A Single Rose (a Valentine's Story)

Chapter 15

Hint 4: Seek the animal which Sherlock Holmes searches for in the Baskervilles
Reason 4: Your authenticity

I gave a sigh as I stuck a glance at the piece of paper. Some part of me was distantly aware of Mrs Tamcott, my Chemistry teacher still talking and going through the PowerPoint. I had been paying attention, taking notes and attentively listening for a good third of the lesson, but eventually my curiosity had won out and now my mind was miles away from atoms and valence electrons. For a while I had spuddled ('spuddle' being my favourite 17th century verb - which means 'to work ineffectively; to be extremely busy whilst achieving absolutely nothing.') but eventually given up trying to concentrate, instead letting my thoughts wander back to the hints and clues.

'My authenticity'... is that a bad thing? Do they mean that I'm showing too much of my true self and being too annoying? Argh! It's driving me insane.

And then, a brilliant (yet obvious) solution hit me. Just Google it! Duh.

I quickly opened up a browser on my already-on laptop, thinking carefully for a moment before deciding to type the words "What does it mean when someone says you are authentic?" into the search bar.

I pressed enter on my keyboard, and a split-second later, the answer was on the screen (the wonders of technology!). According to 'mindtools.com' (2024), the first website to show up,
"Being authentic is living your life according to your own values and goals, rather than those of other people." Hmm, that doesn't sound too bad. I paused before continuing to read, "Put simply, authenticity means you're true to your own personality, values, and spirit, regardless of the pressure that you're under to act otherwise."

I couldn't help but smile a little. Huh, I guess it isn't such a bad thing after all-

"Emily?"

My head shot up as I looked at Mrs Tamcott, automatically responding with, "Sorry, could you please repeat that?"

Her mouth twitched as she said,
"Well, I actually hadn't said anything yet."

"Oh."

"What I was going to say, was:" She gestured to the screen - which I now saw had a slide stating the question she started reading out, "element 'X' reacts with Sulphur in the compound XS₂. The ion of X has 10 electrons. What is element X -  is it: a (Si), b (Mg²⁺), c (Ca), or d (K⁺)?"

Quickly glancing at my periodic table I mentally worked it out, OK, so if S is in Group 7, that means it has a 1- charge, therefore X must have a 2+ charge to balance it out, and it must be Mg²⁺ cause Mg has 12 electrons, meaning it's ion would have 10 electrons!
My finger lingered on the 'Mg' square on the paper, and I was about to confidently declare that it was Mg²⁺ when Sarah - the girl sitting next to me - subtly shook her head, whispering, "No, it's Silicon. It says element, not ion. Sulphur is in Group 6, not 7."

I met her eyes for a moment. Silicon? That doesn't seem right. But, looking at the question on the board again, I saw that it did say 'element' and not 'ion'.

Still, I wasn't sure...

To trust or not to trust... that was the question.

What if it was a trick? What if it wasn't?
Would she really be mean enough to tell me the wrong answer on purpose? Other people have been... but what if I'm wrong, and Sarah is trying to help?

For a moment I felt as one balancing precariously on a tightrope, arms outstretched as I swayed, wondering whether the net would catch me if I fell.

Do I trust it? At the risk of being wrong? Or do I stubbornly stick to the rope, refusing to let go of it even as I have slipped and dangle from it with trembling arms?

I took a breath and made my choice, letting myself fall.

Trust.

I looked back at Mrs Tamcott and answered her waiting gaze, "Silicon?"

"Very good." She nodded, and the hammering of my heart quietened as I realised the net of hope had caught me after all. "Just make sure you keep paying attention."

I nodded my head, "yes Ma'am."

She resumed her lesson, and the tense moment had passed. I gave a small breathe of relief before turning to Sarah and, after a moments hesitation awkwardly whispered, with a half-raised shoulder,
"Hey, um... thanks."

She blinked, surprised, before giving a small smile,
"Oh. No problem."

Then, after a moment of uncertainty in what to do next, we both turned back to the board, continuing to listen to the lesson and take notes.

I gave a small hum quietly to myself as I couldn't help but give one more glance to the definition still on my screen.

I guess being Authentic isn't so bad after all. In fact, it's kind of flattering that someone thinks that about me. Well, if they actually exist-
Hey. The other part of my mind, the slowly-getting-more-stronger, postive part, interjected, don't go there. Trust isn't all bad. Look what happened when you trusted Sarah... it didn't end in some catastrophe or huge embarrassment, did it?  Have faith.

No, I supposed it didn't. So, have faith I shall. I couldn't wait to see what the next hint and clue said, but I'd have to wait until second break to go check out the location I suspected held the fifth hint and clue.

But until then... I turned my attention back to valence electrons and atoms.

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Author's Note:
Hey there! Thanks for reading my story, it means a lot to me ^_^.

Just wanted to say sorry for the late update, life has been really busy lately and whenever I planned to write I ended up either not having the time, the energy, or the motivation - or else I had two of them but not the other. (Hopefully) the next chapter will be released sooner with less of a gap, but I don't want to make any guarantees as things are still quite busy.

Anyhow, my apologies - thanks again for reading! I hope everyone has a blessed week!