“
It happened in science lab on the very first day of their junior year. The chemistry teacher had handed her a beaker of some mysterious liquid and told her to carry it to her lab table. She had almost reached her seat when Jerome Hollis caught her eye and smiled. She blushed and tripped over her own feet. He plucked the beaker from her hands as she fell, then helped her stand up.
“Thanks,” she said breathlessly.
“For what?” He handed the flask back and her heart gave a little flip. He had straight black hair, hazel eyes, and black-framed glasses. He looked cute, in a nerdy-but-hip kind of way.
She tried to collect herself. “For saving me from a horrible, disfiguring scar, of course,” she said. “After all, if I had been splashed with this, um—” She gingerly held the flask aloft.
“Saline solution,” he said. “Otherwise known as salt water. You would have been fine.”
“Oh.” She put the flask down and looked away.
“Although,” he added thoughtfully, “if you had dropped the beaker, the gravitational force and speed of descent would have meant that it would have, in all probability, shattered.”
Kate glanced back at him. “The force could have sent a shard of glass into my eye, blinding me,” she suggested.
“Or cut a vein, causing a massive loss of blood. When you take all the disastrous possibilities into account—”
“You should be given a medal for heroism,” Kate finished.
“I can’t believe they’re not pinning it on my shirt right now.” He smiled, and she was lost.
”
”