The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (15 page)

“She didn’t mean that type of hook up. She just meant get together. Hang out.”

“Sure she did,” I muttered.
 

Brittany came back with another plate of food.
 

I looked around the dining hall. “Did you see Erik when you were up there? He’s been gone forever.”

She pointed behind me. “He’s back there with some girl.”

“That same girl?”

“No, someone else.”

“Are you serious?” I got up to look for him.
 

“What do you care?” Brittany asked.

I sat back down again. “I don’t. I just think these girls are a little aggressive.”

“It’s the same as back home,” Jack said from behind his newspaper. “Girls are always flocking to Erik.”

We sat at the dining hall for a couple hours waiting to do the first blood test. Students came and went and eventually the place quieted down. During that time, Erik had been approached by two more girls.

“Meet anyone you liked?” I asked Erik.

“Yeah, sure,” he answered casually.

Colin smiled. “Bet you wish you went to school here, Erik.”
 

“Hey, about that. Dad, I think I need to go to college. I think I could learn a lot.” Erik laughed and gave Colin a look.
 

“I wish you could, son,” Jack said, not getting their joke. “College would be good for you.”

“It would be
really
good for you,” Colin said, laughing.

“All right. So is it time or what?” I asked, not wanting to discuss Erik’s love life anymore.

Jack looked at his watch. “Oh, yes, let’s go.”
 

We headed back to the lab. Paul was there waiting for us. Jack drew some blood from Erik and me, then went to work analyzing it. After a half hour of waiting, we were getting anxious.

“Well, any news yet?” Erik asked.

Jack sighed. “Yes, but it’s not good.”

“What do you mean?” Erik stood over his dad, staring at the laptop screen.

Jack sat back, folding his arms across his chest. “Nothing is happening. There’s no change. Not even a little.”

“Isn’t it too soon?” I asked. “We only did this a few hours ago.”

“If I had only inserted the new genetic material into your cells, then yes. But the vector had the software in it as well. That software tells the cells what to do with the new genetic material. In my model, the timer slowed right away. I figured it would work a little slower in real life but not this slow. It’s been several hours now. It should have at least started to work.”

Paul was listening from across the room. “Jack, I wouldn’t get too fixated on that model. The body reacts slowly. Just give it time.”

“Yes, I know. I’m just anxious because I need this to work.”
 

“We
all
need this to work,” Erik corrected.
 

As we sat there waiting, a short, round man in a white lab coat walked in. “Paul, I need to schedule this lab for next week. I’ve got some grad students that need it on Monday and Tuesday.”

Paul seemed flustered by the man’s presence. “Yes, that’s no problem. I’ll put it on the schedule. I’ll block off both days.”

“Good. Thanks.” The man glanced over at us. “Do you have visitors, Paul?”
 

“Oh, uh, yes. These are some prospective students visiting the university.”

“I see. Welcome, prospective students.” He smiled as he came over to shake my hand. “I’m Professor Wilkins. I work here in the genetics department with Paul.”

I returned the smile. “Nice to meet you.”
 

“And your name?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s uh, Sara.” I almost forgot the fake name I’d picked out.

Jack stepped in to save me. “I’m Archie Miller. I’m taking them around campus today. Sara is friends with my son, Matthew. He’s over there.” Erik did a quick wave. “And this is Jessica, Sara’s sister. And the young man over there is Alex, my nephew.”

“Very good. Are all of you from California?”

“Yes,” Jack answered. “San Diego.”

“Great city. So what brings you to Stanford? Are you interested in a certain program? I’m guessing someone here is considering genetics.”

“Yes, Sara is,” Jack replied.

The man turned back to me. “Excellent. Well, Sara, I teach mostly graduate level courses, but I can tell you about the undergraduate program.”

“Paul has already given me a ton of information. But thank you for offering,” I said.

“Paul does mostly cancer research. He focuses on a very specific type of gene therapy. Is that what you’re interested in?”

“Yes,” I answered, getting more nervous with each question.

“Well, that’s one option. But just so you know, my area of research is really an up-and-coming field of study. It might change your mind.”
 

“Um, okay. What is it?”
 

“It’s called epigenetics. Do you know what that is?”

“I’ve heard of it, but I’m not really sure what it is.” I knew exactly what it was but figured I should let the guy explain it to me.

“It’s the study of how and when genes are expressed. You see, genes aren’t always turned on. Chemical reactions controlled by genetic switches actually turn genes on and off at strategic times. For instance, how does a cell know that it should be a liver cell and not a skin cell? Genetic switches! The genetic switch tells the body to make a liver cell instead of a skin cell. But only when the switch for that section of the gene is turned on.”

“That’s very interesting.” His explanation was so basic I felt like a child. Growing up with a father who taught genetics, I had learned about these switches years ago. And I’d experienced their effects firsthand when I was held prisoner at GlobalLife. If only he knew.

“I’m working on a big project right now. If you end up in our program here, there’s a good chance that you could help a grad student work on it.”

“What’s the project?” Jack asked.

“I can’t go into all of the details, but it has to do with these genetic switches and their effect on health. It’s funded by a grant from GlobalLife Genetics. Have you heard of them?”

Jack tried not to react. “Yes, I believe I have. They’re an international company, right?”

“Yes. Their headquarters are in Sweden. I’ve actually been there. Beautiful facilities. And their technology is simply amazing. At least what I was allowed to see.”

Paul walked over to us. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but they’re scheduled for a tour soon.”

“Oh, certainly. Go ahead. I didn’t mean to take up all your time. My office is just down the hall if you have any questions for me, Sara.” Professor Wilkins left.

Paul closed the door, then raced over to Jack. “Remember when I said I had some suspicions about my colleagues? He’s the one I was most worried about. He’s been working on GlobalLife research for years.”

“We should get out of here in case he comes back,” Erik said.

“Yes. And Jack, you need to be at the Student Health Center at 11,” Paul reminded him.

Jack checked his watch. “Oh, right. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“Student Health Center? Why are we going there?” I asked.

“Paul has a friend who works there. A medical doctor. I’m having him check Colin over.”

“What?” Colin stood up. “When were you gonna tell me this?”

“I wasn’t thinking about it until just now.”

“I’m not sick! I feel fine.”

“You almost died a few days ago, Colin.” Jack sounded like a concerned father. “And we’re not getting on the road tomorrow until you’re checked out. I don’t want another incident like last time. I want the doctor to look at your injuries. Make sure you’re healing okay.”

“But I told you. I feel fine. I don’t need to go—”

“Colin, please just do it,” I urged. “It would make me feel tons better if you did. It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

Colin sighed. “So how long is this gonna take?”

“Not long.” Jack shook his head. “I swear, you and Erik are like little kids. He’s afraid of shots. You’re afraid of the doctor.”

Brittany laughed. “Colin has to go to the doctor,” she sang in a kid voice.

Colin’s checkup took about a half hour. When it was over, Jack talked to the doctor briefly, then we went out for lunch.
 

“See, that wasn’t so bad, Colin,” Jack kidded.

“I didn’t need to go. The doctor said I was fine.”

“You got stitches because the cut on your forehead’s not healing,” Jack pointed out. “I hardly call that fine.”

“You got stitches? Let me see.” I brushed Colin’s hair aside to see a row of fresh stitches.

“And his other cuts were starting to get infected,” Jack added. “Which reminds me, I have to stop at the drugstore later.”

Colin was getting annoyed. “Can we talk about something else now?”
 

After lunch, we headed back to the lab for more blood work. Then we waited as Jack analyzed the results. Paul was off teaching his afternoon class.

Around 2 we heard the door open. It was Professor Wilkins again. “Hey, you’re back. How was the tour?”

Jack slowly closed the laptop. “It was very informative. You have a lovely campus here. They were all very impressed.”

Wilkins sat down in Paul’s chair. “It’s the largest contiguous campus in America. Did they tell you that on the tour?”

“Yes, they did,” Jack lied.
 

“Good. So what brings you back to the genetics department?”
 

“I’m actually friends with Paul, so we’re just killing some time here. We have an appointment at the college of business later this afternoon.”

“Oh? Who with?”

Jack froze. “Um, I don’t remember. I’d have to look it up.”

“I know several professors over there. Was it Professor Jamison? Or Kendoff? Myerson?”

“No, those names don’t sound right.”

It was my turn to save Jack. “Hey, Archie. I wanted to go see some of the artwork she talked about on the tour. Can we do that now?”

Jack looked relieved. “Yes. That’s right. We should go see that artwork.”
 

“Okay. Well, nice seeing you all again.” The professor finally got up and headed down the hall.

I watched to make sure he was really gone. “That was weird. Why would he come in here again?”

Jack opened his laptop. “Okay. I have some good news. There is a tiny amount of change in the timer. It’s beginning to feel the effects of the new DNA and the software. It’s still not reacting the same as my computer model, but at least it appears to be disrupting the timer sequence.”

“That’s great, right?” Colin, the most optimistic of any of us, was smiling from ear to ear. The rest of us sat there, unimpressed. It would take more than a “tiny change” in the timer to get us excited.

Brittany got up. “We should get out of here in case that guy comes back.”

“Yes, but I need to do one more round of testing later on, before we head back to Paul’s house.”

“Why don’t we just go back there now?” Erik suggested. “You can do the test at his house.”
 

Jack thought about it. “I guess I could. I was doing the tests here in case this new software fails and I need to reload it. But it seems to be working without any problems. So we can go. Let me leave a note for Paul.”

“Before we leave, could we do a quick walk around the campus?” I asked Jack. “I did the tour last fall but, well, I was supposed to go here in a few months, and since I can’t now—”

“You don’t have to explain.” Jack put his arm around me. “Of course we can see the campus, Sam. You can take as long as you need.”
 

We spent an hour walking around, seeing the giant sculptures outside, and checking out some of the buildings. I felt a lump in my throat as I remembered being there with Mom and Dad. I was so excited when I got that acceptance letter. As soon as I read it, I saw myself living in the dorms, sitting in the lecture halls, and combing through all the great books in the library.
 

“You fit right in here, Sam,” Colin said as we strolled through the middle of campus on our way back to the van. Erik, Brittany, and Jack were ahead of us. “I can see why you were so excited to go here.”

I noticed all the students scattered around the lawn reading books. “Yeah, I would’ve really liked it. But it’s not gonna happen now.”

“I bet you’ll go here someday, Sam.”

“I bet I won’t.”
 

“Hey, wait.” Colin stopped. “That’s a good idea. Let’s make a bet.”

“There’s nothing to bet because I know I’m not going here.”
 

“Just give me a minute to think.”
 

“Come on, Colin. We have to get to the van.”

“Okay, I got it. I know what we can bet.”

“All right. I’m all ears.”

“If you end up going here, which I admit is a HUGE long shot, then,” he paused, “you have to marry me.”

“What?!” I said it so loud that Erik and Brittany both glanced back at us. I waved them on. “What did you just say?” I asked, much quieter this time.

He smiled. “You heard me.”
 

“Um, okay. And if I don’t go to Stanford—the chances of which are about 99.99%—then what happens?”

“You get to
choose
to marry me. You can say yes or no.”
 

I laughed. “Great, thanks for giving me the option.”

“You’re welcome. So is it a deal?”

“Colin, that’s crazy! Plus you know I’m not going here.”

“Then it works in your favor. You get a choice.”

“Wait a minute. So are you asking me to—”

Colin interrupted. “Do you see a ring anywhere?”

I felt myself blushing. “No.”

“Then for now, it’s just a bet. Shake on it.” He put his hand out.

“This is insane. But okay. It’s a bet.” I shook his hand and the deal was done.
 

On the way back to Paul’s house I went over the whole bet thing in my head. Had Colin planned that? It seemed so out of the blue. He couldn’t have. But Brittany made those comments about him wanting to marry me. So maybe he was tossing the idea out there to see how I’d respond. Maybe he was now certain I was going to die soon and decided to propose. Just thinking about it was making me stressed. I was too young to die
or
get married.