Read Online Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill - Free Book Online

suspect. By Monday, I still had no word from him. I couldn’t just keep hoping something would change. I had to make it change, if I could. I had to risk.
    In chemistry class that morning, I decided to text him again and make it clear how much I needed to hear the truth. I couldn’t wait any longer, but I had to be careful. Bodmer was sharp. She had even caught Paige texting, which was almost impossible to do. With that glazed Pisces look, Paige could stare straight ahead and sneak one hand into her bag. Fortunately, she didn’t have to go to the SRC, where most of those caught committing texting crimes ended up.
    The Student Responsibility Center, better known as the Stupid Rules Center, was Terra Bella High’s River Styx, and it divided our normal world from the underworld of the dreaded vice principal, Dr. West. Once delivered there, students were examined for dress code violations. Was a T-shirt a solid color, thus suggesting a gang affiliation? Violation! Was there a team name or symbol on it? A hole in someone’s jeans? Did shoes reveal too much flesh? Violation, violation, violation! Phones were kept until claimed by parents. Detention ruled. But I was getting ready to risk it all with my phone just then.
    Bodmer limited her talking time to ten minutes max. Which meant I had exactly that much time to tell Jeremy
what I must say to him. Still in lecture mode, she was speaking about the relationship between mass and moles. Not the on-your-body-type moles. A mole, as she loved to point out, was just an easy way of counting atoms.
    After doing a couple of problems on the board, she stopped, glanced around the room with her hawk eyes, and lifted a brown bag of candy. “In this lab, we will use M&Ms.” She stared right at me as if she knew I had something else on my mind.
    “Ms. Bodmer?” Dina raised her hand. “Yes, Dina?”
    “Could we go over the procedure again?”
    “We discussed it in the last class.” Bodmer made eye contact with me. “Can anyone explain?”
    Not my first priority. I needed to get in touch with Jeremy. I’d played the head-trip Aquarius for too long already. My phone was in my bag. Slowly, I reached down, then slid it into my lap. Then I moved my book to the edge of the desk. That would hide what I was doing.
    “Logan?”
    “We’re supposed to count the candy, and then determine the volume and mass,” I said.
    “And why are we using M&Ms in this lab?” Why wouldn’t she leave me alone? Dina turned and shot me that tacky valentine smile.
    “Is it because it’s easier that way to visualize the size of a mole?” I asked.
    She nodded. “Why is that?”
    “Because M&Ms are much bigger than atoms?”

    “Exactly.” At least she seemed satisfied with my answer.
    Finally, she turned her attention to the class. “Three moles of water would fill about two ounces, not quite a quarter cup. That’s how small they are.”
    Then she returned to the board and was so busy trying to make her point, that I finally had an opportunity to text Jeremy. The friendly how-you-doings were behind us. I needed to tell him the truth now.
    J: do u still love me?
Need to know
I still love u
    “Logan, are you with us?” I looked up into Bodmer’s steady gaze. How long had she been watching me? As I did so, I realized that in addition to the glasses she was wearing, she had two more pushed into her hair. “Tell me what three moles of M&Ms will fill.”
    Dina’s hand shot up, but Bodmer continued to look at me.
    I could take a wild guess or tell the truth.
    “I’m not sure,” I said. So much for my considerable communication skills .
    Dina gave me a pathetic smile. “It’s right up there on the board,” she said, as if trying to be helpful. “About three moles of M&Ms would completely fill the oceans of the world.” She wasn’t trying to make points with Bodner, only driving the knife into me. A Virgo tactic, for sure.

    Bodmer ignored her. I was getting The Look, and the rest of the class