Carter found our picnic, I texted Eliza. It is now a homework party and he is joining. Rain check?

When the O’Connor siblings returned, we situated ourselves equidistant from the food. Tiki torches, left over from one of Ms. O’Connor’s catering events, lit up our textbooks. Carter had decided to start teaching me about biology by teaching me about chemistry, and had his old chemistry textbook open to the periodic table. I was trying to make it seem like I was less stupid than I was. Eliza had her nose buried in her history textbook, sighing with boredom every two or three minutes.

I had to do something to get her involved, and fast, or this could be the last date I took her on. Girls probably don’t give you a second date after their brother crashes your first one and you don’t tell him to leave. As a guess.

“Carbon is the element that leads to life,” said Carter, “which makes it possible to create organic compounds. That’s kinda important, because we’ll for sure have to take organic chem in college.”

“Okay.” I half listened to him and scanned the periodic table for a joke.

“It’s important to know how many isotopes—”

“I have an idea for a compound,” I said. “What it’s called when you combine sodium, bromine, and, um, oxygen?”

“That’s a new one.” Carter flipped through his notes for the answer.

“No, like I combined the element symbols together.”

“Na, Br, O?”

“Nah, Bro.”

Eliza looked up from her book. She didn’t give me a reaction. No problem, I was ready for her.

“Also,” I continued, “copper and tellurium.”

“Cu-Te,” said Carter, “yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

I gave Eliza a high five, which she halfheartedly returned.

“Who’s been calling you cute?” I asked Carter.

Carter coughed, annoyed that I was flirting with Eliza. Or rather, trying and failing. “Helium, helium, helium,” said Carter.

“What?”

“He He He,” Carter punched my shoulder. “Oof, he can dish it, but he can’t take it.”

Eliza stood and picked up her materials. The blanket tugged under her sneakers. “I’m cold,” she said.

“I guess that’s it for tonight,” said Carter. “I think this went well. Hopefully you know more now than you did two hours ago.”

“Sure.”

Carter closed his notebook. Eliza shifted her weight from one leg to the other. At the same time they asked me, “You need a ride home?”

Talk about a Sophie’s choice. On the one hand, I was blowing my date with Eliza. On the other hand, I had to overcompensate about this picnic weirdness and demonstrate to Carter the cardinal rule of manhood: Bros before hoes.

Carter looked at Eliza and she shrugged. “Figured I owe him from when Nick took me shopping.”

When I didn’t jump in, Carter yawned. “That’s okay. I got it.”

“Thanks, man,” I said.

Eliza and Carter shared a minivan, which I’d ridden in enough times to know it would not only fit my bike but it would fit my bike and an entire store’s worth of peanut butter cups. I speak from experience.