Perfect Chemistry 1 (40 page)

and I gather a handful of his shirt in my fist. "I don't want to fight all

the time, Alex. Dating should be fun. Love should be good." I'm pulling

him toward me. I want his lips on mine.

"W-will it ever be good for us?"

Our lips almost touch before he pulls away from me, but then he--

Oh. My. God.

He kneels on one knee before me, holds my hands in his, and my

heart skips more than a few beats. "Brittany Ellis, I'm goin' to prove to

you I'm the guy you believed in ten months ago, and I'm gonna be the

successful man you dreamed I could be. My plan is to ask you to marry

me four years from now, the day we graduate."

He cocks his head as his voice takes on a more playful tone. “And I

guarantee you a lifetime of fun, probably one with no lack of fightin',

for you are one passionate mamacita . . . but I definitely look forward

to some great make-up sessions. Maybe one day we can even go back to

Fairfield and help make it the place my dad always hoped it would be.

You, me, and Shelley. And any other Fuentes or Ellis family member

who wants to be a part of our lives. We'll be one big, crazy Mexican-

American family. What do you think? Mujer, you own my soul."

I can't help but smile as I swipe a lone tear trailing down my cheek.

How can I not be crazy in love with this guy? Time away from him

didn't change anything. I can't deny him another chance. That would be

denying myself.

Time to take the risk, to trust once again.

"Shelley, you think she'll take me back?" Alex asks her, his hair

dangerously close to her fingers. She doesn't pull his hair . . . just pats

his head gently. I feel the tears running down my cheeks at full speed.

"Yeah!" Shelley yells with a goofy, gummy grin. She looks happier

and more content than she's been in a long time. Both of my favorite

people are with me right here; what more could I ask for?

"What's your major?" I ask.

Alex flashes me his you-can't-resist-me smile. "Chemistry. And

yours?"

"Chemistry." I wrap my arms around his neck. "Kiss me so we can

see if we still have it. 'Cause you own my heart, my soul, and everything

else in between."

His lips finally sear mine, more powerful than ever before.

Wow. The solar system is finally in alignment, and I got my Do Over

without even asking for it.

EPILOGUE

Twenty-Three Years Later

Mrs. Peterson closes the door to her classroom. "Good afternoon

and welcome to senior chemistry." She walks to her desk, leans on the

edge, and opens her class folder. "I appreciate you picking your own

seats, but since this is my class, I make the seating arrangements . . .

alphabetically."

Groans erupt from the students, the same sound that has greeted

her on the first day of school for over thirty years at Fairfield High.

"Mary Alcott, take the first seat. Your partner is Andrew Carson."

Down the list Mrs. Peterson goes, students reluctantly sitting in their

assigned seats next to their chemistry partners.

"Paco Fuentes," Mrs. Peterson says, pointing to the table behind

Mary.

The handsome young man with pale blue eyes like his mother's and

smoky black hair like his father's takes his assigned seat.

Mrs. Peterson regards her new student over the glasses perched on

her nose. "Mr. Fuentes, don't think this class will be a piece of cake

because your parents got lucky and developed a medication to halt the

progression of Alzheimer's. Your father never did finish my class and

he flunked one of my tests, although I have a feeling your mother was

the one who should have failed. But that just means I'll expect extra

from you."

"Si, senora."

Mrs. Peterson looks down at her notebook. "Julianna Gallagher,

please take your seat next to Mr. Fuentes."

Mrs. Peterson notices Julianna's blush as she sits on her stool and

Paco's cocky grin beside her. Maybe the tide was starting to shift

after thirty years of teaching, but she wasn't taking any chances.

"And for those of you who want to start any trouble, I have a zero

tolerance policy. . . ."

Table of Contents

EPILOGUE