Reunited(10)

But all that would change in a few months when she went to Stanford. Stanford, where everyone was as smart as she was. Stanford, where no one knew her. No one remembered the awkwardness of her middle school years. To the incoming Stanford class, she’d simply be Kathryn Zurakowsky, the girl with pretty brown hair and eyes, a great figure, and legs that wouldn’t quit. Yes, she’d grown into a pretty woman.

Heck, even the Italian Stallion had said she was a fox. She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around that one.

Her tummy growled. She wandered into the kitchen to see what the Rogans had left for her. Debbie Rogan was usually good for some decent eats. Kathryn peeked into the fridge and found some Black Forest ham and cheddar cheese. A ham sandwich sounded good. Then she spied the left over pizza box. Mmm, even better.

She pulled out the box and found three pieces of cheesy pepperoni pizza. Perfect. She placed two of them in the microwave and pushed start. She poured herself a glass of iced tea while she waited.

Ding! The doorbell. Who would be coming around on a Friday night? Could be the paper boy.

She walked to the door and opened it.

There stood the Italian Stallion himself, complete with Math book in hand.

“What are you doing here?”

“You said you were babysitting.”

“Uh, yeah. And I am.”

“The kid still up?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, she’s in bed.”

“Good. We can study.”

“I am studying. Government. Not Math. I’ll see you on Monday after school, Brett.”

“Come on. Please? I came all the way over here.”

“I’m not allowed to have people over while I babysit.” Okay, that was a lie. She often had friends visit while Terry was sleeping. Debbie didn’t mind.

“Nice try, Kath. I talked to your mom. She told me where you were and said it would be okay if I stopped by.”

Mental note—have a chat with Mom.

“Nobody calls me Kath, by the way.”

“Then I’ll be the first. I like it.”

She kind of liked it too, and that irked her.

“I have my own studying to do.”

“It’s Friday night. You can study tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it’s Friday night, so why are you here? Why aren’t you out partying with your heavy metal zombie friends?”

He laughed. “Heavy metal zombies? That’s rich.”

“Whatever. Why aren’t you out with your girlfriend?”

“Michelle’s out of town for the weekend. Some wedding or something.”

“And there’s absolutely nothing else for you to do than bother me?”

He smiled, flashing his dimple. “I wanted to see you. I have some questions about math.”

“Call me tomorrow, then.”

“I’m here now. Come on, please?”

The microwave dinged.

“My pizza.”

“You have pizza? Sounds great.” He walked through the door.

“Uh, leftover pizza, and it’s only two pieces.”

“We’ll order one then. My treat.”

“Brett—”

“Fresh pizza’s way better than microwaved leftovers.”

She couldn’t argue there. “Your treat?”

“Sure.” He pulled out his wallet and leafed through it. “I’ve got a twenty.”

“And you want to spend it on pizza?”

“Sure, why not? A man’s gotta eat.”

What the heck? She’d eat his pizza, help him with his math, and then politely tell him to leave. Deb and Bruce wouldn’t be home until well after midnight. Shouldn’t be a problem.

“There.” She pointed to the phone on the end table. “Call for the pizza. I’ll get us something to drink.”

She headed to the kitchen and poured another glass of iced tea. “You want sugar in your iced tea?”

“No. Plain’s fine.”

“Okay.” She hastily returned the leftover pizza slices to the fridge.

She walked back into the living room. Brett was sprawled on the couch looking right at home. Such a beautiful masculine specimen. If only he weren’t an *.

“All right,” she said, sitting next to him. “What seems to be the trouble with your math?”

“Okay, I don’t get the whole negative number thing.”

“What don’t you get about it?”

“How come when you times two negatives together, you get a positive?”

Kathryn sighed. She didn’t get that either. And for her, someone who needed logic in her life, that didn’t sit well. But she’d learned to just accept the rules, apply them, and get the right answer.

“Who cares why that’s the case? Just memorize the rule, Brett, and then use it. You’ll get the right answer.”

“But it doesn’t make sense. And then when you times a negative and a positive, you get a negative.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know the rules. Just use them. That’s all you need to know.”

“But I want to understand why.”

Kathryn wanted to understand, too. But she didn’t and it frustrated her. Which was a huge reason why she was not majoring in math in college.