Forever Altered Read Free

What if he recognized
that this class is too hard to work alone and he’s looking for help?  When
he is looking at me with those sapphireblue
eyes, it’s actually a little hard to concentrate.  I have to keep
reminding myself how after the second failed relationship in my short life,
swearing off men is what’s best for me right now.  Besides, this guy is
way out of my league anyway.  “Look, I’m not the best lab partner.  I
suck in this class, actually.”  My brain decides without me to go for
honesty and makes me sound absolutely pathetic.
    In
an instant, the one side of his mouth turns up into a mischievous, but sexy as
hell grin and his eyes brighten again making my heart skip a beat, or
two.  This guy is trouble.  “Well, good thing for you that I happen
to be doing awesome in this class.”  He winks at me and pulls out his lab
workbook and a pencil.  Following his lead, I reach over to grab mine, as
well, before he continues, “So, are you going to tell me your name or should I
call you Miss Adler?”  
    That
actually makes me relax a little.  Sarcasm I can deal with.  I
remember to respond this time, “Alyssa.”
    “Nice
to meet you, Alyssa.  Officially, anyway.”
    Officially? 
What was he talking about?  “Excuse me?”
    Rocco
begins setting up the equipment in front of us that was prepared at every
station by the lab assistant prior to class.  He really did know what he
was doing.  “We met last week in the laundry room.  You live on the
second floor, B-wing of the new apartment building, right?” he says nonchalantly. 
     What? 
This guy knows me and I have no idea we had even met before he sat down next to
me.  What happened to my plan of going unnoticed by anyone, ever again?
    “Um,
yes.  I do.”  I nervously open my workbook and try to figure out what
page the lab is on instead of why this guy recognizes me.
    “I
was the guy who asked you about the Phillies because you were hanging up your
shirt.”  Then after a long pause he adds, “The lab is on page twenty
five.”  Shit! Can he read my mind, too?  Now I vaguely remember this
guy.  It was right after listening to a voicemail from Jeff.  He was
still begging for me to talk to him and I had been upset at the time.  The
only reason I went down to get my clothes when the timer went off was because
if you didn’t get your laundry out in an acceptable amount of time, someone
else would.  I really didn’t feel like being bothered by some stranger
even if he happened to be talking about my favorite baseball team.
    “Oh,
right.”  He glances up and looks almost like he is offended that I didn’t
recognize him.  He goes back to what he is doing.  “I’m sorry,”
feeling the need to apologize.  “I was having a bad day.” I pause for a
second.  “Actually, it’s been a really bad month,” I admit reluctantly.
    He
stops fussing with the microscope he is trying to set up and looks directly at
me again.  “Anything you want to talk about?”
     “So,
you’re a super hero lab partner and a shrink all rolled into one?” I inquire.
    Rocco
lets out a small laugh and jokes, “I’ll just stick with ‘super hero lab
partner.’”  Then he mumbled something that sounded almost like ‘for
now.’  “So, you’re really bad at this, huh?”  I nod afraid he is
about to change his mind and head back to his old seat.  “Is that why your
old partner dropped?”
    “Probably,”
I counter making him laugh more. 
    “Alright,
then, how about I do this and you just record the stuff I tell you?”  He’s
still smiling, so hopefully he doesn’t think I’m a total idiot.
    “Sounds
good,” I’m able to say.
    I am
a little skeptical when forty-five minutes later the last empty line is filled
in on the worksheet.  There is still about an hour left in class. 
“That’s it?” I ask. We both begin to clean up the slides Rocco had made and
then explained to me as we viewed them under the microscope.