BooksBarbecue
Back Little Universes
Chapters (63)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Part 1
  6. Mae
  7. Hannah
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. Part 2
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. Part 3
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. Epilogue
  59. Mental Health Resources
  60. Acknowledgments
  61. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  62. About the Author
  63. Newsletter Sign-up

I glare at Nate before turning to Ben. “My cousin is making a rookie mistake, conflating a Newtonian description of gravity with general relativity, attempting to use physics as a psychoanalytic tool to suggest I’m struggling with inertia—which I’m not, by the way. Gravity is not a force, it’s a consequence of the curvature of space and time. Everyone confuses that, but I would have thought an MIT student wouldn’t.” I give Nate a look, he gives me a look.

Ben doesn’t give me a look, he just looks at me. Which is a little disconcerting, but also nice.

“So Nate’s suggesting gravity is going to catch up to you and force you into forward motion.”

“Correct,” Nate says. “Basic physics.”

“Basic obnoxiousness,” I snap.

Nate reaches over and squeezes my shoulder. “Make the call, Buzz.”

My cousin shuffles off to the kitchen to grab us some chips, and Ben glances at me, his lips turning up in a smile.

“If it makes you feel any better, he micromanages my life, too.”

“A little.”

Ben rubs his eyes. “He’s usually right, though. Bastard. A word of advice: If you ever become a barista and your best friend tells you not to agree to the opening shift, listen to him.”

“So that’s why you smell like coffee.”

“One of the perks. Ha. No pun intended.”

We’re quiet for a minute, and then he turns to me and I can’t help but think how good he would look fighting crime with that bleached hair and those dark eyes.

Observations like this are evidence that I’m running on fumes. I must maintain my focus. It’s the only way I know I have a chance at Annapolis, at NASA. It’s inconvenient, to meet the first person I’ve been genuinely attracted to since Riley at this particular stage of my life. It would have been nice to meet him in college or much, much later.

His eyes touch mine, then he looks away, throws his calculator into his backpack. “You should come by sometime. I’ll give you free coffee and regale you with fascinating tales about my customers and, if I’m feeling particularly loquacious, mineralogy.”

“Typical geophysicist.”

“Please. I prefer rock detective. We’re living on a mystery, you know.”

I huff out a tiny laugh, and it feels good. “Please expand.”