Ivy and the Fluorescent Lightbulb

Chapter 13.1 - The Future World

Ivy's day went just as poorly as she had earlier predicted it would be. In the first two hours of school alone, she was singled out for not having her homework, gotten assigned silent lunch for the day, and was assigned as the classroom cleaner for the rest of the week. The only bright note for Ivy was the fact that all of the events—even if they were mostly negative—helped make the already miserable day pass by faster.

It wasn't long before Ivy found herself back in chemistry class, listening as Ms. Buchanan was reviewing the previous day's lessons. Ivy glanced at Eloise next to her.

Eloise was diligently writing notes on the lecture, laser-focused on the teacher. Ivy guiltily turned her attention to Ms. Buchanan, keenly aware of how she had been daydreaming instead of listening.

"Alright, so now that we've finished that topic," Ms. Buchanan said, pulling open the projector screen and covering her diagrams on the board, "we'll be watching a short video on element applications."

Ivy yawned as the lights turned off and the video began. She struggled to keep her already heavy eyes open. Once again, her mind wandered back to the strange effect the lightbulb had on the future world technology. I should run a test with the future clothes... she pondered, leaning her head onto her hand. But we don't have any fluorescent lightbulbs at home...

...But the classroom storage room does. She shifted. I can really only go there during class times... Ivy looked at the clock, trying to see what time it was in the dark room.

1:50

I can work with 20 minutes... she thought as she rose and scooted towards the front of the classroom, careful to avoid blocking the projector's light as she reached Ms. Buchanan's desk.

"Ms. Buchanan," she whispered.

"Hm?" the teacher replied, turning from the computer.

"May I use the restroom, please?"

In the darkness, Ivy could see her teacher's face twitch into a small frown. She took a few moments of thought before speaking, however. "Fifteen minutes," she finally said. "If you're not back by 2:05, I'll be sending someone to check on you."

"Thank you!" Ivy said, rushing to the door and bursting into the hallway. Fifteen minutes is a bit of a stretch...but maybe if I hurry...

✨✨✨✨✨

Ivy rushed into the storage room, breathless. In her arms was the bag of future world clothes. She had to run to one side of the school to her lockers, where she had earlier hidden the clothes away, then back to the other side in order to make it into the room on time. She looked at the clock.

1:55

"Not bad!" Ivy contentedly said, quickly switching from her school clothes to the future world clothes.

1:57

"It takes two minutes to walk from the classroom to the bathroom," she muttered, fidgeting with Oak's gloves.

As she adjusted the gloves into place, the threads of her clothes came to light, softly glowing neon green. Perfect! she thought with a smile. She glanced at the clock.

1:58

If I time this correctly, I should be able to stay for a couple of extra minutes while she sends someone to get me. "Now," she said aloud, trotting to the box stack of fluorescent lightbulbs. "Let's see what you can do!"

With a flourish, Ivy picked a bulb from the large storage tube and swung it in the air, spinning in a dramatic circle. She waited.

"Huh," she said in disappointment, "That's what worked last time..."

Ivy rubbed the bulb in her hands, observing the lights of her clothes' fibers. Nothing changes with them when I do that...

"What did I do last time for it to work?" she said aloud, dropping to a sitting position on the floor.

Ivy absentmindedly rolled the bulb on the floor. Maybe... she held the bulb to her health bar. "Nothing, " she sighed. She glanced at the clock.

2:00

"Let's see, Ivy," she said aloud, jumping to her feet. "What was the one thing in common with both times the lightbulb did something?"

Ivy stared at the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Both times, she had brought the lightbulb near a box of some sort, and both times the room's lights seemed to be interfered with when the lightbulb got too close. The second time, it turned everything off...and somehow made the portal work... "Maybe I can reopen the portal if I can figure this out!" she said, brightening.

Ivy paused. What would she do once she succeeded in returning? There was only one bulb in the future world. She looked at the bulb in her hands. And I don't think there's a lot of yittrium in this thing to make enough of a difference anyways.

She sighed. She already missed Syndria, Kronalia, Oak, Carbon, and Augaley. It was nice to be able to have so many friends to talk to and bounce ideas off of. I bet we'd already have a solution if I were with them right now...

Her mind flashed to Eloise. "I guess she does seem like the kind of person I could bounce ideas off of too..." she said with a small sigh. "But now she's not talking to me...which I guess was my fault." Too late to change that, now, she thought. I'm pretty sure Eloise said she'd never talk to me again after this morning.

She twisted the bulb in her hands. "I'm a pretty mean person, aren't I?" she thoughtfully said, sullenly looking at her feet. I became exactly like the bullies I've tried avoiding, she thought, thinking of Eloise's hurt face.

Ivy thought back to Oak. He was pretty mean at first, too, she reflected. But then he apologized...

"Maybe I should try that..." Ivy whispered.

Suddenly, the lights turned on in the room, abruptly changing the moody dimness into a blinding environment. The fluorescent bulbs above cast a harsh white light on everything around. Ivy gasped.

"Ivy?" a voice said from the door. "Ms. Buchanan sent me to look for you..."