the biology of love | chase davenport

spy fly

Maeve sat at her desk, ignoring her teacher, absentmindedly fiddling with a daisy she had found earlier in the day. Ever since last night, she had been feeling more nervous than usual. She knew she needed to capture Adam, Bree, and Chase before her father got even angrier, but something kept holding her back.

Was it Bree? She had been such a good friend to Maeve in the past few weeks. What kind of friend would Maeve be if she kept lying?

Or could it be Chase? Every time she tried to deny it, her body betrayed her. The way her heart fluttered when he smiled at her in the hallway. How she found herself standing close to him, even in group settings. The fact that she couldn't wait to see him every day in school. Maeve used to find pleasure in the fact that he was nervous around her too, but now it just made her feel worse about herself and her mission.

Or maybe it was none of this. Maybe it was her. Maybe her dad was right - maybe she really couldn't handle a mission like this. She wondered how Marcus had seemingly no problem with the whole ordeal, yet she second-guessed all of her decisions.

Either way, there was no way she could quit now. She was in too deep.

The bell rang. Maeve looked down to a pile of petals that she had ripped off the flower. As the other students packed up and left the classroom, Maeve held the flower tenderly in her hand, allowing perfect new petals to regrow in seconds, before setting it back down on the table.

Maeve walked out to the hallway to see Bree and Leo talking by the stairs.

"Hey, Breezy!" Maeve said.

Bree breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, someone normal!" She grabbed Maeve's arm.

Leo remained silent. She knew after last night that he was probably too nervous to talk to her, but something made her miss his antics.

"Hey, guys!" Chase and Adam approached Leo, Bree, and Maeve. Chase had a baby carrier strapped to his chest containing a baby doll.

"Chase, have you been stealing from five-year-old girls again?" Leo smiled. Adam nodded gleefully.

"Again?" Maeve questioned.

Chase simply glared. "Ha ha. It's for health class. Each of us has to babysit a robo-baby for a night." Chase's robo-baby let out an automated crying noise, and Chase's eyes widened. "Are you hungry? Yes, you are, my snoogie-woogie-boogie!"

"Just when we thought he couldn't get any creepier," Bree said.

"I think it's cute," Maeve smiled. Chase looked away from her nervously.

"It cries when it's tired or hungry!" Chase explained. "I have to take care of him because if I don't, I lose a point. Which, of course," he turned the baby doll around to reveal a screen with the number 100, "I haven't! And I won't, because I have downloaded every childcare book available. I even know how to rescue a baby out of an alligator's mouth. Happens more often than you think."

"Wait, what do you mean you downloaded the childcare books?" Maeve inquired. She knew what he had meant, but wanted to see how he would cover up his slip-of-tongue.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Duh, he downloaded them onto the hard drive in his brain."

Chase jumped. "Uh, he means the hard drive on my computer!" He dropped his volume and said to Maeve, "He gets a little confused sometimes."

Maeve nodded as if to understand.

"So, where's your baby?" Bree asked Adam. "Lost it already?" She looked at Maeve, and the two of them laughed.

"Ha ha. No. Do you really think I'm that irresponsible?" Adam opened his backpack to reveal the legs of an upside-down robo-baby. "It's in here! I named him 'Shut Your Cryhole'. That way, whenever I say his name, he'll know to stop crying!"