After a minute of hesitation, I uncapped the bottle of distilled water and added half a bottle of Sulphuric acid into it and screwed it back on before anyone noticed. A wicker smile flickered across my face as I cleared my bench and sat down to continue with the calculations of the Chemistry practical exam.
I remembered vividly, it all started out on the day we received our Mid-Year Examination results. Rene came running towards me as I sat melancholy at the cold stone bench overseeing the school field, clenching my result slip. “So, tell me, how did you do for your chemistry? Mrs. Lian said I came in top in the level for Chemistry. I’ve scored ninety-nine percent,” Rene boasted and carried on rattling about the effort she put in while I continue staring blankly into her face. Rene dragged me towards the gates of the school, as she wanted me to celebrate her success with her. As all her words started to sink in, I stopped in the midst of the driveway; l lifted my head and turned to face her.
“Sorry, I am not feeling well today. I need to go home.” I walked off without waiting for her reply. It was not a falsehood that I am feeling sick- I am in fact feeling sick with jealousy.
I hated her. I hated the way she boasted about her results while I was on the verge of failing my examinations; the way she forced me to celebrate her success; the way she toss her hair and stick her nose in the air; all the times she got better results than me. I hated every morsel of her and anything that has got to do with her.
Angry tears of jealousy would well up my eyes every time I thought about her success and my failure. The fact that she always seemed to treat me like her best friends was very irritating. It really seemed like rubbing salt into my painful wound. She demoralized me every time and so I hated her.
One week before the practical examination, Rene came to me and told me she would be sitting at the exact place as me during the Chemistry practical examination. However, she will be in the shift after mine. She went on telling me about things that could not remember now but I knew the cell of jealousy in me was growing bigger by the moment.
“Times up, stop writing!” exclaimed the invigilator, as I was rudely jolted out of my reverie. As we were leaving the laboratory, the invigilator said” Hope none of you students regret any mistakes you have done today. Good luck for the other papers.” The invigilator’s voice continued to reverberate in my mind as I urged my cold feet to fasten its pace in order not to meet Rene anywhere.
