Everlance Academy

Chapter 13

"I don't think that's where the sodium goes.", Nikolai says, watching me with a skeptical expression.

"Leave me alone. I'm freestyling," I say while dropping ten beads into the mixture of chemicals.

"The internet says you're supposed to do only eight drops."

Well, the internet is not as smart as I am. Trust me, Nikolai. It'll work."

"If you say so. You're the genius.", He shrugs and walks around the table, so he's standing next to me.

It's already dark outside, and we're probably the only ones outside of their rooms. Mrs. Everlance had given us permission to stay out even after curfew because that was the only time that the chemistry labs were free.

"Could you turn on the Bunsen burner? So we can melt it?", I ask Nikolai, who, for the past fifteen minutes, has just been standing there, watching me.

"Sure," he says and walks past me. Since the space between the lab table and the wall is so small, our bodies are pressed against each other for only a second. But that second was enough for me to almost drop the pipette.

It shouldn't affect me as much. But it does. And I'm not sure what that says about me.

"You okay?"

"Hm? Yeah. I'm fine," I say, picking up the pot with our creation and holding it over the blazing flame. We stare at the mixture, which starts to melt slowly, in silence.

"Are you nervous about the sports festival in two days? Noah said you'd do the 110-meter hurdles?", he asks.

I shrug. "Nah. I've trained like crazy. It'll be fine."

Silence.

"Okay, who am I kidding?", I put down the pipette and caress my temples. "I'm terrified. What if my legs get all wobbly and I am last? There will be so many people watching. And, like, it has always worked out for me, but I've never been a part of something this big! And... I don't want to be a disappointment to so many people."

Again, we fall into silence. I'm scared that I talked too much and baffled him, so I say, "What about you? You're playing as well, aren't you?", in an attempt to shift the focus off me.

"You know, you're a mystery to me, June. A puzzle that I can't seem to solve."

Huh?

Interesting change of topic?

"What do you mean?", I say with a nervous laugh.

"I mean that whenever I think that I've figured you out, you surprise me."

"I can't remember a single moment where I surprised you. You're like the ultimate master schemer, always three steps ahead of everyone."

Nikolai laughs. "You know what? I'm going to write that in my resume for university applications. Ultimate master schemer. But I'm not kidding. You seem like such a confident person, like you know you're on top of the world and no one is coming close to you. I mean, you've been here for like a month, and yet, under thirty of the best runners in the country, you're the best in your discipline. And yet you tell me that you have fears of failure.

Or the thing in your politics class. I had thought you were someone who wouldn't ever say something against their teachers so as not to anger them. However, you stood up for yourself and even went as far as risking getting suspended.

Or in the gym three days ago. I thought you didn't care about me enough to be affected by anything I did. And yet you were mad at me for keeping my distance after what happened in the hut. Then I thought you hated me for it. But you didn't. Instead, you kissed me."