Page 72 of Besties
A breath whooshed out of Richie. “I’m glad you asked. It seems there’s a company out there, Midland Program Solutions, that’s shopping around a, quote, ‘new and innovative approach to education.’ They say it’ll revolutionize the way kids are taught. The thing is, they’re an outlier. No one has heard of them before. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s impossible. Teaching Time was the same way in the beginning, but Josh says they won’t let him or anyone else check out the software, at least until the demonstration of the capabilities they’ll be unveiling at the end of the month when they’re looking for corporate investors.”
“Wow. How convenient. Almost too convenient, if you get what I’m saying.”
He rolled his eyes. “And I do. You’re about as subtle as a ten-ton hammer.” He took out his phone, and with a smirk, let his fingers dance over the keys. When he finished, my phone chimed. I glanced at the screen, seeing my name on an e-vite.
“Josh put your name on the invite list. From the way he wouldn’t meet my gaze, I can only assume he did something that would be frowned upon.”
“What? Why me?”
He patted my chest, his touch warm and gentle. “Because you, my dear sir, will be the one attending. Pretty sure they’d know who I was. Besides, this was your plan, so you get to see it through. And so you know, Josh says he will be in the audience as well. Seems he’s invested in seeing what happens.” A chuckle. “And he’s bringing Dixon.”
“Oh?”
Richie nodded. “Apparently Josh has been having a bit of trouble, so he has himself a bodyguard.”
What kind of problems could a geeky guy like Josh get into? “Is he all right?”
A smirk. “Dix is keeping averyclose eye on him. In fact, while we were talking, Dix argued with Josh about doing this, because Dix says he’s exposing himself to danger. Josh snorted and said that, as his bodyguard, that was Dixon’s concern.”
But it wasn’t. At least not just Dix’s. “I don’t want him hurt because he’s helping us.”
“Same. I spoke with Dix, and he said he has it handled and we shouldn’t worry.” Richie chuckled. “He might have said Josh was on thin ice, though.”
“Guess we’ll have to trust him.” I glanced at the clock and realized how late it was getting to be. “Suppose I need to pack.”
Richie shook his head. “Yeah, no. Until this matter is resolved, I’d rather you stay here. This whole plan hinges on you. Well, you and Josh. It needs both of you to see it through.”
And I got that, I really did. “But what about the businesses I need to talk with?”
That got me a shrug. “If this goes the way you hope—and Josh and I think it will—then this will go a long way to solving that problem.” He eyed me keenly. “Max, you might be the only one who can save Teaching Time.”
Oh, sure. No pressure or anything.
Chapter19
Over the next several weeks,I spent a lot of time on Skype talking with Josh and Richie, who was with a trainee at another campus helping to upgrade their software. When the two of them started speaking about the nuts and bolts of the program, and the changes Richie and Josh had made, my mind kind of fuzzed out. Don’t get me wrong, I was invested, but they were talking polynomials and dodecahedrons or something, and that was way above my brain’s capacity to understand. It constantly amazed me that Richie did.
But, then again, hewasmy nerd. And I loved him for it.
“Max…. Are you even listening to us?” Richie teased. “You seem far away.”
My face heated. “Yeah, I’m listening. Or I’m trying to. Y’all are using big words, and my brain is in panic mode trying to understand.”
Josh chuckled. “Sorry about that.” He leaned in, his face enormous on the screen. “You don’t know what it’s like to be able to talk to a contemporary.”
And he was right. I didn’t. I never would be at their level, and while I thought maybe it should bother me, it didn’t. I was becoming happier with who I was, and Richie’s smarts weren’t something I could—or would—want to change. And he loved me, of this I was absolutely certain. So why would I be threatened?
“It’s fine. I like Richie because he’s smart.”
Richie peered at me, and I knew whatever he was about to say was something he found funny. “Aw, Max. I love you because you’re… uh… well….” He grinned at the screen for a moment, then poked his tongue out.
“Asshole,” I muttered, but couldn’t help laughing. “How are things with Dixon?” I asked Josh.
He scowled. “What do you mean?”
“He’s coming with you to the demonstration, right?”
His gaze darted to the side. “It’s not like you think,” he said, returning his attention to the screen. The problem? There was no conviction in his voice. “He’s my bodyguard, that’s it.”
