The science lab smelled faintly of bleach and sulfur, almost too sterile, as the sharp scent clung to the back of the throat. Bunsen burners, glass beakers, and a flask lined up in a single row, untouched and perfectly still on top of the tiled tables. The fluorescent lights hung above, bright in daylight glow, while emitting a low buzzing hum.
The students in 2-C sat in groups of three per table. Everyone was required to be clad in a laboratory coat and to wear safety goggles.
Alexis, Antonio, and Feyline were assigned together like fate as the three gathered heads together, sharing and giggling at jokes. Meanwhile, Raphael is currently stuck with two other randos that he barely knows.
The table next to him belonged to Sylvia's group, wherein the two dudes just huddled closer with each other, creating an obvious separation between them and Sylvia.
She didn't seem to care. Unbothered as usual.
Ms. Alvarez, a tall, curvaceous woman in her early 40s, stood in front of the room just behind a table for demonstration. She began pointing to things on the board while discussing the experiment that they were about to perform in the laboratory.
“…and that’s why the equivalence point is critical. One drop too many, and the whole reaction overshoots,” she explained.
Raphael had stopped listening like three minutes ago. The numbers and inscriptions on the whiteboard had blurred in front of him. He thought lab work would be something interesting like Science Experiments from any other online Utube videos, but instead, it turned out to be another lengthy discussion for almost an hour or so.
When will the demonstration even begin?
He was bored, restless, especially when the room felt too quiet and too loud at the same time.
His groupmates seemed to be busy fiddling with their phones underneath the table with intense concentration.
One excitedly pumped his fist.
The other groaned from loss.
Raphael sneakily took a peek below out of curiosity.
From his view, he caught a glimpse of a gaming interface from their screens in first-person POV, holding a bunch of weaponry: guns, knives, and grenades.
Playing mobile games in the middle of a class?
He never really understood the hype of playing online games, but he understood why at this point.
Sitting doing nothing at all just made him zone out through the table across him in his direction and onto the window pane, leading outside with a view of tall green trees and bright sun.
A long-distance stare.
The orange-haired figure sitting right behind another table noticed the boredom in his posture.
Slumping onto the side while looking away from the board in front.
Sylvia Macaulay sat lazily, swinging her feet off the ground with her lab coat sleeves rolled to the elbows, goggles dangling around her neck, pen tapping idly against the edge of her notebook in perfect rhythm with Ms. Alvarez’s marker squeaks.
She looked focused, not onto the white board discussion but on Raphael's back like a piercing stare.
Slowly, prickling on his back.
She wanted him to notice. He wanted his attention.
Eventually, Raphael felt it.
A prickling sensation, like someone had been staring right behind him.
He glanced over his shoulder, scanning the room out of habit. There was another group of students behind him, two guys were preoccupied with the discussion, jotting down notes, but huddled close to each other.
None of them appeared to be looking back at him.
Except for one.
A familiar one figure with her orange locks casually turned over the side, glancing away from his direction as she had just recently moved, and avoiding his gaze.
It's Sylvia.
Was she staring at him a while ago?
Thinking it was nothing but assumptions, he shrugged it off and returned his gaze towards the view outside.
Just as he was about to zone out once more.
A white ball flung onto the side, hitting his shoulder before it bounced onto the table with a soft thump, catching his attention.
A small crumpled ball of paper landed in front of him.
Raphael blinked. “Huh?”
He picked it up.
Who just casually threw a piece of trash at him?
Flipping the lump from one side to the other, he noticed there was something written in the crevices inside.
Carefully, he unveiled the contents while smoothing the creases to reveal the message.
Scrawled in sharp, slanted handwriting:
Bored?
Add me on Diskord
Username: RedFox
Raphael’s brows furrowed.
A messaging app?
He was never fond of social media sites for communicating and was more familiar with the traditional and personal ways of socializing. That's only if he had a circle of friends to talk with all the time.
Even so, his Uncle told him to come in prepared.
Messaging apps are a must for students these days, so he downloaded an arsenal of them, installed over a month ago. He made accounts on each, but he wasn't able to fully explore each feature. However, Diskord was never on his list. He must have missed it entirely by accident.
But then....
Who could have sent this?
His gaze drifted around the room once more, hoping to catch the culprit.
First, he glanced at the trio from two tables apart. Last time he remembered, Antonio used the same tactic on him, like that note slip.
Fixating his gaze on them thoroughly for any sign. Perhaps, eye contact, a thumbs-up, wiggly eyebrows?
None of them appeared to be doing so, or catching his attention. They were particularly engrossed with the discussion right in front of them, like attentive students.
A look of dismay etched on his face. He was at least looking forward to seeing their snickering faces or funny remarks.
Who could this be?
He was now uncertain.
Then, he glanced behind just to check.
Sylvia remained unfazed, as if she didn't turn.
Her pen kept the same motion in slow, rhythmic tapping, seemingly unbothered.
Did she drop this?
The thought felt absurd yet inevitable.
No one else in the room had an inch of interest in him at the moment.
He looked down at the note once again, contemplating. An idea popped into his mind.
Only one way to find out.
Raphael pulled out his phone from his pocket discreetly, keeping it low under the table like how his groupmates had been doing. The screen lit up in dimmed brightness as he carefully set it to silent mode.
Firstly, he needed to install the app, Diskord. Green squiggly lines began to appear on his phone while downloading.
He patiently waited, tapping his finger on the edge of his phone while glancing up at the board at certain intervals, pretending to be listening.
A notification appeared.
Download Completed.
A new icon appeared in the list of apps on his screen. Purple circle with a shape resembling a controller with two buttons.
Isn't this for gaming, though?
His thumb hovered over the icon and clicked it for the first time.
The interface was dark, dimmed, and sleek, not flashy like other messaging apps he tried. Of course, he needed to put login details for this as well.
Creating his account was nothing but a quick setup, a black profile picture, a user named Raphael K., in short, and other information remained blank for the meantime.
Simple. A bit boring. He didn't bother enough to personalized for his taste.
A prompt immediately popped up in a purple button.
Add a Friend.
He typed in the username from the note, meticulously checking every word and capitalization.
RedFox.
Request has been sent!
In a matter of seconds, a soft chime dinged, just low enough to be out of Ms. Alvarez's auditory range. Another notification appeared in his inbox.
You have added a friend.
One name stood out from his bare friend list, displayed in bold white colors.
Display Name: Sylvia
Username: RedFox
Raphael stared at it for a few seconds, as the green dot next to her name pulsed once like a beat.
No message.
No profile picture, but just the default gray silhouette.
Just her name.
She had been waiting patiently for him to add her at this moment. She was silently watching from her seat, staring right behind him for the whole time.
That prickling sensation came back.
But he already knew who it was....
Sylvia....
What does she want from him?
The green dot remained gleaming. Still online like he was staring back at her as the time continued to tick.
Is this about the favor she was asking for?
A realization hit, recalling the cheating incident from yesterday.
Whether adding her to Diskord was a favor or not, he deliberately did it without careful consideration.
What could go wrong with a simple action?
Raphael switched the button off and slipped the phone back into his pocket, resuming his attention towards the board. In the back of his mind, he felt anxious.
Meanwhile, at the back of the room, Sylvia’s pen continued those rhythmic taps, slow but deliberate. Her eyes still darted on the back of his neck.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap-tap.
She licked her lips sensually as her eyes lingered on the delicious snack in her sight.
Raphael didn't bother looking back, but she knew that he already realized her presence.
The silence between the two felt dangerous.
He didn't turn.
He didn't speak out.
The distance between them made her crave.
Not out of hunger.
But something else entirely.
Ms. Alvarez clasped her hands in a clap. Eventually, everyone's attention snapped back at her.
She was finally about to demonstrate the experiment in front of the class after discussing it for the past hour or so.
Just like that, everyone paid attention.