PROJECT HEART

Chapter 3 - Sparks and Circuits

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Chapter 3 — “Sparks and Circuits”

The next afternoon, Ariana arrives at Eli’s house for their first real experiment session. She expected a quiet, controlled environment—maybe a desk and some textbooks. What she didn’t expect was a mini-lab. Beakers, test tubes, a heart-rate monitor, and a whiteboard covered with scribbles that looked more like math hieroglyphics than science.

Eli stands at the counter, carefully adjusting the electrodes on a small device. He glances over his glasses as she walks in. “Glad you could make it,” he says dryly. “We need to calibrate the sensors before we start.”

Ariana nods, trying not to stare at the array of equipment. “Right. Calibrate. Totally normal school stuff.” Her voice comes out a little too high-pitched, and she gives a small laugh, hoping it masks her nerves.

Eli raises an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she says quickly. “Just excited to, uh, science.”

He doesn’t respond, just gestures toward the table. “Sit there. You’ll be the subject first. I need baseline readings.”

Ariana plops into the chair, immediately noticing how precise everything looks. Even his pencils are perfectly sharpened and aligned. She lets out a tiny sigh. “You know,” she mutters, “most people just throw on a T-shirt and call it an experiment.”

Eli ignores the jab and starts explaining the procedure. “I’ll measure your heart rate while you listen to different types of music. Then we’ll record your reactions and compare results. Easy enough?”

“Easy enough,” she repeats, though she’s already fidgeting in her chair.

The first song plays—something slow and classical. Ariana hums along softly, not expecting her heartbeat to respond to a piano chord. Eli watches the monitor, jotting numbers on a sheet with laser focus. “Interesting,” he murmurs. “Your pulse dropped slightly. Classical soothes you, apparently.”

Ariana grins. “Told you. I’m basically a professional in relaxing to music.”

Eli smirks faintly, just enough to make her catch it. “Next is something more… energetic,” he says. Ariana braces herself. The screen flashes with a pop song she vaguely recognizes. Her foot taps nervously. Within seconds, her pulse jumps.

“Ah! Okay, that’s more like it!” she exclaims. “See, I can feel the energy! This is fun!”

Eli frowns, shaking his head. “Fun? This is data collection.”

“Fun can be data,” she insists, poking at the keyboard with her fingers. “You’re just not used to enjoying it.”

He sighs, glancing at her. “Or maybe you’re just distracting.”

Ariana freezes mid-tap. “Excuse me?”

He doesn’t look up, already recording the next set of numbers. “You laugh, you move, you hum along. It’s… distracting. For science.”

Ariana can’t help the laugh that bursts out. “Distracting, huh? I’ll take it as a compliment.”

For the next hour, they repeat the experiment with different songs, images, and short video clips. Each time, Ariana’s pulse fluctuates wildly—mostly from nerves, excitement, and her growing awareness of Eli sitting across from her. She notices small things she hadn’t before: the way he bites his lip when thinking, how precise his handwriting is, and the slight crease between his brows when he’s analyzing data.

And maybe, just maybe, she enjoys the way he doesn’t laugh at her jokes—he just smiles faintly, and that makes her want to tell him more.

Halfway through, Ariana’s foot taps again. Eli glances up. “Are you… always this restless?”

“Restless? Me? Never,” she says, though she can feel herself grinning.

“Hmm,” he mutters, returning to his notes. “Your pulse just spiked again.”

“Uh, must be… science excitement,” she says quickly. “Totally normal. Not… me noticing you or anything.”

Eli looks at her, unimpressed, but doesn’t comment further. Ariana’s heart skips anyway.

By the end of the session, they’ve gathered enough data for at least the first half of their project. Ariana stretches and leans back in her chair. “So… how did we do?”

“Data’s solid,” Eli says, closing the laptop. “Your reactions are… surprisingly consistent. Not everyone’s heart behaves like yours.”

Ariana grins, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. “Thanks. I try.”

There’s a beat of silence, then Eli adds quietly, “You’re… easier to work with than I expected.”

Ariana freezes mid-smile. “Easier to work with?” she repeats, feigning nonchalance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” he says slowly, “that maybe you’re not just the loud, popular girl I assumed you were. You… pay attention. You actually care about doing this right.”

Her stomach does that weird fluttery thing she’s been trying to ignore. “Well… you’re not as boring as I assumed either,” she says, hiding a smile.

Eli raises an eyebrow. “Careful, you’re dangerously close to compliment territory.”

“Oh no,” she says dramatically, “I would never compliment a nerd.”

He gives her a small, almost imperceptible smirk, and for the first time, Ariana wonders if maybe, just maybe, science experiments aren’t the only sparks in the room.

As she packs up her bag, she realizes something strange: she’s looking forward to tomorrow’s session. And that, for Ariana Brooks, is definitely not normal.

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