I traced my lips, imagining her warmth, the closeness of our faces, and… even her smell. I was disgusted with my uncouth behavior.

  She’s fifteen; however, my soul is that of a forty-year-old man, but this body is fifteen. Does that make it okay? No, it can’t, I can’t. I quit my thoughts for a moment—I prayed for the genie’s commentary, but I only received silence.

  “Please open your textbook and turn to page forty-eight, “Ms. Abutin said, her voice sliced through the air like a knife. She sheathed her bde and scribbled something onto the board.

  I’ll use this lesson to distract myself from Christine’s embrace, and soft—stop it!

  Ms. Abutin wrote “Chemical reaction” on the board in broad bck letters—they were sharp and well-defined. Unlike her, I told myself. If anything, she was unremarkable with her makeup-less face and smooth, unblemished skin. I swallowed saliva that had built up while I thought about her. Who cares if she helped me find my css? A shiver ran down my spine, and my hands shook. I took bullets and shook them off, so why can’t I get past this feeling?

  Today’s lesson is about chemical reactions—specifically, what happens when two unstable elements come into contact,” she said with an air of superiority.

  Around me, an army of pencils scribbled, reminding me that I didn’t bring a backpack or anything to work with.

  Genie: Ah, hum.

  I sighed at the thought of being puppeted again and braced myself for my next list of embarrassing suggestions. Maybe it’ll make me sing in the middle of css or confess my deepest darkest secrets so that the css can have a go at me.

  Genie: Please surrender your attention to the right side of your desk

  Interesting choice of words. I looked down to see a brown leather backpack by my desk. Did it just appear?” I reached down and found textbooks for all my csses. How is this possible? Hey, are you there? Don’t leave me without—

  “Mr. Carter,” her voice severed my thoughts, cutting any chance of figuring out how it manifested a backpack. “Are you with us, or in nd?”

  I’m sure this is La Land. “I’m with you, but I need to get my textbook out of my bag.” I didn’t take to science in my first life—how was I going to manage it now?

  I set the textbook on my desk with a piece of paper to satisfy Ms. Abutin. When she turned to scribble on the board, I looked around. A few of the girls were scking off, showing no interest in the css; more of the boys were pretending to take notes by drawing lines and then erasing them. I turned to the smirking jerk next to me, seeing if he was scking as well, but his notes were authentic. Hello, sheep, I thought. All my notes will be coming from you in the future.

  "Let’s start with a simple definition. A chemical reaction occurs when one or more substances change into something new. This can involve color changes, temperature shifts, gas production, or even the creation of a precipitate."

  I fought back my temptation to yawn by biting my bottom lip; I bit down softly and then hard, depending on how tired I was. Precipitate, I thought. Like water, rain?

  “A precipitate," she said as if answering my thoughts, "is a solid that forms when two liquids react. For example, when silver nitrate reacts with sodium chloride—"

  "Salt water and that… silver stuff?" a student interrupted.

  I bit down hard; any harder and I was sure I’d draw blood. My method wasn’t working because the urge to show Ms. Abutin how engaging her css wasn’t. I’ll open the textbook; I figure it’ll have some interesting pictures.

  ***

  As I opened the textbook, a strange sensation grew in my chest—then suddenly, I was falling into the page, into its empty white space. My pulse raced, and I began to sweat. I was nowhere. No longer could I feel gravity. I didn’t know if I was falling or floating, but the temperature continued to rise. I wanted to scream—I had no voice, but I could hear Ms. Abutin. I closed my eyes to listen—not because I wanted to—because it’s all I could do.

  "Now, when we say two elements are unstable, we’re not talking about being bad or broken—just reactive. Some atoms don’t like to be alone. They’re desperate to bond, to feel complete. And when two of them come together—"

  It isn’t broken, I thought... Something touched me—my eyes shot open. I gasped. It was Cristine. She—

  What the heck happened to your clothes? I thought? I closed my eyes again because it was indecent to see her like this. Get out of here! I thought, but where are we? It was too hot to be real and too detailed to be anything but genuine. How did she get here? I looked down with closed eyes and prayed this would end.

  "—they can either stabilize each other… or explode."

  Explode?

  Slowly opening my eyes, I noticed that I didn’t have shoes, pants, or a shirt. I trembled as Cristine’s hand lifted my chin. She was glowing—she was unstable.

  "Take sodium and water. Individually, they're manageable. But when you drop pure sodium into water—"

  She pressed her lips against mine—I froze at how soft they felt, but this couldn’t be real because I’m in css, right? What have I done? I tried to bite down—I tried to cause pain to either of us, I tried to resist. But my eyes grew heavy, and I started to fade. I submitted to her as she wrapped her arms around me again. My eyes lulled into a soft, passive, and warm surrender.

  "—You get fire. Smoke. A reaction so intense, it can shatter gss."

  A surge struck, and we both erupted into fme. I reached up, running my fingers through her fiery hair, and she to mine. I didn’t care about anything but her embrace. I could only feel our bodies melding into one unstable substance. I wanted to cry, and when the urge was too strong, I did. Smoke was what remained of my tears. It’s… too much. Make it stop, genie!

  "Why? Because both substances have energy, they’re trying to unload. That’s what you need to understand: unstable elements aren't dangerous until they touch. Then it’s unpredictable. Sometimes you get a spark, other times a disaster. And it happens fast."

  My mind started to fade as my body merged into hers. The heat reached a boiling point hotter than burning alive. Was this because I broke barriers? If… punishment,... kill me before… not myself. I couldn’t breathe because our mouths had fused. Everything felt tight like, like—

  "These reactions aren’t slow conversations—they’re collisions—a violent rearrangement of matter. The atoms don’t ask permission. They just act. And when it's over, you're left with something entirely different. Sometimes it’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s toxic. Sometimes it lingers in the air long after the heat has gone. In chemistry, we study these reactions to predict outcomes. In life? You don’t always get that luxury."

  The world snapped back into pce. My hands, covered in sweat, trembled. I looked around, gasping, trying to figure out what had happened, when I noticed Ms. Abutin standing by my desk, closing my textbook.

  ***

  “Are you okay, Mr. Carter?” The cssroom went silent in anticipation. “I feared you were having a chemical reaction with how hard you were breathing.”

  Giggles exploded from the silence. Ms. Abutin had closed my textbook, which I dragged onto my p. I sighed.

  “Mr. Carter, since my lecture has excited you, please share with the css your thoughts on chemical reactions: what causes them, why they are dangerous, and what must be done to stabilize them?” Ms. Abutin said. Her words hung over me like a bde preparing to strike.

  “C-chemical reactions,” I said, my face still melting from melding in the void-like space, “they happen when two unstable elements touch,” images of Christine popped into my head; us touching. “They aren’t broken, but need something from the other to—” my breathing grew unstable, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. “—to feel whole.”

  “It’s always dangerous when unstable things collide.” Impulsively, I touched my lips in search of something that never occurred.”But they do more than collide; they can make something beautiful.”

  “Or Toxic,” Ms. Abutin interrupted.

  “Y-yes.” I didn’t mean to omit that information; it was an afterthought, for sure. “When they combust,” I squeezed the textbook in my p. “Also, keeping them separated is the best way to maintain stability.”

  “Yes, Mr. Carter. Another way is to give them something else to bond with.”

  “Something else!” The concept hurt me for reasons I don’t understand. If Christine paired with someone else, I should be excited. I shouldn’t be thinking about this at all. Maybe she forgot about me. Ms. Abutin made it sound like she was a repeat offender.

  “Anything else, Mr. Carter?”

  “Yes,” Ms. Abutin delivered an inquisitive gre that challenged my understanding. “T-two things.”

  “Oh!” she said with excitement. “Tell us more.”

  “In a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed,” I said, but I didn’t know this before. “And some reactions are reversible and eventually reach a bance where reactants and products are constant,” I know what I said, but not why or how.

  “It’s refreshing to see students take a shine to chemistry.” Ms. Abutin’s voice sounded pleasant and friendly. “A bit of extra information: A catalyst speeds up a reaction without being consumed. I know, it’s so exciting.”

  The bell rang, and I tried to stabilize myself before standing up. What was that, genie?

  Genie: I’m unsure of what you’re referring to; however, your aptitude for science is remarkable.

  Pulling me into the science book, making me confront Christine. Don’t py—

  Genie: I procured no such moment.

  “Mr. Carter, your escort to css is back.”

  In the doorway stood Christine, and my heart sank, and my skin began to simmer. Am I combusting? I stood up, book in pce, and awkwardly shuffled toward the door.

  “Hey,” Christine said. “Why are you blushing, bro?”

  Ms. Abutin gasped.

  I winced, and with one hand, I took hers.

  I looked her over before we set off; not a burn mark to be found.

  “Okay, let’s go to css.”

  AnnouncementA song to promote the chapter. Chain Reaction: https://suno.com/s/OS9v6PYM1YjhsyDV