It was late, and most of the reunion attendees had either headed home or found their way to the afterparty at some local bar. But Annie Stones and Calix Wood had lingered in the nearly empty gym, caught up in conversation that stretched well beyond small talk. The flickering lights above the bleachers provided a nostalgic atmosphere, and as they moved toward the door, a long-forgotten memory popped into Annie's mind.
"Do you remember chemistry class?" she asked, glancing at Calix with a smirk.
Calix paused mid-step, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Chemistry? Oh God. You mean the class I almost failed because I was too busy trying to make the Bunsen burners explode?"
Annie laughed, shaking her head. "Exactly. You were the distraction. Mrs. Flannery was convinced you were either a mad scientist in training or just an agent of chaos."
Calix grinned. "Why choose? Chaos is just science with fewer safety goggles."
"Spoken like someone who nearly burned off his eyebrows."
"Hey, you have to admit, that flaming magnesium experiment was entertaining," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "Besides, you're the one who saved me from completely failing by letting me copy your homework."
Annie chuckled, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorway. "Let you? More like you sneakily glanced at my papers every time I wasn't looking."
Calix threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Caught red-handed. But in my defense, you were always three steps ahead. You made balancing chemical equations look like a walk in the park. Me? I could barely figure out how to turn on the gas for the Bunsen burner."
Annie raised an eyebrow. "That's because you never turned it off. You almost gassed out the entire lab once."
"Ah, details, details." He waved a hand dismissively. "Those were minor setbacks on the road to scientific discovery."
"Scientific discovery? Calix, your idea of discovery was mixing random chemicals together to see what color they'd turn."
"Exactly! I was pushing the boundaries of known science. I'm basically an unsung genius."
Annie couldn't help but laugh. It was easy to forget how lighthearted Calix had always been. He had a way of making even the most mundane moments in high school feel like an adventure. Despite his goofing off, there had been an undeniable charm to the way he never took things too seriously—except when it came to getting out of trouble.
"You do realize Mrs. Flannery nearly kicked you out of the class after that one time you 'accidentally' set fire to the lab notes, right?" Annie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Accidentally is a strong word," Calix replied, grinning. "I was simply... testing the combustion limits of paper."
"Uh-huh. And what was your excuse for dropping a beaker full of sulfuric acid?"
Calix leaned back against the wall, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Ah, yes. That was the day I discovered that the floor of the lab was, in fact, not acid-resistant."
"You almost melted a hole through it!"
"Exactly. Almost. Keyword: no permanent damage." He gave her a sly smile, his eyes twinkling. "It's all about how you frame the story, Annie."
Annie rolled her eyes, though she couldn't stop smiling. "You're unbelievable."
"And yet, here we are, years later, talking about chemistry. I'd say it left quite an impression."
Annie shook her head, but the warmth in her chest remained. "You know, despite all the disasters, that class was kind of fun. It wasn't just the science; it was... you. You made everything more interesting, even when I was trying to focus."
"Are you saying I made chemistry exciting for you? Because that's a pretty big compliment." Calix leaned in slightly, his grin playful.
"Oh, absolutely," Annie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Nothing says excitement like watching someone light their sleeve on fire while trying to measure molar mass."
He laughed, throwing his hands up again. "Hey, I was getting hands-on experience!"
Annie's laughter mingled with his, and for a moment, it felt like they were back in that classroom, trading jokes between lab assignments, their younger selves unaware of where life would take them. As the laughter died down, a comfortable silence filled the space between them, though the underlying chemistry—this time, not the kind you learned in school—buzzed just beneath the surface.
"You know," Calix said after a beat, his tone a bit softer now, "for all my messing around, you were always the one who kept me grounded. You made sure I didn't completely go off the rails in that class. I think I would've failed miserably without you."
Annie smiled, the compliment catching her off guard. "I don't know about that. But you definitely made things more... unpredictable."
"Unpredictable?" Calix raised an eyebrow. "Is that your polite way of saying I was a walking disaster?"
"More like a hurricane," Annie replied, nudging his shoulder playfully. "But in the best possible way."
Their eyes met, and for a moment, Annie felt something flicker between them—something that hadn't been there back in high school. It was more than just nostalgia; it was the spark of a connection they hadn't fully realized at the time.
"I guess we had good chemistry after all," Calix said with a grin, leaning just a little closer.
Annie rolled her eyes at the pun but couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. "That was terrible."
"You love it," he shot back, his grin wide.
She didn't respond right away, but the warmth in her chest grew, and she realized with a start that maybe, just maybe, he was right. Maybe she did love the way he could turn even the most ridiculous situation into something fun, something memorable.
Annie glanced away, a bit of nervous energy bubbling up inside her. "You know, Calix, back then... I never really thought about it, but maybe we did have something. Even if it was buried under all the smoke and fire."
"That's one way to look at it." His voice was quieter now, more serious. "But hey, we survived chemistry class together. That's gotta count for something."
She met his gaze again, and the playful banter gave way to something more genuine. There was an openness in his eyes, something she hadn't seen before. Maybe the years had made them both realize what they hadn't been able to back then.
"Yeah," Annie said softly. "It definitely counts for something."
As they stood there, the memories of their past blending with the possibility of something more, Annie couldn't help but feel that, like the chemical reactions they'd fumbled through in high school, this thing between them was unpredictable—volatile even—but it was undeniably real.
And this time, she was ready to see what kind of spark it might ignite.