Becca Fitzpatrick: Hush Hush

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Patch's raised eyebrows.

I considered explaining that I was anemic and had to take iron a few times a day, especially when I was under stress, but I thought better. The anemia wasn't life threatening… as long as I took regular doses of iron. I wasn't paranoid to the point that I thought Patch meant me harm, but somehow, my medical condition was a vulnerability that felt better kept secret.

"Nora?"

Coach stood at the front of the room, his hand outstretched in a gesture that showed he was waiting for one thing-my answer. A slow burn made its way up my cheeks.

"Could you repeat the question?" I asked.

The class snickered.

Coach said, with slight irritation, "What qualities are you attracted to in a potential mate?"

"Potential mate?"

"Come on now, we haven't got all afternoon."

I could hear Vee laughing behind me.

My throat seemed to constrict. "You want me to list characteristics of a…?"

"Potential mate, yes, that would be helpful."

Without meaning to, I looked sideways at Patch. He was eased back in his seat, one notch above a slouch, studying me with satisfaction. He flashed his pirate smile and mouthed, We're waiting.

I stacked my hands on the table, hoping I looked more composed than I felt. "I've never thought about it before."

"Well, think fast."

"Could you call on someone else first?"

Coach gestured impatiently to my left. "You're up, Patch."

Unlike me, Patch spoke with confidence. He had himself positioned so his body was angled slightly toward mine, our knees mere inches apart.

"Intelligent. Attractive. Vulnerable."

Coach was busy listing the adjectives on the board. "Vulnerable?" he asked. "How so?"

Vee spoke up. "Does this have anything to do with the unit we're studying? Because I can't find anything about desired characteristics of a mate anywhere in our text."

Coach stopped writing long enough to look over his shoulder. "Every animal on the planet attracts mates with the goal of reproduction. Frogs swell their bodies. Male gorillas beat their chests. Have you ever watched a male lobster rise up on the tips of his legs and snap his claws, demanding female attention? Attraction is the first element of all animal reproduction, humans included. Why don't you give us your list, Miss Sky?"

Vee held up five fingers. "Gorgeous, wealthy, indulgent, fiercely protective, and just a little bit dangerous." A finger went down with each description.

Patch laughed under his breath. "The problem with human attraction is not knowing if it will be returned."

"Excellent point," Coach said.

"Humans are vulnerable," Patch continued, "because they're capable of being hurt." At this, Patch's knee knocked against mine. I scooted away, not daring to let myself wonder what he meant by the gesture.

Coach nodded. "The complexity of human attraction-and reproduction-is one of the features that set us apart from other species."

I thought I heard Patch snort at this, but it was a very soft sound, and I couldn't be sure.

Coach continued, "Since the dawn of time, women have been attracted to mates with strong survival skills-like intelligence and physical prowess-because men with these qualities are more likely to bring home dinner at the end of the day." He stuck his thumbs in the air and grinned. "Dinner equals survival, team."

No one laughed.

"Likewise," he continued, "men are attracted to beauty because it indicates health and youth-no point mating with a sickly woman who won't be around to raise the children." Coach pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and chuckled.

"That is so sexist," Vee protested. "Tell me something that relates to a woman in the twenty-first century."

"If you approach reproduction with an eye to science, Miss Sky, you'll see that children are the key to the survival of our species. And the more children you have, the greater your contribution to the gene pool."

I practically heard Vee's eyes rolling. "I think we're finally getting close to today's topic. Sex."

"Almost," said Coach, holding up a finger. "Before sex comes attraction, but after attraction comes body language. You have to communicate 'I'm interested' to a potential mate, only not in so many words."

Coach pointed beside me. "All right, Patch. Let's say you're at a party. The room is full of girls of all different shapes and sizes. You see blonds, brunettes, redheads, a few girls with black hair. Some are talkative, while others appear shy. You've found one girl who fits your profile-attractive, intelligent, and vulnerable. How do you let her know you're interested?"

"Single her out. Talk to her."

"Good. Now for the big question-how do you know if she's game or if she wants you to move on?"

"I study her," Patch said. "I figure out what she's thinking and feeling. She's not going to come right out and tell me, which is why I have to pay attention. Does she turn her body toward mine? Does she hold my eyes, then look away? Does she bite her lip and play with her hair, the way Nora is doing right now?"

Laughter rose in the room. I dropped my hands to my lap.

"She's game," said Patch, bumping my leg again. Of all things, I blushed.

"Very good! Very good!" Coach said, his voice charged, smiling broadly at our attentiveness.

"The blood vessels in Nora's face are widening and her skin is warming," Patch said. "She knows she's being evaluated. She likes the attention, but she's not sure how to handle it."

"I am not blushing."

"She's nervous," Patch said. "She's stroking her arm to draw attention away from her face and down to her figure, or maybe her skin. Both are strong selling points."

I nearly choked. He's joking, I told myself. No, he's insane. I had no experience dealing with lunatics, and it showed. I felt like I spent most of our time together staring at Patch, mouth agape. If I had any illusions about keeping up with him, I was going to have to figure out a new approach.

I placed my hands flat against the table, held my chin high, and tried to look as if I still possessed some dignity. "This is ridiculous."

Stretching his arm out to his side with exaggerated slyness, Patch hung it on the back of my chair. I had the strange feeling that this was a threat aimed entirely at me, and that he was unaware and uncaring of how the class received it. They laughed, but he didn't seem to hear it, holding my eyes so singly with his own that I almost believed he'd carved a small, private world for us that no one else could reach.

Vulnerable, he mouthed.

I locked my ankles around the legs of my chair and jerked forward, feeling the weight of his arm drop off the back of the seat. I was not vulnerable.

"And there you have it!" Coach said. "Biology in motion."

"Can we please talk about sex now?" asked Vee.

"Tomorrow. Read chapter seven and be ready for a discussion first thing."

The bell rang, and Patch scraped his chair back. "That was fun. Let's do it again sometime." Before I could come up with something more pithy than No, thanks, he edged behind me and disappeared out the door.

"I'm starting a petition to have Coach fired," Vee said, coming to my table. "What was up with class today? It was watered-down porn. He practically had you and Patch on top of your lab table, horizontal, minus your clothes, doing the Big Deed-"

I nailed her with a look that said, Does it look like I want a replay?

"Yeesh," Vee said, stepping back.

"I need to talk to Coach. I'll meet you at your locker in ten minutes."

"Sure thing."

Coach kicked back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. "I like the seating chart. Almost as much as I like this new man-to-man play I'm working on for Saturday's game."

I set a copy of the school code of conduct and student rights down on top of it. "By law, no student should feel threatened on school property."