Free Mechanical by Pauline C. Harris

social
studies. I was thinking about the mirror.
    The eyes are the windows to your soul.
    Did that mean if I looked hard enough I would
see mine? Tears started to blur my vision. I had to look away and
blink profusely until they left. I had stood in the bathroom
staring into the supposed windows to my soul for almost an hour.
Just staring and waiting; hoping I might see something.
    Anything.
    I had seen nothing because maybe there was no
soul to see.
     

Chapter Fifteen

    “So what are you doing your paper on?”
Michael asked as we were walking down the school hallway. The
corridor was crowded. We had to walk single file and push our way
through the crowd, but Michael didn’t seem daunted or put off. He
just shoved his way through to walk beside me.
    My mind went blank for a moment. Oh. The
paper. I had completely forgotten. “I don’t know yet ... when’s it
due?” I asked.
    “Not for awhile,” Michael assured me, trying
to wrestle his way through the throngs of students so he could
remain walking beside me.
    “Oh good,” I replied.
    “So what do you think it’ll be on?”
    I laughed. “Why do you want to know?”
    He angled his head in thought. “’Cause it’s
about what you really care about and I would like to know what you
care about.” His eyes were sparkling, no hint of sarcasm or
embarrassment.
    I gave him an amused look. “Why?”
    “Why not?” he asked, his brown eyes
glinting.
    I stared at him for a minute. He had a nice
smile—a really nice smile. Suddenly my stomach did something.
Something weird. I didn’t know what it was, but it was a strange,
clenching yet freeing feeling. Like the kind of feeling you get on
a roller coaster, flying up and down the track, screaming with
excitement, yet fear.
    “Oh, here’s my class,” I said, noticing we
had come up to the P.E. room. I looked back at Michael, trying to
rid myself of the strange phenomenon that seemed to have taken a
hold of my entire mind and body. I felt my face growing hot. Could
I blush? Wasn’t I mechanically incapable of blushing? I hoped
so.
    “Okay, see you around, Drew,” Michael called,
walking away.
    “Bye.” I watched him vanish into the
crowd.
    I shook my head and hurried into the locker
room to change, and soon I was out in the gym with the rest of the
class.
    “Okay guys,” Ms. Webster called. “Today,
we’re going to be running laps.”
    The girls around me groaned, tightening their
ponytails and adjusting their shoelaces, getting ready.
    “Okay, let’s move it,” she ordered.
    The girls slowly started jogging in a circle
around the court. I followed their lead, quickly getting into a
rhythm of running and easily performing my task. I regulated my
breathing; in, two steps, out, two steps. Soon every care
dissipated and I focused solely on running.
    In a little while, I noticed quite a few of
the girls were lagging behind and breathing heavily. Before I knew
it, I was in the lead.
    “How can you ... do that?” Caroline asked
breathlessly. She was running just a few feet behind me.
    “Do what?” I was starting to get panicky and
self-conscious, losing my momentary composure as I glanced around
the room.
    “Not even break a sweat. You ... don’t even
look tired,” she gasped between breaths.
    I'd never had to worry much about physical
fatigue. Yes, I could get tired, but apparently not as easily as
the average human. Glancing around, I realized that the rest of the
girls looked absolutely exhausted and I was glad I hadn’t been made
with features similar to a human’s physical capacity. I looked back
at Caroline to say something when I heard my name called.
    “Drew, look out!” someone cried. But before I
knew what she was talking about, I ran straight into the bleachers,
falling over myself multiple times and landing on my back.
    “Drew, are you okay?” Caroline cried, bending
over me. I noticed Ms. Webster was there also and I wondered how
she had gotten across the gym so quickly.
    “Go to the