Spider-Gwen || Caught in a Web

Equilibrium || Gwen Stacy

"Oh, my life is changing everyday, in every possible way"

-Dreams, The Cranberries

Only three classes into the day, and Gwen's brain was already on autopilot. Her hand scribbled out repetitive notes on her paper as AP Chemistry continued to drag on, with Dr. Connors showing no signs of slowing down as he continued his lecture on chemical equilibrium.

"Now, looking at this graph, the balance point will occur once fifty-five percent of the reactants have converted to products, does everyone have that?" Dr. Connors asked, his inquiry causing Gwen's eyes to flick up to the graph he had drawn on the board. 

Um... wait... what? Gwen blinked, coming back down to earth as her session of blanking out came to an abrupt end. She studied the graph on the board, quickly replicating it on her paper while trying to actually listen to Dr. Connors this time.

It wasn't like Gwen hated this class... far from it, if she was ever going to land that internship with Oscorp, she had to enjoy this class-and get a good grade while doing so. But there was so much stuff occupying the back of her mind that it was difficult to focus in the here and now... thoughts of this week's band practice with MJ and Felicia, worries about illegal activity potentially happening right now that Gwen felt responsible for stopping, not to mention the-

"Anyone want to explain what chemical equilibrium would look like here?" Dr. Connors questioned, his gaze changing from one student to the next and seeming to be headed in Gwen's direction. 

Not me not me not me not me...

"Miss Stacy?" Dr. Connors finally spoke, and Gwen's jaw tightened slightly as she was put on the spot. "You look like you have some thoughts on this, would you like to share them with us?"

No... not now, Connors!! Gwen thought to herself. Being one of the few students here who actually cared about Chemistry and wasn't just here to appease her parents, Gwen was one of the few that Connors naturally gravitated towards to answer questions for the class. But right now she wasn't sure if she could give an adequate answer...

"Equilibrium... equi... ah..." Gwen adjusted herself in her chair, clearing her throat as she gave her notes a once-over to refresh her memory. "...You said that equilibrium happens once fifty-five percent of the reactants convert to products?" She asked aloud, her question being met with an encouraging nod from Dr. Connors. "Then equilibrium... it should just be that same fifty-five percent staying as products, with no more changes-actually, there may be more reactions, but just no net change in the percentages." Gwen said, tensing up from the pressure of her answer and giving Dr. Connors a tentative look. "Right...?"

"There you have it, Miss Stacy." Dr. Connors answered with a smile. The teacher adjusted his glasses, and began to walk back to the whiteboard. "The main takeaway here is that there will no longer be any 'net changes' in the percentages of products versus reactants; everything will be in, say it with me-" 

The whole class gave a mostly begrudging 'equilibrium' along with Dr. Connors, who gave a slightly amused look. "You all sound quite unimpressed... maybe I should hand out that quiz earlier than I planned-" A flurry of head-shaking made Dr. Connors chuckle to himself, and even Gwen had to smile a bit at that. Connors was nice enough, but even he had to have a little fun with his class's lack of enthusiasm at times.

"Now, if we think about this from a practical standpoint, Miss Stacy-" 

Oh, come on!! Gwen's shoulders tensed up more. She knew what was happening-Dr. Connors was 'challenging' his 'brightest student' once again... although Gwen had been interested in science as a career for a long time, she just didn't have it in her today to go through this song and dance.