In science, I pretend to read my textbook when Asad walks in. I’m being ridiculous—I know this—like there’s going to be a classic meet-cute moment when the girl looks up from reading and the boy sees her eyes for the first time, or when the studious librarian takes down her hair and the boy realizes she’s been a stone-cold fox the whole time.

It’s not like I think Asad is going to take me right here next to the mealworm habitats, but today feels like it could be the start of something. New eyes. New me.

“She’s back,” he says, bouncing his closed fist on my desk.

I look up. He feigns surprise with that contagious, dimpled grin.

“Hey! It’s still you!”

I laugh.

“I was a little pissed because I clearly said ‘Make me look like Beyoncé’ as I was going under the anesthesia. But when I woke up, I was not even mildly bootylicious.”

Asad shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

“Doctors these days. No skills.”

“Thanks for your card, by the way.”

“Least I could do. I don’t know how you did it. I would go crazy having my eyes sewn shut.”

“It was pretty much horrific. But you do what you got to do, right?”

Asad nods. “Ah yes, the price of beauty.”

The word hangs in the air as Asad lifts the lid off our mealworms.

“Well, while you were undergoing your transformation, our little guys had one of their own.” Inside, instead of worms, three white beetles crawl around. “And that’s not all. I also had a mildly soul-changing epiphany. After our talk on bravery, I realized I’ve been totally throwing away my shot.”

“Hamilton.”

“Yes, yes, you know all the songs. But my point is that I’ve decided to stop being a colossal coward, and I have you to thank for inspiring me.”

I groan, and Asad holds up his hands like I’ve busted him dealing drugs.

“I know, I know. You hate that word, but it’s true. You’ll be proud to know that next year I will no longer be the man behind the lights. I will be trying out for an actual, honest-to-goodness part in the play.”

“What about dear old dad?”

“I told him straight out that I’m not interested in medical school and that it’s my life and I want to play my own role, so I’m doing drama, and that doesn’t make me less of a man. And you know what he said?”

I shake my head.