Try Me (Extracurricular Activities #2)

by Neve Wilder

Chet plopped down in the grass. “Let’s do this.” “Fine.” I reached for the stack of cards and withdrew one before easing to the ground, my back to Chet’s per the instructions. “Why the fuck is your spine so bony?” “Why the fuck are you such a meathead?” Chet tossed back. “C’mon, give me a clue.” “Okay, draw a circle in the middle of the page.” The marker whispered and squeaked over the paper. “Done. Next?” “Bisect it with a triangle.” “Mmmm, listen to you with that sexy geometry talk. Bisect,” he repeated, with a hard emphasis on the sect. “What’s next? Vertices? A few perpendicular lines?” I laughed in spite of myself. “Jesus, dude.” “Okay, done. Next.” “You don’t have to keep saying that. I can hear the marker on the page, so I know when you’re done. Now, wait a sec…” I studied the card, trying to figure out how to best explain. “Okay, at the apex of the triangle you just drew, make two lines coming off either side, like arms trying to flap.” Chet snorted and whispered apex under his breath, but a second later, I heard the marker moving. We finished my shape without incidence and compared it to the picture afterward, a series of circles and intersecting triangles. “Not bad,” Chet said, and then we switched. “Okay, draw a test tube shape at about a thirty degree angle on the page with the open end facing the bottom left of the page, but”—he interjected when he heard the marker—“where the opening of the test tube would be, don’t draw a line. Just leave it open.” “Okay,” I ...