False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,69

amateur? I got a punch. All you have to do is line up the picture and press. Hang on. I’ll show you.” She dug around in the box and found a craft punch. It seemed she had thought of everything, which didn’t surprise me.

The buttons weren’t the only thing she’d gotten. In addition, she’d printed up flyers all about women in STEM and how the proceeds from my homecoming candidacy would support local Bleaksburg students.

As I read over what she’d written, my heart swelled. A person would have to be heartless not to want to support the cause. “This is so good.”

She beamed. “I took a creative writing class last year. I guess I picked up a few things. And that’s not all.” She held up a bag of chocolate candy. “We’re going to attach these.”

“I can’t believe you went through all this trouble,” I said. “I hope it didn’t cost a lot.”

Hanima passed me a roll of tape. Apparently, I was on chocolate duty. “We took up a collection at the last study hall. The freshman girls are especially excited. Speaking of that, Dr. Hanover is also really excited you’re on the court. She wants you to speak in her Tuesday morning class. I checked your schedule, and you’re clear for that.” Dr. Hanover taught one of the dreaded freshman engineering weed-out courses. Despite that, she was one of the most popular professors in the department.

“Okay,” I said slowly, not entirely comfortable with the idea. “Are you sure she wants me to take up class time for this?”

“It actually fits in with her curriculum. Do you remember that unit about the role of engineering in society? I told her you’d give a dumbed-down version of the paper you presented at the conference.”

I hadn’t looked at that material in months, but since I only had to provide a broad overview, I could probably do it without reviewing if I had to.

“Then when you’re done,” Hanima continued, “you hand out the flyers and buttons.”

Even though I had been wary when Hanima first walked in with the boxes, I was incredibly moved by the lengths these women had gone to to support me. Granted, they were the ones who had talked me into running, but still. Tears unexpectedly formed in my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. I usually wasn’t a crier at times like these.

“Stop,” Courtney said. “Because if you cry, then Hanima will cry, and if she cries, then I’ll cry, and when I say I’m an ugly crier, I’m not exaggerating.”

“What about me?” Nicole seemed put out. “What if I cry?”

Courtney stared at her for a beat. “Are you going to cry?”

“Anything is possible, right?” She gestured toward me. “Becca is proof of that.”

“Oh, come on,” Hanima said. “She was a shoo-in for homecoming court.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Nicole said. “I totally saw her making out with a hot football player on campus the other day.”

The gasps that sounded from my other two friends were so exaggerated, they were comical. I ducked my face before they could see me blush. Carson and I had been keeping things under wraps. We weren’t necessarily hiding. Rather, we were getting used to us before we let others know. Plus, no assurances I could give had settled his unease over how my parents and Roman would react once they found out. He was being ridiculous, but telling him that would only make it worse.

Nicole nodded. “It’s true. I saw Becca from afar, looked away, and when I looked back, she was wrapped around a piece of man muscle.”

My cheeks heated. She made it sound so dirty. I most definitely had not been wrapped around Carson’s man muscle. Though I had been doing my fair share of that. My cheeks got hotter at the thought.

“If I weren’t already late, I would have gone to get a closer look,” Nicole said unapologetically. “My dating life is so stale, I’ve been reduced to living vicariously. So spill.”

“Yeah,” Courtney demanded. “Who were you making out with?”

“I wasn’t making out,” I protested. Carson had kissed me after we’d had lunch on campus, and sure, maybe he’d taken the kiss to a level I probably wouldn’t have in public, but it most definitely wasn’t a make-out session.

Nicole snorted. “Was there tongue?”

Oh God. I’d never been one of those girls who discussed these kinds of details with friends. Then again, I’d never had details to discuss, nor had I had close friends to discuss them with.

“I wasn’t