I Love You, Miss Genius novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Advisor

I did the only sensible thing available to a person in my position.

I grabbed the empty noodle cartons and ran for the supply closet.

"Where are you going?" Dash called.

"Recycling!"

The closet was the size of a coffin, lined with toner and paper towels.

I shut the door and stood in the dark with my heart going.

Through the wall I heard the elevator ding.

I heard Dash's voice, warm, and a dry, clipped voice answering.

"You're up late, Ingrid."

"I do not sleep before a funding event. It is a character flaw."

I knew that voice the way I knew my own pulse.

It had told me at fifteen that I was a miracle.

It had told me at nineteen that miracles were not allowed to be tired.

I closed my eyes and waited.

Then the closet door opened.

She stood there in a charcoal turtleneck with her silver hair cut like a helmet, leaning on her cane.

Dr. Ingrid Vollmer looked exactly the same, except thinner.

"There you are," she said.

"I was recycling," I said.

"You were hiding in a closet from the woman who taught you to read a compiler."

She stepped in and pulled the door shut behind her.

Now we were both in the dark, and the smell of toner hung between us.

"Juno Cho," she said. "Your mother's name. Clever."

"Please don't."

"Please don't what? Say your name? It is a very good name. I have been saying it for eleven years."

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