Wednesday. 9:00 AM. Chemistry Lab.
The smell of ethanol and teenage anxiety filled the air.
Kia adjusted her lab goggles and stared at the beaker in front of her like it had personally insulted her family.
"Try not to blow anything up this time, West," Ashwin smirked from the station next to hers.
His voice had that irritating charm—like caramel dipped in sarcasm.
Kia scowled. "Why don't you try not flirting with every living thing that breathes?"
Ashwin raised a brow. "Who said I was alive?"
Lyla, who was busy lighting a bunsen burner nearby, coughed loudly. "Can you two please just get married or murder each other already? The sexual tension is killing us."
BOOM!
Everyone ducked. Smoke filled the air.
Rohan peeked through the fog. "Uh… Kia, your beaker just gave birth to a mini mushroom cloud."
"I followed the instructions!" Kia protested.
"The ones from TikTok chemistry hacks?" Meher added.
Before anyone could say more, Ms. Das marched over, dramatic as ever in her sari and safety gloves.
"Kia West. Again?" she said, sighing like this was a daily occurrence (it kinda was). "Detention. Today. Lunch."
Kia's heart sank.
Lunch was when she was supposed to go check the security cam with Rohan—to see who had left the second note.
But as she gathered her half-burnt practical file, she noticed something new stuck under her lab table.
A third note. Neatly folded. Gold ink. Same handwriting.
"Stop looking. Some truths burn deeper than acid."
—💌 Your Halfmark
She glanced up.
Ashwin was looking at her.
Not smirking. Not teasing. Just… watching.
Like he knew something.
And for the first time, Kia felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air conditioner.