Hand in Hand || Stanford x Reader

Chapter 7 • Ford

Today was the day it all went down, for better or for worse.  I wrung my hands nervously.  Y/N and I had already tied for first place in the school's science fair, but this was when our projects would really be put to the test.  The scouts for West Coast Tech would arrive any minute. 

Y/N caught my worried gaze from across the room and gave me a thumbs up.  If possible, she looked even more nervous than I was.  Her glasses looked more crooked than usual, and she kept stopping to slip them up her nose every few seconds.  I made my way over to her.  "Everything looking okay here?"

"Y-yeah, but I'm a b-bit anxious.  This is the first time I-I'll actually be able to test my experiment, and what if it d-doesn't work?  I'll be s-stuck here in New Jersey while y-you go to West Coast Tech and-" She was rambling on, talking so fast her words ran into one another. 

"Hey, calm down, Y/N.  They're gonna love your experiment, how could they not?  We'll go to WTC together."

She smiled a bit, still a little tense, but much more relaxed than earlier.  Y/N hesitantly smiled at me, though the moment was interrupted by her glasses sliding down her nose for the billionth time. 

I suppressed a grin.  "Hand me your glasses."  I took them and got out a small screwdriver from my pocket. Within seconds, I straightened them out again. 

Y/N put them back on , seeming surprised when they didn't fall off.  "Woah.  I should've fixed these years ago.  Thanks, Stanford."

I opened my mouth to reply, but was cut off by the door opening.  The admissions team had arrived. 

I quickly zipped back to my own table, while the scouts checked out Y/N's project.  I couldn't hear what they were saying from across the room, so I watched as Y/N attached her robotic hand for the first time.  After a beat of nothing, it whirred to life.  Y/N somehow managed to keep her face neutral, but I could see the joy in her eyes.  For the first time in her entire life, she had two functional hands. 

The man with the clipboard seemed impressed.  He handed her an envelope.  "We look forward to seeing you at West Coast Tech." 

I let out a deep breath as the team came towards me.  Don't blow this, Stanford.

Clipboard Guy looked bored.  "Alright, kid, show us what you got."

"Okay. Well, what if I told you the future of technology was under this sheet?"  I glanced at Y/N, who gave me another reassuring thumbs up.  I dramatically pulled off the sheet to reveal my experiment. 

"I'd say we wasted a car trip." 

"What?!"  Dread creeped down my spine.  To my horror, I saw my machine, not moving in the slightest.  I could almost feel my future slipping down the drain.  Desperately, I attempted to get it started again.  "But it was stable yesterday! A fuse must have blown or something!" 

Mr. Clipboard wasn't buying it.  "Kid, a perpetual motion machine has one job: to not stop. I don't think you're West Coast Tech material."  I could only watch as my name was crossed off the list of WTC hopefuls. 

"No, wait! Don't go! I worked so hard!"  I started to come after them.

CRINKLE.

I looked down and saw what I had stepped on: a bag of Toffee Peanuts.  There was only one person who was stupid enough to like those.

Stanley.

He had been here.  And he was the reason by future was blown.  My project had been sabotaged by my own brother.  I picked up the empty bag and growled.

Y/N cautiously walked up beside me.  "What happened?!  The machine was stable yesterday-"

"That's what I said," I snarled, my voice laced with venom. 

Y/N looked a bit taken back, and almost afraid of me.  I wordlessly showed her the wrapper.  She connected the dots.  "You think Stanley did this?  On purpose?  No offense to your brother, but he has no idea how to operate machinery at all.  I don't think he could've done this on purpose-"

"I don't care what you think, my life was gone down the drain, and it's all Stanley's fault!"  I crumpled the wrapper in my hand. 

Y/N took a step back.  "Take that back."   Her eyes clouded with a dark anger. 

"Take back what?  It doesn't matter what you have to say about it, my life is ruined."

Y/N looked shocked, then hurt.  "When did you become this way," she whispered. 

"What do you mean, "when did I become this way?" 

"When did you become so twisted inside that your putting something like this, something your brother may or may not have done, in front of your relationship with Stanley?  In front of your relationship with me?"  Her eyes shed angry tears, but she kept on going.  "I can't be with someone who blows me off when their life isn't exactly the way they want it.  I'm sorry, Stanford, but I'm breaking up with you.  I thought we had something, but I was wrong."

She sprinted away from me, like she couldn't bear to be in my sight.  I called out after her, but she was already gone.

Thanks to one dumb mistake, I had no future, no college and no girlfriend.

Stanley was going to pay.