Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,26

I'd wheedled out of Mister Chesterfield after school on Friday. As I inserted the key into the lock, I couldn’t resist muttering, "Just try not to blow anything up, alright?"

I'd opened the door barely a crack when that stupid lighter flared again. This was followed by something infinitely worse – a gigantic flash of light, loud and scorching hot.

With one giant boom, the lab practically exploded, sending me and Brody reeling backward as the door flew off its hinges. Brody tackled me to the ground, as if he were trying to smother me with his own body.

Around us, I smelled smoke and chemicals and burnt hair. My mind reeled, and my body shuddered. I gave Brody a frantic push. "Get off me!"

His voice was low in my ear. "Not yet."

With a string of curses, I eventually pushed him aside, only to realize that the burnt hair was my own. My face. Oh, my God. I reached up to touch it, half expecting to find it melted or something.

But it was fine.

Or maybe not – because when I looked to Brody, he stared at me like I'd just turned into some sort of goblin. I was almost crying when I asked, "How bad is it?"

He hesitated way too long before saying, "Not too bad. You're okay."

Was I?

I felt okay. Once again, I reached up to touch my face. That's when I realized something. My eyebrows – they weren't quite there. I looked up to my bangs and frowned in momentary confusion.

My bangs were still there, except they were a whole lot shorter and singed on the ends.

But it wasn't until I looked at the smoldering ruins of the lab itself that I realized how close both of us had come to losing a lot more than eyebrows.

Later on, investigators would determine that the explosion had been caused by a leak in the gas line that fed the Bunsen burners. After being closed for hours, the small lab had filled with flammable gas.

All it needed was a spark.

But it could've been so much worse. If we'd been inside the lab when the flame had caught, probably neither one of us would've lived to tell about it.

So I tried to be thankful – even as Brody and I were both suspended for two full weeks, which was a lot better than the school's initial threat to kick us out entirely. There'd even been some talk of us being sued for damages, in spite of the fact that the gas leak itself was hardly our fault.

But then, suddenly, out of the blue, all of that talk went away – much like my college scholarship as my grades tanked due to my sudden suspension.

When all was said and done, nearly four years of perfect work were destroyed by one single boom.

Oh sure, I'd still gone to college, and I had gotten a few minor scholarships here and there. Still, it was hardly the full ride I'd been counting on, and it meant that I'd had to begin my college career not at a four-year university, but rather at the local community college, where I could rack up some credits on the cheap side.

But it wasn't this that broke my heart. It was everything else. My grandma died of a sudden illness only a week after my high school graduation, and then, my grandpa had died of a heart attack only three years after that, during my first year at Michigan State.

Together, the loss of them had left a hole so big, I might've tumbled into it forever, if only I weren't so determined to keep their traditions alive. This included saving the house and keeping it in the family, just like they'd always wanted.

But in order to save it, I needed money. And to get that kind of money, I had to finish my college degree.

It was a total catch-22, and in the end, I split the difference – continuing on with college while sending my cousin Jason enough money to keep the place from getting repossessed or falling into ruin.

In the end, it was all for nothing. The house had fallen into ruin anyway, and Jason still wasn't returning my calls.

This left me with only one option – working with the guy who'd torched all of my plans in the first place.

Brody.

Still, I had to give him credit for one thing. He'd definitely lived up to his nickname.

Brody Blast.

Chapter 16

Brody – Present Day

Waverly was still griping. "You know this is a mistake, don't you?"

With