Cassie held the glitter-covered notebook between two fingers, like it might smear her with leftover lip gloss and delusion.

“You have the handwriting of a confused squirrel during an earthquake.”

Across the lab table, Sierra Quinn flipped her perfectly straightened hair and smiled like she was posing for a toothpaste commercial. “I know, right? I’ve always had kind of a… whimsical vibe.”

Cassie blinked. “That’s not what I said.”

“Anyway,” Sierra said, ignoring her, “I was shocked when Mr. Carlton paired us. No offense, but I totally thought I’d get someone who, like… brushes their hair.”

Cassie tightened her grip on her pen. “Do you actually try to be useless, or is it just muscle memory at this point?”

“I’m bringing so much to this project,” Sierra said, inspecting her nails. “Like leadership. Vision. And snacks.” She held up a crushed granola bar from the bottom of her tote. It had visible glitter on the wrapper.

“That’s not food,” Cassie said. “That’s evidence.”

Sierra shrugged. “Raisins are nature’s candy.”

“Then nature owes us an apology.”

Sierra gave her a sideways glance. “Wow. Do you write those lines in a little sad poetry notebook?”

Cassie took a slow breath. “Only after I realized I’d be partnered with the human version of a malfunctioning toaster.”

Sierra grinned. “I love that. I do pop up at the worst times. But I’m pretty and shiny, so people forgive me.”

Cassie passed her a beaker. “Just hold this and try not to confuse it with your iced coffee.”

Sierra squinted at it. “Is this the thing that could, like, explode?”

“Only if we’re lucky,” Cassie muttered.

There was a long pause where Cassie actually tried to measure something, and Sierra tried to take a selfie with the goggles on.

Eventually Sierra sighed dramatically. “This is actually kind of exhausting. Can’t you just do it and put both our names on it?”

Cassie stared at her. “You mean lie?”

Sierra beamed. “Exactly! You get me.”

Cassie looked directly into the beaker and considered whether she could dissolve her entire existence in acid.