𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟖𝟖

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

"SO, EXPLAIN THIS TO ME AGAIN," Emily says as she sits a cup of tea on the dining table for Noah. She takes a seat beside the teen, sipping on her own tea.

"The piece of zinc metal and the piece of copper are put in both the lemons," Noah begins as she points to her chemistry project, "I connect one zinc metal to the copper on the other lemon. Then, I connect the zinc from this lemon to the lightbulb and the copper from the other lemon to the lightbulb. And the lightbulb will turn on."

"That lightbulb is gonna get electricity from lemons?" Emily asks.

"Yep," Noah replies as she starts connecting the wires.

"I'm confused," The mother says.

"So, the citric acid from the lemon will react with the zinc and loosen the electrons. The copper pulls electrons stronger than zinc, so loose electrons should move towards the copper when the electrodes are connected by these wires. And the moving electrons are an electric current, which should light up the bulb," Noah explains. Emily stares at her daughter, having no clue how she knows all this.

"Alright, well, let's see it," Emily beams.

"Okay..." Noah trails off as she focuses on connecting the wires. When she connects the second wire to the lightbulb, a light illuminates her face.

"Oh my God," Emily mutters as she watches the bulb light up.

"It worked!" Noah exclaims as she claps her hands.

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't think that would work," The mother giggles.

"And that is my chemistry project done," Noah chimes and unhooks the wire from the bulb, "Now, I just have to take it all out and put them in fresh lemons when I turn it in."

"I can't believe your teacher gave you work over break," Emily tuts.

"I don't mind it," Noah shrugs, "I like his class."

"Do you wanna do something with science when you go to college?" Emily questions.

"I don't know," Noah says as she puts her knees to her chest in the chair. She grabs her mug and holds it close to her chest.

"Have you thought about it?"

"Not really," The teen replies as she sips her tea, "I never thought I would go to college, honestly. I always thought Gia would never pay for it and I wouldn't be able to pay for it on my own — at least not right out of high school. So, I never really bothered to think about what I wanna do."

"Well, you're good at this stuff," Emily mentions, "And you like it. You could do this kinda stuff all day if you studied it at college."

"Yeah," Noah sighs, "But I also like reading books and writing. And I like running and video games and skateboarding — doesn't mean any of those things will be my job."

"But they could be," Emily notes with a small smile, "And that's the great part about college. You don't have to decide on a major when you start, you can find a major after trying out different classes. Or you could double major in chemistry and English or whatever you want."