memories?”
Kate hefted the book. “Yes. Of back pain.” Science books were always so heavy. She didn't remember much about chemistry, but she sure remembered how her back ached every day she had to haul this thing home in her backpack.
She opened it. On the inside cover was scrawled “Peter Clark” and under it
“SuperChemGuy” with stars drawn around it. She smiled. “So, Super Chem
Guy, do you ever get out? I mean, away from town? Surely there must be some
incredibly exciting chemistry conventions you get to go to or something.”
Peter looked up, then chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Pretty much every other weekend
there's a wild convention for high school chemistry teachers in Vegas.
Champagne in beakers, dancing girls, the whole deal. And SuperChemGuy was
just my old AOL account name.”
She bit her lip, thinking. “I think mine was ArtGurlForever or something dumb like that.”
“ArtGurlsRule.”
She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She reached to put the book back
on the shelf. A few loose notes dropped from under its back cover onto the floor.
Kate picked them up, scanning them. “Ooo! Love notes!”
“What?” He got up and came around the desk. “Those are probably just old
chem quizzes.” He tried to take them from her, but she turned before he could,
keeping them out of reach as she unfolded one, scribbled pen on notebook paper.
“Dear Marve l,” she read, “I must protest the use of ammonia as a re-agent in the latest issue of Spider-Man, Number 167. Also, the common reaction of the burning of butane would be to produce a blue flame, not a pink one as is shown in panel five on page twelve.” She laughed. “Oh my gosh…I'm sorry, Peter, but you were such a geek.”
“Yeah, well, says the girl who painted a My Little Pony mural on her wall and then talked to it every night.”
“I did not talk to it. It was just…pretending. And you said you'd never tell.”
“Just give me the rest of those.” He reached over her shoulder and grabbed the papers from her hand then stuffed them in between two books on the shelf.
She almost wished she could see if there was a note from Penny Fitch. It was
ancient history, but she couldn't help it.
Peter snorted. “Why don't we just leave behind memory lane, okay?” He
pulled her by the elbow to a chair near his desk, then returned to his own.
Kate saluted as she sat. “Aye, aye, Super Chem Guy.”
“You said you needed some advice on your proposal?”
She was enjoying seeing him flustered, brushing his unruly hair back from
his eyes. His face was clean-shaven today, and he smelled like fresh laundry and
spice. But he was right. It was time to get down to business.
“Okay, so you know I'm supposed to be coming up with this brilliant new makeover for Nitrovex.”
“Okay.”
“But I just can't seem to get a handle on it. I mean, most of the companies
we work with are creative companies or in the service industry. We look at what
makes them tick, what's at their core, their foundation, then come up with a slogan. Like 'Moving into the Future' or 'Technology at the Speed of the Mind.'
Stuff like that.”
“Catchy.”
“Thanks. You can use them in your next letter to Marvel Comics.”
“So, what has Nitrovex thought of what you've come up with so far?”
