Confessions of a Queen B*

Untitled Part 6

Mr. DePaul was back at the front of the class before I could comment on Brett's desire for fair and equal work. "If you pull up your assignments from this weekend, I asked you to answer some questions about you and your family."

Two dozen laptops and tablets flared to life, including mine. I stared at the information I'd put in. Blue eyes. Light brown hair, curly. No mid-digital hair on my fingers. No mental disorders, unless you counted the fact that my younger sister, Taylor, was a cheerleader. No bleeding disorders. No cystic fibrosis. No cancers. All and all, pretty boring stuff.

"Now, if you click the 'Give Me My Genes' button, it will give you the alleles for your genetic information," Mr. DePaul continued. "Please put this information on the sticks I've given you, one allele on each side. Once that's done, you and your partner will drop your genes and create a baby using whatever alleles land face up on the floor. Yes, I know it's low tech, but I have to make sure you're working the entire period."

I didn't miss the accusing glance Mr. DePaul sent my way with the last sentence.

"I'd much rather drop my other jeans and make a baby that way," Sanchez muttered from the table next to us, earning a smack across the back of his head from Brett.

I tried to squelch the little surge of admiration for Brett that suddenly rose inside me. Instead, I bent over my sticks, focusing on my assignment. I finished before my partner did and risked leaning in a little closer just to get a second sniff of him.

Yeah, he still smelled good.

He caught me out of the corner of his eye. "Something wrong, Lexi?"

I instantly prickled. "No one calls me that."

"Taylor does."

"She's my sister. Therefore, she's exempt from my wrath."

His eyes crinkled when he smiled. "But not me, eh?"

"Not even close." I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at my computer screen. "I was just checking to make sure you didn't have any worrisome alleles."

"Nope. Both my parents are in excellent health."

Which probably explained his outstanding genetics. I would willingly admit that Brett was pleasing in the looks department. Maybe even a little bit hot. He was six feet tall, lean and muscular with black hair, chocolaty brown eyes, and lashes my sister would pay good money for. He was tanned, too, although he appeared to have that rich coppery glow year-round. And he had to be somewhat intelligent because I'd seen him at Honor Society meetings.

But he still was a jock, and the fact he was dating Summer made me deduct thirty-plus points in my overall rating of him.

He finished labeling the last of his sticks and gathered them in his hands. "Ready?"

"I suppose, if we must." I followed his lead and dropped my sticks on the floor.

"I'll call out the alleles, and you enter them in the program." He bent over, organizing the genetic traits one by one. He waited until the end before announcing proudly that the Y chromosome had reared its ugly head. He held up the Popsicle stick with a proud grin. "Congratulations! We're having a boy!"

"Oh, joy," I said flatly, typing in that result a bit harder than normal. "There go half of his brain cells to testosterone."

Brett drew his dark brows together and studied me. "Do you not like guys or something?"

"Are you suggesting I don't?"

"Well, the only guy I've ever seen you be nice to is Richard Wang, and let's face it, he's definitely not in the closet about his sexual orientation."

My cheeks burned. "Just because one of my best friends is gay doesn't necessarily mean I am," I replied, hoping to God no one else was listening to this conversation.

"So you're just an über-feminist or something, huh?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I added the "shut the hell up" edge to my voice that usually ended any conversation, but Brett was either too oblivious to catch the hint or completely immune to my Queen B powers.

"Well, you've been known to deliver a good kick to the balls with just a look."

"Would you rather I deliver the real thing?"

"Please don't-I don't need half the team on the injured roster this Friday."