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"I got a B in my chemistry test!"
"Congratulations sweetheart, you did good." Ridge smiles at me, pecking me on the cheek softly. I beam at him, feeling proud of myself.
"Thanks to you. It was possible just because of you." I thank him. "You're a life saver."
A chuckle escapes his lips. "You don't have to thank me for doing something for you. I'm glad I could help you."
"Quiet, class." Mrs. Wilson's voice booms through the room, making everyone shut their mouth in a matter of seconds. She claps her hands together, pushing her glasses on the bridge of her nose, looking at us with narrowed eyes. "We have a practical class today, so I want no lethargic student, or a troublemaker. We will be performing Oxalic Acid vs Potassium Permanganate titration. It will be done in pairs. Twenty percent of your final grade will be determined from these series of experiments. So, choose you partners wisely. " She pauses, to give us time for forming pairs.
I turn to my right, looking straight at Ridge, who's already looking at me. "Hey partner."
He gives me a crooked smile. "Hey yourself."
"Okay students. I hope you have chosen your partner. Since the apparatus is not here, we'll be performing the experiment in the laboratory. So, be quiet and follow me."
Silently, well as silently as possible, we follow her towards the lab which is not that far from our class. She allots us our seats, and asks us to open the drawers in front of us, underneath the counter to retrieve our glasses and lab coats. Once we are fully prepared, we are given instructions on how to go on with the experiment.
"Okay, so how about you tell me what to do? I'll follow your instructions or I might blow up the lab." I suggest, looking at Ridge who is busy adjusting the collar of his lab coat. Once he's done, he nods in reply. "Sure."
I take in his appearance. He's wearing a pink polo shirt paired with black ripped jeans. And on top of that, the lab coat that seems to fit him perfectly. Safe to say, he looks hot. He would make a sexy doctor.
"First weigh 0.63 g of Oxalic Acid in the electronic balance and then mix it with water in the conical flask." He orders, collection all the equipments required. I nod, and do as I'm asked to do. When I'm done, I hand him the flask. "Here."
He takes it from my grasp and puts it on the burner, heating it.
I blink at him in confusion. "Why are we heating it?"
"It is heated to speed up the liberation of Manganese ions and thus speeding up the reaction. It also serves the purpose of expelling carbon dioxide evolved during reaction which hinders the completion of the reaction."
I nod slowly, processing the information. "Man, you're already a scientist."
He chuckles, shaking his head. "I just happen to like chemistry a lot."
I don't reply, just watch his moves as he uses the tongs to pick the beaker from the burner, before turning the knob of the gas off. He then looks at me. "Get me two test tubes of Sulphuric Acid."
I oblige, filling two seperate test tubes with the said chemical, and hand it to them. He pours the content of the test tube in the flask and stirs it to dissolve it evenly.
"Okay. Now we add Potassium Permanganate in the burette." He takes the beaker filled with the purple-pink solution and fills the burette till it's zero mark.
When he's done, he hands me a pipe like thing, but this time, he has a smirk playing on his lips. "Suck."
"What?!"
"Suck the Oxalic Acid solution into the pipette, sweetheart." He answers, pressing his lips into a thin line to stop himself from laughing at my reaction. "What did you think I was talking about?"
I shake my head, shooing away all the crude thoughts. "Nothing." Silently, I suck the solution. God, that sounds so very dirty. When I'm done, I pour the liquid into the volumetric flask and keep it under the burette.
"Great. Now we wait for the drip."
"You are saying all these things on purpose, aren't you?!" I hiss, hitting him on the arm. Asshole.
He smiles innocently, looking me in the eye. "What things?"
"Nothing. Twist the knob first dumbass." I roll my eyes. "How will it drip otherwise?"
"Oh yeah." He chuckles, and twists the know a little so the the solution comes down dropwise.
"Now what?" I question him, getting comfortable on the stool. He does the same, removing the goggles.
"Now we stir and wait till we reach the end point. When the colour changes to light pink." He replies, stirring the volumetric flask slowly as it changes colour for a second when a drop touches the acid's surface before disappearing completely. It's fascinating how the colour changes to pink with a single drop.
We note down the reading and then take three more because Mrs. Wilson said so. When we are done with the experiment, we head back to the class.
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"So, who's attending Austin's party tomorrow?" Ashton asks as soon as he puts his tray on the table. He slides next to Erica and gives us a questioning look.
"Austin's throwing a party? Again?" I ask. As far as I can remember, he was the one who had thrown the so called back to school party when I first got here. Right where Ridge and I happened.
"Who cares if he's throwing a party again." Tanner mutters, the turns his attention towards Ashton. "Are his parties any good?"
"Yeah, that's more relevant and important question." Em agrees with a nod. "I don't want my first party here in New York to be a bore."
"Austin is Hillcrest Academy's very own party animal. He organizes the best parties here," Bruce announces, popping in a fry. "You won't be disappointed."
Someone nudges me in the side. I look to my side to see Ridge smirking smugly at me. "You wanna go, sweetheart?"
"Sure, why not? It'll be fun." I wink at him, then get back to my food. My priority. Everyone murmurs a positive response to the party and that's how we spend the rest of the break, deciding what to wear and how to go.
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"What do you think looks better?" Em asks, holding two red dresses in her hand. She pushes them forward, and sighs. "I'm confused, Lydia. Help me."
I eye the dresses and come to a conclusion. "This one looks better." I point towards the one on the left. It's a spaghetti strap bodycon silk dress. It would go well with kind of figure she has.
She picks it up, and then beams at me. "I was thinking about going for that too. Thanks babe." She saunters away to my bathroom, picking the dress she will be wearing tonight.
Whiskey runs inside my room and jumps on my bed, alert. He looks around the room before settling down calmly, one paw on the other. I walk towards him and pet him. "Hey buddy, be good to Cherrie while we are gone, okay?"
Cherrie is the dog walker hired by dad for this week until he and Martha get back from their respective trips. Since Whis has to be alone during the time Tanner, Em and I have school, he decided to get a caretaker for the time being. She's a sweet lady in her late twenties, living across the street. Since she's sort of a neighbour to us, she keeps him at her house till we get back. She adores him too much. I ruffle his hair affectionately before getting up.
I head inside the closet and pick out an outfit for myself. Black leather pants and red silky crop top. I pick a pair of black pumps and put them on. Once I'm done, I straighten my hair and move onto my vanity for putting on make up. Em walks out of the washroom a few minutes later, dress on and hair pin straight. That's why she took so long in the bathroom.
She stands in front of me, posing. "Tell me I look hot."
I chuckle. "You look hot, Em."
She grins. "You look hot too."
"Thanks." I mutter and start applying my make up. This time, I decide to do a little bold make up, smokey eye, winged eye liner and blood red lipstick. Once I'm done, I give myself a once over in the mirror. DAMN, sometimes I impress myself.
Beautiful.
I walk towards my phone which is plugged into the socket, getting charged and call Tanner. However, he cuts my call. Before I can call again, he walts through the door and makes his way inside. "Hello beautiful ladies."
I snap my head towards him, taking in his outfit. Black ripped jeans, white polo shirt and a black leather jacket. Typical Tanner Leeds.
"Hey handsome." Em greets him, looking at him through the mirror. She is busy applying lipstick, trying on different shades of red I have.
"You look good." I compliment him, smiling.
"And you look beautiful, babygirl." He grins, but then his face hardens, forming a serious expression. "Just be careful at the party. And please don't wander alone. Especially you, Emilia."
She rolls her eyes at him. "Yes dad."
"I'm serious. Make sure you guys stay together. You don't what kind of people you'll find at the party." He asserts in a no bullshit voice. Crease lines form on his forehead, mainly due to concern.
I move towards him, patting his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be careful. Now let's go."
"Yes! Party, here we come." Em squeals.
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Even before entering the premises of the house, I can smell the alcohol and sweat. Red cups loitering on the ground, guys and girls hanging in the garden, drunk into oblivion. I hear rustling on my side to see a guy pissing. In a pot. Full of flowers.
Damn.
This one's more wild than the previous one. Definitely worth our time. Since it was a open invitation, he head straight inside through the huge double doors that hide the main scene of the party. Inside, it's wild. People dancing, drinking, laughing and playing. The party just started and it's already in full swing. Someone takes hold of my arm, pulling me towards the staircase. I look up to meet Tanner's eyes whose holding Em with his other hand. "Drinks?"
Em and I nod. "Shots."
He grins, and then together we try to locate the kitchen, trying not to touch and sweaty body on our way. When we safely reach the kitchen, I spot my group of friends already there. Looks like they were waiting for us.
"I sent a text on the group saying we are here." Tanner explains when I look at them in confusion.
Oh.
We greet each other, complimenting on how good we look. My eyes roam around before landing on the person I wanted to see.
Ridge.
I take in his profile. White button down shirt and black jeans. His hair is styled back to perfection, probably put together with the help of a little gel. Also, he clean shaved, leaving no hint of stubble behind, looking like a Greek God of some sort.
My ovaries just exploded, guys!
I saunter towards him, my lips curling up in a coquettish grin. Before I can say something, he pulls me to him, his warm mouth covering mine. The kiss is short, but demanding. He pulls away, not before pecking my lips once. He licks the seam of his lips, smirking. "You look hot, sweetheart."
"So do you." I tilt my head to the side, wounding my arms around his neck, relaxing against him. I don't care about others standing close by, because this feels much better right now. It feels comfortable.
My attention is drifted when I hear the song change. It changes to a slow one. I recognise the song immediately. It's one of my favourites.
Lights Down Low by Max Schneider.
The ambience of the room changes, the lights dimming down a notch. All the couples seize the opportunity to take over the dance area, swaying with the slow music. Ridge pulls me close to him, taking me by my hand. When we are at the centre of the dancing area, he stops. "Dance with me?" He flashes me a dimpled smile, laying out his hand for me.
"Sure." I grin, accepting his offer and take hold of his hand. He guides my arms around his neck, clasping my hands at the back. He wraps circles his arms around my waist, pulling me with him as we dance to the music.
I listen carefully, to my heart thumping loudly, his heartbeats and the lyrics of the song. Somehow, I feel that everything's trying to tell me something. Something my mind cannot comprehend yet.
Cause I don't think I'll ever leave this place.
I feel comfortable in his arms, the warmth radiating through his body engulfing mine makes me feel safe. I wanna stay like this. Forever.
And it's terrifying. Scary. Forbidden.
This is just a dare. Nothing more, nothing less. I shouldn't feel this. The attraction, the tension, the need and the want.
Now I'm feeling you breathin slow.
Aware of the fact that these thoughts are clogging my mind, and soon enough my face will show everything I'm feeling, I bury my face in his chest, closing my eyes. I feel Ridge's arms tightening around my frame, eliminating any gap that was present before. I feel a kiss being placed on the top of my head.
A smile breaks onto my face. What's gonna happen to us will be decided in the future. Fate brought us together, now fate will seal our deal. For now, I'll just enjoy the feel of being in the arms of the guy who has paved his way into my mind and heart, unknowingly.
And had taken his seat on the throne.
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Oof, conflicting hearts.
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