"Some molecules have the same formula, but are assembled differently. They are like mirror images," Mrs. Carlyle informed the class. She held up both of her hands, palms facing out. "Take your hands, for instance. The left hand looks just like the right, but the thumbs do not occur on the same corresponding side, but rather the opposite side. They are mirror images. Think of the molecules in this way."
She began writing all the things she had just stated on the white-board so her students could copy the information down in their notes.
"Now, these are called isomers," Mrs. Carlyle continued, emphasizing the new vocabulary word and underlining it on the board. "You could also say that they are chiral, depending on the kind of isomerism they display. And while they have the same formula and are composed of the same elements, they do not function the same in the same way."
Adena sighed out of boredom. It wasn't that she didn't understand chemistry, it was just boring. She'd much rather be outside and enjoying the sun and the shade of the trees rather than learning about molecules and such. But the only thing that made this class bearable was that she had a perfect view of the girl she'd been crushing on since freshman year, a cute, outgoing, spontaneous girl by the name of Kat Edison. Adena glanced over at her and noticed that she looked pretty focused, despite the dry material being preached to them at the moment. Adena tried to use that as motivation to refocus herself on the lecture material.
"Some prime examples would be ibuprofen, which has the formula C13H18O2," Mrs. Carlyle told them, drawing two mirror-image structures on the board and labeling them. "Ibuprofen has an S-isomer and an R-isomer. The S is the one you want to take as a painkiller, whereas the R will do nothing for you in the case of pain relief..."
Adena found herself holding back a yawn and looked back over at Kat Edison, who'd lucked out and gotten a seat by the window. And boy, did she look beautiful in the sunlight. Her skin seemed to glow and Adena could see every detail of her hair as it reflected the sun's rays. She swore it was a scene straight out of a painting.
Kat Edison was stunning...
"Another example is carvone, with the formula C10H14O," Mrs. Carlyle paused again to draw and label the two structures. "The R-isomer smells like spearmint to the human olfactory sensory organs, but the S-isomer smells like caraway seeds. That's pretty strange, once you recall that they have the same elements and same amount of those elements in their structure. Such a slight variance—in this case, arrangement—can result in such a drastic change..."
Mrs. Carlyle droned on and on about all these different examples of isomers and chirality that she could think of off the top of her head. Adena couldn't focus. Not with Kat Edison sitting there and looking like she did.
Kat had the fullest, most beautiful lips Adena had ever seen, and wide-eyed innocence about her. And when she laughed, she had this high-pitched cackle that made Adena melt to her very core. She sighed as she realized her friends were right—she had it, and she had it bad for Kat Edison.
Meanwhile, Kat, master of looking focused when really she was spacing out and doodling random things in her notebook, kept noticing a fellow classmate by the name of Adena el-Amin, looking her way. Adena's intervals of focus on her kept growing longer and longer each time, and this current period of staring still hadn't ended yet. Kat giggled to herself and checked to see if Mrs. Carlyle was looking her way. She wasn't.
So Kat succumbed to her impulsivity and did the first thing that popped into her mind: she posed for Adena.
Now, it wasn't a real pose. It was an exaggerated, corny, hand-on-the-hip, pouty-lip pose. She waited for a reaction.
None.
Perhaps Adena wasn't staring at her and only happened to be zoning out in her direction?
Kat studied Adena for a moment before switching poses. This time, she blew a flirty kiss at Adena and winked.
Still no reaction.
Kat checked for Mrs. Carlyle's eyes again, and once she saw that she was still in the all-clear, she opened her legs, slouched, bit her lip, and ran a hand through her hair, stopping once her hand was on the top of her head, fingers still buried in her hair.
Adena blinked a few times and realized that Kat had been striking poses for the past minute or so, and upon that realization, she blushed and looked away. After a couple of seconds, she was bold enough to look back at Kat and really appreciate the seductive pose Kat had chosen just for her.
Wait a second.
Adena checked behind and around herself to make sure the posing was just solely for her. It seemed to be. Adena felt herself grow hot as Kat switched positions, choosing and even sexier pose.
Kat leaned against her desk sideways and put a finger in her mouth, hanging it on her bottom set of teeth and letting her eyes cloud over with a sultry expression.
Adena chuckled to herself silently and saw Kat break into a smile.
"Would you care to explain what's so funny, Adena?" Mrs. Carlyle halted the lesson to scold the misbehaving student. Adena sank into her chair, wishing she would just melt into the floor and disappear.
"I, uh..." Adena trailed off.
She really didn't have anything to say for herself. She hadn't been paying attention, and she hadn't paid attention for the entire year so far. Kat was just so... cute. And charming. And funny. And distracting. And-
"Ahem...?" Mrs. Carlyle waited. And when Adena still didn't have a response she turned to Kat. "And don't think I didn't see you over there, Ms. Edison."
Kat held up a folder to hide her face, but at Adena's angle, she could that Kat did not feel an ounce of embarrassment or remorse. She was laughing. Adena stifled her own laughter too.
"I'll see you both after school," Mrs. Carlyle told them. "In detention."
The class let out a collective, "Oooh..."
To which Kat responded, "Whatever."
Luckily for her, Mrs. Carlyle did not hear her and had resumed the lesson.
Normally, Adena would've been concerned about a detention going on her academic record. But staying after school, alone with Kat? That didn't seem so bad...
Adena nearly bumped into Kat as they both turned to enter the detention room.
"Oh hey," Adena smiled. "Weird running into you here. You first."
"Thanks," Kat chuckled and replied, "Twice in one day? It really is a small world."
She paused as they took their seats.
"Hey, so... about earlier..." Kat began.
"No talking," Mrs. Carlyle interrupted abruptly as she walked in. "This is detention. It's supposed to be punishment."
The two girls watched as the teacher set herself all up with a book and began to read. Adena glanced at Kat and noticed she was getting a scrap piece of paper out of her backpack. She watched as Kat wrote in that loopy script Adena loved so much. She wondered if Kat was seriously doing homework or if she was up to something. After a few seconds, she had her answer. Kat was up to something.
Kat slid handed the paper over for Adena to read.
Sorry for getting you into trouble.
Adena shook her head and wrote her reply.
No biggie
Kat scribbled.
Kinda is tho
Adena rolled her eyes and replied:
I wasn't paying attention anyway
She thought about adding a winking face, but decided against it.
Hate chem?
No but it's not my favorite
What is
Adena scratched out her original answer of "You" and rewrote a new answer.
Photography
Really? :o
Yeah, I love it
What do u photograph?
Anything, really
Anything?
Well, I prefer human subjects
Why
They have animation, they have soul. You can't capture certain things w/ inanimate objects
Like...?
The way someone looks when she scowls or is concentrating or thinking very hard. Or the way she looks when she is guilty or nervous. The way someone looks when she is in love... you can't get that with objects
Wow.. what a profound answer
I try
So like... would you photograph me if I asked? ;p
Adena's heart raced.
If you wanted me to - you sure have demonstrated that you can strike one hell of a pose ;)
Adena eyed Kat out of the corner of her eye and saw her smirk before writing her reply.
Nude? ;)
Adena swallowed hard and tried not to think about Kat stripping down in front of her or what she looked like underneath her clothes. Adena's handwriting was suddenly lighter and shakier.
Is that what you want?
Idk I just get the feeling it's something you'd like ;)
And what would you know about what I like?
You like me, don't you?
Adena felt her face grow hot. Kat had pegged her exactly, and she had no way out of it now. Kat watched Adena, waiting for her to answer. After a moment, Kat gingerly took the piece of paper back.
I'm sorry, maybe that was too forward. But in case it wasn't...
"I like you too," Kat whispered just as Adena finished reading the response.
"No talking," Mrs. Carlyle reminded them, never looking up from her book. Kat took the paper back again.
What do you say to that?
Adena drew a heart and showed Kat, who drew a heart-eyes smiley face in return.
Wait so how long have u liked me?
Kat added two eye emojis after her question.
An embarrassingly long time
How many years is embarrassing?
Why do you assume it can be quantified in years?
Kat drew more eyes and passed the paper back.
4
So all of high school then
Pretty much.
It's april already. Were u gonna wait until graduation to tell me?
Adena drew the eye emoji this time.
Were u never gonna tell me?
Kat added the eye emoji after her question and sent the paper back.
I thought u were straight
Me??
Yeah u
Kat stared at the paper for a moment before writing an answer.
So did I
Adena chuckled just as Mrs. Carlyle closed her book and looked at the two of them as she prepared to speak.
"Detention has come to an end. You are dismissed. I hope you've learned your lesson and that I never have to see you here again," she told them. They both nodded vehemently and took their leave.
"I'm keeping this, by the way..." Kat declared as she held up the piece of paper they'd been passing back and forth.
"Oh, don't get all sentimental on me now," Adena teased. She hesitated before asking, "Would you like to hang out after school sometime, Kat Edison?"
"If that's your way of asking if I'm available to take nudes, then it's a yes," Kat joked.
"I'll... keep that in mind," Adena replied.
"Please do," Kat laughed. "See you around, Adena el-Amin."