Chapter 8
I am in the Chemistry building, a building made out of atom-like shapes, like chemical structures that look like circle blocks forming an interconnected covalent bond structure.
It looks like boron nitride to me. So we have nine floors and six Chemistry buildings on each floor…
I think… I am still trying to count them all.
I am now in a color-coded classroom. We are all at different lab stations, each with a test tube in front of us.
Our instructor barges in, and we all turn and stare at our test tubes instantly to avoid eye contact with her.
She has three student “guards” behind her.
I assume they are Sachis and Lerods. She must be a Patron.
She has a short camel-colored dress, piercing gray eyes and long black hair, which she flips the way a skilled soldier draws a sword.
The Patron begins to speak with a British accent. “Do you know how diamonds are formed?” she says, pointing to the table of books with her long red nails.
We all sit in utter silence.
“They are formed like you will be formed in Chemistry class.” She chuckles and revels in devilish delight for an entire thirty seconds as we stare at our test tubes, contemplating our entire lives.
“Before you take the Chemistry Test, I will break you, I will restructure you, then I will bury you. And then you will come out shiny or you will come out—oh! you will not come out at all!” She begins to laugh again.
I’ve never met any Patron who delights in our pure suffering like she does. Our legs tremble and we shiver, terrified of her, yet I notice many brave faces staring at their test tubes with bold eyes, ready for a challenge.
“This test is actually the easiest, I think. It’s divided into two parts.
One is a diamond. Two is a test tube. You will be put under the ground with a heat level of 133 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yes, you heard me correctly. 133 degrees Fahrenheit.
56.1111 in Celsius for those of you who are Brits like moi...
And yes, at a degree like that, a normal human being will begin to experience hyperpyrexia.
And will face almost certain death. But you guys are not normal, right? ”
This is insane! Is she for real?
“You should be happy De Londe mandates us to have limits on the temperature. If it was up to me, I’d crank it up to the real thing—2000 degrees Fahrenheit. But I guess we don’t want to kill you right at the start. It’s much more fun to watch you suffer and wait until the end.”
She continues.
“A diamond naturally has 3.3 billion years maximum. For the diamond portion of the challenge, you will have 3.3 minutes to complete the challenge of balancing 33 extremely difficult chemical equations. To pass the test with a C, you will have to complete it in 1 minute. B, 2 minutes: A, 3 minutes. 3.3 is a fail in my book. Don’t get kicked out of The Commons for 3 seconds of stupidity. ”
What the heck!
“The second part of the test involves the test tubes, no pun intended. But this time, you will be our test tubes, like the ones in front of you. Take a good look at them, look at the bubbling, sizzling, everything. And imagine that you are inside of it, holding your breath. Because you will be immersed in a similar substance capable of burning your skin, Condoxin, my favorite substance! You will have to hold your breath in it for 21 minutes and 26 seconds. It’s the current year—it’ll go up every year. ”
At this point, I don’t even know how to react.
There is no doubt in my mind that I am in a deadly situation.
Since this is the most rigorous week, according to time distribution, I’m lost in my mind again, getting worried…
In an average week, I have 45 minutes of free time daily, divided into 8 minute increments (not counting our 45 minutes for breakfast, lunch and dinner time where nothing but eating is allowed).
I have to go to a different science class every day this week and sit in class for 12 hours straight.
Monday is biology; Tuesday, physics; and today [Wednesday] Chemistry.
Tomorrow [Thursday] will be Algebra for the first five hours, Geometry for the next seven hours and Calculus on Friday.
We will be tested on Saturday for Math, and on Sunday for Science.
So, this week, I will only have from 7 to 7:45 tonight after classes to read for the 10 by 10 challenge.
“Blue eyes,” Patron Suzandrick calls out.
I snap out of my thoughts. She’s speaking to Zavish! He’s staring at the diamond on the table up front as opposed to his test tube on his own desk.
“Blue eyes!” Patron Suzandrick crushes a paper in her fist and throws it at Zavish’s face.
“Yes, Patron Suzandrick,” he responds and sits up, alert.
“Zavish Lumiere. Blue eyes. Blonde slick hair. Dig the accent. Dig the casinos in Vegas. Met all your prior siblings. You are all like clones, actually. But tell me, blue eyes, why did I have to call you twice?”
“Patron Suzandrick, I am deeply sorr—”
“Oh, you will be sorry, deeply, yes! Because you are going first in the test. Which means you are also going to have absolutely no preparation for it. Now step out of my class and stand at the door until class is dismissed!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Patrons do not like ma’am.”
“Yes, Patron Suzandrick, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay, you can just kneel there instead of standing for the six hours. I’m sure your knees will learn a thing or two about respect. Get out!”
He leaves. I gulp, feeling bad for Zavish. Even though I do not like him, no one deserves that amount of suffering for doing nothing but staring at a table.
Class goes on for the next six hours with endless speed drills on chemical formations and endless warnings from Suzandrick on how we are all going to die.
Tired, I step out of class to see Zavish beside me. Suzandrick strokes his hair and smiles with devious delight. She says something into his ear, hands him a blue detention paper and walks away.
“I’m sorry.” I empathize with him.
“Zavish Lumiere needs not your pity.”
“Right. Why were you staring at the chemical structure on the table in front? You know she’s hardcore—”
“Don’t you get it? I wasn’t staring at the diamond structure in front of you, I was staring at you. You’re the diamond in front of me.”
I feel horrible, and I don’t know what to do or how to react, but I try not to let my sympathetic thoughts for him cloud my rational mind about the manner of person I am talking to. But before I can do that, Zavish, with his all-powerful pride does that for me.
“Suzandrick is jealous. That’s just her way of saying it. You should probably know she hates you as much as me now, though what she has for me is not really hate. But she just told me you will be going second in the test for being the object that brought my punishment.”
“What? Please tell me you’re joking!” I sigh in disbelief.
“I wish I were, but she even claimed me just now, so you should probably keep your distance for a while.”
“Claimed you? What the heck does that mean?” I thought claiming only happened at The Selection. Not that I even completely knew what it fully meant then. And I certainly don’t know now.
“Oh, Shantavia, you are so na?ve. You could learn a thing or two from her.” He walks away, leaving me puzzled and confused.
I keep on walking, but I can’t help but wonder what he means by she “claimed” me.
Gosh! At this point, there are too many reasons why Levon could have been in trouble.
If someone tried to claim her, she would kill them.
My mind is bogged down with uncountable thoughts, all the while knowing I can’t do anything to find Levon this week.
I am planning to head straight to the library to check out what books I can read for the 10 by 10 Challenge.
I can’t actually start the challenge until it is feasible that I can complete a book of a million words in a day and comprehend it enough to pass a test on every detail contained in it.
Still, I check out a book a day and read as much as I can, just for practice.
I make my way toward the science hallway to exit the building. That’s when I notice a red-haired girl and a slender brunette hiding behind the wall, whispering. I approach close enough to hear them.
“We’ve been watching for ten minutes now, let’s just do it and suffer the consequences.”
“You go first!” the brunette responds.
What are they talking about? Just then, an olive-skinned boy wearing circle-shaped glasses walks up to them. “Oh, goodness, the Chemistry Hallway. My biggest nightmare and dream,” he says.
“What do you mean?” I step forward and ask.
“The Chemistry Hallway is infamous for being where we discover if our destiny lies with a Patron!” the brunette responds.
My mind tries to remember… Commons Binder Rule 5… No romantic relationships with a Patron if you are not one, except if claimed in the 6C Hallway.
This is the 6C. I turn to see another girl speaking with Zavish’s friend, Jordan.
“So give me a run down on what you found out,” she says to Jordan.
“Take it with a grain of salt. My dad is not very helpful, as you know, but he told me that since romantic relationships are forbidden with Patrons, this is our only chance of ever making a move with them. The Chemistry Hallway was created by The Powers That Be to provide a format for romantic relationships between both parties, but it has not succeeded in doing so for the last fifty years. Because no Patron has ever accepted a student’s interest or advances in the 6C. ”
“I mean, there’s been three or four times in the last fifty years, so it’s not impossible,” she says.
“My dad says that’s just rumors, that it’s not true,” Jordan says.
“Yeah, but you told me to take what your dad says with a grain of salt,” she mutters.
They smile at each other.
Jordan stops reading his notes, turning to her. “So you don’t want to know anymore, right?”
“What? When did I ever say that? Keep talking.” She turns to him with an animated smile.