The Girl, Man and Science

"Is she coming?"

I sighed looking down at the framed glass I finished a few days ago. The assembly of the entire project, the codes I learned for this project – they're all going down the drain if Forest doesn't appear tonight. I admit that the project was nothing ot me before we started it but as time passed by, I realized how important it was to me considering that it's the first project I ever made with Forest – and I treasure every moment I have with her.

"I already asked Connie if she'd like to assist you on this starting tomorrow if Forest decides to quit."

I looked at Ms. Khan in disappointment. I don't want Connie.

"It would be great if Forest hands out the equations she came up with for the coding. Connie will have to start from scratch if she doesn't." Ms. Khan was as devastated as I am. She had high hopes for the project. When we first told her about it, she told us it would win and that we should be proud of it. "Connie isn't as smart as her. Forest can make trial and errors for equations in a night. I'm not sure Connie will do better than her."

She's not Forest.

"I'm sorry, Mark." Ms. Khan suddenly apologized so I glanced up to her confused. "I know you only said yes to this project because you wanted to be with Forest."

I gulped. Ms. Khan surely didn't say anything because she didn't want to put any discomfort while we worked.

"I understand if you want to quit with her but," She looked down. "I hope you stay and finish the project. I would have loved to see you both finish the project together." She sat over the single couch. "You two work dynamically – like fire and water."

Fire and water.

"Forest seems like a troubled student. I admire her courage and strength for dealing with her problems on her own. She'd make a great future with her intelligence but she neglects her gift." I can tell Ms. Khan truly cared for Forest by the way she spoke highly of her. "She's special."

I smiled. She really is.

The door suddenly opened. Ms. Khan and I both stood turning towards its direction in anticipation. My heart started pounding really fast as we waited and when Forest stepped inside the lab with her bag and casual look. Her hair was pulled up in a bun which always looked beautiful to me.

"Forest!" Ms. Khan ran towards her, jumping in for a hug. I can understand why Ms. Khan was this happy. The project meant so much to her that it would shatter her if it failed. "I'm so glad you came! I was ready to give up the project if you didn't came!"

I watched the two of them from a distance with a smile. Forest wasn't heartless. Those who say she is are.

The two of them headed towards the lounge. Forest was quiet. She looked forced to walk back here but she came either way. Sometimes she just does things that are so hard to read.

Ms. Khan's happiness was painted all over her face. She was so down before Forest appeared. Her smile was wider than normal. She looked relieved and so am I. Seeing Forest here just makes everything better and hopeful. "Since you're back, I'll ask the supervisor to hand your professors excuse letters for this project for the entire week so you can focus on it and finish it on time. I'll make sure your professors give considerations for your absences so you don't have anything to worry about."

A week with Forest in this lab…

"I believe you two will win this festival." Ms. Khan holds the both of us in the arms. "I know you will."

Friday.

We were almost done. We were supposed to be done two days ago if Forest didn't insist to rewrite the equations she made and the codes I've already input on the device.

Forest was a perfectionist. She doesn't like flaws on things she's working on and I admired her more for that. The first time we did a dry run for Through the Glass everything went smooth, flawless and it was more than ready to be presented. Even Ms. Khan thought it already was good.

"It's laggy. Something's wrong with the equation."

"It glitches before it loads. We need to fix that."

"It's too slow. We need to enhance the microchip so it runs better."

So we did rewrite the equations and I tried my best to enhance the microchip. It was a good thing that the particle I needed was available for same-day-delivery or we won't make it on time for the festival.

Tonight is our last night before we present the project tomorrow. I'm not sure we're gonna make it but I trust Forest that she knows what she's doing.

"Are you done with the microchip?"

I nodded. My hands were already in sore from working on the small chip since yesterday. "I already did a speed test and it's a lot faster than the one we used the first time."

"Good. Here. The equations are done. You can input them in the system now while I do write up for the project."

I sighed but I smiled as I grabbed the paper small notebook where she wrote her completely new equations. "Copy that." Starting over, changing the microchip meant disassembling the device and everything I do must be delicate otherwise I ruin everything – the screen designed specifically for this project, the other chips we needed for the project to run. The entire rewriting process was a risk we were willing to take for the betterment of our project.

I stretched my back before I started encoding the equations for the new microchip. Encoding wasn't hard. I was confident I can do it for about three hours. What I was scared of was the assembly.

It's glass. The only place where we hide the chips we used is beneath a two centimeter black line we added on the bottom of the device. That meant our chips needed to be extra small, the wires are thin, and the welding of the wires the connected them must be seamless. Everything about this is fragile and that's what's scary.

Day of the Festival. 1 AM. 7 hours before the presentation.

I just finished encoding the data. My fingers were tired from typing for three straight hours. The microchip still needs to register the data into the device for about two hours so I have approximately five hours to finish the assembly. It took me an entire day to assemble this before. If I don't finished the device in less than five hours, we wouldn't be able to test the project.

I need to start moving if I want to finish this. My hands were trembling, my eyes were getting heavy, my whole body felt weaker by the minute.

"I'm going to the convenient store to buy something to drink."

I looked up to her and didn't even notice her walking up to my workspace. Just before she turned around, I grabbed her wrist and stopped her before she left. "Let me go with you."

"No."

I gripped her wrists tighter in desperation.

"You still need to finish that otherwise we won't make it."

"You shouldn't be going around this late at night alone. It's too dangerous."

"And you know dangerous?" She raised a brow at me, releasing herself from my grip. "You're the last person who knows what dangerous actually means."

I gulped. I knew I Forest can take care of herself without me. It was something else that I was scared about. "You're not…" I hesitate. "You're not going to leave, right?" Her brows creased. "You're not disappearing again, right?"

She turned away. "I'll get you fries."

After thirty minutes of carefully welding wires here and there, Forest came back with a bag from the store. The bag looked full but I did not question. I looked up to her and waited for her to reach me instead.

She landed a can of red bull a few inches away from my workspace. Along with the drink was a large cup of soggy looking fries. They must have been moist from being in the bag for abruptly ten minutes.

"Thank you." I smiled at her but she was just as emotionless as she have always been.

I grabbed the red bull and opened it. Taking a first sip of the drink makes me more awake already. Or maybe it's just because Forest bought it for me. Either way, this will definitely help me complete the project.

As I let out a delighted sigh, I was surprised when something suddenly hit my face. I choked on the fluid I was only about to gulp. I looked down at what hit me, my eyes widened in shock, and I saw a medicine. Diclofenac? "What—"

"Take that now. It takes effect in half an hour." I glanced back up to Forest who was still standing at the other side of my table.

"What is this f—?"

"In a matter of time, you can kiss your hands goodbye if you don't take that now." She pulled something out of the bag again and throws it over my direction. I frantically reached up to catch the thing she threw before it falls down the glass just next to me. "Rest up for ten minutes and use that." I looked at what she just threw me and it was an instant hot pack. "You can work better after."

I couldn't hide my smile. As soon as I lifted my gaze back up to where she was, she was already walking back to her workstation. Now how is she a demon?

"Done!"

5:37 AM. I raised my hands up in the air in victory. "It's done!" I exclaimed. Both Forest and Ms. Khan ran towards me as I raised the device I just completed. I let out a relieved sigh.

"Did you start the processing?" Forest asked so I nodded.

"The microchip is enhanced to read the database so the processing time is faster than last time. It will take about an hour. We'll have time to test it before we go submit this."

Forest looked as relieved as I am.

"You both are incredible for finishing this overnight." Ms. Khan compliments.

I collapsed down my chair with a sigh. I felt so sick but satisfied at the same time. My head hurts but my hands felt a lot better than hours ago. The medicine Forest gave me was a savior. I can't imagine how my hands would have felt if she hadn't given me that.

"Go take a nap. I'll watch for this while I check the presentation Forest prepared."

I stood from my chair stretching my back out in relaxation. I stopped midway when I saw Forest looking at me. I stared back in question. She looked like she was thinking of something but she doesn't say anything. She turned away and proceeded back to her table.

Weird. I headed to my room and jumped right to bed. I never thought I'd miss bed this much. I wonder how doctors cope up with working twenty-four hours in the hospital. I can't even imagine.

"Mark?"

My mind suddenly wakes up.

"Mark? It's almost time. Go take a hot shower."

I slowly open my stinging eyes. I don't know how long I had to sleep but it was definitely not enough. I rose from the bed, rubbing my eyes miserably only to notice that my hands were wrapped with a compression bandage. How—

"And don't worry about the test. Forest already did it while you were sleeping and everything's fine." Ms. Khan walked back to the doorway to say.

On our way to the Vertex, I couldn't stop wondering if Forest did this for me while I was sleeping. My heart says she's capable of doing that but my mind strongly contradicts. It could have been Ms. Khan. Or Ms. Khan might have ordered her to do it.

"What?"

I looked away, clearing my throat. It's weird how she sees things without even looking but then again, it'd be weirder if she didn't notice me staring at her since we got in the car.

"I did it."

My heart raced. She…

"They looked swollen."

"T-Thank you. You shouldn't have bothered." I said that but I was screaming inside like a girl and I'm a guy. I'm a guy who feels so giddy whenever she does things like these. My stomach butterflies are happy right now.

"Whatever."

The line wasn't that long when we reached Vertex to register our entry for the SciTech Festival. The entire place was huge. It was almost like a mall. After signing the forms and having our numbers, the program started.

The guest speakers, the host, the sponsors, they were all there. They welcomed us with speeches that were fun and interactive. They told us stories of their earlier lives which to me, sounded almost too surreal. After the speeches, they officially opened the festival by cutting the red ribbon that led to the massive hall of every invention registered for the competition.

There were a lot of promising ones – some were concepts that were only developed like robots and artificial intelligence which closely resembled to ours but ours was small, compact, and impactful. They displayed all inventions with lights shining through them together with projections of the device's description. Everything in here felt like the future and I was so immersed by it all.

After the program, Ms. Khan insisted we go home and rest for now. The festival will run for a week before they announce the winner. I felt so relieved and relaxed for the first time. I never let school put me to distress so this was a little too much.

It was already afternoon when we walked out of Vertex. I followed Forest on our way out. "Where are you going?" I asked her as we headed out.

"To a party."

"You're going to a party?" I repeated in disbelief.

She doesn't respond.

"But you haven't slept for days." It would be a miracle to see her in a party after not being able to sleep properly for the past few days. It's just not possible.

When a cab stopped in front of her, she steps inside saying, "4819 Kinney Street". Before she closes the door, I stepped inside which she thankfully responded to by scooting more to the side so I can sit. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Going to the party with you." I looked at her with a smile. I was dead tired but I didn't want to keep my eyes off her. I need to watch out for her at all cost especially now that I've learned so much about her. It's only fitting that I do this.

She just grunted as we head to this party she was talking about. When we got there, the place was pack full. It was fuller than the previous parties I attended. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with the energy of everyone who attended. I don't even have my car so I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to do. I should call Haechan.

I lost sight of Forest the moment we stepped inside. I tried to find her but my vision as getting too clouded and blurry.my lack of sleep is hitting me right in the veins and it hurts my head. The terrible smell of the place makes it even worse.

"You done with the festival thingy?" Haechan asked as soon as he answered my call.

"I need your help, Haechan."

"Oh no."

"Can you please go to my house and drive my car here at 4819 Kinney Street?"

"God! I'm not your slave Mark! Get it yourself!"

"Please Haechan. I haven't slept for a week and I don't feel too good right now." I touched my head in sore as I squeeze myself through the crowd looking for Forest.

"Why are there then?!"

"Call me when you get here."

I ended the call and made my way upstairs when I realized I wouldn't find her down here. I checked and opened every room I came across with and was lucky when I saw her inside the third room I opened.

She was with her friends and people that crowded her and Hunter, the guy who always picks a fight with me. The environment here was so much different from downstairs. Everything was tensed and scary.

"Burying the past like it never happened now, are we?" Hunter said, brushing his fingers over Forest's cheek.

Forest suddenly spat on him.

Hunter clenched his jaws wiping his face with his hand, his face still as sinister. He didn't look bothered by what Forest just did but he didn't look like he liked it either. "Are you forgetting that I was there when everything happened?"

Everything-what happened?

"You and I both know what went down that night." Hunter walked closer to Forest but she doesn't budge. "You don't want to do this to someone who knows about it, Forest."

What went… down that night?

My head started spinning. My knees felt wobbly and weak. My whole body… Everything went black. I hear shrieks as I collapsed down the floor with my eyes closed. I couldn't move.

"Oh my god!"

"Holy shit!"

"Is he dead?!"

I heard the distant murmurs around me. What's happening? I couldn't open my eyes. My whole body felt paralyzed. Am I dying? "Mark!"

Forest?