Chapter 8: A new life – 7

A sudden jerk from the carriage shook me out of my thoughts. Then, a deafening ‘ta-dum, ta-dum’ noise reverberated from underneath the floor, like an army of warriors beating their drums all at once. 

This stop is Jurong East Interchange. Change here for the East-West Line towards Pasir Ris, Changi Airport at Platform C and towards Tuas Link at Platform F… 

With a mournful wail, the train slowed to a screeching halt as it pulled into the station. 

This is the end of the line…all passengers, please alight…this is the end of the line… 

The ‘whoosh’ of the doors opening gave the cue for everyone to stand up. I shouldered my bag and followed the wave of commuters out of the train and boarded the waiting train on the opposite platform. 

Doors are closing. Te-te-te-te-te… 

Just as the doors were closing, an all-too-familiar voice shouted from outside. “WAIT, DONʼT LEAVE ME BEHINDDD!” 

With a leap that would have earned him an A in standing board jump, Liam flew into the train carriage and skidded to a halt. “Save!” 

Everyone elseʼs eyes were on him at this point, yet he managed to notice the only person staring away—which just so happened to be me. 

“Avery, why did you ignore me?” he said in a hurt and accusative tone. “I was waving at you to get your attention, but you just walked out without a glance in my direction!” 

“Were you?” I blinked in surprise. “I genuinely didnʼt notice, sorry…” 

“Youʼre always thinking about academics and grades instead of enjoying the present, of course you wouldnʼt be paying attention to your surroundings,” he reproached me jokingly. “By the way, I still havenʼt fully understood the corrections, can you explain them again? Please??” 

I glanced at the test paper in his hand, with a glorious ‘50’ written and circled in red ink on the top right corner, and sighed. “Were you not paying attention during Miss Angʼs class?” 

“I was busy designing the slides for the Studentʼs Union session next week, you know?” Liam smiled and pointed at me. “Slides that you requested me to do by today.” 

“Youʼre only enthusiastic about school when it comes to extracurricular activities, I swear…” I took his paper and flipped to the first page. “Look, thereʼs no point in just blindly copying corrections for Chem, you have to understand and grasp the idea behind each question. For example, Question 1 is about the VSEPR theory, which you should have already…I guess you werenʼt paying attention in that class too, right?” 

“Nope.” Liam shook his head sheepishly. “I was too tired, and since I was sitting in the back row, I may or may not have dozed off…” 

“Well, whatever. Just be sure to revise the topics weʼve been taught so far when you get home.” I cleared my throat and continued, “basically, the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion theory states that: one, electron pairs around the central atom of a molecule or ion arrange themselves as far apart as possible so as to minimise their mutual repulsion; two, repulsion between electron pairs decrease in strength in the following order (lone pair-lone pair > lone pair-bond pair > bond pair-bond pair). Got it so far?” 

Liam scribbled down a line of illegible words on his notebook. “Yep, please continue, Avery-sensei.”

“It would have been better if you just went for Miss Angʼs remedial classes instead…” I circled the question with my finger. “Question 1 is a true/false question testing you on the second principle of the VSEPR theory. Can you remember what is the second principle?” 

“Er…” He stole a glance at his notebook “The one about repulsion?” 

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“Correct. So, the question asks for the reason behind a smaller bond angle when a lone pair is present relative to having no lone pairs around a particular atom. What you wrote here is ‘lone pairs are lonely so they repel more, leading to a smaller bonding angle’, which is correct but the explanation is pure BS.”

“So, Avery-sensei, what is the explanation?” 

“A lone pair is attracted by only one nucleus while a bond pair is attracted to two, thus it is less elongated and takes up more space around the central atom; it will repel other electron pairs around it more than a bond pair would. This will give rise to a stronger repulsion and cause the bond pairs to be pushed more closely together, resulting in slightly smaller bond angles.”

“...huh?”

“Simply put, a lone pair isnʼt involved in bonding unlike a bond pair, so they take up more space around a single atom and exhibit more repulsion.”

“Ooh, okay, okay.” He scribbled on his notebook again and looked up—but his wide eyes shifted past me instead. “Hey, Avery, isnʼt that Seraphine?” 

“Hmm?” I glanced to my back and noticed that she was standing in the connector linking our carriage to the carriage behind. She had a pair of white earphones plugged into her ears, and she smiled from time to time, as if she was listening to some funny podcast. 

“I thought she lives at Bukit Batok?” Liam murmured. “Why is she going this way?” 

I raised my eyebrows. “How do you know where she lives?” 

“Oh, I just saw her alighting at Bukit Batok a few times in the past, so I assume she lives in that area.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Just being aware of my surroundings, thatʼs all.” 

“No, thatʼs borderline creepy.” 

“What do you mean, Iʼm innoce—oh, looks like sheʼs alighting here.” 

The train pulled into Buona Vista station and Seraphine walked to the train doors; she didnʼt seem to have sensed our presence as she unplugged her earphones and tucked her iPod into her bag. 

“Donʼt you feel that Seraphine is a bit…off?” Liam lowered his voice to a whisper. 

I shrugged and feigned ignorance. 

“I donʼt know, she just gives off unfriendly vibes all round…you probably should be careful around her, especially when you two are the Student Council presidents.”  

I glanced at the space where Seraphine was standing moments ago. “…sure.” 

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