Free A Girl Between by Marjorie Weismantel Page B

problems with it.  It's just moving too slowly.  We plan on
entering it in the State Robotics Competition but it'll have to speed up.”
    Mr. Kenney looked at me, smiling.  I knew he was trying to
be inclusive.  “What do you think?  Have any ideas?"
    Thirteen pairs of eyes watched me while I studied the
structure up and down.  Actually, it wasn't too bad.  Mr. Skeptic turned it on
and I watched it pick up a book and carry it across the room.  I finally
answered while pointing at the back of the contraption, "Could it have
anything to do with the mechanism down here?  Are the gears the right size?  It
looks like it’s working too hard."
    "Will, I think she has a good point." Mr. Kenney
directed at Mr. Skeptic.
    Mr. Skeptic/Will responded with a twinge of irritation in
his voice, "She doesn't know what she's talking about.  We've already
tried a different gear ratio there."
    "Yes, but we haven't tried two sizes up," said Mr.
Kenney.  "Let's do it.  After all, nothing else has worked."
    "Uh . . . I guess so."  Will didn’t look too happy,
being upstaged by a girl.  "We'll have to take apart the whole thing
though.  What a pain."
    They worked on disassembling for the next hour.  The boys
and Mr. Kenney were OK with me.  I worked on part of it with Nathan and Pete, a
major geek, but an OK guy once you got over the dumb jokes.  I’ve always liked
these kinds of guys.  They’re very smart.  They’re just not people smart.  That
means they’ll be straight up with you.
    After the meeting was over, Will made a point to walk with
me out of school.  I wondered why.  Did he just want to see if I had a brain in
my head or was he actually being nice?  I had to admit that he was a pretty
cute guy in a brainy glasses kinda way.  Will was obviously confident.  I could
see a clear blue aura with yellow flares around him.  I see honesty, intelligence,
independence, and a big stubborn streak.  I still don’t have any idea if my
assessments of the auras are true, but it is what I sense.
    He finally asked the question I was waiting for.  "So,
Tess, how do you know so much about mechanics?  We've never had a girl so much
as stick her head into the door during our meetings."
    "My uncle had me working on old cars from the time I
was young.  I didn't really like it at the time, but I've come to realize that
I’ve learned something from him.  It interests me now,” I answered with a wry
smile.
    "Are you still working on cars with your uncle?"
He asked.
    "No, my uncle died since then," I answered.
    Will looked over at me.  Was that concern on his face?  "That
must’ve been rough.  Was that why you moved here?”
    "Yeah, I was living with my aunt, uncle and cousins in
Colorado.  We couldn't stay there for financial reasons after he died, so we moved
here to my grandmother's house."  I shrugged.  I’m uncomfortable with shows
of sympathy.
    Will suddenly stopped walking. "Hey, are you the new
student who gave it to Tonya?"
    I answered, feeling irate, "How did that dumb rumor get
around the whole school?  God, I'm sick of hearing about it.  And, by the way,
I didn't ‘give it’ to Tonya.  I just stopped her from hurting that other
girl." 
    "Not a smart move, if you ask me," he answered.  He
was smiling, like he knew he got under my skin.
    "Well, maybe you didn't notice that you weren't asked."
 I glared at him.
    "Sorry, just trying to help a new girl get along here,"
he countered, still smiling.
    "It's not too helpful. It already happened!” I
exhorted.
    "I was just saying that you might want to keep your
nose out of those situations in the future so you don't end up asking for
trouble,” he replied.
    I guess I was right when I saw that stubborn streak in his
aura.  I answered back, "Well, thanks for the advice but I think I’ll pass.
 I guess I don't like to see someone who's smaller get the crap beat out of
them."
    "You're not exactly what I'd call a giant.  And you're
not that tough looking