Fluke

Bonus: Party Like A Rock Star

I set up my laptop on a table in Atlantic Coastal Academy's student center. Everyone had to present their projects, and the easiest way was to sign up for a mass presentation.

Plus, this way, I could just talk to Logan the entire time. He set up his table right next to mine, and he had posters with the completed charts he showed me when they were just a work in progress.

"Why are they making us do this on a Saturday morning? Don't they know that college kids like to get wild on Fridays?" Logan asked from beside me.

"Oh yeah, watching Mythbusters reruns at my place until three in the morning is pretty crazy," I said.

Logan looked up from his table and at me. "Fuck you, Rea."

I smiled. He wasn't the most eloquent person on the planet, but anyone with a heart could see that what he said and what he meant were sometimes quite different.

"I'm just so tired, and I don't think anyone really gives a shit about seals and tides and whatnot. Your project is about ten thousand times cooler than mine, and you have a fancy table with a tablecloth, plus you look friendlier than me. I should just take a nap," Logan continued.

"But you have to present, or else you're going to end up like Darrell." I shook my head. "Well, when no one's watching, you can sleep under my table if you want."

"Is anyone watching now?"

I looked across the room. Jia, Brett, and Carter were also to set up their tables by us, and although none of them were there yet, it would be a nice Paradise City reunion.

"I don't see anyone. Get under the table. Now," I said and nudged him toward the table.

"I love you so much, and if anyone asks where I am, I'm in the bathroom."

I straightened the tablecloth after Logan crawled under for his naptime (and he needed it; he got grumpy when he wasn't in perfect condition), and just as I looked up, a familiar face strolled up.

"Well, look at who it is. Reagan Winebrenner and her beautiful whale project," Brett said.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Hey Brett."

"So where's Logan?"

Even though Brett was a ray of sunshine and Logan constantly emitted rainclouds and fog, the two of them had an odd friendship that would definitely last even beyond graduation.

"He's taking a nap underneath my table. He spent the night over at my place, and he didn't get much sleep."

He smiled and nodded. "I get it. Nice."

The truth was that all we did was watch TV and enjoy each other's company, but Brett didn't need to know that.

"So how are you going to present your project? Free samples?" I asked to change the subject.

Brett laughed. "Dammit, that's what I should have done. My plan was to just show a PowerPoint of all the good times and food we had, but that actually makes more sense."

"It's okay. I'll tell everyone how good the food was, and they'll just have to take my word for it."

"Thanks," Brett said, then he began to set up his station on his table.

I was pretty sure that there weren't going to be a lot of people who wanted to see what kind of projects everyone did, so I would probably have plenty of time to chat with everyone from Paradise City. Of course, we all talked when we could, but with classes and other engagements, we were busy people.

I went back to setting up my laptop, and even though my target was a bunch of broke college students, hopefully a few of them liked whales more than food and books. All of the whales I had identified were officially up for adoption, and for fifty dollars, the generous people would get an update every month with their newly adopted whale.