The classroom smelled like dry marker and artificial lemon cleaner. The windows were half fogged from the cold morning outside, and the overhead lights hummed faintly, casting soft shadows over worn desks and cracked tile.
Raj took a seat in the last row, right next to the window. Sunlight filtered in through the glass, angled just enough to touch his shoulder. He didn't lean away from it.
He couldn't bring himself to.
His skin tingled faintly beneath the warmth, but not visibly. It wasn't glowing. He checked—again. Still normal.
But he could feel it. His pulse slowed. His breathing steadied. The chaos outside—the voices, footsteps, phone pings—it all faded like background static under the sound of the sun rising.
Across the room, Peter Parker watched him over the edge of his notebook.
He wasn't trying to be obvious. In fact, Peter looked away the second Raj caught his eye. But Raj had noticed. He'd felt Peter's gaze before he even turned.
It was starting to happen more often—this sense of being aware before things occurred. Like reality was dragging just a second behind his body.
"Alright, people," Mr. Adler said, walking into the room with a stack of handouts. "Let's jump into the lab. Chemistry waits for no one, not even teenagers."
Groans echoed around the room. A few chairs scraped the floor.
Peter turned to his lab partner—Raj.
"Looks like you're stuck with me," Peter said, half-smiling.
Raj tried to match the energy. "As long as I don't blow anything up, we should be fine."
Peter chuckled, but there was something in his eyes. A small squint, like he was still measuring something invisible.
They gathered their materials. Beakers, droppers, a digital scale, and a worksheet with small, complicated words meant to make you overthink basic reactions.
Raj looked at the instructions and felt a strange… familiarity. He hadn't done this before. Not in Mumbai. Not in this life.
But his brain translated everything at a strange speed.
Mix solution A with solution B. Heat for twenty seconds. Observe the color change. Record.
It read like muscle memory.
He glanced at the droppers. The labels. The heat source.
Without hesitation, he started the process.
Peter was still reading step one when Raj placed the beaker on the warmer and activated the timer.
Peter blinked. "Whoa. You already started?"
Raj shrugged. "It seemed straightforward."
Peter leaned over and peered into the beaker. "You always work that fast?"
Raj didn't answer.
Instead, he watched the liquid swirl in the glass, slow and hypnotic. It was supposed to take twenty seconds to reach the right color.
Raj saw it happen in ten.
A bloom of pale violet blossomed from the center of the fluid and spread outward in perfect symmetry. He tilted his head slightly. Beautiful.
Peter narrowed his eyes. "That's… not supposed to happen yet."
Raj blinked, realizing what he'd done.
He'd warmed the beaker with his hand. Just slightly. The heat source hadn't even kicked in yet. He glanced at the metal plate beneath the glass—it was cold.
He quickly turned it on, pretending nothing was wrong.
"Maybe this batch is more reactive," he said.
Peter gave him a look.
"That's not how chemistry works."
Raj smiled without showing teeth. "I guess the beaker didn't get the memo."
For the rest of the period, Peter kept watching him in short bursts. Not with fear. Not even suspicion.
More like fascination.
As if he was seeing something Raj wasn't saying.
Raj focused on playing it cool. Holding droppers, scribbling on the worksheet, asking the right questions. But under the table, his left hand buzzed with subtle warmth. It hadn't faded since the sun hit it.
He tucked it into his hoodie pocket to hide the faint shimmer starting between his knuckles.
When class ended, Peter didn't get up right away.
He lingered.
"Hey," he said as Raj stood, "You sure you're okay?"
Raj paused. "Yeah. Why?"
Peter looked thoughtful. "I don't know. You just… seem different."
Raj nodded once, casual. "Growth spurt."
Peter smiled faintly. "Yeah. That, and the beaker thing."
"What about it?"
"You didn't need the heat source."
Raj raised an eyebrow, keeping his voice even. "Pretty sure I did."
Peter looked at him for a long moment, then stood. "You ever get the feeling you're not the only one pretending to be normal?"
Raj didn't answer. He couldn't.
Peter gave a crooked grin and walked off to his next class.
Raj stood there in the fading sunlight, his fingers curling and uncurling in his pocket.
The beaker hadn't lied.
And neither had Peter's eyes.