Scientific Actress

Ex-A-Rooney

Parker walked into the lab, holding a plant. I was looking at my notes for my serum.

"Well, well, well. Parker Rooney is here after school," I teased, smiling softly at the aspiring scientist.

The smile stayed as he tilted my head up for a kiss. It lasted only a second before he sat down next to me. He looked at me endearingly, his eyes sparkling from the light. He grabbed my hand and gently pulled me over to his station.

"Check it out. I'm creating a plant that can survive on a Mars colony. I took the genes of a nutrient-dense avocado and spliced them with the genes of a cactus for its ability to thrive with little water. I call it the cacti-cado!"

"Well, I made a serum with the DNA of a Venus flytrap. It'll make plants so aggressive, they'll survive anywhere!" I said excitedly.

"You're so cute when you get excited," Parker mumbled, smiling. "My cacti-cado needs to spend a weekend at the same temperature as the Mars biodome. Exactly twenty-four degrees Celsius."

"Well, my serum needs to be at twenty-two degrees Celcius." I punched in the numbers.

"Twenty-two it is, then," Parker decided.

I left with a small smile. Parker lingered in the lab before catching up with me.

~~~

Parker and I arrived at the school the next morning. He smirked, knowing that he was going to have a better project. But with how careful I was with my serum, I think we both had a fair chance of winning.

"We're going to check on our projects, aren't we?" I asked.

"Uh, cha."

Parker reached for the door and opened it, allowing me to go through. I smiled and kissed his cheek before I walked in. When Parker and I stopped, we saw a terrifying, giant venus fly trap. Parker and I screamed.

"What happened to my cacti-cado?" Parker questioned.

"And why is it so hot in here?" I added. I looked at the thermostat. "Forty-two degrees celsius. How did that happen?" I pressed two and four on the box to fix the temperature.

"I must have punched in forty-two instead of twenty-four," Parker realized.

"So, we agree on something, and you change it on me behind my back. And now our projects are ruined, because of something you decided to change behind my back," I stated.

"I'm sorry." Parker grabbed my hands gently. "I thought two degrees wouldn't hurt. And because of my stupid mistake, things are a disaster. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," I replied. "My growth serum evaporated."

"And once it became airborne, it mixed with my cacti-cado," Parker realized. "That's what made it ginormous."

"This thing is out of control."

"If it grows out of the lab, we'll lose containment."

I crashed into the wall by backing up, accidentally hitting the emergency button. I groaned at the impact as the sirens went off. A giant metal door closed us off from the rest of the school.

"We don't know what this thing is capable of. We have to stop it," I decided.

"It's gonna take all of our scientific ability," Parker reasoned.

I scoffed. "And when have the limits of our scientific ability stopped us?"

Parker smiled. "Never. Challenge accepted!"

After long hours of us in the lab, and the room thankfully cooling down, it was ready. "I call it Dr. P's Tubes of Terror. Add the concentrated weed killer."

I got really close to his face, making him blush as I added the hazardous chemicals. "O-okay. So, if we can get the plant to eat the Tubes of Terror, it will release the weed killer and boom! The cacti-cado will be cacti-dead-o!"

I held my protests. By killing it, we kill our chances of being on Mars. This was safer.

"So, how do we get this in the plant's mouth?" I asked.

"Watch and learn." Parker stabbed a soccer ball and cut open a pentagon. He slipped the tubes inside. Parker kicked the ball around, making me smile.

"Trying to impress me, Rooney?" I teased.

"Am I? And are you?" Parker asked.

He kicked the ball into the plant's mouth. He hugged me as the plant died right in front of us. I kissed his jaw, relieved that we were safe once again. We took deep breaths, knowing that was scary. The whole thing could have exploded in our faces.

"Yes, I was impressed," I admitted. "It may be too soon, but I think we should start another project that involves both of us, so we have an equal chance of getting in."

Parker grinned. "Sounds amazing."