Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee Read Free Book Online

friendly.” He looked at Hailey thoughtfully. “To be honest, I kind of expected nobody would talk to me the first day, but it’s actually been just the opposite.”
    Bridget’s brown eyes were wide behind her giant glasses. “You thought nobody would talk to you? At all? The whole day? Why wouldn’t they?”
    Max cracked a half smile, which somehow managed to be just as dazzling as the full display he’d given us earlier.
    My inner Idiot-Girl swooned a little, and the Cynic actually forgot to slap her.
    â€œI’m from LA, you know?” he said. “I’ve never lived in such a small town before, and I guess it’s different. It seems like a really nice place.”
    â€œYeah, LA, that’s right,” Bridget said, peering at him. “So why did you leave? I mean, like, in October of your senior year? Doesn’t that sort of suck?”
    He nodded. “Yeah, but my dad’s university decided to eliminate its whole classics department last spring, and it was looking like he wasn’t going to find another job. I mean, all the schools had started their fall semesters and everything, and he was, like, looking for freelance translation work and stuff. It was pretty bad. Then some poor dude at Sutter College had to go on long-term medical leave, and here we are.” He shrugged. “At least until Sutter decides to eliminate classics too.”
    Then Max’s father would be working with our parents—sort of. Our parents were both in the English Department, but they might cross paths with a classics guy every now and again. More of the faculty lived around Los Pinos, but a couple of others were here.
    Hailey leaned in, pulling us toward Max. “Did you love LA?”
    He shrugged. “We were in Santa Monica. You ever been there? I don’t know, it’s like you’ve got no right to complain. You’ve got the ocean right there, amazing beaches, great weather. It’s not even that far from the hills, but theplace itself is just . . .” He opened one hand and spread out his fingers, palm down, and made a small circular motion. “Flat.” Shrugging, he opened his doughnuts and popped one into his mouth.
    Though I’d been doing my best to silently disappear, I somehow heard myself saying as I looked up at him, “You like the mountains more than the ocean.”
    He turned his head to look my way, his lips turning upward with a hint of a smile. “I guess I do. Is that weird?”
    I shook my head. I couldn’t seem to look away from the deep blueness of his eyes, and I wondered if that was what the ocean looked like when it was calm, and reflecting a clear blue sky.
    â€œWhat about you? Which one do you like better?” he asked, and I thought at first that he must have been speaking to someone else, but he was looking right at me.
    I cleared my throat, and my gaze fell away from his. “I’ve never seen the ocean.”
    All at once, and for the first time in my life, I found myself wanting to stand at the water’s edge, feeling it lap over my toes while my feet sank into the wet sand, looking all the way out to where the sea reached up to meet the sky.
    â€œI would kill to see the ocean,” Hailey said.
    â€œYou should go sometime. It’s not that far. Just a few hours’ drive. Give it a chance.” Max spoke confidently, but then he suddenly looked embarrassed, and for the first timehis gaze went to the place where Hailey and I were joined.
    While I tried to think how to gloss over this, Bridget leaned forward eagerly. “What’s the air quality like in LA?” she asked, her eyes wide behind her oversize glasses, her voice so sweet and childlike that it made you forgive the oddness of the question.
    Max looked at her curiously for a second and then gave a short, bewildered laugh. “It’s better here.”
    Bridget waved her hand toward me. “Clara here—you