Genre: historical fiction, romance

It was another stressful week of learning chemistry, and Trinity was having a difficult time understanding the material. 'How do I keep calculating the wrong answer for energy?!' she thought to herself, frustrated.

The exam was on Tuesday (two days from now) and she had to cram all the information about electrons, ionization, atomic radius, and so on. No matter how hard she tried to understand it, she just couldn't figure it out.

*ding*

Her phone goes off with a message from the Chem 117 study group GroupMe.

"We're studying at 5:30 at the IQ Wall in Wells (1st floor East Tower) if anyone wants to come," sent Emma.

'This is the perfect opportunity for someone to help me' thought Trinity. So she packed her things and started heading to the Wells library.

[20 minutes later]

As she walked into the IQ Wall, she stopped in her tracks and rolled her eyes as soon as she saw him. Her enemy and the person she hated the most.

'I can't believe this man is in my chemistry lecture,' she thought to herself as she huffed and puffed, steam blowing from her ears as she forced herself into the room. She was desperate for help.

As she walked in the room and Ayush realized who it was, he audibly made a sound of disgust but attempted to remain civil. It was only those two in the IQ Wall because everyone else was running late.

The atmosphere was tense. There was a heaviness in the room that could not go unnoticed.

"Can you hel-"

"No." Ayush said sternly, not even letting her finish her question.

Trinity, clenching her jaw, scoffed and continued with her question despite Ayush's attitude.

"Can you help me understand the periodic trend for atomic radius?"

Ayush, confused as to how Trinity is confused on such a simple concept, shook his head in frustration but felt bad if he didn't help someone with chemistry. Pulling out a periodic table, he demonstrated and explained to Trinity that atomic radius increases down a group and decreases across a period.

But she still didn't get it.

"It's a simple concept. What do you not understand about atomic radius?" asked Ayush.

"Why does it increase down a group but decreases across a period?"

"Because of Zeff."

"What's Zeff?"

Ayush sighed and threw his papers up in the air. He had to step outside of the room to collect himself, but thankfully, Pritish and Emma showed up to rescue him.

Meanwhile, when Ayush was outside of the IQ Wall, she couldn't help but admire Ayush's understanding of the material. A light switch flipped in her brain, and she felt herself growing to like him.

As Ayush explained what happened to Pritish and Emma, Emma told Ayush that she would take on the responsibility of helping Trinity so he could have a break from her and work on Mastering Chemistry with Pritish. Ayush was thankful that he had a friend as kind and understanding as Emma.

While Emma was helping Trinity, Trinity couldn't help but daydream about Ayush. She thought about every scenario possible, but mostly about their wedding in the future. Emma realized what was going on and slowly stopped talking to see if Trinity would notice, but she was so caught up in her fantasy that she retained nothing of what was being explained to her.

—————

As the night went on, Ayush's anger subsided and he suggested that the group goes out for dinner at Taste of India. He forgot that Trinity was there because of how quiet she was the rest of the study session, but it was too late to withdraw her invitation.

Walking to Ayush's car, Emma asked who should sit up front, and immediately, Trinity volunteers. Ayush gave Emma and Pritish the look, to which no explanation was needed.

As they arrived to Taste of India and sat at their table, Trinity placed herself right next to Ayush. Ayush became concerned about Trinity's mental health - she must've gone crazy to want to be so close to him.

When everyone's food arrived, Trinity's mouth couldn't help but water while looking at what Ayush ordered, so she asked to take a bite.

One bite turned into three. And three turned into six, and so on. At this point, they were basically sharing a dish. How romantic.

Everyone had a ride home except Trinity, and oddly enough, Trinity lived in the same apartment complex as Ayush. Ayush would feel bad if he didn't offer her a ride, so he offered and she accepted.

Ayush has always secretly had a crush on Trinity, but he didn't know how to cope with his feelings of love, so he disguised it by being mean to her. It was difficult for him to continue acting this way, especially since she started showing interest all of the sudden.

As they drove home in his BMW, listening to Frank Ocean to impress her, he mistakenly rested his hand on her leg. He realized what he did and immediately fixed his mistake, trying to formulate an awkward excuse as to why he did that.

But she smiled and stared into his eyes, giving him reassurance. As they approached the red light, she leaned in and kissed him. Ayush was taken by surprise but gave in and kissed her back.

As they passionately kissed at the red light, Ayush's foot slowly came off the break. Slowly, they crept into the middle of the intersection and got hit by a semi.

Ayush's car was left severely damaged, and both Ayush and Trinity didn't make it alive.

In loving memory of Ayush and Trinity. R.I.P and fly high angels 🕊🌈

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Author's Note:

I would love to give thanks and recognize all of my supporters: Emma, Pritish, Carter, Jane, and Tasneem.

Without their support, I wouldn't be as successful as I am today.

An acknowledgment:
Creator of the story cover and chapter image: Jane 👑