The Scientist

Person Unknown (4)

"Hey, nerd," Kenny repeats, a little more urgently. I blink and clear my throat. 

"Hey, Kenny. What's up?" I ask, trying to sound confident. He scoffs and I see a smirk behind his straight face. 

"My mother wants to talk to you." He says simply. I tilt my head and arch my eyebrow. I shrug and put my shoulder strap on my shoulder. 

"Okay," I say softly. He blinks, his face as expressionless as ever. He leads me out of the classroom and I see Mr. Andrews outside of his chemistry room. When he notices me, he smiles. 

"Ryan, do you have a minute?" He asks softly. I relax slightly and glance at Kenny. He groans and shakes his head.

"I'll wait." He says grumpily. I sigh and look back at Mr. Andrews. I nod and he walks into his classroom. I follow him and he looks back at me.

"Close the door, Ryan." He says, his voice suddenly serious. I tilt my head and close the door. 

"I thought of a way you could make your liquid." He says, sitting in his chair. I grab a chair and turn it around. I sit in the chair, the back of it letting me rest my elbows there. I sit down and look at Mr. Andrews. 

"Me and a few other scientists have found out how to make a liquid that can tap into your neurological features. This liquid and scan and collect internal data, including emotions, pain, even memories. Which is basically what you wanted for your pod, correct?" He says softly. I tilt my head and nod. 

"The only downside is we only just found this out. Meaning we haven't experimented with it yet. So we don't know what it can and cannot mix with. We will, of course, keep you posted. And I will give you the code on the website." He says, smiling a little. I smile back and nod. He stands up and hands me a piece of paper. I look at it and nod. 

I put it in my pocket and Mr. Andrews stands up. I stand up with him and he leads me to the door. He stops right before he opens the door.

"Also, the other scientists and I have all chipped in for a surprise." He says softly. I stop walking and he puts his hand in his breast pocket. He takes out a small scratchcard. 

"We want you to join us for a convention over winter break." He moves his thumb and a second scratchcard comes from behind it. "This means that we are accepting you into our group. We will help you get into one of the best science and engineering academy in the world,  International University of Science & Technology." He adds, holding the tickets to me. 

"This is your plane ticket. We do hope you come to the convention, Ryan." He says simply. I take the tickets and smile at him. He smiles back and I shake my head. I hug Mr. Andrews and he chuckles. He hugs me back and I feel tears well up in my eyes. 

"What's wrong, kid?" He asks. I take a deep breath and let the tears flow. He moves my head to the crook of his neck.

"Nothing." I choke out. "Nothing at all," I add. He chuckles and rubs my back. 

"I'm such a lucky guy. You're like a father to me. And Mrs. Andrews is like a mother to me. I don't deserve people like you in my life." I say simply. He scoffs and hugs me closer. I stop myself from crying and clear my throat. I stop hugging Mr. Andrews and wipe my eyes. 

"Anytime, kiddo." He says, ruffling my hair. But it doesn't affect my hair in the slightest. I take a deep breath and nod. I put the two tickets in my jean pockets and smile at Mr. Andrews.

"Devan." He says. I tilt my head. "It's my first name, call me Devan outside of school." He adds simply. He smiles and opens the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Nathan." He says, his voice turning serious again.