Read Online The Sweetest Thing by J. Minter - Free Book Online Page B

set Bogie the tadpole’s jar back on the counter. “That’s so weird, I seriously just rented that this past weekend!” What is it about guys liking old movies that makes them seem really sophisticated?
    Adam smiled and locked eyes with me, and that was when I started to get a little nervous. Who
was
this guy?
    â€œRemember to wear your rubber gloves and lab goggles while working with the specimens,” Mr. Phelps reminded the class as he handed out shakers of frog food. “Try to take as many notes on the frogs’ behavior as possible. You will be graded on the volume and accuracy of your data.”
    I took my lab goggles out of my schoolbag and grimaced. “Ugh. I hate these things.”
    â€œYeah, they do kind of fog up.” Adam reached into his schoolbag as well.
    â€œThat, and they look stupid. On me, anyway—like I’m a big bug.”
    Adam put his on right away and looked over at me. With his square jaw and curly hair, the goggles didn’t look too bad. “Let me see.”
    I sighed and stretched my goggles over my head. The elastic band made the back of my hair stick up. Adam laughed.
    â€œNo, they’re cute!”
    â€œCute like Bogie, maybe.” The goggles felt a little too tight, so I took them off to adjust the strap.
    Just then Adam reached across the table. Before I had a chance to react, he lightly touched my forehead. “Oh no—you already have goggle lines.”
    I took a small step backward and pulled on my gloves. “Bogie looks kind of hungry. Maybe we should feed him.” My forehead tingled a little where he’d touched me.
    Adam unscrewed the tadpole jar and tapped a few flakes of frog food out onto the surface of the water. Bogie ate them up super fast, flicking with his tongue just like a regular-size frog. It was incredibly cute and funny, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with Adam.
    â€œIt says here he’ll start developing lungs in two weeks,” Adam read from one of the photographs Mr. Phelps had passed out. “They sure grow up fast, don’t they?”
    â€œPretty soon we’ll be helping him with college applications,” I agreed.
    Adam started filling in one of the charts. “Nah, he’s going to take after me and do the dumb-jock thing. He’ll get a scholarship to some football factory if he’s lucky.”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous. You’re a smart guy,” I said,surprising myself by actually meaning it. Between reading ahead in English and liking old movies, Adam seemed to have a lot of interests.
    â€œI don’t know.” He sighed. “Most people see the jersey and assume all I’m good at is throwing a ball around and tackling people.”
    I frowned. Hadn’t I said that about Adam when Meredith told me she liked him? It had been pretty judgmental of me, and I’d clearly been wrong. “I think you guys must work harder than most people realize, since you have to go to practice and get all your work done on time.”
    â€œIt is kind of a lot. And to be honest, I’m a little nervous for our first game this Saturday.” Adam glanced over at me. “Any chance you’ll be there?”
    â€œOh, I don’t know …” I faltered, imaging Meredith and Judith’s wounded expressions if they knew Adam had asked whether I going to be at the game, even though he was probably just being friendly. Invoking the No Adam Rule, I said, “Football’s not really my thing.” Not wanting to look at him, I tapped Bogie’s jar and watched as he swam right up to the glass to stare out at me with his googly eyes.
    But Adam went on, undaunted. “Well, Brooklyn Tech’s supposed to be one of the better teams in the conference this year, so it should be a good matchup.You should definitely check it out. You might surprise yourself by liking it.” Adam held my eyes for a second as he handed the worksheet