The day before their chemistry exam, the school felt unusually tense. Even the air had a smell—chalk dust, sweat, and panic.
Karthik sat in the corner of the classroom with his head buried in his notes. His usually neat handwriting now looked like it had been electrocuted.
Across the bench, Ananya flipped pages of her revision notebook like she was trying to summon a genie.
"Do you remember the organic reactions?" she asked.
"Vaguely," Karthik muttered. "It's all just arrows and guilt at this point."
She smiled. "Come on. Benzene doesn't bite."
He stared at her. "It might as well. It looks evil."
Shruthi leaned over from the next bench. "If anyone hears you badmouthing benzene, the chemistry teacher might cry."
Vikram joined in, pretending to hold a mic. "Karthik Iyer, slayer of hydrocarbons, feared by molecules everywhere."
"Shut up," Karthik mumbled, blushing, while Ananya giggled.
---
After school, they gathered in the chemistry lab for a quick revision session. The smell of chemicals was oddly comforting—like war paint before battle.
As they took notes, Ananya gently passed Karthik her notebook.
"Your notes are better," he said.
"I know," she replied. "That's why I'm lending them to you."
He smirked, flipping through the pages—clean handwriting, highlighted reactions, cute little doodles in the margins. But on the last page, something different caught his eye.
A small message, scribbled in blue ink:
> "In case I don't survive tomorrow's exam—Karthik, I like you more every day. Don't let organic chemistry ruin us."
He looked up. She was pretending to revise but her ears were turning red.
He tore off a scrap from his own notes and scribbled:
> "Even if I forget every formula, I'll remember that."
He passed it back to her.
Ananya read it—and smiled that slow, heart-flipping smile he was starting to crave.
---
The bell rang. Study time was over.
But as they left the lab, side by side, Karthik felt lighter than he had all day.
Some equations are complicated, he thought.
But this one?
Her + Me = Something worth figuring out.
---
End of Chapter 45