CHEMISTRY

SHE

She walked in the classroom. The way she smiles as she smiled when she saw her friends. God I wish she would smile at me that way.

"Yo Alex your drooling" I snapped out of my trance, by my friend , Simons, voice.

Simon was one of the most popular guys in school, being on the football team and everything, ironic how him and Alex were friends, being so different from each-other. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

"Man you gotta ask her out" He continued insisted.

"She's got a boyfriend," I muttered, flipping through my chemistry book. Finals were coming up, and I did not want to fail.

"Forget Ricky, no one likes him" before I could say anything, our Chem teacher started speaking.

"Alright guys I have a surprise for all of you" Mr Callahan said excitedly "No finals!" Everyone instantly cheered, no one liked finals down. "Hold on, hold on," he said, the grin still on his face. "There's a catch." He paused dramatically, looking around the room as if savoring our suspense. "Instead of finals... you'll be doing partner projects!" The class's reaction was mixed. Some people cheered, happy to avoid an exam but Alex groaned while everyone cheered. You know what's worst then having a grade lower then a B?

Group projects.

He liked being alone most of the time. He liked working alone. Where no could mess up anything or delete something REALLY important that held the glue together. Just him, his notes, and his pace. Group projects meant relying on someone else, which Alex hated. And to make it worse, the stakes were high.

"And," Mr. Callahan continued, dropping the final bombshell, "I will be picking the partners." The room went from excited to dead silent in an instant. Groans and quiet complaints spread across the classroom. Teachers always found a way to ruin the fun. Now, even those who'd been excited about the project looked disappointed. Mr. Callahan, of course, ignored all of this. So, here's what's going to happen," he explained, clipboard in hand. "At the end of class, I'll be announcing the partner assignments. But for now, listen up because I'm going to go over the project details—everything you need to do if you want an A."

He proceeded to break down the assignment: a full-scale presentation on a chemistry topic of his choosing. Research, experiments, visuals—the whole deal. He wanted it to be polished, complete with data analysis, charts, and a presentation that would last at least ten minutes. And, naturally, both partners had to put in equal effort. If one person slacked, it was going to show, and he made it clear that it would affect both our grades. The pressure started building as he spoke. This project was going to take weeks, and now I'd be forced to depend on someone else to get it right. I sat there, already feeling the weight of the assignment, hoping—really hoping—I'd get someone who actually cared about their grade.

Finally, Mr. Callahan wrapped up his explanation and glanced at the clock. "Alright, let's get these partners sorted. I'll call out names, so listen up...Aubrey and Mason"

God I hope I don't get paired up with someone who does nothing

"Riley and Kay, Kingston and Braxston"

I might just work on the whole thing myself

"Simon and Madly" Simon hit my shoulder and smiled

"Iris and Alex" My brain practically short-circuited. Did I hear that right? Did Mr. Callahan just put me with Iris Rain? For a second, the world went silent. Iris—the girl everyone wanted to be, or be with—was suddenly looking at me. She gave me a quick, polite smile, and my face immediately felt like it was on fire. Somehow, I managed a nod, hoping it didn't look as awkward as it felt.

I could feel Simon's smirk without even looking at him. "There's your chance," he whispered, nudging me with his elbow. I rolled my eyes, trying to play it off, but my heart was still racing.

I glanced back at Iris. She'd already turned her attention back to her friends, chatting and laughing like always, like partnering up with me was no big deal. Meanwhile, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. This was Iris Rain—the Iris Rain. The thought of actually working with her, sitting side-by-side, talking about things that didn't involve a cafeteria line or a passing "hi"... it was surreal.

"And lastly, Sam Carter and Ben Neel." The bell rang just as he finished calling names, cutting through the classroom chatter. "Alright, get your asses outta here," Mr. Callahan said, waving us off as if we were a pack of stray dogs.

"Come on, man, go up and ask her for her number!" he whispered-yelled, nudging me hard enough to almost throw me off balance. "She's right there."

"Yeah, right," I muttered, keeping my head down, feeling my face heat up even more. "She's probably just as disappointed she got me for a partner."

"Disappointed?" Simon snorted. "Dude, she smiled at you. You don't smile at someone if you're disappointed. Maybe she's actually happy she got you as a partner instead of some slacker."

I shot him a look. "I think you're reading into things, Simon."

He shrugged. "Maybe, but hey, you'll never know unless you, I dunno, talk to her? Like... right now?" He raised his eyebrows

"Simon-" I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and there she was, standing right in front of me, looking just as dazzling up close.

"Hey... Alec, right?" she said, smiling as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It's... Alex," I managed, trying not to stutter.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She laughed, and waved her hands in front of her. "I'm, like, so bad at names—uhm..." Her hands fluttered in front of her, and she kept smiling, clearly a bit embarrassed."Simon talks so much about, its nice to finally talk to you"

I look over my shoulder to see if simon was still there but nope, he was already gone. I saw him walking out the class room with both his thumbs in the air.

"He does...?" I replied, feeling a bit thrown off. Simon had never mentioned that he talked about me to anyone, let alone Iris.

"Yeah!" She laughed, her eyes lighting up. "He told me you're, like, insanely good at writing or something? He said you're working on some kind of novel?"

My face felt like it was on fire. I had no idea Simon even knew I was working on a novel, Guess he does listen to me."Oh... yeah. Just, you know, a little side project."

Her smile grew. "That's so cool! I can barely focus on, like, one essay without getting distracted." She laughed softly. "Maybe I'll learn some focus tips from you."

"Uhm yeah i would be happy to help anytime"

"Nice! Oh, and can I get your number... so we can talk about the project and everything?" She pulled her phone out, glancing up at me expectantly.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" I fumbled for my own phone, nearly dropping it in the process. After a second, I read out my number, and she typed it in with a quick smile.

"Got it!" She looked up and gave me another smile, tucking her phone back into her bag. "I'll text you," she said casually as if we did this every day.

"Yeah, sounds good," I managed, hoping I didn't sound like I was holding my breath.

With that, she started walking away, giving a little wave over her shoulder as she joined her friends by the door. I waved back, feeling like an idiot but not caring.

I stood there, trying to process what just happened. I just had a converstion with Iris Rain.