The Look Of Love

Chapter 34: Reactions

Wednesday, dreaded Wednesday. The day Bobby disliked more than any other. Mainly because of his second period Chemistry class.  And here he is stuck in it. 

Chemistry for him is like history for Mary. He doesn't get it. It makes no sense at all. Sitting here listening to Dr. Heyman drone on and on, about chemical reactions and equations, is mind numbing. He turned towards Johnny and saw him doodling in his notebook.

"Atoms are neither created, nor destroyed, during any chemical reaction," Dr. Heyman stated. He went on talking, "Chemical reactions are represented on paper by chemical equations. In the equations, the numbers of each type of atom are the same on both sides of the equation. A chemical reaction represents a change in the distribution of the atoms." 

Just then Mary entered the classroom. As Dr. Heyman's teaching assistant, it's not uncommon for her to float in and out of the room. Bobby's eyes connected with hers. He gave her a playful wink. It caused her eyes to brighten considerably. 

She handed her favorite teacher a stack of papers, then turned to leave. Dr. Heyman stopped her and said, "Mary these students are having trouble understanding chemical reactions and equations. We've been stuck on this for over a week. Could you please help me, help them?"

Mary beamed, "Of course I would love to!" She looked at the students. They all seemed bored and uninterested, even Bobby. She had no idea why! Dr. Heyman teaches the most interesting things (but then it could be just her and her love of science). Dr. Heyman shared his teacher's edition and instantly, a thought came to life in her mind. 

She turned to the students, and took a deep breath. She tried hard not to look at Bobby, as he would make her nervous— she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. "So this is a really easy concept, once you have a firm grasp of the terminology. But to make things simpler for you, think of this like your friends," she explained. 

Dr. Heyman threw her a questioning look, while Bobby and Johnny sat up a little straighter. They're curious to see what she has to say. She continued with her explanation.

"Let's say you have your group of friends. You're all bonded together, like the atoms. One day something happens, and you get into an argument. The argument is like the chemical reaction." She picked up a piece of chalk to write the parts on the board. 

"Even though you argued, and you didn't talk to each other for days or weeks, there's still the same number of people involved in the argument. That didn't change. Just like atoms in a chemical reaction." She paused to scan their faces. Turning around she added to the writing, on the board. 

They all seemed to understand, except Janice Evans in the back. However, she's totally clueless about everything anyway. So, she doesn't count. Mary glanced at Bobby and Johnny. They gave her reassuring smiles. She carried on talking. 

"The argument caused a reaction from the friends, which caused a rearrangement of them. Sides were taken, just like the atoms in a chemical reaction. So now, everything is a mess and you have to work it out somehow. That's like the chemical equations. The equations help you balance the mess of the reactions. Which is why you have to identify what caused the reaction  (the argument), and the result of the reaction (the end results of the argument) and then try to fix it (balance it)."

She exhaled slowly and became excited. She saw some of the students raise their hands, to ask Dr. Heyman questions. He gave her a nod of approval and Bobby gave her a thumbs up. Her whole face glowed, as she left the room with an extra spring in her step.