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Chapter 9 - Time To Chase Chase?

The following week at camp was an extension of the genetics unit they’d done the week before. The focus of the week, however, was even more intricate. In the lecture that Monday morning they learned all about Epigenetics - the study of how the genes encoded by your DNA get turned on or off depending on various factors including one’s environment, heredity and even, in some cases, one’s stress level. It was a fascinating study subject. This was a topic neither of the girls had even heard about before and they were transfixed. Especially interesting were the Twins Studies where identical twins, with identical DNA and therefore the same genetic propensity to get a particular disease or condition, had different outcomes because of differing environments, resulting in one twin avoiding the disease.

The goal for that week was to delve into the practice of epigenetics - they would be going back to the lab to run tests that would tell them if certain genes associated with a particular type of cancer would be likely to be ‘turned on’ or not for a patient. Then they’d have to determine a plan of action for counselling that patient about her disease potential. So, not only did the group have to learn about the science behind what they were doing, but also the ethics involved in doing genetic counselling. It was going to be an engrossing week.

The only glitch in the works was that Quinne and Qianna got assigned to different lab groups for the week. Quinne and Stella were going to be together, so at least they had each other. But the notably less bold Qianna was put into a group where she didn’t know many people. Luckily, while she stood just inside the doorway looking around for a seat, Chase came into the room and immediately went up to her.

“Hey, QiQi,” he greeted her with a welcoming grin. “Glad to see a friendly face in here. Where’s your sister?”

“She got put into a different lab group this time around,” Qianna answered briefly.

“That’s too bad. From what I’ve seen, you two make a great team. But her loss is my win. You want to be my lab partner this go round?” Chase beamed at her with his brilliant, toothy smile.

“Thanks. That would be great,” Qianna agreed and followed her new lab partner over to an empty space at one of the nearby benches.

The rest of the lab went well. The group was learning how to do a Bisulfite DNA Sequencing Analysis. It was a lengthy process and easily would take them the entire rest of the week to finish. The end product, though, would allow them to see whether or not the gene they were interested in - one of the genes regularly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer - would be turned on and therefore likely to cause that patient to develop cancer. The first step was to take the DNA sample they were given and treat it with a chemical formulation that would allow them to see which parts of the DNA strands were methylated - i.e. which genes were protected by a methyl molecule and therefore would remain unexpressed - then amplify the DNA. It was a very complicated process with a lot of different steps. In between the various steps, Qianna and Chase helped each other out with writing up the day’s notes in their lab notebooks.

“Wow! Here’s a statistic I didn’t know,” Chase elaborated as he read something off a site he’d gone to for more information about the sequencing they were going. “It says here that, ‘If you stretched the DNA in one cell all the way out, it would be about two meters long - which is larger than most humans are tall - and all the DNA in all your cells put together end to end would be about twice the diameter of the Solar System’. That’s nuts, dontcha think?”

Qianna readily agreed, reading the next portion of the quote Chase was looking at, “‘But the way DNA is coiled up in the cell allows the three billion base pairs of a DNA strand to fit into a space just six microns across.’ That’s crazy. Who knew there was all that information stuffed into each and every cell on the human body. It’s like having NASA’s biggest supercomputer shrunk down to the size of pinhead and then duplicated thirty-seven trillion times and having all those computers working in tandem.”

“No wonder medicine is so complicated, huh?” Chase asked as he jotted down more notes for their experiment. “I can’t wait till I’m in college for real and I get to play with this stuff every day.”

“But that just brings up the second half of this week’s topic - the ethics of the whole thing,” kind-hearted Qianna voiced her own point of interest. “I mean, just cuz we can now see and maybe manipulate this stuff, SHOULD we? What if we do manage to increase the average human’s lifespan twenty, fifty or more years? We’ve already overpopulated the Earth and that many additional people would make the planet unlivable. Not to mention, who would be allowed to access all these miraculous advances and who would pay for it? Would only rich people be allowed to live forever? It’s a nightmare just waiting to happen.”

Chase agreed with Qianna that there would be huge issues if this kind of technology advanced faster than medical ethics could keep up, but he was more of an optimist. QiQi was more of an empath and worried that the technology would be misused. They had a pretty intense debate the entire time they were working together. Even after they’d cleaned up for the day and started to head back to the dorms, their discussion continued. In fact, they were so absorbed in what they were talking about that neither noticed Quinne coming up next to them until she’d actually waved a hand in front of her sister’s nose.

“HELLOOOO! Earth to Q2? Anybody in there?” Quinne asked, looking a little miffed that she was being virtually ignored by the pair.

“Sorry, Quinne,” Chase spoke up, apologizing for them both. “We didn’t see you; we were so caught up in the topic we were debating all through lab. Your sister has a fresh take on genetics that I hadn’t ever thought about. It was fun to fight about it a little.” He ended by smiling at his debate partner and chuckling quietly.

Qianna shyly smiled back, feeling her pale cheeks flushing with warmth at the unexpected compliment. She wasn’t used to having an attractive boy saying such nice things about her. Usually the good-looking boys were turned off by her nerdiness. It felt really amazing to have someone - especially someone who was as handsome and popular as Chase - paying attention to HER for a change.

To cover up her discomfiture, Qianna quickly turned to her sister. “How did your lab go? Did you get through the PCR stuff? It was really complicated, huh?”

“I didn’t think it was that hard. Stella and I were done early so I even got a head start on my lab write up,” Quinne declared, bragging a bit, which wasn’t unusual for her. Then she looked up at Chase and asked, “you want to go kick around a soccer ball for a bit or something? I could use some active time after sitting in classrooms and labs all day.”

“Sorry. I’m not as far ahead as it sounds like you are,” Chase excused himself. “I think I’m going to finish my lab write up and then I plan to check out that article you sent me the link on, QiQi. Maybe we can get a game together tomorrow after labs if there’s time?”

“Sure. Whatever,” Quinne responded, trying unsuccessfully to hide her disappointment.

“Great. I’m off then. See you tomorrow, QiQi.” Chase clapped his lab partner on the shoulder affably and then smiled at Quinne before heading off towards the stairs on his own.

“Well, that was kinda rude,” Quinne said as soon as Chase was far enough away that he couldn’t hear her. “We had fun yesterday and I thought maybe he was interested but I guess he doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it.”

“I didn’t think he was THAT rude. We really didn’t get very far on our lab write ups - we were too busy having this really interesting discussion about medical ethics. I might have even persuaded him to my point of view. It was fun talking with him, though. He’s really smart,” Qianna defended the boy as she turned towards the lounge area where she planned to spread out her work while she finished the assignment that needed to be turned in the next day.

“Whatever,” Quinne dismissed Chase and everything else as she picked up her own bookbag and followed Qianna. “How about, I help you finish up your lab write up so you can get done quicker, and then we grab some other girls and all go to the rec center and have a swim tonight before dinner? Sound like a plan?”

“Okay. Deal,” Qianna gladly accepted the offer and the help.

The plan worked wonderfully and the girls were just coming back from the pool a couple hours later when Qianna dropped behind the rest of the group to respond to a text she’d received.

The other girls were several meters down the path before Quinne looked back and saw her sister standing there glaring down at her phone. She waved the rest of their group on, telling them not to wait, and returned to her sister’s side. Just as she stepped up beside Qianna, Quinne heard the girl grumbling at her phone as she typed.

“C’mon, Dad. Nobody’s THAT gay . . .”

“What’s the problem, QiQi?” Quinne inquired, trying to look over the shorter girl’s shoulder to see what she was typing.

“My Dad sent me a text asking for input on his ‘colors’ for the damn wedding. He said he wants to go with shades of blue - says it will match his eyes . . . And what the hell is this? It looks like he’s got an artichoke pinned to his lapel. I can’t do this. I really can’t . . .” QiQi complained with a loud groan and turned the phone screen around so her sister could see the ghastly boutonniere.

“Here. Give it to me,” Quinne demanded. “My Auntie Em is the premier party planner in SW Pennsylvania so I’ve dealt with this stuff all my life. And your dad’s right that the colors you choose dictate everything else about the wedding, so it’s an important decision.” She typed at the phone for a minute or two, even going online to pull up some other suggestions. “The shades of blue idea isn’t bad, but the flower selection is definitely horrible. There . . . Okay, I sent him some better pics. I’m sure he’ll find something that works.”

“Thanks, Sis,” Qianna replied as she accepted the return of her phone. “I just don’t want to deal with any of this wedding crap. If I had my way, there wouldn’t BE a wedding. At least not to Horrible Hairy Alex.”

“I’m with you there. That guy is trouble. But there’s no use trying to tell your dad that. People only hear what they wanna hear, you know?” Quinn gave her sister a sympathetic look. “All you can do is be there for him, give him whatever support you can, and then be ready to pick up the pieces when it inevitably falls apart later.”

“You’re right. I know that. But I really just can’t bring myself to get involved with the wedding stuff. That’s going too far. I want nothing to do with anything related to Hairy Alex,” she insisted. “How about I let you handle any wedding stuff from here on out? You’re probably better at it than I am anyway.”

“Deal. But, in exchange, you get to handle all of my dad’s ongoing shoe obsession issues, okay?”

“No problem. I think your dad’s hilarious. I’ll take him and his shoes over Hairy Alex any day of the week.”

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For the rest of the week the girls had fun with their father exchange idea. They even went so far as to give each other their account login information so that they didn’t have to hand off their phones all the time; Qianna simply logged in as Quinne and vice versa whenever they needed to reply to the other’s dad. They were both having a blast with the little deception. The dads also seemed thrilled that ‘their’ daughter was finally showing some interest in what they were doing. Justin started sending daily updates on the wedding plans, which Quinne responded to, assiduously doing whatever additional research was needed to help him out. Meanwhile, Brian and Qianna went on a fantasy shoe shopping extravaganza, each texting the other back with their latest online shoe finds, some of which Brian actually ended up ordering.

Outside of their parent swap, though, things were a little bit less rosy for the pair. The week’s epigenetics project was much more difficult than either was prepared for and took up a lot of time. And, since they had been put in separate lab groups for the week, they didn’t get to see each other as much as they had been. Qianna was spending a lot of time doing research with Chase. Same for Quinne and Stella. They barely saw each other for meals before they’d have to rush off to one thing or another. It was a lot more than either had expected. By the end of the week they were both exhausted and, despite the fact that both found the genetics unit interesting, they were glad the camp was moving on the next week to a different topic.

When Friday finally came, and they all handed in their final project write ups, it was a huge relief. Everyone was looking forward to a weekend of more relaxing fun. Saturday’s field trip was going to be a good one too - they were going to be doing a Multisensory Learning Project through the local Apple Store. Quinne was especially interested in this offering because coding and computers were her thing. Unfortunately, the store could only accommodate 25 students at a time, so they had to take turns. The students who weren’t busy doing their coding project would be taking a walking tour of downtown Colorado Springs.

Once again the girls got split up for the day’s events. This was a huge disappointment. It wasn’t like they NEEDED to be together all the time or anything, but since they’d only just found each other they wanted to spend as much time together as possible. After all, who knew what the future was likely to bring or if they’d be able to maintain the same close relationship when the summer was over.

As they were milling around outside the entrance to the Apple Store, bemoaning their separate group assignments, Chase came bounding over, grinning like a big, happy lapdog. “Hey, guys!” he greeted them exuberantly. “What group are you in. I’ve got ‘D’, which means I’m one of the last ones to go today. Annoying, huh?”

“I’m ‘D’ too,” Qianna announced, smiling up at the tall Chase, glad she’d have someone familiar to hang out with.

“SWEET!” Chase cheered, holding up his hand to fist bump with his former lab partner. Then he turned to the other two girls and remembered to ask, “how about you ladies?”

“Quinne and Stella are ‘B’ group,” Qianna answered for them, interrupting Quinne who’d just opened up her mouth to speak for herself. “I’m really glad you’re going to be in my group, though, Chase. Coding is one of my weaker skills. I’m probably going to need some help.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll do great. From what I understand, the project we’re working on today incorporates art and music as well, which is all right up your alley, Ms. Artiste,” Chase reassured her. “So, I don’t think our tour group is going to be leaving for a little while. Want to go get some coffee with me before we leave?”

“Sounds good,” Qianna agreed cheerfully without even looking towards her sister or Stella. In fact, she’d already walked at least a couple meters away before she seemed to remember them, turning so she was walking backwards as she yelled back at the other girls. “See you guys later, ‘kay?”

And, without waiting for any response, she returned her attention to Chase and was gone.

Quinne stood there, watching her sister’s retreating back, with a pinched look maring her beautiful face. It wasn’t clear whether her angry glare was directed at Chase or Qianna. Stella remained silent, not wanting to take sides on the matter, although it seemed clear that trouble was brewing between the two sisters over this boy. Quinne still hadn’t forgotten her sister’s abandonment when their group was called up and their tour guide headed off down the street.

At the same time, Qianna and Chase were just coming out of a coffee shop going by the name of ‘The Perk’ with their drinks in hand. Qianna really didn’t care that much for coffee, but she hadn’t wanted to look like a baby next to Chase, so she’d ordered a caramel mocha with lots of froth and cream and sugar, which diluted it to the point she hoped it would be drinkable. Chase still teased her about the wimpy coffee . . . and then he went and ordered a cup of Earl Grey tea for himself. Then they both laughed at each other and confessed they hated coffee.

The morning flew by for Qianna. She really liked spending time with Chase. She’d led a fairly sheltered life and her father had always been overprotective, so she’d never had the freedom to spend time alone with a boy like that. It was especially nice to have someone she found physically attractive paying attention to her. It was such heady stuff, to be honest, that she sorta forgot all about her sister for the day. And, when they finally got to do their turn at the Apple Store, she and Chase were having so much fun working with the new Skoog Music Cube that she got totally caught up in it and didn’t want to leave when their time was up. The toy/instrument really spoke to her creative side, a part of her that hadn’t had much rein so far that summer.

When Chase finally dragged her away from the Apple Store, Qianna was still raving about the experience. At least until her phone began to chime with the special sound she used to alert her to messages coming in from Quinne’s father. She quickly pulled her phone out and started to tap at the screen.

“Sorry, Chase. I just need to respond to this text really quick. If I don’t, Quinne’s dad is probably going to buy me - I mean her - a pair of really awful dusty rose suede pumps.” They both chuckled at the image that brought up - the athletic, laid back, tomboyish Quinne in pink pumps - before Qianna concentrated on the phone again. “Yep. Brian’s being so stubborn about those damn pumps. For someone who has great taste in men’s fashion, he seems to have no clue what a teen girl would want to wear.”

She twisted the phone around so that Chase could see the pair of shoes Brian was threatening to buy, which caused the poor boy to guffaw loudly. Qianna nodded her head and grimaced. She quickly typed out a response, with a big ‘NO!’ and several vomiting emojis.

“Hopefully that will stave him off for a bit,” Qianna announced with a sigh. “I don’t care if they ARE Prada, Quinne would never go for that.”

“I’m pretty sure Quinne would rather have a new pair of soccer cleats,” Chase offered, causing them both to chuckle again. “She’s an amazing soccer player though. Way better than me. And maybe even smarter than me too. To be honest, she intimidates me a little bit.”

“That’s silly. Quinne is the nicest person you’ve ever met. I mean, I know she tends to brag a lot, but she doesn’t do it to put anyone else down. She’s just proud of herself and wants to let everyone know it. I wish I were more like that,” Qianna replied, standing up for her sister.

“You should be proud. You’re just as smart and a lot more creatively talented,” Chase responded, giving the girl walking next to him a shy, geeky smile that raised a blush to Qianna’s cheeks.

She was so flustered by all this that, when her phone rang, she didn’t even look at the caller ID before she answered with a breathless, “Hey!”

“Qianna? Are you okay?” Justin’s voice asked, sounding worried.

“Dad? Hi. Yeah, I’m fine. What’s up?” Qianna answered, finally focusing on her phone call.

“You sounded . . . off. And your text had me worried,” Justin explained.

“Huh?” was all Qianna had, not sure what text he was referring to.

“Your last text? The one where you said you were bummed that your roommate had abandoned you for some boy?” Justin elaborated.  “Listen, QiQi. I’m sorry you’re having issues with your roommate, Honey, but just give her a chance. I’m sure she wasn’t blowing you off on purpose. Whatever it is with this boy will pass and she’ll be back to being your friend again in no time,” Justin counselled sagely. “Remember, friendship is always more important than any boy - trust me on that one. I’ve been there, done that, and still regret it,” He laughed sadly to himself. “Thank goodness YOU haven’t discovered boys yet. I’m not sure I’m ready for my little girl to turn into a full-fledged teenager already.”

“Um . . . okay . . .” Qianna didn’t know how to react to her father’s assertions. Apparently Quinne must have sent him a text complaining when she’d gone off with Chase and now her dad thought she was the good one who wasn’t interested in boys . . . Can you say, ‘awkward’?

“Well, good. Just don’t let it get you down, okay?” Justin restated and waited till he heard Qianna’s mumble of acceptance. “So, what did you decide on the invitations?”

“Invitations?” Qianna repeated, now completely lost.

“Yeah, should I go with the more traditional one or the fancy one? You said you were going to think it over and maybe look for some alternatives,” Justin elucidated. “By the way, thank you so much for helping me out with all this. I’m impressed how good you are at wedding planning. It’s a huge help to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you to talk me down from those flowers.”

“Uh, Dad, could I get back to you on that?” Qianna delayed, having no idea at all what her father was talking about since she’d carefully avoided talking about the wedding planning with Quinne. “I need to get back to the rest of the group and we’re about to head home to the dorms. I’ll text you back later, okay?”

“No problem, Sweetheart,” Justin easily conceded. “I’ll let you go back to your camp stuff. I’m sure it’s more interesting than planning your dad’s wedding for him. Thanks again, though. I love you, Honey.”

“Love you too, Dad. Bye.”

Qianna finished her call but then stood there looking down at her phone for at least a minute more. Her father had inadvertently given away the fact that Quinne was upset with her. Now that she thought about it, she had kinda blown off her friends as soon as Chase had come up and asked her to go with him for coffee. She hadn’t meant anything by it. She was just so thrilled that a boy - ANY boy, let alone a cute one - might be interested in her, that she hadn’t thought out what she was doing or how it would seem to anyone else. She realized now that she hadn’t been acting like a good friend. It was time to make up for that.

They’d continued walking while Qianna had been talking to her father and she’d finished just as they reached the location where all the groups of camp kids were meeting to get on the busses. At the far edge of the sidewalk, Qianna could see her sister and Stella standing together. Just the sight of her sibling - who’d rapidly become her best friend - made Qianna smile. She knew it was time to make things right.

“Thanks for hanging out with me all day, Chase,” she said to her companion. “It’s been fun but I really need to go catch up with Quinne and Stella. See you around, okay?”

Chase seemed a little bummed that he would no longer have Qianna to himself but he didn’t say anything outright. They said their goodbyes and he headed off towards a group of boys getting on the first bus. Then Qianna eagerly skipped over to her sister’s side, ending up with her arms around the slightly taller girl, hugging for all she was worth.

“Hey, Sis. I missed seeing you all day. How did your turn at the Skoog thing go?” she asked and was happy to see Quinne turn to her with an answering smile.

“It was fun,” Quinne responded, but her smile slipped as she looked around at the large group of milling students. “So, where’s your tall, geeky shadow?”

Qianna laughed at the barely concealed animosity in her sister’s question. “It was nice having someone I knew to hang out with today, but I would have rather been with you guys. Besides, I don’t have time to chase Chase. You and I have way too much catching up to do to waste the few weeks we have together here. I want to make the most of our Sister Time.”

The conciliatory statement earned her a truly happy smile from her sister and a return hug. That was all it took to make up the little rift that had grown between them. They spent the bus ride back to the dorms laughing at Justin’s attempts to pick out appropriate wedding invites and Brian’s horrible taste in women’s shoes. And all was once again right in their corner of the world.

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