Chapter 160 *
Scarlett’s POV
The organic chemistry lab smelled like nail polish remover. The ventilation hoods hummed overhead while glass beakers clinked against metal racks. It was eleven forty-five on a Monday morning and I was trying very hard to look like I gave a shit about extracting beta-carotene from carrots.
I poured the hexane solution through the separatory funnel. The orange liquid dripped down into my collection flask in perfect little drops. My hands moved on autopilot. I'd done this exact extraction about a hundred times before.
The crystals forming in my flask were textbook perfect. Deep orange-red. Clean edges. Exactly the right consistency.
I glanced over at Lily's station. She was holding her separatory funnel at a weird angle and shaking it way too hard.
"Lily, stop."
She looked up. Her safety goggles were fogged up. "What?"
"You're going to create an emulsion if you shake it like that." I walked over and took the funnel from her hands. "Gentle inversions. Like this."
I demonstrated the proper technique. Slow rotation. Release the pressure valve every few seconds.
"Oh my God, thank you." Lily wiped her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. "I was about to give up and just tell the TA my sample exploded."
"Your sample can't explode. It's just hexane and carrot juice."
"You don't know that. Anything can explode if you try hard enough."
I handed the funnel back to her. "Just follow what I showed you. You'll be fine."
She nodded and went back to work. I returned to my own station.
That's when I heard the voice.
"First time doing extraction work and you managed this level of purity? Very impressive. You have real talent."
My hand froze halfway to picking up my flask.
I knew that voice.
I turned my head slowly.
Dr. Patterson was standing at Zelda's station about fifteen feet away. He was in his early sixties with gray hair and reading glasses perched on his nose. He wore a lab coat over business casual clothes.
And he was admiring Zelda's crystals.
Oh no.
What the hell was Dr. Patterson doing here? He was a famous research professor. The kind of person who published papers in Nature and got invited to international conferences.
Why was he teaching a freshman lab section?
This made no sense.
I ducked my head down and pretended to be very interested in my own work. Maybe if I stayed quiet he wouldn't notice me.
"What's your name?" Dr. Patterson asked Zelda.
"Zelda Romano, sir." Her voice was perfectly calibrated.
"What's your major, Zelda?"
"I'm pre-med. Hoping to focus on pharmacology eventually."
"Wonderful. And what's your academic background? Any prior lab experience?"
I could hear the smile in Zelda's voice. "My family is in pharmaceuticals. We focus on drug development. But this is actually my first time doing component extraction work."
I almost dropped my flask.
That was a lie.
The Romano family did work in pharmaceuticals. Nico ran part of that operation. They had a small lab set up at the estate. And Zelda spent half her time in that lab doing exactly this kind of work.
I'd walked in on her doing extraction experiments at least a dozen times.
She was standing there telling Dr. Patterson this was her first time like she hadn't been practicing this exact technique for years.
"Remarkable." Dr. Patterson's voice was full of admiration. "Truly remarkable. To achieve this level of purity on your first attempt at beta-carotene extraction? You're a natural. You have the instincts of a pharmaceutical researcher."
I stared at my own crystals. They were objectively better than Zelda's. Cleaner separation. Higher yield. Better color consistency.
But I couldn't say that.
I couldn't say anything.
"Thank you, Professor." Zelda's voice practically glowed with false modesty. "That means so much coming from you."
I turned back to my station and started cleaning up my glassware.
This level of talent? Please.
If that counted as talent, then actual geniuses would be insulted.
I couldn't help myself. The words came out under my breath before I could stop them.
"That level counts as talent? Give me a break."
"What was that?"
I froze.
Brett's voice came from two stations over. He was Zelda's most loyal follower. The son of some New York politician. The guy who'd almost started a fight with me on the quad a few days ago.
The entire lab went silent.
I felt every pair of eyes turn toward me.
Including Dr. Patterson's.
"What did you just say, Scarlett?" Brett's voice had that edge to it. The tone of someone who'd been looking for an excuse to start something.
I kept my head down. Focused on rinsing my glassware in the sink.
"Nothing. I was just talking to myself."
"No, you definitely said something." Brett walked closer to my station. "You said something about talent. Like you think you're better than Zelda or something."
Oh God.
"I didn't mean anything by it." I kept my voice even. "I was just thinking out loud."
"You were thinking out loud that Zelda doesn't have talent?" Brett crossed his arms. "That's pretty insulting, don't you think?"
The other students were watching now. Some looked uncomfortable. Others looked interested. Like they were hoping for drama.
Lily caught my eye. She mouthed something that looked like "What the fuck?"
I had no answer for her.
Dr. Patterson was still standing at Zelda's station. But now he was looking at me.
I turned my face away.
Please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me.
My heart was pounding. I could feel sweat starting to form under my safety goggles.
This was bad.
This was so incredibly bad.
If Dr. Patterson recognized me from the hospital, everything would get complicated. People would ask questions. They'd want to know why a famous research professor knew a random freshman.
Dr. Patterson's head turned toward Brett. "Someone else did better work?"
My stomach dropped straight through the floor.
No.
"Yeah." Brett pointed directly at me. "Scarlett said something about Zelda's results not being that impressive. Like she thinks she can do better or something."