Deluged - The Teenage Love ✔️

Chapter 20

March, 2004

This was the  most cherished times of our teenage lives. I had my senior secondary board examinations to take, and Ivaan...well, he had always been my personal source of motivation. He was just always there, from dropping me to school everyday or picking me up after the school hours were over. But his services didn't end here, he helped me prepare for my exams too, making me revise my notes, then questioning me on my revision notes. He made sure I was well versed and all prepared on my part before I sat down on the examination hall to take the exam.

He had been missing all of his classes during that month. These exams played a turning point in  our story.

How you may ask? Well, he secretly planned on introducing me to his family, so you see how that goes :')

So let me take you back to how it all started

Should I ? Okay so,

I very well remember, it was our Chemistry practical exam, the last exam I had to take in my school life, after which I would retire my school uniform and would probably never wear it again.

How exciting!

Anyways so, I had already been late to school, too busy revising my notes . Before entering the lab though, I had  made a note to remind all my batchmates to not to suck the sulphuric acid from the pepite while performing the titration experiment.  

Yes, I was a science student. Yes, I have no clue why. Yes, the biggest mistake of my life.

So well, I had entered the lab with a knot of nervousness in my stomach. I wasn't doing very well performing me experiments, my hands were shivering all the while I held my test tube closer to the mouth of the gas burner.

Anyhow though, I reached the 'sucking the provided organic solution into the pepite' step of the experiment where I had to be very careful with the "not sucking the  Sulphuric acid into the pepite" things...but ironically ended up doing The. Exact. Same. Thing.

That was such a dumb move.

To the mercy of God, the external examiner saw me sucking the sulphuric acid into the pepite.

Why. Did. I. Have. To. Do. That?

The memory still makes me numb with humiliation, cringe, and all those nasty nauseous feelings. Ugh.

"O Jesus! What is this child doing?", she had exclaimed, while everyone was staring holes into my skull.

"You are not supposed to suck the sulphuric acid. Deliberate ingestion of a corrosive acid is an unusual manner of death. Sulphuric acid is hygroscopic and, at least when relatively concentrated, will absorb water from the air. This would dilute the sulphuric acid, decrease the hydrogen ion concentration and the pH would rise. You could have died, Child. What's wrong with you", she took the opportunity to convert it into a chemistry lecture, while I was the centre of attraction for the whole batch.

Now here's a thing, I don't mind being the centre of attraction. But clearly this wasn't "my moment to shine".

Talking about a more embarassing situation, I shall wait.

The Invigilater and the examiner neared my table. Their eyes  as if popping out of their sockets, with disbelief? Or shock? Or..I don't know what expression there face was making. I was too nervous to examine  their faces either way. The embarrassment was unbelievable. I couldn't  even think of getting embrassed to this extent. I just wanted to run away and hide.. possibly dissapear into thin air.