She had no sense of how long she’d been down for the count when her eyes opened on Ravi’s face.
I’ve got to stop waking up like this.
Lucy expected to feel cold linoleum beneath her. She didn’t expect to feel scratchy tweed against her cheeks. Oh crap.
Ravi was crouched beside her and Lucy was cradled in his arms. The scent of cedar, and something peppery, teased her nose. And she liked it. Way too much.
He surveyed her in an analytical manner, relief washing over him. With a cautious smile, he asked, “Did you dream of electric sheep?”
From this perspective, Lucy could see the beginning of his five o’clock shadow. Would it be downy or bristly? So beyond the point.
She blamed the non sequitur on her wooziness. She quickly dabbed at the corners of her mouth, checking for drool.
Phew. Small mercy.
Lucy forced a halfhearted laugh and tried to sit up, but her limbs flopped like overcooked spaghetti.
“Steady,” warned Ravi. He gripped her shoulders firmly. Lucy wasn’t complaining. Not really. In fact, she stifled a sigh.
“Thanks. Um, did I fall?”
“I caught you.”
Lucy peeked up at him. If he was uncomfortable holding her, he didn’t show it. Why would he be? He was simply trying to prevent her from getting a concussion.
Each and every one of Lucy’s toes curled. She was developing a recklessly rich fantasy life.
“Are you okay?” she asked him. Electrocuting the teaching assistant was no way to get an A.
Ravi scrunched his dark brows together, his entire demeanor becoming haggard, like a world-weary soldier.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Lucy.” Then his lips quirked and the storm clouds vanished. “Your iPod, however, has gone to the great Apple Store in the sky.”
She groaned. Not another one.
“You must have miscalculated the concentration of the electrolyte solution,” he said. “We can recalibrate and try again. I have an old iPod we can sacrifice to the cause.”
“I didn’t—” Lucy halted her self-defense midstream. She knew the experiment worked perfectly because she’d already run a successful demonstration for Mrs. Brandon. She had calculated the 5 volts necessary to charge the iPod without incident. The electrolytes weren’t the problem—she was. But how could Lucy explain that? She couldn’t exactly tell Ravi it was his touch that sent her pulse soaring.
Sitting up more slowly, Lucy said, “Okay. I’ll look at my calculations again. Sorry for … sorry.”
“No need to apologize. That’s science. I have faith in you.”
Still squatting by her side, Ravi’s face was dangerously close to hers. In Lucy’s mind, anyway. She caught another whiff of pepper and cedar, which didn’t do anything to help clear her head.
“The nurse is probably still around,” he said.
Ugh. Twice in one week and Nurse Díaz would definitely tattle to her parents.
“I’m fine. Just hazard-prone.”
His mouth curved upward in a wicked way. Feather-light, he tapped the scab that had formed above Lucy’s eyebrow from the stapler incident.
“Maybe you’re a daredevil.”
“I thought I was Wonder Woman?”
“You could be both.”
She scoffed. “Or neither.”
“I doubt that.” His voice was low and it sent a shiver straight through her. A completely natural, completely inadvisable shiver.
He must have noticed—dammit—because he offered Lucy a hand as she pushed to her feet.
“Are you certain you don’t want to see the nurse? Seemed like a nasty shock.”
“It was nothing,” she lied. “Don’t want to set the record for most visits to the nurse’s office.”
“Oh, it would scarcely be a record. I more or less lived in the infirmary at boarding school.”
Lucy widened her eyes in question and he gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“I was on the small side for rugby.” Given that Ravi was now over six feet tall, it was hard to believe. Reading her expression, he added, “There were other reasons I was an easy target, but at least my growth spurt kicked in before graduation.” His voice faded out and the tips of his ears changed color.
Lucy wanted to say something nice but couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t reveal her ridiculous crush. And, okay, it was a crush.
“Can we, um,” she began, “keep this between us? Wouldn’t want people to think I’m some kind of swooning Southern belle.”
“Absolutely. Your secret is safe with me.”
Her heart skidded to a stop. If only it could be. If only she could trust him with her preposterous abilities. He did like superhero comics. Maybe he could help her figure out a cure?
No. As much as Lucy wanted to, she couldn’t get anyone else involved. This was her problem to solve.
Her gaze was pulled toward the botched experiment. The iPod was charred, as were the wires attached to the Voltaic pile.
“I guess I should clean up,” she muttered.
“I’ll do it,” said Ravi. “You take it easy. Get some rest. If you still feel fuzzy later, promise me you’ll see a doctor.”
“I didn’t intend to actually use Volta’s method, you know.”
“That can be our secret too.”
“Shortest teaching career in history?”
“Precisely.” He grinned.
Lucy needed to go home. Really. Before she could say anything she might regret later, she scooped up her book bag from another desktop.
“See you next week!”
“Have a good weekend, Lucy.”
They both made awkward half-wave gestures as Lucy walked carefully out the door and down the hallway. If she wanted, she could probably catch the end of Cole’s track practice. A few weeks ago, Lucy had surprised the team with her secret recipe brownies (M&Ms and peanut butter) and Cole had told everyone within earshot that he had the best girlfriend in any of the multiverses. Then he’d winked at her and said, “See, I do pay attention.” Lucy had been pretty sure he’d zoned out when she told him about Schrödinger’s multiple simultaneous universes theory. Schrödinger the scientist, not Schrödinger the cat. Obviously.
Lucy considered heading to the sports grounds for another thirty seconds but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with Megan’s passive-aggressive BS, and who knew what another kiss from Cole might do to her in her current state? All Lucy needed was for someone to video her puking in the bleachers.
Besides, she had a new hypothesis to test. There was a voltage meter stashed in her garage and Lucy intended to measure the amount she produced under different conditions. Volta must have been a few slices short of a loaf to use himself as a shock absorber, but the logic also worked in reverse.
Cole’s hurt face wavered in the back of Lucy’s mind again. Her gut pinched and she reached into the pocket of her jeans to send him a good luck text for his meet tomorrow.
Empty. No way. Her mom was going to kill her.
Right as Lucy started to panic, she heard someone calling her name. Ravi waved an iPhone at her as he took a couple of long strides to meet her.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” she gushed.
“I found it on the floor.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” She swiped the phone from his outstretched hands. “I just got this. It’s my third this year. Like I said, hazard-prone.”
The Brit gave her an enigmatic smile.
“Wonder Woman.”
And then he walked away, leaving Lucy wondering if there were an alternate universe in which he could be right.