Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1)

  4. BABY STEPS

  Patrick was already in Mr. D’s when I got there just after the first bell rang. He had our parts box on our table and was sorting through it. Huh. My lab partners were never in class before me.

  “Hi.” I said timidly.

  He looked up from the box. “Hey, Liz. How’s it going?”

  “Ok, I guess.” I wasn’t used to small talk. It’d been so long since I had to. Usually, my lab partners got the hint that I just wanted to get the work done. Since they weren’t capable of doing it or even helping, they left me alone to do it and talked with their friends. I never had one who talked to me.

  “So, don’t forget you agreed to go to the game today.” He wasn’t going to let that go. I was stuck.

  “Yeah. If the first part of the lab worked. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it all together and even tested once before class is over.”

  He eyed me quizzically. “Hmph.”

  “What? It’s true.” I didn’t understand why he looked at me like that. I wish he’d stop. It made me feel self-conscious.

  “Remember, you don’t have to do this by yourself. I will be helping.”

  I just stared at him. “Okay.”

  “Seriously. I don’t expect you to do all the work.” He thought for a second. “Is that what you meant last night? You think I’d stick you with all the work?” He shook his head in disbelief. He seemed to take offense at the thought. “I’d never do that. That isn’t right. I thought we talked about that yesterday. I hated partners that did that.”

  “Okay.” There was no point in arguing. I didn’t trust what he said, but I didn’t want to offend him either.

  Class started and we got to work on our lab. Mr. D made his rounds, checking everyone’s progress. I was surprised how much headway we were making. We were almost done putting together our design and would have plenty of time to test it. It was good to troubleshoot and work with someone who understood what was going on and helped with the design.

  Patrick noticed too. He grinned. “So, the game starts at 3:00.” He put the ball bearing at the top of our contraption. He let go of the ball as I started the timer.

  “Who are you playing?” He had kept his word and worked with me the entire time. I guess I should keep my word as well. It looked like I was going.

  “Parkside High. Coach has a friend that coaches their basketball team. So, it’s an unofficial game, but it’s a way to wake up all of us for the season.”

  “Kinda like a pre-test or pre-season?”

  He laughed. “Yeah. Pretty much. Anyway, since it’s a scrimmage game, it’s free. Bring your friends. It’ll be fun.”

  I smiled and politely nodded. I hadn’t spoken to my so-called friends since before Spring Break last year. It had been months. I guess that was something else my parents were right about, you can’t rely on your friends. Friends are supposed to know when you are having a tough time and not abandon you. They also said that you can only rely on your family, but that part didn’t seem so right. “What time will it be done?”

  “Eh.. maybe 4:30 or 4:45ish. You don’t have to stay the whole time, if you don’t want. I mean, you can, but I know you probably got lots to do.” He started putting our design in the box that Mr. D provided each group for storage and packing away the extra parts.

  “We’ll see. I’d need to leave around that time. But I’ll come watch.” I helped him put the rest of the stuff away. We grabbed our papers and went back to our table.

  I leafed through the next part of the lab to see what needed to be done. There were about ten questions that dealt with analyzing the data collected and your design, discussing what worked and didn’t work, and how you would use the information to complete the next part of the lab. It was pretty intense. I wasn’t looking forward to all that work, especially since I was going to the game this afternoon.

  “Which ones do you want to do?” He looked through the questions. He held his pen, ready to circle problems.

  “Doesn’t matter to me. I can do them.”

  “No. Which ones?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll do it.” I said automatically.

  He looked at me and blinked wide-eyed. “Don’t you trust me?”

  I was speechless.

  “You don’t.” His face filled with disbelief. “Haven’t I shown that you can trust me?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and tilted my head. I had only known him a day. I’ve known of him for longer, but that didn’t count for trust.

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath. It seemed to bother him that I thought the way I did. “Let me ask you this… Have I given you a reason to distrust me?”

  “I guess not.”

  “Haven’t I done everything I said I’d do?”

  “Yeah.” I had to admit that. I was surprised he had and more.

  “So?” He waited for an explanation or response.

  Mr. D walked by us. “How you guys doing?” He looked at Patrick.

  I took a deep breath, waiting for his response. Here we go. He’d tell Mr. D that he would rather work with someone else or alone, that I was weird. Every muscle in my body tensed up.

  “Good.” He genuinely smiled. “Our design went great. We’ll get the write-up done tonight. So, we should be able to start planning the next part tomorrow. Right?” He looked at me, waiting.

  “Yeah.” I was floored. That wasn’t what I expected him to say.

  “I knew you guys would make a good team.” Mr. D answered and walked over to check in with Joey and Kevin.

  “Thanks.” I did appreciate that he didn’t let on to Mr. D about his frustration with me.

  “No problem. So, now, do you trust me?” He smiled. I could see why he was popular and good at everything. He was real, about everything. Here he was calling me on something I didn’t want to admit and it didn’t seem threatening. I didn’t feel defensive.

  I bit my inside cheek and thought about it. “Well, I don’t distrust you.” I half-smiled. I hope that would be enough for now.

  “Okay. I guess that’s a start. I’ll have to work on it then.” He smiled. I guess it would be enough for now. He constantly surprised me with his reactions. “I meant what I said. We will get the write-up done. I’ll do numbers…3, 5, 6, 8, and 10, if that’s okay.” He circled the numbers he volunteered to do.

  “That’s fine.” I circled the problems I was responsible for.

  Mr. D gave his final reminders as the bell rang. He dismissed the class. I put my lab handout into my folder and shoved it into my backpack.

  “See you later.” He told me as he finished putting his stuff away.

  “Bye, Patrick.” I hurried out the door and to my next class.