ONE CHANCE, kotlc

Chapter 6: It Is What It Is

"No, I don't," chuckled Sophie as she dug through her drawers and whipped out a notebook. "This is my scrapbook. I'm going to fill it with all of these disasters, starting now." She wiggled her phone in her face, highlighting their shocked expressions. 

"Disasters?" Keefe placed a hand over his heart. "It's called good times!" 

"I'm your opinion," Biana snorted as she went back to wiping the wall. 

They tossed retorts back and forth as Sophie shut her window and closed her curtains, even though she could still hear their muffled voices. 

She brushed her teeth, threw on a red shirt and denim shorts, making sure to brush her hair and pin on her Foxfire pin. As she hurried downstairs, the smell of bacon wafted up to her room. Sophie rushed, knowing she was smelling waffles and smoothies. A smile bloomed on her face as she ran into the living room, screeching to a stop when she saw Grady holding one of her old Star Wars lightsabers.

Keefe and Fitz held matching ones as Grady taught them how to defend themselves. It was embarrassing, but Fitz and Keefe were having fun, not realizing that Grady was being serious. Biana sat on the couch with an amused expression as Grady displayed his gadgets and gizmos, some of which Dex had created. 

"Dad!" Sophie could die of embarrassment at this point. As she walked into the kitchen, she noticed the table was set for six instead of three. 

Edaline hummed as she set out the waffles and smoothies with an odd expression on her face. 

"Our neighbours are so kind!" She smiled. If only she knew what was behind Keefe's sappy stories. And today was only her second day at Foxfire. 

Sophie plopped down in her usual seat as she sipped on her pink smoothie. Biana walked in, head held high as she sat down, followed by Fitz, Keefe, and Grady. When Edaline was pleased, she was a very rewarding person. 

"Dig in!" Grady grinned as he took a bite. Each flavour was a burst of delight, berries coating the warm, soft waffles. 

They ate, and all you could hear was the soft chewing and little plinks of their forks. 

"This is really good, Mrs. Ruewen," Keefe chimed in, trying to look the part of an angel. 

"Thank you," Edaline gushed as Sophie rolled her eyes and helped clear the table.

"Nice house," Fitz piped in. Grady started to ramble about the home's history, and Biana had to stifle a giggle. 

"Dad," Sophie interrupted. "We have to go to school." 

"Oh, right! Your parents sent your bags over," Grady pointed to the bags, and Sophie quickly hugged her parents and threw on her knapsack, ready to get to school on time. If not, earlier. 

"Sophie!" Keefe called as she stepped out onto her porch and hurried down the steps. "Want to catch a ride in my car? Or walk together?" 

Fitz and Biana walked out behind him.

"I guess we can walk," She shrugged.

It took the three of them about half an hour minutes to walk there. Once they arrived, they went their separate ways.

Sophie peered at her schedule and saw she had Chemistry with Miss Galvin. It didn't sound too hard. She took the extra time she had to find her class. Sophie then knocked on the door, wondering if anyone was inside. 

Miss Galvin threw open the door hastily, looking famished and frazzled. She had red-brown hair and blue eyes. She didn't seem to want to be teaching this class, but she muttered words about money and her pay under her breath. 

Sophie was a good five minutes early, and Miss Galvin ushered her in while asking her name.

"Sophie Foster. I'm new—" She started to explain, but she cut her off, pointing to a desk. "Do those instructions to create a tiny chemical reaction. Wait before adding the last ingredient so I can mark down your skill level," Lady Galvin ordered her to do so, not looking at her as she scribbled down notes furiously. 

Other students started filing in and going to their seats. Making a chemical reaction and being graded was probably the simple routine in chemistry. She plopped down and tugged on an itchy eyelash as she looked at the ingredient list, bowl, and utensils that sat before her.

"Ingredients are on the shelf," Miss Galvin noted, pointing to a shelf with vials and bottles of all colours and sizes. 

Sophie nodded as she took her list and hesitantly stood and walked over to the shelf. Luckily, today they were working on chain reactions with water and other substances. She grabbed what was on the list: A bottle of water, ice from the cooler, and a few other chemicals with odd names as well. She took what she needed and left what she didn't, carefully carrying the items back to her seat as she followed the instructions. 

First, she poured half of her bottle of water into her bowl. Then, she took a warm chemical stone and carefully plunked it into the water with some tweezers. The water fizzled and tinted gold with bubbles. Miss Galvin watched from afar as she continued. 

She poured in a multicolored substance, causing the water to change its colour to an array of rainbows. Sophie pursed her lips as she added in the ice, which absorbed the colours. She had to pour a tiny bit more water and in a few more ingredients.

"Make sure you keep this substance in your bowl, for if it gets on anything, it will be utterly severe," Miss Galvin informed them. 

Utterly severe, thought Sophie. It's only the start of the year. She carefully dumped in an odd-looking chemical powder and her mixture fizzled as Miss Galvin stood close by, wearing a bored expression. 

For a minute, nothing happened to Sophie's mixture. She tapped the outside of her bowl, causing the periwinkle-eyed boy with strawberry-blonde hair to shoot her an odd look. After she tapped her bowl, the mixture made a grumbling sound, like when you're hungry. Really, really hungry.

Miss Galvin had a furrowed brow as she rushed over to inspect Sophie's work. 

And as she did, it all exploded.