Page 21 of The Scientist

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It was Friday night, and I found myself home alone with nothing but profound boredom to keep me company. My mom had found a canasta group to join, and they happened to play on Friday nights. While I applauded her newfound social life out on the West Coast, I was disappointed at being left to my own devices for the evening. Didn’t an ejection from the womb grant me automatic dibs?

I decided to bake some of my kitchen sink cookies, which were made up of chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, toffee bits, and M&M’s. I chose it because it was a really time-consuming recipe, and I needed a way to occupy both my mind and palate.

It was times like these that I wished my almost-roommate would have worked out. I would have taken being housed with a violent criminal if it meant I wouldn’t be spending Friday night alone, daydreaming about joining the all-ladies Canasta Clique. Alas, I’d been dealt a different hand (pun intended). Even though Sarah told me to call her anytime, I didn’t want to always bother her just because she was the only other person I knew here.

As I prepped the ingredients, I realized I hadn’t heard from Garrett again besides a few texts asking how my mom was doing. I had rarely even thought of him since we got here, which was just further confirmation that I did the right thing by breaking things off. Now that things had slowed down a bit, and I wasspending a lot more time alone, my mind started drifting back to him.

I didn’t think it was even him that I was missing, but more the companionship. There wasn’t any part of me that wanted to be romantically involved with him any longer, but I sometimes missed the way he could make me laugh. I remember the last time he made me laugh so hard, I cried. We were hanging out at his apartment, and I was watching random videos on my phone and there was one of a colorblind kid who received those glasses that allowed him to see in color. I showed Garrett the video and said, “Isn’t that sweet? He’s so happy,” because the kid was so overcome with emotion, and he said, “I would be too, if I could finally play Twister.” I think I laughed for a full five minutes straight. When I thought about moments like that, it made me want to pick up the phone and call him just so we could talk, but I didn’t think that was fair. I didn’t want to send the wrong message so I sucked it up, realizing I couldn’t reach out just because I was feeling lonely.

I meticulously assembled my circles of sweetness with the precision of a brain surgeon. But even after all was said and done, it was barely past the time for early bird dinner at the Golden Corral when they finally emerged from the oven. I figured I could take some over to Professor Dunbar’s since he had liked my brownies so much. I packaged a few of them up and walked them over to his house, knocking on the door.

“Well, hello again, Hadley,” he greeted me warmly when he opened the door. He had the same kind of gentle disposition that you’d imagine any grandparent would. It automatically made you feel comforted.

“Hey, Professor Dunbar. I just wanted to bring you some of my kitchen sink cookies.” I held up the bag. “Do you guys have any allergies? They have nuts in them.”

“That is so kind of you. And no, we don’t,” he said, taking the bag from me. “Mira is going to be so thrilled. She still raves about those brownies you made. Did you want to come in?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to interrupt your evening. I just wanted to come say hello and drop them off.”

“Well, thank you so much. You’ve definitely found your target audience.”

I smiled and said, “Enjoy!” before walking down the steps of his porch.

“I see you’ve been keeping up with therhododendrons,” he called out to me as I was passing the garden he’d helped me plant.

“I’m trying. None of it looks as good as yours, though.”

“That’s a good thing. People would start to think I’d lost my touch if yours looked better,” he said, winking. I laughed, and we waved goodbye. Just as I was about to head inside, I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

I turned to see Stuart and Lex coming up the walkway, both holding armfuls of takeout.

“What are you guys up to?” I asked, chuckling.

“Just getting off work. We picked up some Thai food,” Stuart said.

“You guys leave any for the rest of Stanford’s population?”

“I’m starving and everything they have there is amazing,” he replied. “I couldn’t decide so I got one of everything.”

“I see that. Very practical.”

“Come join us.”

Lex, who had remained his normal reticent self up to this point, was looking at Stuart like he wanted to wrap one of the bags he was holding around his head.

“Oh no, that’s okay.”

“Why not? You have plans?”

“No, but I don’t want to bother you guys.” I declined even though Iwaspretty hungry.

“Come on, Betty. As you can see, we have plenty.” He lifted the bags, shaking them.

I looked back and forth between Lex and Stuart. If it was just Stuart, I would have accepted the invitation without hesitation, but the look of horror on Lex’s face made me think twice. Then again, maybe this was my chance to show him I did actually have manners, and he could stop looking like he wanted to crawl out of his skin when I was around.

“Okay, I’ll come over in a bit.”