Not long after leaving the school grounds, Mike spotted Georgie by the roadside.
He was squatting under a tree with his back to the street, his shoulders heaving up and down in a rhythm that screamed, "I'm crying."
It made sense. Georgie had just had his heart stomped on. He'd watched his first love, the girl of his dreams, run straight into another guy's arms. Taking a moment to bawl his eyes out somewhere private seemed like a totally reasonable reaction to that kind of trauma.
"Georgie, are you..." Mike started, ready to offer a few words of brotherly comfort.
But as he got close enough to see around the tree, he realized Georgie wasn't crying at all. He was squatting there with a look of pure fascination, watching a colony of ants moving their nest.
He was even holding a little twig, using it to mess with their line.
Granted, watching ants is pretty entertaining for a kid, but you had to admire Georgie's resilience. His attention span was truly something else.
"Mike? What are you doing here?" Georgie asked, quickly hiding the twig behind his back. Being caught doing something so childish was clearly a little embarrassing for him.
"Oh, just came to give you this..." Mike said nonchalantly, pulling out the folded note paper and handing it over.
The sight of the stationery immediately reminded Georgie of Veronica. His face fell, and he looked up gloomily. "So, you saw everything?"
Okay, maybe Georgie hadn't bounced back that fast. judging by his expression, he definitely needed a shoulder to lean on.
"Georgie, I know exactly how you feel..." Mike stepped into the role of the counselor. "But look, there are plenty of fish in the sea. The right girl is out there waiting for you, you just haven't met her yet."
Perfect. Mike finally got to deliver the speech he'd been holding onto for ages. He felt he had officially earned the title of "Supportive Big Brother."
"I... You..." Georgie wanted to argue. He wanted to say that Mike, who had multiple pretty girlfriends, couldn't possibly understand the pain of losing a first love.
But seeing the genuine concern on Mike's face, Georgie swallowed his words.
"I know it hurts right now, but time cures everything. Eventually, you'll forget all about the sadness," Mike continued, fully leaning into his role as a life coach.
He gave Georgie a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then steered him toward the road so they could walk home together.
---
Mike's pep talk must have worked, because over the next week, Georgie gradually shook off the post-breakup blues.
By Friday afternoon, after Dr. Sturgis finished his university lecture, he walked up to Mike and Sheldon.
"I've recently joined a university research team," John said. "If you two are interested, you're welcome to come by this weekend and sit in on our sessions."
After spending time with them, Dr. Sturgis had realized just how brilliant both Mike and Sheldon were. Standard college courses weren't challenging enough for them anymore; exposing them to a professional research environment would likely do more for their development.
Of course, Dr. Sturgis wasn't doing this solely out of the goodness of his heart. Inviting the grandkids was also a strategic move to get on Meemaw's good side.
He was working on becoming more "mature." And in his mind, looking out for his partner's family was the height of maturity.
"What is the research group working on?" Sheldon asked, his interest piqued immediately. He loved science, after all.
"It's in the field of physics. As for the specific focus, I still need to discuss the details with Dr. Linkletter," John replied.
His tone dipped slightly when he mentioned Dr. Linkletter.
Unfortunately, the only two people at the University of Texas operating at that high a level in physics were Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter. Even if John didn't particularly like the man, he had to tolerate him as a colleague if he wanted the project to succeed.
"The topic isn't decided yet?" Sheldon hesitated, looking torn. "I'm afraid I'm not free this weekend. I need to attend a science seminar."
"That's quite alright," Dr. Sturgis smiled. "Defining a research topic is a long process. Even if you agree to join us, there won't be much to see for a few weeks."
Clearly, this invitation was just a heads-up.
"That's a relief." Sheldon relaxed, glad the research project wouldn't clash with his seminar. "Please let me know as soon as the topic is finalized."
"I will," Dr. Sturgis nodded. He then turned to Mike. "By the way, have you been in touch with Paige? If possible, I'd like to invite her to audit the research group as well."
It was obvious the genius girl had left a strong impression on the professor. He clearly admired her intellect.
"Paige hasn't reached out to me lately, but I'll pass the message along if I talk to her," Mike replied.
Since attending Dr. Sturgis's class twice, Paige hadn't been back to the university. She hadn't even contacted Mike, despite them getting along pretty well.
"Alright then, feel free to look around. I have some business to attend to." Dr. Sturgis spotted Connie waiting at the door and didn't want to waste another second.
As Dr. Sturgis went over to be lovey-dovey with Meemaw, Mike and Sheldon wandered around the campus.
"Mike, are you free tomorrow? I want you to come to the science seminar with me," Sheldon said.
In Sheldon's opinion, Mike spending his weekends hanging out with girls was a gross misuse of time and life.
"How did you find out about this seminar?" Mike asked curiously.
Mike knew he would run into Paige at this specific event, so he had been keeping an eye out for news about it. However, he hadn't found any details yet, while Sheldon already knew the exact time and schedule. It was puzzling.
"The newspaper. I saw an ad for it in this morning's paper," Sheldon explained.
"Ah, that explains it." Mike realized his blind spot.
The Coopers subscribed to the paper, as did Meemaw. But ever since Mike got a computer, he rarely bothered with physical news.
"So? Will you come with me? The keynote speaker is an expert who has published his own book," Sheldon pressed.
"Sure. I'm actually pretty interested in it myself. Just remind me before we leave tomorrow," Mike smiled.
Truth be told, Mike hadn't seen Paige—his favorite source of free attribute points—in quite a while. He wondered how she was doing. He was always motivated when it came to people who could boost his intelligence stats.
"You're really going?" Now it was Sheldon's turn to be surprised. He hadn't expected Mike to agree so quickly.
Usually, on weekends, Mike was busy hanging out with Katie and the other girls. Even with his low emotional IQ, Sheldon understood that Katie and her friends held a strong gravitational pull for Mike.
"I'm sure," Mike nodded with a grin.
"Okay then," Sheldon didn't dig any deeper. "At dinner tonight, we'll tell George. We need him to drive us there tomorrow."