Science Lab.
Usually I would have been ecstatic with the subject, but at the moment, my mind was pretty much occupied with a lot of things. I stared lazily at the beaker as it boiled under the alcohol lamp. I checked the thermometer from time to time to ensure that the acid would not reach the boiling point that would cause it to explode.
That would be troublesome, and I wouldn’t want my sister to come here when I have another ‘accident’.
“Stella, are you listening?” One of my groupmates, Samantha, waved a hand in front of my face.
I snapped out of my train of thoughts as I looked at her. Samantha is a short girl with a bob haircut. Her brown eyes were looking at me through her almost fogged-up laboratory goggles.
“Sorry, I was trying to read the temperature,” I told her. “You were saying?” I offered her an apologetic smile.
“I was asking you whether you already have a club that you want to join?” She asked me hopefully.
I shook my head, which made her smile. “Well, that’s great! Would you like to join the science club?”
Ugh. Again with this.
“I-I’m sorry, Sam, but I believe that a lot of your members have already been trying to recruit me for the past week. And every time they ask, my answer will still be the same.” I said regretfully.
Samantha’s eyes drew together sadly as she tilted her head to the side. “Why not? I thought you liked science. You even won every science fair for the past three years.”
“I-..” I averted my gaze as I stared at the beaker instead. “I’m not that into it,” I told her with dismay. I thought for sure that she would just give up and drop the conversation, but she didn’t - unfortunately.
“If you’re not that into science, then why are you always looking and waiting outside of our clubroom?”
I flinched at her words. It’s true that I wanted to join their club. But for some...supernatural reason, I can’t. I am a very busy person, and it’s not even in a normal way. I have a life. Two lives that I am living in.
Not everyone could relate to this because I doubt anyone would believe me if I told them anyway.
I let out a sigh. “Just drop it, Sam, okay?” I told her with a smile that made my goggles tilt slightly at the motion. “Let’s just focus on the activity. I really want to finish this within the allotted time, so this won’t be a running homework for tonight.”
“Let me guess. You’re busy.” She said.
“Yep.” I nodded and opened my palm out to her. “Now, hand me one of those test tubes so we can place them in the centrifuge.” I tried to hide my excitement as I pictured the outcome of this experiment. In my mind, I already know and calculate what the results will be. If my theories are correct, there won’t be much residue after boiling the substances.
I heard Sam sigh. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.” She let out a grunt and got up. But upon her movement, she accidentally hit our table, making the stand rattle and drop the alcohol lamp to the table’s surface.
Since we were burning acid, one could only imagine what happened next. The breaker exploded, making the glass fly in every direction as the fire began. It burned immediately since we had our textbooks and research manuals on the desk.
“Fire!” I heard someone screaming in the background.
The flames were getting bigger by the second. Since Sam and I were seated at the very back of the lab, all we could do was press our backs against the cabinet behind us. Which isn’t entirely safe since the increase in temperature would surely make the other acids explode. Sam and I covered would noses with our lab gown as we tried to see through the smoke. But it was starting to thicken.
Why aren’t the sprinklers working!? Where is the fire extinguisher?
San started coughing beside me. It was getting hot, and I could already feel my body starting to react in order to protect myself. Ice began to form along with my fingertips as my magic seeped out.
I clenched my hands into fists.
No. I can’t use magic here. People will surely wonder where the ice came from. It would endanger not only myself but also the other world that I am living in.
“Sam?” I looked at the girl beside me, who was now losing consciousness. “Hey, don’t sleep. Sam!” It was futile. She has already gone to sleep that I bit back a colorful amount of curses that I learned from my sister.
I could hear my classmates and teachers already yelling as they tried to call out to us.
This is bad. Even I was starting to lose my consciousness as well. If my powers weren’t backing me up, I think I would be in the same state as Sam right now. My eyes started to wander dangerously to the cabinet. The flames were beginning to make their way towards them.
Oh, damn it all. If I don’t do something now, then I’d be dead!
Whatever happens now, whether they get suspicious or not, I’ll just explain everything to my sister. After all, I rather live than die. I’ll worry about the consequences later. If it becomes worse, they can always ask the king of Hazel for a favor.
As we backed up into a corner, I made sure to pull Sam closer to my side. Before I faced the flames, I double-checked that she was indeed unconscious before using my magic.
Now, or never, Stella.
I opened my palms to the flames and poured in as much magic as I could, making sure to lower the temperature as much as possible in order to kill the flames. Ice began to eat the fire, causing a thick fog that covered the whole interior of the laboratory.
Then, as if by some miracle, the damn sprinklers decided to fucking work at this time. It melted away the smoke in the lab and exposed both Sam as I to the other faculty members, who immediately rushed in to get us.
“Oh my goodness! Are you two alright!?” Our professor came running towards us.
“I...I’m good. Sam fell unconscious, though. I think you need to take her to the infirmary.” I told them as I looked at the aftermath of the fire. It had burned everything. It burned my bag, papers, and even textbooks!
I silently fought the urge to drop to the floor and cry. Curse this school and its inability to install proper sprinklers!!
I gritted my teeth as I started to march angrily towards the exit but was blocked by another faculty staff waiting at the exit. “Miss Stella, I am sorry to take up some of your time, but we would like to take you to the infirmary to do some checkups. The flame was burning acid. We want to make sure that you are not harmed in any way.”
“No need. As you can see, I am perfectly fine. Plus, the acid isn’t that harmful since it already burned all the toxic fumes that we filtered a while back. It’s just flammable.” I tried to explain as I really needed to get going or I would be late for my other appointment in the other realm.
“That’s good to hear. But still, we want to be assured. And we also want to know what happened that started the fire. Since Miss Samantha is unconscious, we have no choice but to hear from you instead.”
At the back of my mind, I was already screaming.
This sucks. I understand where the professor was going, and it must be one of their protocols. And to make things worse, he said, “Do you have a family member that we can talk to? We just want to inform them of the situation.”
“My parents are in abroad,” I answered them.
“Then what about your sister? We would like to speak with her if you don’t mind.”
Sure, let me just go and open a portal to another realm and disturb my Queen sister, so that she could provide you with an audience. That would surely resolve everything.
And yes, my sister is a queen, and she is living in another realm. A realm full of magic and mythical creatures - a place that I should be in about 15 minutes, or I would miss my other class about proper etiquette as a princess!