Add substance Y to X. I glanced at the top of the page to check which chemical X was. Then I picked the bottle out from the rack, unscrewing it and squeezing exactly two drops from the dropper. The mixture turned into a deep shade of purple.
I put the bottle away and squinted at the next instruction. Shake the test tube for a minute and add 3 cubic centimetres of...? I frowned at the Chinese characters, momentarily forgetting what chemical it meant. I adjusted my laboratory goggles and called over to Bai Yang, who was my lab partner, "Bai Yang, what's this chemical?"
Bai Yang, who was refilling a conical flask, leaned over to look at our instruction sheet. "Uh..." he hesitated, looking puzzled. "I think... potassium nitrate?"
"You think?" I scoffed. "Bai Yang, I need your help in translating this because I'm horrible at Chinese. Are. You. Sure?"
Bai Yang looked indignant and slightly annoyed, waving me away. "Yeah yeah, I'm sure it's potassium nitrate,"
Still suspicious, I picked the bottle labelled with a particular chemical formula from the rack, passing it to Bai Yang. "You do the next step,"
"Why me?!"
"Because you'll be suffering your own consequences if you had gotten the chemical's name wrong," I smiled smugly, watching Bai Yang roll his eyes at me. I unclipped the test tube from the test-tube holder and began shaking it gently, watching on suspiciously as Bai Yang used a syringe to measure 3 cubic centimetres of potassium nitrate. I double-checked the paper again, trying to decipher the characters to see whether we had made a mistake or not. I sucked in a breath. I mean, if it is a dangerous chemical, they won't leave it in the school, right? What's the worse that can happen?
I transferred the test tube with the thoroughly shaken solution onto the rack as Bai Yang cautiously squirted the potassium nitrate into the test tube. I shifted backwards a little.
As the last drops of the liquid left the syringe, the mixture began to bubble dangerously. My eyes widened and Bai Yang scooted backwards hastily. The test tube then exploded, the mess spilling all over our bench and a bit of the mixture staining the corner of my worksheet. Shards of glass flew in all directions, and one sailed close enough to me just to fall onto the ground beside my shoe. "Oh my god!" I shrieked as I heard a scream from someone at the back of the class.
Ai Qi, who was sitting at the bench behind mine, leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Uh, you added potassium chloride correctly, did you?"
"I'm never trusting you again, Bai Yang!" I groaned in exasperation, grabbing a paper towel from Ai Qi's bench and picking up the glass shards on the floor. Bai Yang looked slightly shell-shocked at our misfortune but nevertheless began to clean up the mess on our table using the table rag.
"At least I got the 'potassium' part right," Bai Yang shot back, grumbling as he wiped the liquid off the table. I threw the remainings of the test tube into the wastepaper basket next to our bench.
Qiao Chen, who was coincidentally Ai Qi's lab partner too, came to the front of our bench, a dorky grin on his face as he propped his chin up with his hands and rested his elbows on our table. "Now now, guys--"
"Go back to your bench and stop bugging us," Bai Yang muttered, flicking the cloth at him, missing his face by inches.
"Hey!" Qiao Chen shouted, causing our teacher to look in our direction as she entered the lab. Thankfully, during our mini accident, she was out to go to the washroom, so she couldn't witness our explosion, plus Bai Yang and I didn't have to end up with a lecture on being careless. I glanced at our table. It looked seemingly clean enough to not let the teacher suspect anything. I pushed my stationery case onto the corner of my worksheet to cover up the brown stain.
"Go back to your seat, Qiao Chen," the chemistry teacher scolded in a stern voice. Qiao Chen huffed and moved back into his chair next to Ai Qi.
"What did you want to say?" I spun around in my chair to face Qiao Chen and Ai Qi.
Qiao Chen grinned. "I'm thinking, since our termly exams are coming up, let's go for lunch together and study after that. My treat,"
"The four of us?" Bai Yang dropped his rag next to the sink. "Sure, I guess,"
"Don't you guys have practice?" Ai Qi questioned.
Qiao Chen sighed, a sad look in his eyes. "Captain told Senior Yan to cut down on our training sessions so we can focus on our studies,"
"But we have our competitions coming up!" Bai Yang protested. "Practising tennis should be our current priority, not studying,"
"Your studies are important too, guys," Ai Qi piped up. "I'm pretty sure if Si Yang hadn't requested for this, you both would be neglecting your homework already. Anyway, as much as I don't want to fail--"
Qiao Chen nearly fell off his chair, his eyes wide as he gaped at Ai Qi in horror. "Ai Qi? Fail?"
Bai Yang shook his head, scoffing, "If Ai Qi ever fails, watch us get negative scores,"
I rolled my eyes, although I silently agreed with both boys. But I turned to Ai Qi, "Ignore those two,"
Ai Qi gave a small smile. "I can't go with you guys today, I have extra classes,"
"Awh, no," I pouted, patting Ai Qi's hand. "We will all miss you, Ai Qi,"
"Oh, quit the sappiness," Qiao Chen groaned, while Bai Yang scoffed quietly at my dramatics. "Can't you girls live without each other for a couple of hours?"
"We aren't going to your burger store, are we, Qiao Chen?" Bai Yang asked.
"Oh!" I gasped, raising my arm in excitement. "Let's go to the Japanese restaurant nearby. I'm craving for ramen,"
"I haven't eaten ramen in ages," Qiao Chen admitted. "I'll neglect my burgers for today just for ramen, then,"
Ai Qi sighed regretfully, resting her head on the table. "Man, now you guys are making me hungry,"
♡♡♡
Bai Yang groaned in the background as my eyes scanned the area. Where was it, I thought I had seen it the other day...
"Yue En, we aren't lost, are we?" Qiao Chen asked weakly, his hand tugging on his bag that he slung over his shoulder. Both boys were dragging their feet behind me as I searched around for the restaurant.
"Lost?" I repeated, forcing out a nervous laugh. "What do you mean lost? We aren't lost! I... uh... it's around here somewhere, I know so... hahaha," I stretched my neck to peer over the other side of the street, desperate to find the restaurant. What the heck... I'm pretty sure I saw it around the area the other day!
Bai Yang scoffed, jogging up in front of me so that he blocked my line of vision. "Yue En," he said emotionlessly. "Are. We. Lost?"
I sighed, giving in as I turned away from Bai Yang. "Yes, we are! Are you guys happy now?"
"No," The boys answered flatly in unison.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, turning on my map app which I had stubbornly refused to use at first. I had been overconfident and relied on my memory to guide us to the Japanese restaurant, despite only seeing it once or twice before. I typed in the name of the restaurant and a route appeared on the screen. The location was just... twenty metres away. I followed the route, the boys trailing behind, and found the restaurant hidden behind a couple of other stores, on the other end of the street.
"Ahah! Found it," I announced, skipping merrily towards the restaurant's entrance while I heard Qiao Chen sigh with relief behind me.
"Should've just gone to the burger store," Qiao Chen muttered, loud enough for me to hear.
I pushed the door open, ushering the boys in. My gaze fell on a familiar figure as one waiter came up to us.
"Isn't that Senior Zhuo Zhi?" Qiao Chen pointed in the direction I was looking in.
☆☆☆
The chemistry lab accident was pretty fun to write :) also, even though it would be kind of abrupt, but I'm going to be reducing the word count in every chapter now. My plan is to go back to my regular 3x per week posting schedule in a few weeks.
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~ Snowy ♡