SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

THE STRATEGY

It wasn't until I got home, savoring the taste of success, that a dark cloud fell over my happiness. All of a sudden, I came to realize my lack of experience in the arts of seduction: I did not know what to tell her, how to impress her—never mind dare to kiss her. My inexperience pushed away the delicious prize of her lips.

I definitely had to do something about it; urgent measures had to be taken.

The first thing I did was run to the kitchen. The anxiety went straight to my stomach. I was starved. Although I should say that for some months now, my appetite, for some strange reason, had greatly diminished.

Evidently, the reason for that was known as Vanessa del Valle.

My mother attributed my unexplainable lack of appetite to my "excessive" work as Professor Fuller's assistant and, above all, to being worn out from late-night visits to the eccentric scientist Moses Masterton, of whom she didn't exactly have a high opinion...On the other hand, my other family members—Sonny, my older brother, and my little brother Steve—seemed to be completely fine with my friendship with a celebrity of the scientific world.

What was certain was that I was no longer the glutton of the house. And of course, the strange phenomena had nothing to do with either Dr. Fuller or Dr. Masterton. Neither my mother nor my brothers knew that I was in love. I hadn't said anything about it. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable to talk about my love for a pretty girl who at the most only knew my first name, and that only thanks to the fact that I was her professor's aide. Of course, if she were to become my girlfriend, it would be another story.

My strange behavior came to a head when I told my mother that I would be enrolling in summer school, voluntarily, as I put it, in order to review general concepts before studying physics at college. Although it was true that I had dreamed of being a scientist since I was a kid—and that dream had reawakened thanks to my friendship with the extraordinary Moses Masterton—it wasn't exactly true that my decision to attend summer school was voluntary. Although she didn't question me further, I could easily tell that she didn't buy the story. I felt guilty. My mother had supported me throughout my school years, and I was always such a slacker. I wasn't giving her what she really deserved. I felt I had somehow disappointed her.

But all was not lost. If I made enough of an effort to pass the exams on August 11, I would graduate. Deep down, I knew I could do it. I knew I had the ability to pass them with flying colors. The words of Dr. Masterton echoed in my ears: There's something interesting about this boy. More and more, I assured myself with his promising words, which little by little came to take on the quality of irrefutable truth. Yes, there was something about me. But where was it?

And what was it? Whatever it was, this something would help me to graduate from school and would also lead me directly to the heart of the woman I loved. Yes.

At this point in my dreaming, as I mechanically raided the fridge, the telephone rang: I came crashing back to reality. I took a yogurt and flew up the stairs to the second floor. Surely Darwin would have fresh news! I went to my room and picked up the phone.

"Hi..."

"Hey Gordo, did you call her yet?" Darwin's voice asked.

Just that one question was enough to upset me.

"Not yet..."

"I see...what's your plan for the date?"

"I don't have a plan! I don't know what to do! I don't think it was a good idea to ask for her number!"

"Calm down. We have to think of something."

"In the mess that I'm in..." I heard myself complain.