Nightlife ✓

16 | orbit

AN ELECTRON IS HELD IN orbit around an atom's nucleus by electrostatic attraction.

Electrons are negatively charged and nuclei are positively charged, so they attract each other. The old adage opposites attract seemed to hold true for a lot of things in my life. From the famous model attracted to the quiet student, down to the very fabric holding together the universe.

I was an electron stuck in Quen's orbit, and I needed to get out. So what if he didn't return my feelings? That was life. I didn't want to hopelessly chase after him when rejection awaited. It was clear to me that being around him had thrown off my emotional balance, so I needed to step back and move everything back into place.

The only problem was that I didn't want to stop being his friend completely.

The electron needed to leave orbit, but not be flung too far away. Actually, that was a really bad analogy. Because the orbits and therefore the ionisation energies of electrons were quantised, it was either all or nothing—

"Why are you studying quantum mechanics?" Viv's voice rose up from behind me. "You don't take a quantum course."

The music blasting through my headphones had blocked out the sounds of Riley and Viv entering my bedroom. I slipped them from my ears and smiled over my shoulder. "I was just researching for my Python project," I explained.

"Python project? You don't take a programming course either," Viv deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes at her and saw a small smile push onto her face. She knew very well about my newfound hobby, but she took endless pleasure in teasing my every step away from ABG-dom. Pushing my chair further away from the desk, I invited my friends over to see my work.

I continued, "You can't really learn Python without giving context to your code, like stock market predictions or pandemic modelling. I chose quantum mechanics because it has the potential for some really cool graphs."

My coding skills were getting better week by week. Every time I had seen programmers in movies, I'd thought the trails of coloured text on a dark background looked impossibly cool. Turns out that was just an aesthetic preference.

Spyder, Jupyter, Azure—most other platforms—had light mode if you wanted.

I didn't have a lot of spare time between my multiple jobs and schoolwork, but whenever I did, I added a little more to the running notebook of code I had compiled. But I couldn't code about something that I didn't understand. Function-wise, it just wouldn't work, so I dedicated an equal portion to researching the areas of quantum mechanics I was interested in.

"You spend so much time cooped up in your room. We could have really used a third yoga buddy today," Viv sang, stretching her arms high above her head.

Both Riley and Viv were clad in skin-hugging athletic wear, and their cheeks were brightly flushed. Riley's hair frizzed with the sweat, while Viv's baby hairs clung to her forehead.

"Hm?" I murmured distractedly, finishing the sentence on magnetic quantum numbers I had been reading before they came in. Then her words registered, "Oh, yes! How was yoga, you guys?"

"Each time I go back, I convince myself it couldn't have been that painful the last time, but they prove me wrong," Riley pulled a pained, disgusted face. "So, so wrong. I'll never go again."

"Drama queen," Viv smirked. "Wait till I drag you out in two months' time. It was a great class! I feel so relaxed."

"I think I sprained my back. Those clicks I heard do not bode well," Riley moaned, rubbing her lumbar area tenderly. "I'm not made to be a human pretzel."