Help Sessions Read Free Page B

caught my reference the other night about my finding beauty in obvious places? Perhaps I overstepped my bounds.” Roy zipped up his coat and walked into the hall with Greta.
    “If you overstep your bounds, I can assure you Heather will let you know in no uncertain terms.” With that and a wave, Greta walked toward the opposite exit as they went their separate ways.
    ****
    The next day Mr. Cortessis called Roy and asked if he was free to come to the p-chem lab to do some troubleshooting on lab equipment. Roy, knowing Heather and Greta’s lab class was that afternoon, inwardly thanked Professor Baker that his schedule was free. As he entered the lab, the students were busy with the experiment. Roy saw Heather and Greta, but they were intent on their work and didn’t see him.
    Mr. Cortessis, a heavy-set man of Greek descent, opened the caged area and showed him the equipment needing work. “Roy, the readings have been off on all these polarimeters when we use the standard sugar solution.” He waved his hand palm up in a frustrated gesture as he spoke.
    “Probably an internal resistor out of whack. I’ll check to see if they can be brought back into tolerance by tweaking the variable resistor that’s in the final amplifier stage,” Roy said, glancing again into the lab and seeing Heather and Greta still intent on their work. Cortessis caught his attention to the two ladies.
    “You going to be able to concentrate with Pridemore and Kallin working out there?” Cortessis asked, a smirk on his plump face.
    “You busted me, Mr. Cortessis, but yeah, I’ll try. I’ve been studying with Heather and Greta on the problems sets.” Roy felt a sheepish grin on his face, and his ears heated up a bit. He busied himself disassembling the polarimeters and checking the various stages with a voltmeter. After finishing with one polarimeter, he went to the nearby controlled-temperature water bath, where he could check the sugar solution immersed there. Two benches away were Heather and Greta. He attached the sugar solution cell to the polarimeter, mounted the instrument in its stand, and peered into the eyepiece, adjusting the focus. He heard the bell ring and students packing up around him, preparing to leave, as he noted the reading on the repaired instrument was exact. It remained to check the others after making the adjustments. As he dismounted the polarimeter, Greta startled him.
    “Hi, Roy.” She stood beside him, and Heather stood near the aisle. Both held lab notebooks and p-chem texts in their arms against their bosoms.
    “Greta, Heather.” Roy looked at Greta and dwelled on Heather’s face, which held a slight smile. Heather then approached, looking at the polarimeter.
    “Is there any instrument you don’t know how to work on?” Roy passed up the opportunity to brag and instead answered honestly with the facts.
    “The infrared spectrophotometer in the organic lab and the emission spectrograph in the minerals lab are beyond my abilities.”
    “Come on, Heather. We’ll be late for our plant design class,” Greta admonished, stepping toward the door.
    Heather hesitated, seeming to want more conversation with him. Finally, she walked sideways toward Greta, maintaining eye contact with him before leaving. Roy sighed at the implications that might hold.
    ****
    When the women occasionally shed bulky winter garb in March, Roy’s dorm buddies made remarks about their anatomy. Well, Roy’s interest centered on one woman: Heather. He couldn’t deny his attraction to her slender physique, and the way she dressed, but it didn’t stop there. Her intelligence, her focus on college studies, her unwavering eye contact, even her outspoken manner, all served to rev his feelings like a sluggish engine reacting to a shot of nitromethane.
    It thrilled him that she lapsed into an occasional lighthearted conversation with him. He took that as a signal that he could make a brief, tasteful comment about her hair or the way she