"Feelin' The Chemistry" is the first book in my YA series, "High School 101". It follows the life of Casey Campbell, a sixteen-year-old sophomore who is facing a lot of new things in her life after her mom's remarriage - a new home, new high school, new stepfamily, and the challenge of making new friends while still missing her old ones. We are introduced to Casey in her chemistry class where she meets a few of her first friends-to-be. Throughout the book Casey reflects on her somewhat neglected relationship with God, and how she might get to know Him better.
Each chapter begins with a quote related to chemistry- sometimes "deep" but often humorous- which relates to the action in the chapter. The chapters are short and fast-paced, and include a few "quizzes" which actually help to tell the story and further the plot. The book is intended to encourage young followers of Christ but also to draw in readers who may have questions about God or be non-believers.
I have several favorite parts! For one, I like the developing relationships between Casey and her older stepbrothers, who are also in high school. Second, many will relate to Casey's love of making lists and doing research , and how this helps her recognize the importance of investing in her relationship with God. Third, I like the gentle development of her friendship with Ben, the cute guy in her chemistry class. And last, it's just a fun read!
Chapter 7
The Elements
“There are 119 elements currently on the periodic table. Only 98 of them occur naturally”~ from my chemistry notes
I almost texted her. As I rode home after that first day of school in the elderly Dodge that James and Jackson shared, I got out my phone and looked over the 32 texts from Sarah that I never answered, since I got the break-up text from Davis, and yes I do mean 32 because I was keeping count. Every text crumbled just a bit more of the wall I had built around my heart , but that whole situation with Davis asking her out was still too raw and confusing, and made my head hurt. That’s what I told myself.
But in the back seat, half listening to the radio James flipped on, random thoughts ping-ponged in my mind about my day, lunch conversations, old memories, and possible new friends. One thought finally rolled to a stop on my mental ping-pong table and steadied, still and clear as it could be.
I miss Sarah.
I missed talking over everything with her, like best friends do. I missed Davis, of course, but not like I missed Sarah. Was I doing this wrong? Shouldn’t I be missing the potential love of my life even more than my childhood friend?
We pulled up in the driveway, and I shook off my thoughts and went in the house, the house that was now my new home, though I still felt like I was a visitor and had yet to walk around in my scuzzy Little Mermaid sweatpants, and I still felt awkward opening kitchen drawers to look for the forks or whatever.
Mom wasn’t home yet. Her new teaching job was at my new high school, and I wished I could have gone to her classroom and waited to ride home with her, but she had asked me to be here when Riley and Jefferson got off their bus, in about thirty more minutes.
I hunted for a snack in the kitchen pantry, grabbed a granola bar, and wandered into the room I shared with Riley. I laid flat on my back on one of the twin beds and stared at the ceiling, letting my gaze drift down to the walls.
They were beige and blank, with nothing to see other than flecks of white around some pinholes, where the beige paint had come off. This used to be Jackson’s room, before he moved in with James to make room for Riley and I. Jefferson was the only one of us with his own room, the lucky kid.
Jackson had been taking his posters off the walls and gathering up his stuff, when Riley and I walked in with our suitcases, just over a week ago.
“WELCOME, MADAMES!” he had practically shouted. “SHE’S ALL YOURS!” He bowed dramatically, somewhat hindered by the posters and clothes he had bundled under his arms.
“How do you know this room is a SHE?” Riley asked immediately, but Jackson hadn’t answered, just left and went down the hall with a cheerful grin on his face. He had years of experience in ignoring his little brother, I bet, but I knew Riley. Wait for it, wait for it…
Riley dropped her suitcase on the floor and ran after Jackson. “Wait, Jackson! Can I call you Jack? Did you hear me? How do you know that room is a SHE? Is this your new room? Is it bigger than ours? Did you hear me?”
I grinned and claimed the bed by the window.
So now, I stretched out on my bed, staring at the walls, wondering again how long it would take me to get used to everything being new. Moving is supposed to be one of the most stressful things ever, plus starting a new school, plus being dumped by your boyfriend, plus being betrayed by your best friend, all in about three weeks…
Text #1
Call me I need to talk to you asap!!!!
Text #3
I never went out with him, you know!! Why are you treating me like this??Case talk to me!!!
Text #8
I never even flirted with him if that’s what you’re thinking!!I could never do that!!!
Text #17
Davis was a jerk!!!You’re taking his mistake out on me!!!
Text # 28
I miss you so much Case and I know you’re missing me too.I think everything just happened at once and you’re like in panic mode or something.I’m here for you and I will not give up on you!!
Text #31
Case??????
Text # 32
I will never, never give up on you.
That was two days ago, and there has been no Text #33.
Thirty-two texts, and that’s not counting the unanswered phone calls Sarah made. I’m very sure I would have given up long before that. How easily would I give up on a friend? After ten texts? Five? How quickly would my pride take over?
If she won’t talk to me, fine. There are other friends to be made.
The answer was immediate, forceful, and carried the quiet certainty of truth. I gave up on Sarah immediately.
I never gave her one, single chance.
I met that truth, shook its hand, steered it to the back of my mental bus, and made it sit down. I couldn’t get it off my bus, but I would not deal with it now. I couldn’t keep the tear back, though, that ran down my left cheek, nor could I ignore the shame that sat there, on the back of my bus.
I made myself get off the bed, still holding my unopened granola bar, any appetite I had completely gone. All of our stuff, mine and Riley’s, was pretty well organized already, except for decorating our bedroom walls. It helped that most of Riley’s Barbies and toys were in the enormous game room upstairs, along with Jefferson’s toys, a pool table, two comfy leather couches and a huge wide screen TV. This house was beautiful, no doubt. Large and roomy, though we could sure use another bedroom, but I was determined not to complain. The J’s had their lives disrupted too, and they weren’t complaining!
It didn’t seem to bother them a bit. Was this a guy thing, was it their laid-back personalities, or was it because they didn’t have to move to a new town, even though their bachelor pad had been invaded by three females now? Or could it actually, really be because they were happy that Mom, Riley and I were here?
I checked my phone. Time for Riley and Jefferson’s bus. Hopefully almost time for Mom to get home. And, almost time for another Blended Family Dinner.
I grimaced.
After Harrison and Mom got engaged, just a few weeks after our first family date at the Star Wars movie, I began some serious research. How should I prepare for a stepdad and stepbrothers? What would it be like to live with males in the house? What habits would I need to change, or start?
I went to my two best sources, friends and Google.
So, what was the consensus among my friends with step-whatevers?
A. It’s fine. I love my step-(fill in the blank).
B. It’s awful. I can’t stand my step-(fill in the blank).
C. It’s okay. It’s hard. We have our ups and downs.
Most of the answers were either A or C. But what if my experience turned out to be a B? I liked Harrison and his boys, but living with them sounded bizarre.
And, the results of my Google research?
A. There’s a ton of advice out there.
B. That advice is mostly for the adults of the family.
C. The advice is overwhelming.
D. ALL OF THE ABOVE.
It’s D, people, it’s D. My research lasted about 27 minutes, which ishow long my patience lasted with “have rules about greeting each other nicely in the morning”and “listen to everyone’s point of view.”
I gave up and found a good sci-fi movie on Netflix, one I had seen before. It helped me process. While the oozing alien was closing in on the unsuspecting human, I decided a few things. Here were my thoughts:
The Elements of a Successful Blended Family
• Just be nice.
• Give a little.
• Be natural. (Unless, your “natural” is mean, then obviously that won’t work.)
• This isn’t much different than any other family.
I met Riley and Jefferson’s bus, and Ry actually hugged me when she got off the bus. It startled me, since Ry was not much of a hugger, but I figured she needed that hug, and I did, too. Jefferson said hi and raced ahead of us, full of after-school plans, and Ry started chattering a mile a minute as we walked to the house.
“Will you meet me every day, Case? I like my teacher, and I made two new friends today. What’s for dinner? Are you making dinner tonight? Can we have mac and cheese? When will Mom be home?” Riley’s chatter got on my nerves most of the time, but today I just smiled and listened, offering her my uneaten granola bar, which she accepted happily.
This, this was familiar. Ry’s questions were endless, but they were natural, and normal, and I needed a big dose of normal right now.
We wound up ordering pizza for dinner, to celebrate lots of firsts: the first day of the new semester, the first day at a new school for Mom, Riley and I, and the first day of Mom’s new position as an honors senior English teacher. As we sat around the dining room table, digging into the pizza, Mom cleared her throat.
“Let’s start a new tradition,” she announced brightly. “An everyday one. Starting with the youngest, let’s give everyone a turn to tell something about their day! You first, Ry.” She nodded at Riley and smiled encouragingly. Hmmm, I wonder if Mom did her own research about building healthy, blended families.
If so, I felt she just made a tactical error.
“Okay!” This would not be a problem for Riley. The child was born talking in paragraphs. “Wellllll, when I got up this morning I had my most favorite breakfast ever which made me happy. I love, love, love blueberry pop tarts with the icing on them. They are SO much better than the plain ones. Then I changed my mind about what I was going to wear. I wanted to wear that new blue shirt I got for Christmas but I spilled something on it last time I wore it and I forgot to put it in the laundry so I had to look for something else and Casey was in the bathroom a long long long time and I didn’t want to get dressed until I brushed my teeth and… ”
And so it went. I enjoyed watching the expressions on the faces of Harrison and The J’s. Harrison was giving Riley his full attention, making eye contact and nodding, and my heart melted a little. Atta-boy! He was trying so hard, even though I noted that his eyes were glazing over.
As for my stepbrothers, James and Jackson were devouring the pizza like it was their last meal on this earth. James caught my eye and winked, so he had probably caught on that Ry needs stop signs. I look over at Jefferson, and-
“May I be excused, please?” Jefferson asked politely, interrupting Riley’s detailed explanation of what she did in math class. “I’m done!” He pushed his chair back with a screech.
“Hold on there,” Harrison said firmly. “Let Riley finish, and then it’s your turn to say something. And, then, it’s Casey’s turn, and then… all the rest of us… ” His voice trailed off and he looked at Mom for help. Obviously our family dinner would be a marathon.
Mom was exhausted, I could tell, but that teacher mode was never far away and it automatically kicked into gear. “Perhaps we need some guidelines,” she admitted. “Ry, you’ve talked about several things, so it’s time to let someone else have a turn. Let’s all pick just one thing. Jefferson, you’re next. What was the best part of your day?”
Jefferson eyed Mom. “Eating pizza,” he said. “Are you going to make me use complete sentences?”
Mom eyed him right back. “No,” she said in a tired, but gentle, voice. “Not tonight. Maybe in the future, I don’t know.” They held each other’s gaze for a moment. “Your turn, Casey.”
I crumpled my napkin and stared at my piece of sausage pizza. Hmmm, what should I say? What was a highlight of my day?
Finding out I’m behind in Chemistry? Nope.
Making friends, sort of, with Reese? That was a possibility.
Having someone to sit by at lunch? Another good thing.
Realizing how much I probably hurt my dearest, best friend in the entire world? I banished that thought yet again, to the back of my bus.
Everyone was looking at me, waiting expectantly, even Jefferson, who was forced to sit with us until we all had our turns, I guess. So, I faked a smile, opened my mouth to tell about Reese and lunch, and-
And, I started to cry.
Not a cute, heartbreaking cry, like in the movies where the heroine is telling her true love goodbye and looking mistily noble and beautiful. No, this was an ugly, hiccupping, grab the napkins and blow my nose SOBBING. I tried, but once I started, I couldn’t stop.
The guys were at first frozen, looking at me in consternation, and then they looked at each other furtively, like, um, what are we supposed to do?
But the gals knew what to do.
Mom and Riley got out of their chairs, came over to me, wrapped their arms around me and just held me. If this ugly cry was the single most embarrassing thing I had ever done, in front of my new stepfather and stepbrothers who didn’t really know me, then the act of holding me, wordlessly sheltering me, was the sweetest thing my mom and sister had ever done. And, that made not just one but two hugs from my little sister today.
My crying slowed down and I blew my nose again loudly, considering running to my room to hide, but I was suddenly exhausted, and tired, and didn’t seem to care anymore about my dignity. And while I wasn’t quite okay, this heavy weight in my heart, that I didn’t even know was there until I started to cry, lifted a little.
Mom handed me more napkins, and Ry, apparently discovering her nurturing talents, rubbed me on my back. “There, there, everything will be all right,” she said soothingly, like Mom has said to her, and to me, a thousand times. I reached around and hugged Ry again, and I believed her. Maybe things wouldn’t be all right any time soon, but I guessed they would be. Eventually.
I sighed and looked at my male audience, who had settled on staring intently down at the crumbs on their paper plates, obviously uncomfortable.The first one to peek up at me was Jackson.
“I’m okay, guys,” I told them in a wobbly voice, a bit surprised that they stayed at the table through my unexpected cry-fest. “Sorry.I just… I just…. ” Oh help, the tears might come back again!
Jackson was still looking at me, like he was trying to decide what to do. He evidently made up his mind. “I’m NEXT,” he announced in that loud voice. “And the best part of MY day was watching Casey get REAL with us just now. That takes GUTS. WAY TO GO, CASE!”
There was a tiny pause, and then James started to smile and clap slowly, and then everyone laughed, and kind of applauded, even Mom and Ry, and the tension was broken. “Way to go, Casey, do it again!” Jefferson yelled, and my moment of humiliation was turned into a family-building moment, apparently, by Coach Jackson.
Be nice, give a little, be natural.
The elements.
I felt better, and in one of those random thoughts we all have sometimes, I knew at least two things I would do, later this evening.
After the pizza boxes had been cleared, homework dealt with, and random activities for the next day discussed, I took my shower, washed my hair, and did thing number one.
I put on my scuzzy Little Mermaid sweatpants. Let ‘em see the natural Casey.
Then I took a deep breath and proceeded to thing number two.
I picked up my phone and called Sarah. She answered on the first ring. “Case??”
I heard her voice, and started my second big weep-fest of the day. I thought I had cried out every last tear inside of me. But these fresh, salty tears felt good, really good. And the unwelcome, insistent passenger on my bus was flooded right out, shame swept off its seat by Sarah’s current of mercy, and by my tears of relief.
And, gratitude.