to do that again.
“No, nooo,” she stuttered, “I just meant a lot of the student athletes get tutoring.”
“They do if they’re going to college.”
“You’re not going to college?” Her eyes widened like she’d never heard anything so preposterous.
“Nope. I’ve been busting my ass since I was a kid because I’ve always known that all I ever want to do is play ball, so what’s the point of delaying it? I’m going to get drafted in July.”
She looked like she was about to list off exactly what the point of going to college was, but then decided against it. “What does that mean exactly? You get picked by a team?”
I chuckled; this was not a question I’d ever been asked. I wasn’t sure I’d even met anyone who didn’t know what the draft was. “Do you know anything about baseball? Or sport in general?”
She shrugged. “Not really, I mean I know some of the teams from the students I’ve been tutoring, although they just want to get to college, so we talk about colleges. My dad watches baseball, but I’ve never paid much attention.”
“I guess you’ve been too busy studying to graduate early.” I heard her scoff quietly. “Well, it means that one of the Major League teams is going to pick me to play for them. I’m hopingThe Dodgers, because I’ve only ever wanted to play for The Dodgers. I guess like you and N.A.S.A. or M.I.T., I don’t know what I’ll do if someone else gets there first,” I added.
“So then you’d be playing for The Dodgers?”
“No, then I’ll have a couple of years in the double As; the junior teams,” I explained when she frowned. “The Dodgers minors’ teams are all over the country, but I’ll probably be in Tennessee.”
