Chemistry

It Begins With Trouble

"Ok class, get to work," Mr. James called before turning his back on us and began crossing something out on the whiteboard, smearing red and blue marker as he went.

"Ok team, let's do this," Noah enthused as he began grabbing random things from the table in front of us. I snatched two test tubes before he mixed them, rolling my eyes as I placed them back on the rack in their rightful places.

"Don't touch anything before you screw something up," I told him in an annoyed voice, shooting him a straight look before glancing down at the sheet in front of me, re-reading the instructions for the lab for the 5th time.

"No worries partner, I know what I'm doing. Lets get some of our chemistry on!" he exclaimed, reaching for another vial again. I hastily slapped his hands away before he cause some irreversible damage. I needed to do this right if I wanted to go into the exam with a good baseline, and of course I got partnered with the dumbest kid in the class. Just my luck.

"No, you don't know what you're doing," I said as I frowned at him. "Just don't touch anything unless I tell you to. Don't move anything unless I tell you to. And for god's sake DO NOT MIX ANYTHING UNLESS I TELL YOU TO!" I almost screamed as I snatched the vial from his hands for the third time, the liquids sloshing quietly. Noah just screwed his face into a frown, crossing his arms over his chest as he tapped his foot in annoyance.

I glanced around the room, not surprised to find that no one had looked my way, even with all the yelling. They were probably between feeling sorry for me and rejoicing that I had been partnered with Noah instead of them. He was officially now my problem. Great, this was going to be the worst 70 minutes of my life. If I managed to live that long.

"You're no fun," he complained as I glanced back down at my sheet, making a final note before grabbing the match box from beside me and handing it to him.

"Oh well. Here, light the burner," I directed as I searched our table for the right supplies. I grabbed a clean beaker and a number of ingredients before turning back to see what he was doing. This was my first mistake.

"No!" I practically screeched, but it was too late. A tall column of bright orange flames shot up from the burner, and I frantically reached for the valve despite the searing heat. I managed to turn it down before anything caught on fire.

"Hey Noah, mind not lighting anything on fire while I'm in charge of you?" Mr. James asked as he gazed at us from over the rim of his glasses, like an old person.

"No problem sir, I wouldn't dare," he responded with a bright smile. Mr. James just grunted and shook his head before looking back down at his work.

"You're supposed to make sure the valve is turned down before you light it," I hissed, but wasn't in the least bit surprised when he just shrugged it off.

"Sorry, forgot," he responded nonchalantly. I just sighed.

"Just remember, clockwise to turn it up, counter clockwise to turn it down," I reminded him in the most easy going voice I could muster, then turned back to my work. I grabbed a few of the ingredients and began adding them to the beaker. I reached for a stir stick, but before I could do much else a loud sound, like breaking glass, sounded in the room. I whirled around to the most likely culprit. As I suspected, Noah was standing beside our table looking down at the floor where a test tube rack lay on the ground, the broken fragments of what was once test tubed strewn around. Luckily, it was the rack of empty's. The one full of chemicals and reactants were still safe on the table beside me.

"Really?" I asked as I took in the broken test tubes. "I thought I told you not to touch anything."

"Yeah, my mistake," he remarked with ease as he walked towards where the dustpans and brooms were kept. My blood was starting to boil, but I forced myself to take a deep breath and focus on my work. Maybe cleaning would keep him busy enough that I would actually get some actual work done! 

I scrambled to continue, hastily checking off the ingredients as I added them to the warming beaker. I ignored my lab partner as he noisily began sweeping up the glass, and even when he complained that he had cut himself. I just told him over my shoulder to go see Mr. James for a band-aid as I recorded my results. 

You have to understand, Noah if one of those kids that is only really in school because of sports. He's brilliant on the field, but really that's the extent of his talent. I'm not saying that all jocks are like this, I know many who preform just as good in the class room as on the field, Noah just isn't one of them. Everyone knows that its easier to just do the work and share it with him later, if he even cares at that point. That's why when he came back I was relieved that I was just about done.

"Here, stir this. And be careful," I warned as I handed him a stir stick, turning back to finish the final questions and write up. I glanced up every few seconds just to make sure he was doing it right. When I finally finished I smiled, glancing down at my watch. Only 10 minutes left!

"Alright, lets get cleaned up. I can share my results," I said as I picked up the metal tongs and reached over and cautiously picked up the boiling beaker, only to find another group using the sink. 

"Turn off the burner, would ya? And don't forget to turn it down first," I said as I turned to wait in line for the sink. This is why I didn't see what happened next, though I have a very good idea.

"No problem," he said, and presumably turned the valve clockwise all the way.

"Ow," he yelped. I had just finished pouring out our scolding liquid and was turning for the faucet when his cry echoed through the room. My head whipped around to see an altitudinous tower of swirling fire shooting up from the burner.

"Turn it down, turn it down," I hollered, but it was too late. The ceiling panel started to bloom brown just at I arrived at out table, and I grabbed Noah's arm, hauling him backwards just before it came crashing down.

"Fire, fire!" people screeched as everyone backed up from our table. I tore my eyes away from the blaze long enough to watch Mr. James switch off the gas to the room before grabbing the fire extinguisher and running towards us and our bonfire of a table, pulling the pin and spraying white foam manically.

"Everyone back up," he bellowed as he tried to extinguish the flames. By this time someone had had the audacity to pull the fire alarm, and within half a minute the sprinkles had drenched us all.

"Everyone outside," Mr. James yelled over the chaos as he began ushering us from the room. I had enough time to catch a final glance at our melting, smoldering table before I was lost in a sea of students. I was caught in the current, with no choice but to continue forward with the waterlogged crowd.

Somehow I made it outside, and frowned as Noah came to stand beside me, his mouth forming a thin line as Mr. James began to call out the names on the attendance, recording it down on his soggy paper.

"I believe that was the very thing I told you not to do," I said as I frowned madly at him.

"Did you really think I would listen?"

This is my first wattpad story so let me know what you guys think! ;)