Clumsy Ways and Chemistry Trays

Holland Brown slid her ID card into the slot next to the library door. With a click, it
opened, revealing the two-story masterpiece that was Beacon Library. This was Holland's
favorite library at Hills Ladies Academy, in fact she spent every spare moment of her time here.
The library's ceiling curved into concentric arcs and the walls were covered in shelves of books
from ceiling to floor. This was Holland's favorite library not only because it was the most
aesthetically pleasing, but also because you could find anything in here. They had books that
were out of print, they had historical documents, they had every edition of almost any young
adult fiction book that had been published in the last two decades. It was spectacular!
Holland wandered for a bit, eventually ending up sitting in the science section of the
library. She knew she had to study for her chemistry final, but she was in the middle of a really
good science fiction novel. Holland told herself that she would read only 3 chapters and then
start studying. (Every time she ended up putting the book down after 7 or 8 chapters) She
unzipped her backpack and found that she had left the book on her nightstand.
Looking for this? someone asked from behind the nearest shelf holding up her copy of
The Supernaturalist.
Rosie! Holland exclaimed as her best friends red head appeared, I was waiting for you.
We need to study for our Chem final or Professor Montgomery will kill us.
For sure, remember what he made you do last week when you forgot to turn in your lab
worksheet?
Please don't remind me! I had to take 3 showers to get rid of the smell! Holland and
Rosie laughed together.
Come on you dork, let's study. They studied until the sky outside the windows turned
from red-orange to black and their eyes wouldn't stay open. The two girls shuffled up to the girls
dormitories and fell asleep, still in their uniforms.
____________________________________________________
When Holland woke up at 6:30 the next morning, Rosie wasn't there. She changed into a
fresh uniform and went to look in the bathroom. No Rosie. She reached into her pocket for her
phone and checked her texts and voicemails. No Rosie. Holland went down to the dining hall and
grabbed a banana and some peanut butter of of the nearest table. Her eyes did a sweep of every
corner of the Lewis dining hall, but Holland already knew that she wasn't there. No Rosie.
Holland was starting to panic. Her imagination was going wild. It was stupid really, she knew
Rosie wasnt in any danger, but she couldnt help but worry. Rosie was Hollands only friend,
well her only real friend, all of her other friends just pitied her and tried to be empathetic, which
was not at all what Holland needed. Her parents cared enough to send her to England to get a
good education, but that was the extent of it. Holland told herself that she would go to chemistry
and see if Rosie was already there, it was 5 minutes before class started anyway.
_____________________________________________________________

The chemistry lab was almost completely white, with the exception of Professor
Montgomery's oak wood desk. As Holland walked in, her nose was affronted by the acrid
disinfectant smell that always reminded her of a hospital. The smell mingled with the bitter taste
of her anxiety, making for a very unpleasant situation. She ignored it because her eyes had found
the brightest thing in the room, the smiling green eyes and the flaming red hair of Rosie Tyler.
Relief flooded Holland as she raced to sit next to her best friend.
Where were you?! I have been looking all over for you. For all I knew you could have
been abducted by aliens! Holland whisper-yelled into Rose's ear.
Rosie knew how nervous Holland got when she didnt know where she was, so she
grabbed her hand for reassurance and whispered back, I told you I was having lunch with my
mom downtown and I had an appointment at the optometrist for my new glasses. Holland
thought back to the previous week and the only memories that came up were hours and hours of
studying in the library. All the same, she nodded like she remembered then turned and gave her
undivided attention to Professor Montgomery.
___________________________________________________________
The final took Holland 2 and a half hours to complete, so after sitting for that long her
legs were a little wobbly. And one thing that Holland did know about herself is that she was very
clumsy. She dotted the last i and crossed the last t, then stood up to walk her paper up to the desk.
She didnt get that far. Her foot snagged on the strap of her backpack, and she crashed
into the side cabinet, that had a tray of beakers on it. She vaguely remembered it as the tray of
chemicals she had mixed last week when she had forgotten to turn in her lab worksheet. Oh no!
Before Holland knew what was happening, there was a sound of shattering glass. Things started
to hit her, seeming to come from nowhere. Sicking things, hard things, and very painful things.
Hollands eyes traveled up to the cabinet and she realized she had knocked over the tray and all
of the liquids had fallen on top of her and were now dripping down her face. A drop of something
fell into her open mouth and it tasted like the revolting rotten eggs her nanny used to keep in the
fridge. Rosie was rushing towards her with a stricken look on her face. Holland put up her hands
and tried to speak, but the chemicals were burning her throat.
She wanted to warn Rosie that the chemicals she was covered in were dangerous and that
it would be very unwise to touch her. But she didnt need to because Rosie had stopped in her
tracks. Her eyes slid out of focus, and when they slid back to focus on Holland it was as if she
was seeing a completely different situation. Holland felt like she was in a sci-fi novel. Maybe
like the one she had read a couple of years ago about mind control. It was like that, but she
wasnt controlling Rosies mind exactly, it was more like she had changed what her mind was
seeing. It was more like virtual reality. That was it! She had somehow someway changed Rosies
perception. With her hands still outstretched, she glanced at Professor Montgomery and he
winked at her from behind his round glasses. This confused Holland so much she put her arms
down and a minute later she felt arms around her.
Holland, Holland! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did something fall on you? Rosie
exclaimed while reaching down a hand to help her up. Holland looked down at herself and was
very surprised to find that she was completely dry, her body must have absorbed all of whatever

was in that bottle. She turned around and found that the cabinet that she had fallen onto was not
disturbed at all, except for the fact that the beaker that had fallen on top of her had been replaced
with a different chemical. She looked at Professor Montgomery again and he merely gave her a
mysterious smile.
Then it came together, Professor Montgomery had made her mix those chemicals
together. She hadnt known what she was mixing at the time, but somehow, someway whatever
substances she had mixed together, had given her this power. Those chemicals had given her this
weird form of mind control.
Yeah, I am fine, Holland said, not taking her eyes off of her chemistry professor,
Totally fine.
Rosie and Holland walked to the library, but Holland was only half listening, she was too
busy thinking about her new power.
She wanted to try to use it again, but whenever she tried using her power on passing
students, it didnt work. Maybe she just needed to reboot, maybe her power didnt work for a
couple hours after using it. Holland decided to try again tonight or tomorrow and just let the
thought go for the time being.
________________________________________________________________
That night Holland was too wired to sleep so she told Rosie she wanted to read in the
girls common room for a bit, but really ended up in the sewing classroom. She didnt know why
exactly, but there had been an idea forming in her head since the incident in chemistry. She
walked over to the fabric wall and started pulling colors down at random. Holland sewed and
sewed until her fingers were pricked so much they looked like swiss cheese and her feet were on
fire from pressing the pedal of the machine so much. Finally, she stood in front of the mirror in
her newly made superhero costume. She had read about so many fictional characters, that to
think she might actually be one was blowing her mind. She fixed her reflection with a Wonder
Woman worthy stare and whispered, I am the Fantasizer, so look out world!

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