The Anti-Delinquent System

E i g h t e e n : Chemical Reaction

Chase rolls his eyes and refocuses his attention on the worksheet.

"If you want an A, Travis, I suggest you start working," Mrs Lopez instructs from behind us, her tone critical. "You haven't even sorted your equipment out yet."

"Yes, Miss," Joe pipes cheerily.

"And Thatcher," Miss Lopez pauses in her walk by the desk to place a finger on the worksheet in front of Chase. "I suggest you make that work neater or get another person to do the writing. I like to be able to read scientific tables."

Wearing that classic Lopez frown of disappointment, she wanders away.

Dylan and I separate from the table to collect the necessary items for our experiment. Mrs Lopez always lines the asserted equipment at the back of the classroom, so it's an easy task. I grab a beaker, lid, filter paper, pipette and the plate. Dylan gathers the solvent and the analyte, and we grin at each other as we meet back at the desk. The teacher has moved on to criticise another group, so we have some breathing room again. I lay everything out neatly.

"Draw a line in pencil about one centimetre from the bottom of the plate," Alec instructs. Chase leans down to do so. His mouth is pressed into a thin line and his chirpy mood seems to have disappeared.

"He doesn't like Mrs Lopez," Dylan whispers to me.

"Yeah," I mumble back. "I can tell."

While Dylan uses the pipette to drop the analyte across the paper, I direct Chase to fill the beaker with a small amount of solvent. In this experiment, it's important not to use too much otherwise the results won't show. Chase nods mutely and reaches for the bottle. I lean down until the beaker is at my eye-level, so I can accurately instruct him about when to stop. Chase unscrews the cap and lifts the rim of the bottle to the edge of the beaker. The liquid drizzles slowly into the bottom of the beaker.

"Shii...ttake mushrooms!" Alec curses.

The sudden noise startles Chase, and his hand tips, releasing a glut of solvent into the bottom of the beaker. Alec raises his finger. The edge of the glass plate has sliced his fingertip, and already the blood is beginning to drip.

"You okay?" Dylan asks Alec. Alec nods but creatively curses again under his breath. Riley must be rubbing off on him, with her adorable alternatives to swear words.

Mrs Lopez is approaching us now.

"Crap, that's way too much solvent," I tell Chase, my attention turning back to the beaker. We're over the mark by almost fifty per cent.

"I can see that," he responds snappily. "Alec shocked me."

Someone is moody.

"Go and grab a funnel then and we'll pour some back into the bottle."

Chase stares at me incredulously. "Why don't you go and grab a funnel?"

I blink, surprised by his sudden hostility. I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't know why he thinks it's okay to snap at me.

"Everything okay over here?" Mrs Lopez arrives behind me, her eyes scanning the scene before her. Alec has left to find a band-aid for his finger, leaving Chase, Dylan and I staring gormlessly at her. Her eyes focus on the beaker. "Far too much solvent. You'll need to pour some back into the bottle. Funnels are in the cupboard at the back."

Chase releases an irritated sigh.

"Everything okay with that, Chase?" She asks sharply.

"Peachy," he mutters.

"Get back to work please. Maybe put somebody else in charge of pouring too." She gives Chase a pointed look, and I realise that she doesn't like him very much either. Dylan and I exchange worried expressions as Chase's shoulders stiffen with anger.