Audrey in Love

Chapter Four - Violence

"She didn't get the name correctly. It's actually 4-ethyl-3-methyl heptanoic acid."

Audrey disintegrated.

No no no no no! This can't be happening! She wasn't wrong. She was never wrong!

Mr Ronald turned to look at the board. He cleared his throat and shuffled awkwardly. Audrey's heart threatened to burst open with suspense. Mr Ronald should tell him that she wasn't wrong. Tell him, Mr Ronald. Tell him!!!

"Well, we have to start numbering from the principal functional group, and in this case, it's the carboxyl group..."

Yesssss, go on. She knew that already.

"So if we number the straight chain, ignoring the substituents, that gives us hexanoic acid..."

Aha! She beamed.

"But-"

And the joy on her face shattered like a mirror.

"Go on, Mr Ronald. We're listening. What's the but?" Malcolm prompted maniacally, even though he probably didn't understand a word he was saying.

"But if you started numbering all over again, and this time, you numbered the longest branched chain instead, you'd discover it's not really hexanoic. It's heptanoic acid, like Liam said. The rest of the straight chain becomes the substituent. So it's actually 4-ethyl-3-methyl heptanoic acid.

"In conclusion, Liam was right and she was wrong?" Malcolm grinned.

"Well, yes."

Bella screeched with joy. "I'm so happy for you, smarty pants. How could you tell by just looking at the board?"

Liam shrugged. "It's actually pretty easy."

Bella scoffed and waved her hand at him. "Oh don't be modest. If Audrey didn't get it, then it's got to be super hard. But not for you, of course!"

Her words echoed in Audrey's head. Malcolm's laughter boomed from behind like a music box. Audrey's life flashed before her eyes. She being Becca, and he being Jefferson.

History was repeating itself all over again. Maybe this repetition would be worse than the original. Maybe she was way too dumb to even be Becca. Maybe her name wouldn't even make the history books. Maybe when teachers retold their story in years to come to the next generation, it would be about Liam the genius and some girl named... what's her face?

Mr Ronald cleared his throat again, stroking his beard slightly nervously. "Er... Thank you, Liam, for um...bringing that to our notice. I'm impressed." Turning to Audrey, he continued, "I'm sure you would've gotten that right if you'd just... Calmed down. You're always in a rush, Audrey. That was a very easy question for you. Speed is key, but next time, focus on accuracy. That's your biggest flaw."

Audrey pretty much died after that. She didn't make eye contact with him during all that, but the weight of his words sank in her brain like an anvil. Her eyes stung as she stared on the square patterns on the tile, but she didn't cry. Crying would make this all worse.

For the first time ever, she wished chemistry class would end in seconds, but instead, time seemed to move even slower. Quietly and slowly.

Finally, the bell jingled.

When Mr Ronald left the classroom, Malcolm added salt to her sore. He stood up slowly, pretended to adjust glasses he didn't wear and cleared his throat exaggeratedly. He was going to mock her.