Made

Chapter 1

"Kahli, hurry up, quick!" an anxious voice hissed. "Class is about to start, oh my gosh." A hand pulled me in from the corridor, through the door to chemistry. My face was burning red, and I was trying to catch my breath. "What? No hello?" I looked up to see Camille Prescott staring at me through her thick-rimmed glasses. She was my lab partner and had the most vivid red hair that you'd ever see, redder than my face as I was gasping for air.

"Sorry. Hi Cammie." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Somebody got out of his cage again." I pointed to Rupert, who was happily chewing on the pocket of my grey cardigan without a care in the world. Suddenly, all fell silent.

"Quick!! Sit down! She's coming, Kahl, she's coming!" Cammie exclaimed, at the sight of seeing Headmistress Sofia prowling down the hallway like a lion on the hunt for its dinner. The two of us abruptly sat down and opened our textbooks to a random page, in hopes to give off the impression that we were good, innocent students. Luckily, our chem teacher wasn't here yet, so that meant we were safe. For now, at least. "Whew!" Camille breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Rupert out of my pocket. "You, Mister, need to be a good boy next time, or else Kahli will be expelled from here, and she'll have to go to a different school, probably a public one...eek! And they definitely won't allow pets... and... and..." she started to hyperventilate, and tried to control her breathing into a paper bag, one in which she kept in her pocket at all times. She had a tendency to get worried about the littlest things.

"It's going to be fine, jeez, calm down. I need to be more careful next time, that's all." I said, as Mrs Cuthbert entered the classroom, struggling to carry a heavy box full to the brim with test tubes, Bunsen burners and various chemicals which looked pretty hazardous.

"Good morning, class!" Mrs Cuthbert sang. She was way too energetic for someone who is up and teaching at 8 am, sometimes I wondered how she was even human. She dusted powder off her chemical-stained lab coat, her blonde ringlets tied up in two messy ponytails. Everything about this woman screamed "disaster". "Today we will be experimenting with observing what happens when all these...." she pointed to the containers full of chemicals, "...mix with this." She pointed up a Bunsen burner and flashed a pearly white maniacal smile at the class as many students wore looks of sheer peril across their faces. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get your lab partner and put on coats, safety glasses and find a workstation!"

"This cannot be legal." Camille said, concerned. "But let's do it anyway, yeah?" I agreed. I really, really strongly dislike chemistry and sciences, but it beats having to sit through a two-hour lecture about God knows what. I read the instructions on the handout that Mrs Cuthbert had put on our desk.

"Interesting. Looks like we're going to have to document what happens to the flame when a chemical is mixed with it.... once applied on a piece of wood... light burner... repeat with others... oh shoot." I looked around at the supplies given to us. No wood. I looked around to see everyone else was curious about it, too. "Um, you know we don't have everything, right?" I said to Cammie as she already started pouring chemicals into test tubes.

"Whoops. I guess I didn't read the instructions, but who even does anyway?"

"Ahem." Mrs Cuthbert cleared her throat. "As many of you have come to realise, you're missing a vital ingredient in this recipe for disaster!"

"Disaster?" A small girl at the front of the room that I didn't know very well, asked.

"Oh, did I say disaster? Yes I did. But don't worry children, it's only a figure of speech! The only disaster that is bound to happen is that maybe with utter carelessness this place will be in flames. Right. Back to what's missing: wood. It's up to you how you obtain it, but please do not waste time. I do not want to lose another student out in the woods! You all remember the story of Ella Di Martello, yes?"