Hafnium, Tantalum, Tungsten, then we're on to
Rhenium, Osmium and Iridium
Platinum, Gold to make you rich till you grow old
Mercury to tell you when it's really cold
The two laughed as they playfully hit each other on the arms.
"God, she makes me sick," Andrea muttered to herself.
The geeky couple sat down in their assigned seats, along with other students, before the bell rang. After that, Mr. Emerson entered the classroom and closed the door. He walked in front of the class to make an announcement.
"Alright, class. It's time to work on our next project. Feel free to use your last night's homework for help. Please stand by when you're finished. Okay, go."
All the students got up and found their partners. Andrea sloppily walked up to her table with her notes and waited for her partner, Kienne, to come. She tried to look at Randall who was in the far distance but her view was blocked by other students at their stations. Soon, Kienne arrived with a glossy smile.
"Hey, Andreas," she greeted.
"It's Andrea," Andrea stubbornly corrected.
"Ooh, sorry. Did you do the homework?"
Andrea pointed at the papers in front of herself. "Yeah. Did you?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Why didn't ya? We need it to do this project."
"Don't worry; I'll just use your homework."
Andrea sighed. "Fine. Let's just do this."
She picked up the laminated instructions from the counter and read them. Kienne stood closer to Andrea to get an eyeful of the instructions.
"Okay, it's real simple," said Andrea, reaching for the goggles that were hung on a little rack. She handed a pair to Kienne and put them on. "Can you put some water in the beaker then heat it up?"
"Gladly," responded Kienne. She grabbed the empty beaker from the counter then looked for a sink to get some water.
As Kienne did so, Andrea tried to look her Randall from the distance. She eventually caught a glimpse of him, witnessing how well him and Leslie were working together. She never felt so jealous in her life. Soon, Kienne came back with water in the beaker.
"Now what do I do?" she asked.
"You heat it up."
"Okay." Kienne twisted the knob by the burner to ignite a flame.
"Wait, is the water twenty millimeters high?"
"I-I don't know."
"Kienne, the instructions said the water in the beaker has to measure up to twenty millimeters. Did you not read that?"
"Of course I read it. I just didn't remember it."
"You know what? Let's just leave the water in there like that."
"Okay. So what do I do next?"
"Put the beaker on the burner."
"Okay, I can do that." Kienne started singing quietly as she placed the beaker on top of the stove. "Put, put, put, put, put the beaker on the burner. Put, put, put, put, put the beaker on the burner." She began to notice Andrea's excessive staring into the distance. "Something wrong with your eyes?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing."
"It can't be nothing. Tell me."
"Well, my friends say that I might have a crush on my last lab partner, Randall. But I could never go with male Annie."
"Male Annie?"
"You know, the musical."
"Is he black Annie or white Annie?"
Andrea scrunched her eyebrows. "What? What do you mean? He's white so he would be-- Never mind. Let's just focus on this project. Do you know what to do next?"
"No."
"Wha-- It's in the instructions." Andrea picked up the laminated paper then swatted it down on the other side of the counter so it could be near Kienne. "We got to test the water with the things."
"What things?"
Andrea lifted up a Ziplock bag of multiple blue crystals with a label that said, "Specimen #1" on it. "These things."
"Oh, those things."
"We got pick one of the rock things and place them in the water. When the water changes, we have to take notes then pour out the water so we can use the other rock things."
"Okay, now I get it?"
"Do you?" Andrea scoffed before opening the bag of blue crystals. She picked up a tweezer and carefully used it to pick up one crystal from the bag. Then she slowly brought the crystal over the beaker before dropping it in. "Okay, when the crystal dissolves, we got to write down what happens to the water on this chart." She turned around, picked up a piece of paper with a chart on it then put on the other side of the counter so it could be closer to the girls.
"Got it. Do you got a pencil?"
Andrea picked up her cheetah-printed pencil and handed it to Kienne.
"Thanks."
"Don't write anything yet."
When Andrea looked up randomly, she saw Randall's partner, Leslie, approaching her. Her eyes widen as she did not know what she was coming over for.
"She's coming over here," Andrea whispered. "Why is she coming over here?"
Leslie was eye-to-eye with Andrea and Kienne. Andrea didn't feel intimidated; she was just a bit envious of her. But besides her intelligence, why would she be jealous of her? Leslie dressed as if she was attending a private school. She had on a white collared shirt under a black vest along with a black preppy skirt which seemed baggy on her skinny body. She was also wearing coke bottle glasses rimmed with black which made her eyes seem larger than they were. And her light brown hair was braided into two pigtails, making her look like a six-year-old girl.
"Hello, Kienne," she said in an almost robotic voice with a hardly emotional frown. "Hello, An-dree-uh."
"It's pronounced On-dray-uh," Andrea corrected, crossing her arms.
"My apologies. May my partner and I borrow your Specimen Number Four bag?"
"Why are you asking me if there were a bunch of tables right next to you?"
"Because Randall and I feel more comfortable asking someone we know."
"Ha, 'Randall and I'. Randall doesn't even like me. Why would he borrow something from me?"
"Well, you do not own Specimen Number Four. It just happens to be at your table."
"Yeah, and it also happens to be at everyone else's tables so you should ask them."
"An-dree-uh, stop tripping," demanded Kienne while doodling on their chart. "Leslie, of course you can borrow our bag."
"No, she cannot and that is not my name. Leslie, how are you and Randall in the need of Bag Four? I'm still on Bag One."
"Oh, Randall and I work quickly," responded Leslie. "It helps when you're smart and all."
"So what? I'm dumb? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"No, not at all. Look, can we have your bag or not?"
"We? Oh, look at that, you and Randall are 'we'. Well, guess what? You can't be 'we' 'cause Randall and I were 'we'. You don't get to be 'we' until... June, alright?"
"Andrea, stop tripping," Kienne repeated. "We're not using the bag so just give it to her."
Andrea sighed. "Fine. You can have the bag." She looked for the bag that said, "Specimen #4" and grabbed it so she could hand it to Leslie.
"Thank you," Leslie said before turning to leave. "You crazy chick."
Andrea's eyes widened. "I'm sorry. Did you just call me the 'S' word?"
Leslie turned around. "Uh, no."
"Yes, you did. Don't lie to me. I just heard you call me the 'S' word."
"No, I didn't. I did not say the 'S' word. I said 'chick'. I said 'crazy chick'."
"Oh, I'm crazy? I heard that loud and clear. I'm crazy?"
"Um..."
"No, no, no. You have not seen crazy yet. Okay?"
"Apparently, I have because that's how you're acting right now."
"I'll act how I want to act. How dare you! I give you my bag and you-- No, no. Nope, that's it. You crossed a line with me. See that line? Yeah, you crossed it."
"Whatever." Leslie tried to turn to leave again.
"No! Don't you 'whatever' me. I'm just trying to let you know, girl."
Leslie quickly turned around, practically jumping. "Look, don't start none, it won't be none."
"Oh, what am I trying to start?"
"You know what you're trying to start. And guess what? I'm not afraid to hurt you."
"Oh, you not afraid?" Andrea rolled up the sleeves of her jean jacket then picked up a meter stick that was lying on her counter. "Then let's see how courageous you are." She pointed it at Leslie like it was a special weapon.
Leslie walked over to the other side of the counter and picked up another meter stick. "Game on, ho."
"Now you callin' people ho's? That's it, I'm taking you out."
"En guarde!"
The girls began to fight with their meter sticks, using them like swords. It certainly grabbed the attention of all the students in the classroom, especially the teacher.
"What's going on?" he asked. He walked up to the teenage warriors. "You better stop this instance-- Whoa!" He dodged a swing from Andrea. He was becoming afraid of the danger-ridden pair so he stood back.
The students were getting scared, too, as the girls moved around the classroom, striking their sticks together. The students try to stay as far away as possible but they couldn't take their eyes off the girls. The girls actually looked like trained sword-fighters that one would see in martial arts films. After a while, successfully, Andrea smacked the meter stick out of Leslie's hand, distracting her with her own newfound vulnerability. Then Andrea swept her stick under Leslie's feet, tripping her and knocking her down on the floor hard.
"Yes!" Andrea hooted, swinging her weapon in the air. "I am the meter stick master! In your fa-- Oh, you're bleeding."
"Hey, Andrea," said Kienne, "is this thing done?" she pointed at the heating beaker, which was discharging bubbles nonstop.
"Oh, Kienne, you fool!" Andrea ran towards her partner so she could fix the problem.
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