Page 10 of Perfect Chemistry

I walked up and grabbed a calculator. I was great with algebra and what I would call normal math. But the decimals and fractions in chemistry always threw me. It was better to err on the side of caution. I flipped through the packet and recognized many questions from my sophomore year when I failed this class. I did great with the labs, but struggled with the tests.

Thankfully, I kept my notebooks and homework from back then so that I could study my ass off and pass this year. It didn’t take me long to get through all of the questions. I finished my test, turned the packet over, and placed it in the box on Mr. Tinneson’s desk. Kai was working on the last page as I walked past his desk to sit at our lab table in the back of the room. He still looked furious.

His face was flushed red, and he kept flexing his jaw like he was trying to break his teeth. I watched as he flipped through each page once more before turning his test over to Mr. Tinneson. He stalked toward the back of the class staring directly at me. My heart began thudding in my chest again, because I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He paused behind me, and I would have sworn I heard his breath hitch.

I was freaking out in my head, even though I smiled at him. He sat next to me and stared down at the lab table, his jaw clenching tightly while his hands balled into white knuckled fists. I moved to ask him if he was okay, but he turned my body back to face the front of the room.

I felt his breath on my cheek, and I couldn’t breathe. “Take a hall pass,” he whispered in my ear, and I nodded. My face felt flushed, and I knew it had to be cherry red. I had butterflies in my stomach from the feeling of his breath on my skin.

I quietly went to the door and took a wooden block that read ‘hall pass, Tinneson.’ I held it up and Mr. Tinneson nodded to let me leave.

Closing the door quietly behind me, I walked down the hall to the water fountains and leaned over to take a drink while I waited to see what had Kai so damned upset. I couldn’t think of anything that I did wrong. Maybe he got dumped again, and was pissed and wanted to vent. Then a thought occurred to me. What if my gift was not actually my gift?

Before I could dwell further down that depressing rabbit hole, I was pulled from the fountain and dragged into the girls’ toilets. Kai shoved me into one of the stalls, and followed behind me before closing the door and locking it. His eyes were radiant, and he studied my face like he was trying to find the right words.

“What are you doing?” he asked. His voice came out in a gravelly whisper.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted softly.

“What are you wearing? I could see straight down your fucking jeans, Katie.”

Noooo. I felt like throwing up. I had completely misunderstood every fucking thing…

“Was I not supposed to wear the gift you got me? Or was I mistakenly given the wrong gift for my birthday, Kai?” My voice trembled as the words came out. I was torn between humiliation and rage because of him. Again.

I watched a thousand emotions flash across his eyes. He stood so close, but then turned away like he’d been caught and didn’t know how to respond. I felt my heart shattering. I honestly thought he was using passing this class as an excuse to be with me. I was wrong. Again.

“I’m so fucking stupid,” I whispered, trying to hide the tears burning my eyes as I reached for the stall door.

Kai grabbed my hand and pulled me roughly into his chest. There wasn’t room to move around, so I bounced into him before I smashed back against the side wall. His lips caught mine in the barest of a kiss.

My eyes widened as I stared at him. Kai just kissed me. Kai. MY KAI. His eyes watched me; took in my every reaction. Was he waiting to see if I would lose my shit or become angry? Why did he keep toying with me? Fuck it, I thought. If I am going to lose his friendship anyway, I might as well take it straight to hell.

I jerked my hands out of his, grabbed his shirt, and kissed him with everything I had felt for years. I parted my lips and was surprised to feel his tongue plunging into my mouth. This kiss was heart-stopping, but I just couldn’t stop. This. Oh My Heaven!

He took my hands from the front of his shirt, held them over my head, and pressed his body against mine so I could feel how hard he was. His lips devoured mine, sucking on my bottom lip before his tongue explored my mouth again and again.

I whimpered into his mouth when his hips rocked so subtly against mine. It felt like every sensation in my body had just pooled deep in my stomach and soaked my panties. He wanted me. Me. Holy-

We stilled when the outer door to the restroom creaked open. Fuck. How long had we been in here? He quickly stood up on the toilet seat, and squatted down as he grinned at me. I couldn’t think. I just stood there staring at him, while he stared back at me. The butterflies in my stomach were revolting, because of all the questions I wanted to ask. What the hell did this mean? For us?

“Katie?” a girl’s voice called into the restroom, breaking me from my thoughts. I recognized the voice of Kennedy from our chemistry class. I immediately went from nearly hyperventilating to trying to hold my breath. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I needed to get myself under control. She was one of the many sophomore underclassmen in chemistry with us. She had a crush on Kai and thought no one realized it. Kennedy was a nice girl, but she annoyed the shit out of me every time she batted her eyes at him.

Kai flushed the toilet and nodded for me to leave the stall first. I was flipping between grinning like a cat that stole the canary, and wanting to be sick when I slipped out of the bathroom stall and washed my hands. I saw how flushed my face was in the mirror and looked over to see Kennedy staring at me from the door.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked her as I dried my hands.

She looked nervous, and I wondered if she had caught us. “Um, no. I- You were gone a while, so I said I would check on you,” she admitted, though it didn’t seem like that was it.

“Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t feeling right so I needed some air. I appreciate you looking out for me though, Kennedy,” I said as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and forced her to walk out of the bathroom with me.

She turned, attempting to look down the hall behind us, but I wouldn’t let her in case Kai was sneaking out. “I’m sorry, Kennedy. Did you need to use the bathroom?” I asked her, hoping that I honestly looked concerned.

Kennedy’s face flushed and she looked embarrassed. “Uh-um… I. Um- Kai also left with a hall pass, so I didn’t know if he was out here.”

She was looking over her shoulder toward the fountains searching for Kai. I wanted to laugh, and tell her, ′Not today, little girl.′ But I couldn’t risk

“Ohhhh. Did you want to help him in the bathroom, too? Were you hoping to lock yourself in a stall with Kai during the exam and test your chemistry?” I asked her bluntly, knowing that I had just done exactly that. And the chemistry was…. Explosive.

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