THE EMPATH

CHEMISTRY

The school year went by almost as if a strong wind was pushing it away. It was finally time for the final exams. Those would determine my next move education-wise. Before my friends were rudely and untimely taken away from me, we all had a dream to join the country's best university. Tom and I even had a plan to become roommates so that we would remain close throughout college. We both knew that was possible as our grades were well, ranking about the same height. Alice was a little bit better in chemistry but she was also just a few points higher than us most of the time. Thinking about the tests made me miss the two troublemakers even though six months had already gone by without them.

Nothing seemed to have changed however, the school still went by, as usual, and my dad was still doing his best to help Alice even though so far there was no change to her state. People had already forgotten about Tom and Alvin. However, I still hadn't moved on. My heart was still aching and I missed my friends. I still missed a turn to my class then that I didn't have annoying Tom to remind me as I was always reading something. It was exams week already and my parents expected me to do my very best, I was not planning on failing them so anyone would understand why I was in a rush to get to class with my eyes glued to my chemistry book as I made my way through.

As I walked through the hallways to the classroom that morning, my heart missed a few beats as deep down I had hoped that somehow Tom and Alice would be walking right next to me. The day didn't feel as big as we had always discussed back then but there was this cloud that hang above me making me doubt myself and whether everything was actually happening. In fact, the day felt unreal. I was just a few meters from my classroom when I felt this heaviness on my chest. It was almost like someone had put something really heavy on me and it was weighing me down. Breathing became difficult and my whole body felt weak and I was shaking badly. The book in my hand dropped to the ground as I felt overwhelmed by the noises from the passing crowd and their shoes. Before I knew it, I was squatting with my back against the wall gasping for air desperately. One of my classmates rushed and helped me up, she took me to the physics lab which was only a few meters away. She knew to look for a private place where she could help me.

"Hey, all you need to do is take deep breaths...just follow my lead," she said while holding my hands. I did as she asked and took deep measured breaths and I felt so much better. The lights were no longer too bright and the noise around me had gone down, the walls that were moving in on me earlier now seemed cool and they were no longer closing in. My breathing slowed until I was breathing normally at that point I noted the hand-holding and I pulled away. "Damn panic attacks, I hate it when they happen to me," Anne added. At that point I noticed her and I was surprised. Standing in front of me, was the quietest and most shy person in the whole school not to mention her being beautiful and nerdy, a combination that was hard to come by in the school. She never said much and I wouldn't have expected her to be standing there talking to me while looking right into my eyes. "Anne," I called. "Oh, you seem surprised. I should probably get going...I just saw you have a panic attack and decided to help because you know...I get those all the time to a point I have learned to live with them...otherwise, I have to get moving before I make things more awkward with my talking...you see, when I start talking I never seem to stop...well, you look better now and I am probably talking too much. I shouldn't be talking this much...," she kept on talking for a while and I realized she couldn't help it so I pulled her hand a little.

"It's okay Anne, I have no problem with you talking," I said even though I was not sure that was the right thing to say. Suddenly she was aware of her surroundings and the fact that I was holding her hand in mine and she went back to being her shy self and couldn't look me in the eyes anymore. I was still holding her hand so she pulled away and everything went from confusing to awkward. I felt the need to explain myself but I couldn't know where to start so I just opened my mouth for a moment and shut it. She looked at me with one last quick glance and walked out straightening her sweater. Seconds later, I followed her out also straightening my shirt as it was all wrinkly from earlier when Anne was helping me walk to the lab didn't. Outside I was met by a chatty group of dudes who stopped talking and stared at me. I knew they had a nasty conclusion up their sleeves but I didn't bother to say a thing as things looked pretty shady already and me trying to explain the situation would only make it worse. I felt them whisper as I turned towards the classroom and I could still feel their eyes on my back as I walked in.

The place was awfully quiet and for a second I imagined how everything would have been different with Tom around to make everybody else feel bad about not studying earlier. That funny rascal didn't believe in the last-minute cramming and he was never shy to let anyone and everyone know that it never helped, in fact, he always argued that it actually made a person forget everything else they had learned earlier. "Dude, you are going to walk in at a certain point right?" Josh asked as I had been standing by the door all that while. "Sorry, I said softly and walked up to my desk and sat there looking around. Everyone was in and ready for their tests, everyone except Tom and Alice. Tom's desk had a new owner, a crazy girl who had quickly grown to become a celebrity even though she had only been around for four months at most. She was all well dressed and she made sure to let anyone know that money and finner things were not strange to her. She was already going out with Josh, the school's student council president and head coach of the rugby team. Seating next to her was the one thing that bothered me more than the thought of having to go through weeks of exams without Tom and Alice and I wished I dared to ask her to move away. Inside her mind, the only thing that seemed to shine bright was her ability to judge everyone that passed by. She always wondered why girls chose cheap fashion trends and why most boys didn't seem to care about theirs at all.

The bell rang and took me back from listening to miss judge going about her beloved thoughts. It would only take the invigilator a few seconds to get to class as these types of exams were serious and that made time essential. I was fully prepared but I. still felt like something was missing. "Close all the books and put them away, and by away I mean you have a minute to get them back to your lockers," the heavy voice floated through the room, and in a matter of seconds we were all up and on our way out to get rid of them books. When we got back, we found the papers already at our desks and the invigilator took us through the first part which was about the names and index numbers. We were then given the start signal and as usual, I began by saying a short silent prayer before reading all the questions one after the other. English was not my favorite subject but detest it either. I didn't expect it to be a piece of cake but I was positive it was not going to be that hard either. After I was contented with the question reading, I went close to the paper and took in a deep breath with the somehow calming smell of fresh paint. I was then ready to go about answering the questions slowly but surely.

The first paper was over and I was beginning to get the hang of everything. I was already looking forward to the next paper as I thought that the sooner I get done with all of them the sooner I could get away from the school and maybe finally move on from the loss of my friends as the school walls never seized to remind me of them. This time around we knew better not take our books with us to the classroom so that no time would be wasted. It was time for the chemistry paper, the one paper that terrified me just by thinking about it. For this one, I needed more than just a short prayer and the smell of the paper, I needed full concentration and in most cases, my heart would thump madly throughout the test. As I picked up my pen to start writing, the bad feeling from earlier that morning came back but luckily, I knew what to do about it. I turned towards Anne who had noticed the uneasiness and was looking at me gesturing for me to take deep breaths. A few breaths and I was back on the paper again. I went down to writing without any more delays and I would have kept doing just that were it not for the smell of smoke that got me looking up and around. The smell was at first faint but then it got stronger and stronger. I looked around to try and determine where it was coming from. For such a strong smell, the smoke had to be visible and pretty close and yet there was no sign of a fire or smoke all around. I also happened to be the only person who was not busy turning pages and writing which kind of hinted that I was the only one who smelled it. By then, that was not surprising.

"Young man, can I help you with anything?" the invigilator's voice echoed through my ear. I turned to find him looking at me with a concerned face. "No sir, I am just trying to remember something," I answered with a faked smile on my face. He walked away after hinting that I needed to hurry up as time was running out. I glanced at my watch and sure enough, I only had about thirty minutes. Ignoring the strong smell that was almost choking me, I went down to answer the remaining questions. However, I was only able to answer five questions before the smoke smell became unbearable, I was choking badly and I started to cough uncontrollably. It was clear then that something was wrong with me and the invigilator had to help me out. Just as I was walking out of the door, I felt someone touch me on my shoulder and I turned to see a woman on fire, I jumped in fear and ran towards the washrooms where I locked myself. The coughing had slowed and I was feeling a bit better. I glanced at my watch and I knew there was no way I would have enough time to answer the remaining question, I had to rely on the chemistry practical paper to boost my grades, or otherwise, I could call that a fail. "I always knew chemistry was cursed," I told myself out loud as I straightened myself up ready to go back to class.

I walked up to the door and tried to open it but the damn thing was jammed. I turned back to see the woman from earlier standing there looking at me with tearful eyes. I made my way back but I hit the door, there was nowhere to go as I was sandwiched between the door and the woman on fire. "Please, you have to save them, they are running out of time," she said getting closer to me with her hand stretched out and pointing to the left side wall of the room. I looked and there was nothing there. "Who...is in trouble and where are they?" I asked as I squized myself against the door in what I could only term as fear. "My children, the are burning alive in the house, please, you are the only one who can help the," she went on. The flames were consuming her fast and it had gotten to her head, I could not see her mouth anymore and it was hard to hear a thing she was saying. I had never seen her before and that made it even harder to identify her but I knew I had to do something. The lifes of her kids were in danger and I had a clue that she was too but I guesed it was already too late for her. I rushed to my locker and took out my phone not sure what my next move would have been. There was only one other thing I could think of and so I went on to call my guardian even though he had made it clear I was to never call him.

"I know you can hear me, I thought you said it was my duty to protect the people? You know that to do that I need your help which is why I am calling you now. Please if not for me, then for those kids who maybe dying right about now," I pleaded hoping playing that card would help. "Just dial 911," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "Okey but what do I say? I have no idea what is going on or where it happening," I answered with 911 already typed and ready to dial. "I thought you needed my help?" he said and without hesitation I just dialed and waited. I had no clue what I said after that but I sure did say something that helped as immediatly after I hung up the phone, there was a smoke "thankyou" writen in the air and I had a clue as to who had done it. I went back to class just in time to confirm my name and other important details on my paper before handing it over with a few unanswered questions. Not that it was bad, but the fact that it had to be the chemistry paper made it feel like a big deal. "Hey, can you meet me by my locker?" Anne asked and of course I said yes and followed her. All around I could hear the fake clearing of throats as the boys wanted to let me know that they knew something was going on between Anne and I.