Primed: A Kayla Madison Story

Primed Part 3

CHAPTER TWO: BUYER BEWARE

Dr. Basir greeted each student as they entered her physics class—the last period of the day. Her black hair, arranged in small braids near her face, was held in place by a thick headband. Her gold eyebrow ring was small but still visible against her dark skin. She saw me running and held the door. At least I was saved from the tardy sweep even if I other issues still plagued me.

I took my seat and observed my classmates. All seemed normal. Perhaps Sophia was right—I did need to see a shrink. Still, it wasn't like worrying about losing my mind right now would help my grades.

Dr. Basir walked to the front of the room. "Write your thoughts about the prompt and talk over with your table."

On the board was written, "List the four fundamental interactions and explain which one has the most influence in physics." Dr. Basir walked around listening to the discussions.

After a couple of minutes Dr. Basir leaned against the front demonstration table "So, what did your groups decide?" She pointed to the table next to mine, which included Jake's twin sister, Jacqueline. I couldn't imagine more different personalities among siblings. In middle school, she was nice to my face but would plunge a knife in my social backside given the slightest opportunity—a true "frenemy." In high school, her popularity soared to the point where she had no reason to think about me, let alone try to sabotage me, unless I got in her way.

Jacqueline sat tall in her perfectly tailored skirt and silk blouse, probably a designer I couldn't pronounce. "Well, the first part is obvious: gravitation, electromagnetic, weak interaction and strong interaction. Since we had a whole semester focused on electromagnetism, it must be the most important."

Logan, Alyssa's latest crush, raised his hand but didn't wait to be called on. "Uh, wouldn't the strong interaction be the strongest? After all it has 'strong' in its name?"

"I'm glad you are thinking about it, Logan. We now have two different views. Would anyone else like to share?" Dr. Basir scanned the room.

I focused on my paper but felt Dr. Basir zero in on me. I furrowed my brow and pretended to write something. Not me. Not me. Not me.

"Kayla, what do you think?"

I slowly lifted my head while trying to figure out a way I could burrow through the center of the Earth and disappear in China or Australia or whichever country I'd find on the other side. "Well, I'm wondering why gravitation is not considered more powerful...even if it doesn't have "strong" in the name." I glanced at Logan who gave a quick head nod of approval. "After all, it keeps us on the Earth, the Earth going around the Sun, and can even trap light in black holes."

"Interesting. Scientists have had some difficulty with gravitation because it doesn't fit neatly with the others." Dr. Basir projected her presentation. "Some scientists have been investigating whether gravitation acts not only within our universe but also with other dimensions at the same time, meaning we can't understand the full effect of gravity because of our limited view. Of course, with some of those theories, you'd need to assume alternate dimensions are possible."

Logan snapped back to focus with Dr. Basir's latest remarks and asked, "What would these alternate dimensions be like?"

"No one knows. Some think there are limited numbers of parallel dimensions, some think these dimensions are here with us but we can't perceive them, and others think a new world is created each time we make a decision leading to an infinite number of dimensions. So perhaps in one dimension, Kayla gave the answer Jacqueline shared and Jacqueline asked the question about gravity." Dr. Basir motioned to us.

Jacqueline was busy filing her nails. Dr. Basir must have noticed this as well and decided to stand near her. Jacqueline placed her nail file in her Louis Vuitton bag and picked up her Mont Blanc pen to continue taking notes.

Logan scratched his head. "Are you saying there's like another me out there? I mean, could I find me and meet me? And, like, how would I know if I was me or the other me was me?"

Dr. Basir grinned. "Well, Logan, scientists are only guessing at this point as to the specifics of alternate worlds. Although, if you ever do run into another 'Logan', perhaps you would want to distance yourself from him, so you don't get confused. After all, we can only imagine what other 'Logans' are doing at this very moment."

Someone at the back of the classroom shouted, "Probably bugging their teachers with questions about finding themselves."