I follow Will into the classroom and glance around the room as the second bell rings. Most people are talking or taking out their notebooks. A dark-haired girl is sitting in the front row by the door. She looks up as we walk in. My gaze brushes hers, and my breath catches in my throat. A sudden zing runs through me, almost like a jolt of recognition. I must’ve stopped in my tracks, because Cole crashes into me from behind and I stumble, breaking the eye contact.
“Gentlemen, please take your seats,” says Mr. Ogle.
We grab three seats in the back, and I check out the girl from there. I’ve never seen her before. I would’ve remembered. Her straight dark hair falls below her shoulders, and she is sitting sideways in her chair, facing the front, so I can see her profile. She’s pretty in an unconventional way. Not Barbie doll pretty; more dramatic, with her dark hair and pale skin. I kick Cole’s foot across the aisle.
“Who’s that girl?” I whisper.
He shrugs. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yeah. Do you know her?”
“Negative.”
Mr. Ogle starts going through the usual first day of school routine, handing out the class ‘rules’ and syllabus with the website info.
“Welcome to Advanced Placement Environmental Science, where we explore all aspects of environmental science, including chemical, physical, and biological. This year we’ll be focusing a lot of attention on traditional and alternative energy sources and how their usage affects the environment. We have field trips scheduled to the Benton County Wind Farm and the Eagle River Coal Gasification Plant.” Cool. Field trips are always a good thing. Will is sitting in the seat in front of me and I tap him on the back of the head with my pen. His dad works at the Coal Gasification Plant. He reaches behind his head and tries to grab my hand.
“And I am pleased to tell you that we will have a very prestigious guest lecturer visit us this year. Dr. Auberge is a distinguished nuclear energy physicist visiting from the world renowned Overet Lab in France who is studying cutting-edge areas of alternative energy sources. He’s spending two years at the university and has agreed to come and teach a few of our classes, and,” Mr. Ogle pauses for effect and glances around the room to make sure he has everyone’s attention, “he is offering an internship in his lab, starting second semester, to one of the students in this class.”
There is a general murmuring in the room as everyone digests this bit of information. It’s usually a pretty competitive group in the AP classes, so there’s sure to be some interest. “Also, we have a new student in the class who happens to be Dr. Auberge’s daughter. Please welcome Renee Auberge.” He extends his hand toward the dark-haired girl by the classroom door. Renee. She inclines her head and smiles.
“Vous-êtes Française, mademoiselle Auberge?” Cole asks. Geez.
“Oui,” she answers in a clear, lilting voice—at least to my ears.
“Bienvenue à Monroe High,” says Cole, and he stands up and actually bows.
“Merci. Thank you,” she answers. It looks like she’s trying not to laugh. She’s looking at Cole, but could she also be looking at me? I nod and smile at her and she nods back. Will turns around slightly in his seat and gives me a lecherous look. Great. I hope that doesn’t mean that she’s caught his interest too. Maybe he’s thinking about the internship. I raise my eyebrows at him and shrug.
“Thank you, Mr. Rosenberg, for acting as our welcoming committee,” Mr. Ogle says. Cole makes a flourish in the air with his hand and inclines his head slightly before sitting down. “OK, now we have a lot to cover this year, so let’s get started. First semester we’ll focus on human energy consumption and its effects on the environment. We’ll look at the current practice of extracting and burning fossil fuels and compare that to alternative sources such as solar, wind, nuclear and so-called clean coal.” I see Will bristle at Mr. Ogle’s remark. “Hence the field trips.”
I take out my binder and start taking notes. The lecture is actually pretty interesting, and I’ve been looking forward to this class. Mr. Ogle is one of the cooler teachers, but he’s still kind of goofy in his corduroys and button down shirt—like he’s trying to dress like one of the hipster crowd instead of being stuck in the same ’80s time warp as Cole.
Forty-five minutes later the bell rings, and everyone slams shut their notebooks and starts gathering up their stuff. I glance toward the door at Renee. She’s putting her books into her book bag. I grab my backpack, slide out of my chair, and make my way over to her before I lose my nerve. I stop in front of her desk and she looks up at me.
“Uh, hi, um, I’m Eric Horton. And, ah, I can’t say it in French like Cole, but welcome to Monroe.” She looks at me with a slight smile like she’s waiting for me to say something else. My mind goes completely blank for a moment. Then I quickly say, “I could show you around school, ah, if you want, sometime. It’s a pretty big place.” Whew—hopefully that didn’t come off as completely stupid.
“Thank you.” She smiles, and it lights up her face and crinkles the corners of her green eyes. “I did get a tour and I have a map, but I could use some directions in finding my next class,” she says in perfect, slightly accented English.
“Sure. Show me the map. What room is your next class in?”
“Uh, let me see.” She stands up, propping her book bag on the desk, and reaches into its outside pocket with long, slim fingers to retrieve her schedule and a map of the school. “It’s comparative lit in A238. What section are we in now?”
“We’re in C section—science and math—second floor. You’ll need to go back over to the rotunda and then into the English department in section A. Here, let me show you.” I reach for the map and my fingers brush hers. Her skin is smooth and I feel that jolt to my gut again. I glance up at Renee, and her eyes are wide with surprise. Does she feel it too? I quickly take the map, unfold it, and smooth it out on her desk. “Just follow this hallway to section C’s center hallway and then over to the rotunda down this hallway and into section A. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. Each section is like a spoke coming out from the rotunda and they’re all the same.”
“If you say so,” she says with a laugh. “Well, thank you again, Eric Horton. I’m pretty sure I can find my way now.”
“No problem. See you in class tomorrow.” I hand her back the map, careful not to brush her fingers this time, and smile what I hope is a confident, friendly smile.
“Bye.” She slings her book bag over her shoulder and enters the crowded hallway.
I pick up my own backpack from where I dropped it on the floor. Maybe I should have offered to take her to her class. Then I feel a hand on my shoulder and Will’s voice in my ear. “She’s hot!”
“Yeah, but I got to her first.” I say it lightly, but I really don’t like hearing him talk about her like that. No matter how hot she is.
Will backs away and holds up his hands in mock surrender. “I see how it is. Anyway, I already have a girlfriend. She’s all yours, big guy.”
“It’s not like that,” I say, annoyed. Will raises his eyebrow questioningly. “I mean, I just said hello to her.”
“Whatever,” he says. “Gotta get to US History. What lunch do you have? I’ve got B lunch.”
“Me, too. I’ll catch up to you then.”
“Later.”
As I jostle through the crowd in the hallway on the way to my Calculus class, I wonder about my reaction to Will and the weird feeling I got around Renee. I