Read Online Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande - Free Book Online

did with Denny.
    I looked over at the Back Turners and almost felt sorry for them. Almost. I mean, obviously they're doing this to themselves. But Ms. Shepherd went on with her lesson, and I could see that most of the kids—including Teresa— wished they could have been watching. It's like sitting with your back to the TV and trying to figure out all the action based on the sound track.
    Coffee must be very, very good for Ms. Shepherd's system, because she was all animated today. She spent the hour talking over examples from history and science and life to prove to us that even though we might guess what will happen in the next moment or the next century, we can't absolutely know.
    “And this,” she said toward the end, “is why evolution rules the day. Because nothing is static. Everything changes. That is the BEAUTY of life. And the successful organisms—the ones like you and me and viruses and sharks and everything else that's out there today—we owe our existence to the genes that kept mutating and adapting all along. THANK YOU, MUTATIONS.”
    I love it when she says things like that. Like she doesn't even care how weird it sounds.
    “If you think about it,” she went on, “not a single one of us is exactly like anything that came before. In a way we're all truly freaks of nature. That's what it takes to survive—the freaks shall inherit the earth. Look how wellviruses are doing. They mutate and adapt constantly—it's why we have to develop new vaccines all the time to keep killing them.
    “Which raises an interesting question,” Ms. Shepherd said, glancing over at the Back Turners. “Because if you don't believe in evolution, then you must not believe that diseases change over time. In which case, there would be no need for anyone to get new flu shots every year, because obviously if we've been vaccinated once, that should last forever, right?”
    “Brilliant,” Casey whispered.
    “Just something to think about,” Ms. Shepherd said. And then the bell rang.
    And I just sat there. I didn't want to move. I wanted to sit there and understand everything I'd just heard.
    Because I think until that moment, I was only sort of paying attention. I was treating biology like any other one of my classes—just something to learn so I could get a good grade and move on. I appreciated that Ms. Shepherd was making it fun and interesting, but it was still just a class.
    But as of today, I have to admit it: I have a crush on science.
    Can you love a thought? Can you love a concept?
    Not to be too dramatic, but when Ms. Shepherd explained that about the flu shot and about us all being freaks of nature, it was like something reached inside my chest and yanked on my soul. Like somebody opened up my head and shouted down into my brain, “Do you get it? Mena, are you listening?”
    It's just that it all makes sense. In the same way that God makes sense to me sometimes and I really think I can feel Him. I can see the order to things, His purpose behind them. I wish I felt that way more often—about God, I mean—but whenever I do, it's like someone has pumped up my heart with helium, and I can barely keep from floating off into space.
    I was still sitting there, all dreamy, when Casey said, “Library?”
    “Uh-huh.” Somehow I gathered up my books and followed him into the hall.
    Teresa and the others had already faded into the crowd. Another blessing. I walked along slowly next to Casey, savoring the buzzing in my ears.
    “So,” Casey said as we coasted along, “what did you think of Fellowship? Incredible, no?”
    “Huh? Oh, I didn't watch it.”
    “What?”
    “Yeah,” I said, still happily ambling along. “Look, the truth is, I'm never going to watch it. My parents won't let me.”
    “Because?”
    And that's what snapped me back to reality.

Seventeen
    How much do I really want Casey Connor to know about my life? You want to be able to pick and choose the good parts—the parts that make you look as little