The Geek and The Goddess Read online

  "So you're a skeptic. What else don't you believe in?"

  "UFOs. Bigfoot."

  "Seriously?" He stops pedaling. "You don't believe in Bigfoot?"

  "No," I say, laughing. "Why? Have you seen him?"

  "Yes. More than once."

  "Yeah, right."

  "I'm not joking. My dad and I went camping at Yellowstone and we had not one, but two Bigfoot sightings."

  "And your dad agrees with this? He saw Bigfoot?"

  "Yes, but he can't admit to it for fear of jeopardizing his job at the university. That place is full of non-believers." He pedals again.

  "I guess you have to see it to believe it."

  "What else don't you believe in?"

  "Um...let me think. Oh! The chupacabra. Loch Ness monster. Soulmates."

  "Soulmates?" His feet stall on the pedals. "Why don't you believe in soulmates?"

  "Because it doesn't make sense. We live in a world with billions of people and we're supposed to believe that only one of them is right for us? How are we supposed to find this person? We never will, so it's depressing."

  "Maybe it's soulmates plural. Like maybe we have more than one, which makes it more likely you'll meet your soulmate."

  "You can't have more than one soulmate."

  "How do you know? You don't even believe in them."

  I smile. "I guess you're right. I have no idea how any of that works."

  I like that Wes believes in that stuff. I'm not even sure why. Maybe it's because it shows he has an open mind and a willingness to believe in things that can't be proven. And faith that they exist. All traits I don't have but sometimes wish I did.

  "Going back to the chupacabra," he says, "it does exist. I saw it on a trip to Mexico."

  I laugh and can't stop. He's totally serious, but I'm not sure if it's all an act or if he really does think he saw the chupacabra.

  We continue to discuss the existence of the chupacabra, Bigfoot, and other urban legends. I'm smiling and laughing and loving every second of it, and when it's time to return the boat, I'm not ready to. I want to stay out here and talk.

  I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun with a guy. Or with anyone. Even when I'm with Stella, I don't laugh as much as I laughed today.

  This date is going so well I don't want it to end.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It's almost six and clouds have rolled in so it's not as hot as it was earlier. Wes and I go to the park and find a place to sit and talk. Our discussion of urban legends continues because it was just too funny a topic to not keep going. There's so much to discuss. Like the Loch Ness Monster. How long has he been there? If he's so big, why can't they find him? And with all the advancements in photo technology, why are the pictures still so grainy and out of focus?

  "Are you hungry?" Wes asks.

  "I could eat."

  "I'm starving." He stands up and offers me his hands. "Let's go find some food."

  "Where should we go?"

  "You pick. I picked the pre-dinner activity so you get to pick dinner. You can also pick the movie."

  I watch as he folds up the blanket we were sitting on. "Maybe we should skip the movie."

  "Why?"

  "It'll be late and I told my parents I'd be home before midnight."

  He takes my hand and we head to the parking lot. "It's only six. You'll be home way before midnight."

  Crap. I need a better excuse.

  "Um...I don't really like any of the movies that are out."

  "At the party last night, you told Stella you wanted to see that one about that surfer girl. The one that's based on a true story?"

  "I can wait until it's a rental. I don't need to see it in the theater."

  He stops walking. "You're doing it again."

  "Doing what?"

  "Not telling me something. So what is it? Why don't you want to go to the movies?"

  "I do want to go. Just not tonight. I'm not really in the mood for a movie."

  "Why don't we have dinner and decide after that? You might change your mind."

  Instead of arguing with him, I just nod and we continue to the parking lot.

  "So where are we going?" he asks as he starts the car.

  "How about the fried chicken place by school?"

  "That's fast food. We should go someplace better than that."

  I'm not used to going out with someone who has money. People our age are usually broke so fast food is the only option.

  "There's some new place Stella told me about. She went there with Sam last week. It's a pizza place but they have unusual toppings. She said it was good."

  "I know what you're talking about. It's close to my house. I haven't been there but my dad has." Wes slows down and makes a U-turn and we head the other way.

  "When we're done with dinner, could we go to your house?"

  "I guess we could." He glances at me. "Why do you want to go to my house?"

  "I want to see this garden of yours. See if it really exists."

  "You think I'd lie about having a garden?" he asks in a kidding tone. "Why would I make that up?"

  "To impress girls."

  He laughs. "Yeah, teenage girls are really impressed with a guy who can grow tomatoes. It's a real turn-on."

  "I was impressed."

  "But not turned on," he says with a smile.

  "Maybe not by your tomatoes but..." I feel my face getting hot.

  "But what?" We're at a stoplight now and he reaches over and puts his hand on my knee. He rubs his thumb over my skin and a tingly feeling shoots up and down my leg.

  "The light's green," I say, pointing to it.

  He must hear the nervousness in my voice because he takes his hand off my knee and says, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Even though I've done things with girls in the past, that doesn't mean I'm expecting those things from you."

  I nod, but wonder if he wishes he was with a girl who would do those things. Stella says once a guy has done it, he wants to keep doing it. If that's true for Wes, then why is he dating me? Is he going to eventually realize he wants a girl with more experience and break up with me?

  "What are you thinking?" he asks.

  "Nothing."

  "Liar."

  I look at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "You got really quiet so I know you're thinking about something and I'm guessing it's about us."

  "You should already know what I'm thinking," I say with a smile. "You said you read minds, right?"

  "I didn't before, but apparently I do with you."

  "So what was I thinking?"

  "You think I want more. You know I've been with other girls so you think I expect more than just a kiss at the end of the night."

  "You just said that's not true."

  "And yet you didn't believe me. Am I right? Is that what you were thinking?"

  I turn away, looking out the side window.

  "Luna, I didn't say all that because I thought it's what you wanted to hear. I said it because it's true. I don't expect anything from you, other than to let me get to know you. I think by now you're starting to see I'm not like other guys my age. My dad calls me an old soul and I guess in a way I am. My focus is on my future and growing my company, not pep rallies and football games. Honestly I wish I could just graduate tomorrow and be done with high school."

  "Me too." I face forward again. "I hate high school. I even have an app on my phone that's counting down how many days I have left."

  "It's not that I hate it. I just have other things I want to do and I don't want to wait to do them. I'd rather be creating new games than sitting in class."

  "It's not the classes that bother me. It's the people. I'm tired of being picked on and called all those stupid names. I'm tired of the cliques and the backstabbing. Every day there is hell."

  "It doesn't have to be. If you ignore those people they won't have power over you."

  "Even if I ignore them, they'll still call me names. It's be
en going on forever. It's not going to stop. Just like I'll never be popular. I'll always be the shy smart girl who reads books at lunch."

  We're at the restaurant now, sitting in the parking lot. I want to go inside but I have a feeling Wes won't let me until we finish our talk. I don't know why I'm telling him all this. It makes me sound like a loser, and yet I never feel that way when I'm with Wes. Being around him, I almost feel like one of the cool kids.

  "It doesn't matter what they think of you or what they say. But because you let it matter, you hate it there. Every day sucks."

  "Because it does."

  "It doesn't have to."

  Ready to be done with this discussion, I say, "Can we go?"

  "It won't be forever." He reaches over for my hand. "I know it seems like that now, but you'll be out of high school before you know it and then you can go on to be a huge success while all the people who called you names are flipping burgers for a living."

  I roll my eyes. "I doubt it. If anything, I'll be the one flipping burgers."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Because it's true."

  "Why?" he asks, sounding concerned.

  "Let's go." I try to open my door but it's locked. I hit the button to unlock it.

  "Hold on." He gives my hand a squeeze.

  I watch a man and his kid get out of the minivan parked beside us. "We should go. It looks busy. It may take a while to get a table."

  "What did you mean just now? Are you saying you're not going to college?"

  I sigh. "Not everyone has to go to college. You said it yourself. You said you want to skip college and just work at your company."

  "Yeah, but I'm still going. I love making video games so part of me just wants to do that and nothing else. But the other part of me knows I need an education to teach me how to run the business side of things. I don't want to give that part of my company to someone else to run and not know what's going on. That's how people end up losing their business."

  "Great. So you're going to college. Good for you." My tone is harsh and I feel bad for talking to him that way but college is a topic that makes me angry and it's hard to hide it. My parents and I fight about this all the time. They keep telling me to go to college. They want me to have a degree but also the social experience of leaving home and living in a dorm.

  I want that too, or I used to. I used to dream of going to college. Meeting new people. People who didn't know me and wouldn't call me names. People who were more mature than my high school classmates. I looked forward to all that, plus the classes I'd get to take. But then I got the diagnosis and everything changed. My future was no longer full of hope. It was full of uncertainty. What if I went to college, got a degree, found my dream job, and then went blind?

  The doctors told me blind people can do most any job sighted people can do but I don't know how that's possible, especially for someone who is used to having her sight. When I finally lose mine, I'll have to relearn how to do everything, which could take years.

  "I wasn't judging you," he says. "If you don't want to go to college that's your decision. I only questioned it because I know you're really smart and like to learn so I'm just wondering why you wouldn't want to go to college."

  "Well, stop wondering. You sound like my parents. I don't need more people nagging me to go to college."

  "I wasn't nagging you. It was just a question." He sounds irritated.

  "Sorry." I take a breath. "I didn't mean to get angry about it. It's just a sensitive topic. I'm always fighting with my parents about college and I don't want to fight with you too. Can we just avoid that topic?"

  "I guess, but can you at least tell me what you're planning to do after high school?"

  "Why do you need to know?"

  "Because maybe..." He stops and looks down. "Never mind."

  "Hey." I poke his arm. "You can't do that."

  "Do what?"

  "You can't stop before telling me what you were going to say."

  "You do that to me all the time."

  "Yeah, and you don't let me get away with it."

  He smiles. "That's true."

  "So tell me what you were going to say. Why do you care what I'm doing after high school?"

  "Because maybe," he turns and looks at me, "if we continue to go out and continue to get to know each other and continue to fall for each other..."

  "Yeah?" I ask, wanting him to hurry and finish his thought.

  "Maybe we'll still be together when high school ends. Maybe we'll decide we could have a future together."

  I search his face for clues that he's joking, because he has to be joking. We've known each other for a week and he's already thinking of a possible future with me? Is he insane? We're still in high school. Then again, Sam and Stella are in high school and they plan to be together forever, but they're the exception to the rule.

  "But that'll never happen," Wes says, "if your post-high school plans are to move to Madagascar and care for sick lemurs."

  I burst out laughing. I was expecting him to say something serious and instead he says something funny. Where did he even come up with that?

  "Or maybe you're planning to circle the globe three times in a hot air balloon," he says, being completely serious even though I'm still laughing. "Or embark on a quest to prove the existence of the chupacabra." He pauses. "Actually, I might be willing to join you on that."

  I'm laughing so hard it's hurting my stomach. "Okay, stop. I get it." I take a moment to catch my breath.

  "So which is it? Helping the lemurs? Hot air balloon? Chupacabra?"

  I laugh even more. "Stop saying 'chupacabra'."

  "Why? That's what it's called, although technically it's el chupacabra." He said it in a funny voice and rolled his r's, which was even more hilarious.

  "Stop making me laugh," I say, still trying to catch my breath.

  "I'm just trying to figure out your plans."

  "Well, it's none of the things you mentioned. I have no interest in finding the chupacabra. I don't even know what it looks like. And I have a fear of heights so hot air balloons are out. And although I think it's noble for someone to help ailing lemurs, it's not for me. I'm not great with animals. They'd probably try to eat me."

  "I think they're vegetarians but I could be wrong."

  "Either way, I have no plans to move to Madagascar and work with lemurs."

  He shrugs. "Then I'm out of ideas. I don't know what your plans are."

  "I thought you could read my mind."

  "Your mind isn't telling me anything. But if I had to take a guess I'd say you're undecided. That you haven't completely ruled out college but that for some reason, you don't think you should go. Is it financial? Is that the reason? Are your parents not able to afford college and you don't want to take out loans?"

  "No. That's not it." I open my door. "C'mon. Let's go eat."

  "We're not done yet."

  I sigh. "I was kidding. I wasn't expecting you to actually read my mind. It was a joke."

  "Then just tell me. What do you want to do after high school?"

  "I don't know yet. I'm still figuring it out."

  "Are you going to at least take the college entrance exams?"

  "I don't need to. I told you, I'm not going to college. And I'm done talking about this. You're not my parents. You don't get to tell me what to do."

  "I wasn't trying to, but," he looks at me, "I wasn't completely kidding when I said this thing between us might last past high school."

  "You were only partially kidding?" I joke.

  "Actually, I wasn't kidding at all. I meant it."

  I roll my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

  He laughs. "You're a lot a work, you know that?"

  I hit his shoulder. "I am not!"

  "You are." He gets out of the car and comes around to my side.

  "Why am I a lot of work?" I ask, taking his hand as we walk to the restaurant.

  "Doesn't matter." He lifts my hand up and kisses it. "You're wor
th it."

  That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me. Not the part about me being work. I'm not even sure what that means. But the part about me being worth it? It makes me smile.

  Our dinner is great. Wes is really fun to be around. He smiles a lot and can talk about anything. Serious stuff. Goofy stuff. The conversation flows from topic to topic without any awkward silence.

  When he's paying the check, I hear someone behind me say, "Hey, Wes."

  Wes looks up and smiles. "Hey, Colton. What's up, man?"

  Colton comes and stands by our table. He's with a girl. She's gorgeous; light brown skin, brown eyes, and a killer body. She's wearing a short, tight, yellow dress and cute wedge sandals. I wish I could wear stuff like that but it wouldn't look right on me. I don't have the body for that kind of dress.

  "We just got here," Colton says. "This is Angie." He puts his arm around her.

  "Hey, I'm Wes." He gets up from his chair and shakes her hand. I stand up to do the same.

  "And that's Luna," Colton says before I can introduce myself. "She goes to my school. So does Wes. I told you about him last week. He's the new guy."

  "From California?" Angie asks Wes.

  "Yeah. I moved here last June."

  "You're gonna want to move back once you live through a Wisconsin winter," she jokes.

  He chuckles. "I'm sure I'll be fine. But I have thought of moving back someday."

  He has? What about this future he's planned for us? Does he think I'd move to California with him? I wipe that thought from my head. It's completely crazy, just like that whole discussion about us being together after high school. I don't even know why he said it.

  "Where do you go to school?" I ask Angie.

  "I'm homeschooled. My mom teaches my brother and me."

  "I'm jealous. I'd love to be homeschooled."

  "Why?" Colton asks. "You're like a rockstar at school. Getting all A's and shit."

  "It's not the classes that make me want to be homeschooled."

  Why did I say that? I'm just bringing attention to the fact I'm not popular at school, which is the last thing I want to talk about.

  "You mean the teasing?" Colton asks, hanging his arm off Angie's shoulder.

  "It's more than teasing," I say, wishing he'd just drop it.

  "They call her names and shit," Colton says to Angie.