Chemistry.

[Image via Pinterest]

Some looked the same but were not actually the same.

As we sat in the big experimental  lab, white coats on, various bottles and colors, liquids and crystals, the new teacher spoke up for the first time after staring at the back wall for 5 minutes.

"Some can never mix" he said to me breaking my gaze from the bottle of Ether.

Somehow those words got the attention of the whole class.
Were they looking at the bottle or me? I wondered
The teacher strode to the front of the room like a giant, not one about to fall but one who just won a battle.

Bouncing with a smile on his face, he said
"Some would never mix no matter what you do
Some need some extra external force to begin the reaction
Some would cause an explosion if they mix
And some are perfect for each other
They happen before they meet"

I put up my hand and asked the chemistry teacher amidst the smile forming on my face. 'do you believe in chemistry?'

'You mean do I believe in love?' He answered and smiled back

'If love is a reaction' he began taking the pose of a fourth grader reciting Yeats or Shakespeare ' who knows the right constituents?'

Camilla and James exchanged quick smiles and locked hands beneath the lab table.

'If love is a reaction" he continued "who knows what would explode if mixed '

If love is a reaction who knows each individual's 'chemical' properties.

Who knows?

Camila and James exchanged frowns, quickly unlocked hands beneath the table and looked looked away.

The bell rang
The class was dismissed.
A bottle broke as one student tried scrambling to the door not to miss her next class.
That day they didn't hold hands into the hall as usual.
I sat like a stone at my desk pondering these questions.