Read Online The Outsider by Melinda Metz - Free Book Online Page B

favorite mouse. Then he forced himself to walk over to the lab station he shared with Liz.
    â€œWe’re doing a comparison between animal and plant cells today,” Liz said in a rush when Max slid onto his lab stool. “I’m trying to decide which category a couch potato would fall into.”
    Her laugh sounded a little fake. But at least she was trying to joke around with him the way she usually did — even if she still hadn’t managed to look at him.
    If Liz was going to act as if nothing had happened, he would, too. We should both get Oscar nominations after this class, Max thought.
    â€œOkay, let’s get started,” Ms. Hardy called. “Everyone on the left, use a vegetable scraping to make a slide. Everyone on the right, use a swab to get some cells from the inside of your cheek and do a slide. When you’ve answered the questions on your own slide — animal or plant — then trade with another team and answer the rest.”
    Max picked up one of the swabs. “I’ll do it.”
    Liz grabbed the swab away. “Are you crazy?” she demanded. She lowered her voice. “Do you even know what your cells look like? What if they don’t look . . . the same?”
    She was right. Ms. Hardy often walked around and looked at their slides. And if there was something
different
about his cells, she would definitely notice.
    Max was usually so careful, so cautious. He couldn’t believe he’d almost done something that amazingly stupid. This thing with Liz had him totally messed up. All he could think about was her. He couldn’t stop wondering what was going on in her head.
    Liz wiped the inside of her mouth with the swab. Max pulled a chipped glass slide out of the little wooden box and handed it to her. She ran the swab over the glass, then Max dropped a thin plastic slide cover on top of the cell sample she’d deposited.
    At least we can still do this, he thought. They had always been a perfect match as lab partners.
    â€œI wanted to talk to you about what happened on Saturday,” Liz said. She slipped the side under the microscope’s metal clips, then peered into the eyepiece, checking the focus.
    Yeah, Liz definitely doesn’t back away from things, Max thought. Pretending nothing had happened might have been easier, but it just wasn’t her.
    â€œTelling me the truth must have been so hard, and then I totally flipped out on you,” Liz continued. “I didn’t even thank you for saving my life.” She used the knob on the side of the microscope to make a few minor adjustments, then looked up at Max. Her gaze was direct and steady, but Max saw a tiny muscle in her eyelid jump.
    It’s taking everything she has to do this, he thought. She can’t even look at me anymore without it being this huge effort.
    â€œI don’t know what to say ‘I’m sorry’ sounds so lame. But I’m really sorry,” she told him. “And thanks . . . thanks for saving my life.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.” Max turned away and checked the lab book. “We’re supposed to do a sketch and label the organelles.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and pushed it toward Liz. “You’d better do the drawing. We both know I can’t even draw stick figures.”
    Liz looked into the eyepiece again. She picked up a pencil and drew a big circle, still studying the slide.
    â€œStart with the Golgi apparatus,” Max suggested. “Do you see it? It’s supposed to look like a stack of deflated balloons.”
    Liz shifted position, and a lock of her dark hair tumbled over her shoulder and fell across the drawing. Max started to brush it back — and she jerked away.
    She bent down and fiddled with her shoe. “I . . . I tripped,” she stammered. “The heel on this shoe always wobbles. I keep forgetting to take it to the shoe repair.” The yellow streaks in her aura widened