Too Young (The Jewel Project #1)

Chapter 3.1 - The Grants

Chapter Three

The Grants

Okay, you can do this. One small step at a time. Easier said than done with a mounting pile of books in his arms. Sam fleetingly wondered if anyone else from his school had been picked for the expedition. Even if Xavier Race High School was top notch, Sam doubted it. Fourteen people from all around the country had been selected. Two of them coming from the same school was stretching it.

But, even so, he'd searched for, picked and checked out every book on the Yucatan peninsula, Mayans and jungles he thought could be even remotely useful. Now he only had to make it to his locker and deposit them in a half an hour and then split to his exam. He'd think of a way to carry all of them out later.

"You missed a few," said a voice from behind.

Sam turned his head – seeing as the rest of his body was in precarious equilibrium – toward his best friend, Harry. Almost as tall as Sam, with the same black hair, but hazel eyes instead of green, Harry grinned, a lone book in one hand.

"Missed a few what?"

"Books. From the library." Awkward silence. "You didn't check them all out."

"Oh, you're making a geek joke," Sam said. "Not your best. What are you doing in the library?" Though far from stupid, Harry liked to stay away from all things geek, except for Sam.

"Picking up chicks. What does it look like I'm doing?" Harry held up the book Chemistry for Dummies.

"They made one of those?" Sam asked surprised. Was there Archeology for Dummies out there somewhere and he'd missed it? His arms shook from the weight of the books. "You could help, you know."

Harry tilted his head. "Nah, you need the workout. When's the last time you used a muscle other than your brain?"

"We move muscles every second," Sam said, giving the literal answer he knew Harry expected. But it was also obvious that his friend wasn't about to help, so Sam headed out the door, moving as carefully as possible toward his locker.

"What's with all the books?" Harry asked skipping beside Sam, as though to rub his mobility in.

Sam opened his mouth to tell Harry all about his day, but stopped. Even if Harry was his best friend, he wasn't sure if to go with the short study-camp version or the lengthy nut-job professor one.

"Never mind. That's just you." Harry stopped in front of Sam's locker and punched in the combination.

Ugh! They were friends and everything, and Sam could certainly take a joke, but geek-shaming-Harry was pretty darn annoying. Sam squatted and placed the pile of books on the floor. Harry finally decided to help and started cramming them inside the locker.

"If you need the extra space, you can put them in my locker, too," he offered.

"Survivor's guilt?"

"You got yourself into something big this time, didn't you?" Harry stopped with one volume in hand and read the title.

"You could say that." Sam grabbed the book before he got any ideas and stuffed it in the only available space left. He might just have to take Harry up on his offer, though he'd much rather stuff his things in Lisa's locker. Less of a chance of something sticky being in there.

Harry shrugged. "At least it's something you love and not advanced micro-biology or some other bogus class like that. Speaking of bogus, have you seen Lisa?"

"Nope." Sam shut the door. "I thought she'd be with you."

Harry mumbled something unintelligible. Even if the three of them had been best friends since their first days at X-Race, over the past couple of years, tension had been brewing between Harry and Lisa. Sam secretly hoped it was due to a denied attraction, but, unfortunately, Lisa had started flirting with him lately while Harry changed his girlfriends more often than he changed his socks. Chances of a romance between them were slim, but Sam still dreamed. It would mellow Harry out and get Lisa off his back. Not that Lisa wasn't pretty, smart and nice, but he liked her too much as a friend.