Page 24 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Six
Avery
“It looks like anaphase,” Ben said, looking into the microscope. He twisted the side nob to adjust the lens. “I think. Wanna look?”
I nodded and accepted the microscope. We were studying the stages of mitosis that Tuesday for a small group project. It wasn’t too hard, so that was good at least. Squinting one eye, I looked into the lens with the other and examined the slide.
Sometimes anaphase and metaphase could be confusing because they were similar in appearance. The difference was a small one, and you had to know what to look for.
“Yep. Anaphase,” I verified before looking back up. After we wrote it on our sheet, I grabbed the next slide and positioned it in the microscope. I recognized the next stage right away. “This one’s definitely telophase.”
I slid the device over so Ben could look.
Telophase was one of the easiest stages to recognize because the chromosomes were divided into two separate shapes, unlike the others that were in various phases of division and could be tricky to identify at times.
As Ben agreed with me and placed the next slide, I scanned the surrounding students.
Each group sat at raised tables in the back of the room, where all of the equipment and sinks were located. For experiments, we shifted back there, instead of using our desks. Which was smart just in case chemicals were spilled or a fire broke out.
During my skim of the room, my gaze settled on Maverick.
He sat two tables over with a blonde haired girl whose name I didn’t know. His broad shoulders filled out his fitted, blue shirt, and his light brown hair was fixed into a sort of fauxhawk. And his neck had that muscled look to it—not the grossly bulging veins like some guys had, but that subtle strength that traveled down to the indents near his collarbone.
However, the smile on his face was what caught my attention most.
When he smiled, it reflected all over his face, reaching his eyes and shining through them like the brightest—and warmest—of lights. I’d never met someone who smiled like that; so genuine and kind.
The girl buried her face in her hands, obviously getting frustrated, and Maverick’s grin widened as he gently patted her shoulder and said something. She peered back up and crinkled her nose before looking into the microscope.
That’s when Maverick’s eyes met mine.
It was as if all the synapses in my body sparked at the same time, causing my heart to pound, my ears to tingle, and zaps to travel to the tips of my fingers. And Ifeltit—the weird fluttering in my stomach and the coursing of the blood in my veins.
Ages passed as I looked at him, but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye.
Maverick smiled and gave me an acknowledging nod, which I answered with an awkward wave.
The memory of Saturday night floated through my mind as I focused back on Ben and the assignment.
I’d been sitting by the railroad tracks, just trying to escape for a while, when his car had come speeding across the intersection and nearly crashed. I hadn’t known it was him at first, but I hadn’t hesitated before running over to make sure the person inside was okay.
Then, when I saw him sitting behind the wheel and looking so out of it, my concern had only amplified.
After I searched for signs of a concussion and realized he was fine, I’d sat beside him and we’d just talked. It was probably the weirdest and most unexpected thing that’d happened since I’d moved to Port Haven. Almost as if our run-ins at school were for a reason, to make that moment more than what it would’ve been had we not known each other.
I didn’t believe in fate. Maybe it meant nothing and was only a coincidence. Whatever the answer, it had done something odd to my brain. I couldn’t get him out of my head.
“Prophase,” I said after inspecting the slide.
“Cool.” Ben bounced in his seat a little as he wrote the answer in the correct space.
His red hair lay flat, and his bangs covered most of his forehead, but weren’t long enough to swoop into his eyes. He tended to spike it up sometimes, but the rainy day might’ve influenced his decision to skip fixing it that day. Or maybe hehadfixed it, and the heavy rain just washed it all out.
And yeah, I was ninety-nine percent sure I was thinking about his hair so that I wouldn’t let my mind wander to Maverick. Again.
“That means the last one has to be metaphase,” Ben continued. “But we should still look just to be sure. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Good idea.”
