Can't go back

4

Sherlock stayed out of my way for a day or two after that, surprisingly in tune to my emotions and knowing I really wasn’t in the mood for talking to him. I barely saw him at all, only a minute or two in passing when I came into our room after classes and he was leaving to go do god knows what. I did have a few classes with Sherlock, but in his usual Sherlock-like fashion he either came in late or didn’t show completely. The one class he always attended no matter what was Chemistry. The man was like a mad scientist, always messing around with different stuff, and I was surprised he hadn’t blown up the lab yet. I was stuck with him for a lab partner, and the two of us got lots of praise from Mr. Smith, our usually strict and menacing chem teacher, even when we strayed from the assignment at hand.

So when Sherlock didn’t show up for Chemistry one day, I started to worry. We had just done three straight days of notes and theoretics (Sherlock scoffing and nodding off the whole time), which meant today we had a lab.  Mr. Smith glanced up to take attendance, frowning when he saw Sherlock’s seat empty.

"Where’s Holmes?" he asked me, as if I were his babysitter. I shrugged.

"He was here earlier..." Mr. Smith frowned and made a note of it on a pad of paper before putting his pen down and turning his attention to us.

"So, what are you doing today?" he did this every time we had a lab, quizzing us on the instructions. I watched his eyes scan the room before landing on a shy girl in the front. "Molly."

"Umm..." she began tentatively, "First we measure out 25 mL of the one thing and 5 grams of the other. Then we heat the test tube 'till it starts boiling and we pour the other thing in."

Mr. Smith nodded, apparently satisfied with her answer. "Then what? Watson?"

I licked my lips nervously as I tried to remember the lab he had us read as homework. "We... we vacuum all the water out of it yes? Then put it in the oven to bake it dry and weigh what’s left."

Mr. Smith nodded and we all breathed a sigh of relief that we wouldn’t have a lab quiz. Lab quizzes were generally designed as punishment and nobody ever got a question right except Sherlock who somehow aced them. They usually consisted of questions like "What is the first word in line four of page two."

Mr. Smith ushered us in to the lab where I settled at my empty table, still hoping Sherlock would show up. I was great at theoretical, but when things moved into the lab everything went downhill. I grabbed goggles and an apron before starting set up, getting out a graduated cylinder and measuring out whatever the liquid chemical was as well as weighing the other one. When I returned to my station I got out the Bunsen burner and a set about lighting it, hooking up the gas and grabbing the striker. I struggled several times to even get a spark. I tried again and a flame roared up from the Bunsen burner, causing me to jump back so as not to get burnt. I quickly adjusted the gas and began setting up the thing to heat the test tube. After a while the liquid started to bubble and I carefully poured the chemical in. The compound started to fizz- wait. No one else’s was fizzing... The mixture started to turn black and expanding. And then in an instant it exploded, glass shattering and flying everywhere. I ducked under the table to avoid being hit, glad I had goggles on to shield my eyes in case.

After a few moments I hesitantly looked onto the counter and turned off the Bunsen burner.

"Everybody okay?" Mr. Smith asked as he came over to my table to inspect the damage. Tentative nods came from around the room as students picked themselves up. "Watson, what the hell did you do?!" I flinched back subconsciously at his harsh voice.

"I-I don’t know what happened... I did what you said but when I poured the red powder in it-" I was shaking slightly, adrenaline high and causing me to panic due to what had happened.