Chapter 8: Awkward Walks and Old Connections

**Seven.**

Leaving the lab building, I offered to walk Mo back to her dorm.

"It's a bit late, senior. It's not safe for you to be alone—let me walk you."

Mo glanced at me, her face cold, but she didn't refuse—just nodded lightly.

On the way, we didn't say a word. It was really awkward.

The only sound was the slap of my sneakers on the sidewalk and the distant wail of a siren somewhere near Kendall Square.

I felt like I should find a topic to break the silence.

"Um, senior, thank you for today."

"It was nothing."

"..."

This conversation was going nowhere.

I tried a few other topics, but Mo shot them all down.

Maybe Ethan was right—Mo probably only had experiments in her head.

Back in the dorm, I complained to Ethan.

He thought for a moment and said, "Maybe you're just bad at finding topics?"

"Really? I think my topics are pretty good."

"But your conversations are just too awkward. Are you like this with other girls, too?"

Other girls? I thought about it. Besides my high school classmates, the only other girl was the Harvard upperclassman. Even though we only chatted online and never met, our conversations were always smooth—especially with her. She never let the conversation drop.

Comparing the two, I suddenly missed the Harvard upperclassman even more.

I sighed. I wondered how she was doing now.

I'd planned to meet her after the SATs to thank her. If I added her back now...

Once the idea popped into my head, it grew like wild grass. I struggled for days. Finally, I convinced myself: No matter what, I should at least say sorry and thank you.

So I didn't hesitate—I clicked on her familiar profile and sent a friend request.

I hesitated with my thumb over the screen, staring at her old username. My heart pounded like I was about to jump off a high dive. I kept refreshing the screen, half-expecting her to ghost me completely. For a moment, I wondered if she would remember me at all—or worse, if she'd already moved on. But my thumb pressed send, and it was out there, floating in cyberspace like a message in a bottle.