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Chapter 7

Thursday 10th September 1989, 11:45

It was currently 11:45, third period chemistry, and the lab, which had once started out clean and pristine, without a single spillage or shard of broken glass, was now in complete pandemonium. There was no sanity left in anyone, it did not look like a group of high schoolers learning a required practical for their midterm tests, no, they could easily have been mistaken for a bunch of five year old's mixing special 'potions' with their mom's shampoo and their dad's shaving cream, as they ran about laughing and giggling, waving random instruments about, and not paying attention to the method whatsoever. 

Test tubes, lots of test tubes, were scattered all over the desks, the Bunsen burners were unchecked, holes all the way open and the blue flame roaring, and no one had their safety goggles on or even had their hair tied back, chairs were untucked and bags littered the floor- the whole room was a safety hazard. Mr. Clarke, the science teacher, was slumped over his desk, having fallen asleep grading papers, and the rest of the class had done nothing to wake him up, to them, it meant a free period, where they could mess around with chemicals, not wear safety goggles, and not get yelled at by the teacher, it was a one way win situation.


...


In all honesty, the class had started out quite organized, and had made an attempt to be productive. Everyone had chosen a partner to work with and had started off on the right track, getting all the equipment, bringing it back to their desks safely, and managing to set it up somewhat similar to the diagram on the blackboard.

Eddie had not asked to be paired with Richie, nor did he particularly want to be, and seeing as this was a practical they would need to know in their exams, he wanted to focus. Knowing Richie wasn't very good at that, he had tried to find a different partner as quickly as possible, but it wasn't the easiest to get someone to willingly work with you when you were a loner. He'd given up approaching people after the third disgusted look thrown towards him, and had walked slowly back to his desk where Richie was waiting with a small smile on the tall boy's face.

 "Where were you Eds? I thought we were partners," 

"Don't call me that. And uh...partners? Eddie said tentatively, looking up at Richie , who was still smiling hopefully down at the small boy, and Eddie sighed inwardly, he couldn't very well say no to him, it was quite hard, especially as he did owe Richie for helping him the day before. Eddie didn't have anyone else to work with so he thought he might as well give in, "Yeah... yeah we are... I uh...went to grab some equipment, but it I couldn't find anything,"

"Well no wonder you didn't you idiot, it's near the desk over there," Richie said, pointing to the far end of the room, where the rest of their classmates were crowded, fighting for the least stained heat mat, and glass beakers that didn't have large cracks in them.

"I knew that," Eddie huffed walking over to where the equipment was kept, weaving through the desks to the clump of people who stood there arguing. He stood on his tiptoes, trying to find the best way to get through the hoard, unable to see anything beyond the tops of their heads. "Shit," he murmured, jerking away as someone stepped on his foot. 

He frowned, walking a bit to the left, then to the right and still not seeing an opening, he didn't want to be rude and push through everyone, but he and Richie really needed some equipment that wasn't severely damaged. Just then, a pair of hands moved him aside by his shoulders, and Richie rolled his eyes, walking into the cluster of people occasionally shoving some away with his elbows, and swiftly grabbing all the equipment they needed in just few minutes. He walked back out with a smug smile on his face, setting everything down on the desk, pulling out his chair and then sitting down to face Eddie, who had his arms crossed, the corners of his lips turned down.