I thought my disaster saga ended with that whole robot sign-up mess. Like, come on—can I catch a break? But nope. The universe said, "Girl, hold my beaker." Because the next subject? Chemistry. And not the romantic kind—this one's all acid and trauma.
The moment I stepped into the classroom, there was Kairo at the back, super quiet, like he didn't care, but clearly his brain was operating at a molecular level. He looked so cool, I swear. Glasses on, totally deep in thought, like he was trying to invent a new element. That's how nerd—er, genius—he is.
Then there's River in front of him, just chilling and twirling his pencil like a concert drummer. When our eyes met, he smiled. He even winked. That jerk.
"Stop it," I whispered to myself as I slowly sat at the back, far away from any chance of public humiliation.
Then came Ma'am Clarisse, aka the Queen of Science, bringing doom as usual.
"Class, let's settle down," she said, tapping chalk on the board. "We're going to dive into acid-base reactions today."
Dive, she says. I don't even know how to swim in water, and now we're diving into acid?
I opened my notebook, but my brain? Totally blank. It felt like it had parked itself outside campus. Meanwhile, Kairo was in reflex mode—like his brain had auto-replies for every question.
"What happens when we mix sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid?" asked Ma'am Clarisse.
Kairo didn't even blink. "It forms sodium chloride and water, ma'am."
Cue the class's collective "OOOH" like they'd just seen a magic trick.
Meanwhile, I was staring at my notebook like maybe the answers would magically appear if I stared long enough.
Then River turned and whispered, "Bet you didn't get any of that."
"Shut up," I whispered back. But honestly? He was right. I didn't get a thing.
As the class went on, there was a weird rhythm. Kairo casually dropped science facts like it was small talk. River kept throwing flirty jabs at me. And I was trying not to panic while my brain felt like it was about to explode—not from chemical reactions, but from pressure.
Then boom—Ma'am Clarisse pointed at me. What the heck!
"Yeli, what's the answer?"
LORD JESUS, IS THIS MY TIME TO D\E?
I froze. Literally. Everything went into slow motion. All eyes on me. Kairo. River. The entire population of geniuses. And me, your friendly neighborhood dumbass, knew absolutely nothing.
"Uhhhh…" That's all I could say.
Sweat. Heat. Brain = empty. "W-well, uh… We mix the stuff… and, uh, magic happens?"
Silence. Judgy silence.
Ma'am sighed. "Let's go back to Kairo for this one."
Of course, he replied effortlessly:
"It forms sodium chloride and water, ma'am."
I wanted to climb on the chair and evaporate like a vapor.
After class, I rushed out—fully ready to self-destruct like that robot yesterday. But of course, River wouldn't let me go quietly.
"Nice one, Yeli. 'Magic happens,' ha. Cute," he said with a smirk.
"Stop it, River," I snapped, rolling my eyes. But I couldn't help but laugh. Just a little.
Then Kairo spoke—from the front of the room.
"You're not gonna get through this class by winging it, Yeli."
Ouch. Those words stung like acid.
"I'm not a genius like you," I said, trying not to sound bitter.
He just shrugged. "Oh, really? Seems like a lie to me."
I didn't know if I should feel touched or confused. For a second, his tone sounded... different.
But nope. Not falling for it. Focus, girl. Survive first.
That was, no joke, the longest 45 minutes of my entire academic life.
~•~•~