She’s Like an Onion: Layers Upon Layers-Aiden
“ALL right, class, we’re all on the last stretch. A part of this class is to encourage self-exploration of topics of your choice. Instead of a final, you will turn in a research project with these guidelines I’ll pass out. This is worth half your grade. Get started today, and let me know what topic you pick,” Professor Jackson announced. My stomach sank because I knew what I wished I could do.
“Shorty, what are you going to choose?” I asked Jenna.
She frowned, and her eyes got clouded for a second before she answered in a somber voice. “Cancer causes and how changing one chromosome could potentially prevent the disease.” She pulled out her laptop and started it up.
I stared at her, trying to figure out her distress.
“What about you?” she asked.
I sighed and shook my head. “What else would I chose besides politics and policies affected by sciences?”
“I don’t even know what that means. Choose something interesting to you. This topic is basically our grade,” she scoffed, not having any of my pouting.
I scooted my chair closer and waited until she looked up at me. “I want to go into forensic science. I think it would be the coolest job, and I’d love every second of it.”
She gave me a smile that reached her eyes, instantly putting me in a better mood. “I agree. It would be pretty damn cool. Why don’t you pick something in that direction? I think he said these topics can be used for a thesis next year and as a catalyst toward our—well, your senior project.”
“Trust me. I want to.” I sighed in frustration.
A look of sympathy shot across her face, and a realization struck me. She felt bad for me.
“You can’t because your dad won’t let you.” She didn’t say it as a question, more of a statement. “God, I couldn’t imagine my grandpa forcing me into labor for the rest of my life.”
“Labor? Am I finally going to get an explanation of why the hell you had plaster and dust all over you when I ran into you at my dad’s office?”
“Oh. Yeah. Ha!” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “My sweet, sheltered Aiden. You know enough about me. Figure it out.”
I was confused but appreciated the distraction of thinking about her instead of my issues with Dad. “Okay, let’s see. Your grandpa was probably one of the guys working with the construction crew. Am I right so far?”
“Yeah. Keep going.” She grinned, enjoying our little game.
“You mention him and your Uncle Rich a lot. Did they raise you?” Now that I asked, I realized I’d never once heard her mention her parents. I mentioned my dad way too damn often.
“Yes.” She glanced down at the table, and I felt bad for intruding.
“Am I upsetting you? I’m just trying to figure you out.”
She gave me a sad smile. “You aren’t upsetting me. It’s hard for me to completely open myself up to people. You know more than most. But yes, my grandpa and uncle raised me because my parents died when I was young. A drug overdose.”
My heart dropped. “Jenna. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m over it, I guess. I never knew them, so it wasn’t like I missed them specifically. It was more the idea of a normal family I mourned. But as I got older, I accepted the hand I was dealt.”
I put my hand on her knee and squeezed. She gave me a small smile, effectively conveying this topic was closed.
She took a breath and blurted, “I think it’s good you know what you want to do, so I say fuck what your dad wants and just do it. It’s your education and your future.”
I chuckled. “Oh, sweet Jenna, if only it were that easy.”
“Why isn’t it? Stand up for yourself. It’s your future, not his. What could he do? Cut you off financially? You can get a job.” Her eyes widened, trying to communicate something, but I was simply not getting it.
“I wish I had your courage. I really do,” I admitted, knowing I sounded pathetic.
“Then find it. I’ll support your decision and help you.”
Her support meant more than she knew, but I let the topic drop. For the rest of class, we worked on our individual projects, and I researched all about biological sciences and politics—aka bullshit and boring.
“You walking back to your place, or did you bring the scooter?” I asked as we walked out.
“It’s not a scooter! You’re just jealous.” She threw me a mean look, but I laughed.
“You didn’t answer the question, punk.”
“No, I walked today. It was nice out.”
“Cool. Me, too. Let’s walk together. Hey, Jon told me he ran into you at work last night. He said the Harry Potter shot was pretty cool.” Our conversations slowly transformed into my favorite parts of the week. Harry Potter, jobs, cigars—it didn’t matter. She was the most intriguing person in the world to me.
“Yeah, it’s one of my nerd specialties. I can make shots and name them after fandoms. Those suckers fall for them every damn time.” Jenna snorted.
“I want to try the Goblet of Fire. Whiskey? Please. It’s the best.”
“Anytime. I work again tomorrow night.”
“I may be stopping by. What other shots do you make?” I probed, desiring to learn every single thing I could.
“Being a fellow nerd, I’m sure you want to try them all.”
“Well, duh!” I laughed even though my mind was still on the research topic.
“Let’s see. I have Goblet of Fire, Chamber of Secrets, Deathly Swallows—and yes, I know it sounds like a knockoff porn title—a Trekkie shot, a Whovian shot, a John Green shot, which is really just green dye in vodka, and an Ice and Fire shot.”
“Hell yeah. I need to try all of these.”
“Anytime.” She shrugged. “Hey, we’re having a pregame Saturday if you and some of your friends want to stop by for a little bit. I’m pretty sure Maya and Kennedy are going to drag me to some party, so I’ll definitely need to pregame to survive.”
“I’ll ask Jon and some of the guys, but I’m sure we’ll stop by for a bit. We also have some frat party we have to attend.” I chuckled lightly at her eye roll. “So on another note, why cancer research?” My sudden change of topic had her stopping in her tracks for a second.
“Well, back to my sad childhood, my grandma passed away from cancer when I was incredibly young. I don’t remember the specifics as much as my grandpa does, but I remember how sudden, unfair, and devastating it was for our family. I was always driven to do whatever I could to not have this happen to other families, I guess.”
I put my arm around her and squeezed. She put hers around me, too, even though I was a foot taller than her, but it worked. “That’s definitely motivating. I’m sorry to hear it happened to you. I know words don’t mean a lot.”
“Thank you.”
She opened the building door, and I swore she sniffed me before she walked inside. It made me smile, though.
“Let me know about Saturday night, okay? I’ll even make some of those shots for you guys.”
“Fo’ sho’. I’ll be there. Have a good night, shorty.” She gave me a small smile and headed into her apartment. I turned back around to head toward the house, then heard her shout.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Maya! Put a sock on the damn door!”
She ran back outside with a wild look on her face. I decided to help her out because I was a nice guy like that. “Need somewhere to hang out for a bit?”
“How’d you know?” She tilted her head, eyes wide.
“I mean, your voice is kind of loud.”
“Shit, yeah. I can’t go in there. They were going at it like little monkey porn stars. It shouldn’t be too long, probably an hour to be safe, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Let’s go chill.”
It was sick how happy I was she wasn’t able to go back into her apartment. I was starting to crave being around her. It was annoying.
“Want a drink or something?” I asked once we got to the house.
“Sure, seeing as my plans to have a bottle of wine to myself are shot to hell.”
“I don’t have any wine, but I have some good local beer.”
“Anything’ll do. You know what I like.”
I handed her a bottle of peach ale and grabbed one for myself.
Jon walked in and saw us chilling on the couch. “Hey, Jenna. What’s up?”
“Same old. One of the roomies was going at it, so I needed somewhere to hang. How you feeling after last night? You were hilarious.”
“Better now. I couldn’t move this morning. I don’t even remember getting home.” He grinned sheepishly.
She laughed and offered her beer. “Wanna sip?”
He put up a hand. “God, no. Too soon. I have to write this damn paper for McGuire’s class. I put it off too long. I want to pay one of the freshies to do it. Is that allowed?”
Jenna looked at me and shrugged. “You should ask the whipped lawyer?”
“Knock it off,” I barked.
“Okay, sorry.” She held her hands up in surrender, but the fire was still in her eyes.
Jon gave me a weird look. He was the only other one who knew the issues I was having with my dad.
I shook him off but shrugged. “Yeah, it’s illegal and against some code in the frat rules.”
“Fuck me.”
“What’s your topic?” Jenna asked. “I took one of her classes last year.”
“How are you in these classes with us? Aren’t you a sophomore?” Jon was puzzled at the coincidence.
Jenna blushed but waved her hand, avoiding the question. “If you did less partying and more studying in high school, then you’d be in advanced classes, too.”
“Burn,” I chimed in, getting a middle finger from Jon.
“The topic is gender studies. We have to pick a theme and defend it. I have no idea what to choose, though.”
“McGuire is a huge feminist. Like extreme. Pick something in that area. She’ll love it,” Jenna said, matter-of-fact.
“How do you know this?” Jon asked the question in my mind.
“Students aren’t the only ones who visit the bar. I know a lot of shit about a lot of professors.”
Jon’s and my curiosity was piqued, and I was once again impressed.
“Like what?” Jon smiled and sat on the couch near her. My eye twitched in irritation, which he saw. He smirked.
She set down her beer and pulled up both legs to sit crisscross. “Okay, let’s see. Do you guys know Thompson?”
“Yeah, hated him,” Jon grumbled.
“He’s sleeping with at least three of his students.” She bit back a smile and laughed.
“No fucking way.” I gasped.
“Yup. Also, his wife knows and doesn’t care.” Jenna flashed a half smile at our reactions.
“What the hell? How do you know this shit?” I begged.
She shrugged and took a swig of her beer. “Think about all the stupid shit you’ve done in a bar.” I felt my face turn red and saw Jon blush. “Exactly. Guess who always sees that? The bartenders. We’re never drunk, remember everything, and we know way too much.”
“I want to be a bartender. This sounds so useful and sneaky. Part of me doesn’t want to know all the things you know. About us, professors…Who else you got dirt on?” Jon asked, already forgetting about his past mistakes.
“Hmm…Wilson’s an alcoholic. Matheson’s on probation, but I can’t figure out why. Oh, and Jackson, our biology teacher, loves vodka with olives.”
I laughed and held out a fist for a bump. “You’re too cool for words. Makes me want to call you champ or boss.”
“Um, I prefer neither. Oh, Maya just texted me the coast is clear. Thanks for letting me hang out here. Let me know about the pregame for Saturday.”
“Will do, champ.” I watched her close the door.
Jon stared at me with a knowing grin. “She’s awesome.”