It wasn't till after 2nd period that I saw Mia. We were having Biology together, together with Lily. I met Mia on her way to the lab and I joined.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked as I walked up to her.
"Hey !" Mia smiled. "Nothing much, just excited about our experiment today. How about you?"
"Experiment ?" I looked at her in surprise." Is there an experiment today?" I asked.
"Yeah, Mr Michael announced it the other day you weren't in school." She replied.
" ooohh...."
And with that, I held her free hand, "Shall we?"
"Sure." she said as we continued together.
As we were getting closer to the lab, we met Lily and my heart skipped a beat. She smiled at me and said
"Hey Ray, congratulations on your win yesterday."
As she said this, she came up to me and placed a kiss on my cheeks.
I quickly glanced at Mia, she wasn't smiling and I could tell she wasn't happy with Lily's 'kind gesture'.
Lily turned to Mia and said, "Don't worry yet. I'm only just congratulating him."
She then turned and entered the lab before us. I stood there for a split second before turning to Mia, " Uhm, come on it's nothing. Let's go."
She simply nodded and we entered the lab.
Once inside, we all got ready for the experiment. Mr Michael shared us in groups of threes and fortunately or unfortunately, my group was comprised of Mia, Lily and myself.
Our task was to extract pigments from different plant parts using ethanol. According to Mr Michael, this experiment was a great way to learn about the different pigments found in plants, and how we can extract them using different methods.
First, we were given different plant samples, leaves, stems, and petals, and we were asked to grind them up using a mortar and pestle.
Since I was the only guy in the group, I offered to do it.
It was a bit challenging since some of the plant samples were quite tough, but it was also fun to see the different colors and textures of the plant parts.
While grinding the plants part, I couldn't help but take side glances at Mia and Lily as they prepared other stuffs. Well, so far, nothing has gone wrong.
Next, Lily added ethanol to the ground up plant samples and stirred the mixture for a few minutes.
"The ethanol will help to dissolve the pigments from the plant material," Mr Michael's voice echoed.
After that, we filtered the mixture using filter paper, which helped to separate the pigments from the plant debris. The pigments were now in the ethanol solution, and we were ready for the next step.
Finally, Mia heated the solution to boil, this step is done to evaporate the ethanol and leave behind the pigments.
During this stage, I got pressed and decided to take quickly ease myself. I rushed off to the bathroom and I can say I didn't spend up to 10 minutes.
Getting closer to the lab, I heard loud screams coming out of the room.
'What on earth is going on in there?' I asked myself as I walked in.
As I walked into the lab, my eyes were immediately drawn to the chaos that surrounded me. The room was in chaos, with broken glass and scattered equipment littering the floor.
The smell of smoke filled my nostrils, and I could see that there had clearly been a fire. The lab's sprinkler system had activated, and water dripped from the ceiling, pooling on the ground.
I quickly scanned the room, looking for any sign of Mr. Michael, our science teacher. But he was nowhere to be found. The rest of the class were gathered at the back of the class. My heart began to race as I wondered what or who could have caused the fire.
As I made my way into the lab, I saw that few of the workstations had been destroyed.
I turned a corner and saw Mia on the floor, trying to pick up some broken shards of glass.
I ran over to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the broken glasses.
"What happened?!" I asked, checking to see if she was hurt or something.
"Lily did something! As I was trying to check if the solution was boiling, she pushed me, spilling the ethanol on the table. I think it splashed on the flame because the fire started growing, trailing the spilled ethanol on the table!" Mia explained hysterically.
I looked around and noticed Lily standing close to the main point of the fire with a devilish grin on her face
"You!" I pointed at Lily. "What were you thinking, Lily?"
Her eyes widened and she shook her head in the negative, raising her hands like she doesn't know what I was trying to say.
"Answer me!" I shouted.
Again, she shook her head and answered. "Nothing, I didn't do anything."
"Well, I don't believe you." I growled.
With that, I tore my gaze away from Lily and focused on Mia.
Her hand was bleeding, she must have been cut by a glass shard.
"Where's Mr Michael?" I asked as I walked Mia away from the broken glasses and blackened tile of the table.
"He stepped out not quites long." Mia answered.
"Come on the fire is out. Let's put this place back in order." I said to the students at the back and gradually, they began to help out.
"Are you okay?" I asked Mia.
"Yes..." she whispered as if afraid to speak louder lest someone hear her.
We both stared at the blackened table top, and I knew it ight be a permanent stain if something is not done about it.
I didn't know when Mr Michael came in until I heard him scream, "What the hell happened here?"
"There was a fire." I heard someone answered.
"Who started it?" The class pointed to Mia and Lily.
After listening to both sides, he then proceeded to yell at Lily, telling her not to play pranks that could get someone hurt.
I tried to interject and defend Mia, but he cut me short, saying, "And where were you when it all happened?"
Before I could mutter a reply, he continued, "It's your group, I don't care who started it. The three of you, detention and you will be responsible for the cleaning if this mess after school." He then left the scene without another word.
I sighed heavily. This wasn't what I had in mind for today As soon as the bell rang, we left the lab and locked it.
Out of order for the day.
I saw Lily casting a glare on Mia and I just turned her, my hands around her shoulder as I guided her to the school clinic.