Jayden's Misfortunate

Jayden is a theoretical person and knowledgeable about the chain reaction. When the elements are controlled, they become efficient processes, such as energy production. However, left unchecked, they will lead to exponential growth or rapid explosion. Earlier in the morning, Jayden brushed her teeth. She watched the water flow from the faucet and thought, what can I do with it? She concentrated on the flowing water, reached out with a hand, and then the water arched over. She was awed by the experience. Next, she spit out the toothpaste and cupped her hands for water. But the water kept an arch above her hands.

She bent over, reached in with her head, and took a few sips of water to wash her mouth. "Problem solved," she said proudly. After Jayden wore blue jeans, a T-shirt, and put on the university cap. She left home and drove to the college campus. Today's class is chemistry, and Jayden was in charge of filling the tubes with water.

"Remember, class, it's all about the proper amount of measurement. If your measurement is wrong, then your answer is wrong. Everything will be wrong," said Professor Golding. "You are going to waste a lot of time solving math problems with wrong numbers."

Right! Jayden went to the sink with the graduated cylinder. "Excuse me," she said as she reached in with the cylinder, just to be cut off by another student. Jayden stepped to the right and waited for her turn. After four students filled their cylinders, it was Jayden's turn. She slid the cylinder under the water faucet, watched it fill, and then twisted the handle to stop the flow of water. "Perfect," Jayden said proudly, looking at the measure line to be exact.

Next, she returned to her lab partners, and they worked together to determine the mass and volume of the liquid in their cylinder.

"The next step requires the use of distilled water," said Professor Golding. "Make sure it's an accurate measurement. I will come around to help."

Jayden grabbed a new graduated cylinder and poured distilled water to the correct line. Jayden handed the cylinder to the lab partner, who then accidentally overpoured. "Oops."

Jayden thought, I've got to fix this and reached for the tube from the lab partner. She returned it to Jayden. Quickly, Jayden went to fill it with distilled water but overpoured. Jayden tilted the cylinder and focused on the water. The water lifted out of the tub and formed a circular shape. Jayden's lab partner patted her on the back and questioned, "What's taking you so long?"

Jayden froze, and then her lab partner looked at the sink. She saw a floating water ball above the cylinder. "What is that? How is it floating?" she asked.

Drop! Instead, the water ball burst, wetting herself and the lab partner.

"Ahh!"

"I'm sorry."

"Is it water?"

"Yeah, nothing dangerous."

"Wait, you did that?"

Professor Golding and the students overheard the loud commotion at the sink. Jayden's lab partner grabbed several paper towels and wiped down the countertop.

"Good thing it was just a little."

"Mhm," said Jayden, acting as if it was a minor problem, and grabbed a few more paper towels to wipe the surrounding area. Professor Golding came from behind the two students at the sink.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I spilled a little bit of water," Jayden replied.

"Some splatter on me," Jayden's lab partner said.

Jayden was quiet.

"Would you need to go home and change?" he asked.

"Yes, please, as long as it doesn't affect my grade," she said.

"No," Professor Golding said, inspecting the situation, "You can go home, but Jayden would need to stay behind."

Jayden protested, "Why?"

"I want to see how it happened."

"Oh..."

Professor Golding followed up, "Clean up your lab station before you go." He looked to Jayden's lab partner.

"Okay," she replied.

Professor Golding walked away to assist a group of students on the lab project. Jayden and her classmate cleaned the tools, wiped down the table, and pushed in the chair. Everyone was engaged in their own conversations and not paying attention to them. Jayden watched her lab partner leave. She looked around for a while, got up from her chair, and quickly exited the classroom.

Jayden pulled out her cellphone and called her best friend.

"Hey, what's up?" said Mainhia

"Are you available for a quick chat?"

"I am."

"Have you experienced anything strange?"

"Not really," replied Mainhia cheerfully, "living life as usual."

"Any personal attempt to use your own ability?"

"I haven't."

"Well, I use a little bit of magic in class, and a classmate suprises me."

"Does the professor know?"

"No," said Jayden, "I left class."

"You ditch class!?"

"Sort of, my professor wanted me to wait after class because I accidentally splashed water on my lab partner and me. So he let my lab partner go home early, and I snuck out."

"Jayden!!"

"It's fine," she said, "It won't affect my grade, I think."

"Let's meet up since you snuck out."

"I'm going home, so we can meet up there."

"Alrighty, I will be on my way."

Both girls hung up the phone call. Jayden walked across the campus and entered the parking lot. She pulled out her car keys, unlocked the car, and started up the vehicle. Jayden drove home.

When she went inside the house, her mother, Kiden, was in the kitchen organizing the countertop.

"Mom, do you have a minute?" said Jayden, stepping into the kitchen with her schoolbag over one shoulder.

"Back home early," commented Kiden, facing her child.

"Yeah, class ended a little bit early."

Jayden pulled out a chair and sat. Kiden leaned over the tabletop and examined her daughter's face.

"Mom, have you struggled with your magic?"

"Yes, as a child, but I learned early on from my parents at home, then I went to a magic academy to hone my magic."

"Well, the thing is I used a little bit of my magic in class."

"Did anyone see you?"

"One person," said Jayden, holding up the index finger, "No one else."

"Do you know if she believes in supernatural?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

Kiden thought for a bit and replied, "Then it's all good. Nowadays people don't believe in superstition, miracles, and such. So performing spells once in a while doesn't hurt. On the contrary, do be careful and use it sparsely."

Jayden smiled and replied, "Yes, mother. Oh! By the way, Mainhia is coming over."

*Ding Dong* The sound of the doorbell echoed in the white house.

"That must be her," said Jayden, got up from the chair, and opened the door for her best friend.

"Jayden!" said Mainhia with outstretched arms. The two girls hugged.

"Welcome,"

Jayden closed the door behind them, and they went into the kitchen.

"Come in, come in," said Kiden

"Hey, Mrs. Jameson,"

"How are you doing, Mainhia?"

"I'm doing just great."

"How is your mother?"

"Wonderful," said Mainhia, "Yesterday she showed me a lucky spell."

"How was it?"

"I don't know how to cast a spell."

"No worries, we will teach both of you," said Kiden, waving the pointing finger at both girls.

"I can't wait to learn," said Maihnia, excited.

"Early this morning, I was on the phone with your mother. We talked about camping this weekend. Would the two of you be ready to go?"

"There's nothing on my schedule."

Kiden looks at Jayden. Jayden replied, "Um, I have weekend homework, so I will bring my laptop to do it while we are out camping."

"Perfect," said Kiden, clapping her hands. "Let's pack up today for camping at Sequoia National Park."