The sense of frustration is palpable, the narrative gap between the chem project friendship and the descent into jealousy leaves just enough to the imagination.

Nitpick, I’m pretty sure macerate means ‘to shred’, not digest.

edit. I’m wrong.

I love the italics on “him.” There’s two ways to read it: the so-in-love-I’m-obsessed “him” or the you-are-in-so-much-trouble-mister “him.” And they both work!

Smells like teen spirit! The turmoil and jealousy in her mind are so tangible. You hit the nail on the head when you were ta lking about the 75% of undivided attention.

I really liked this! Looking forward to a sequel!

Oh, you read my mind. I know exactly how this feels. I love how you captured her inner turmoil; secretly loving a person while feigning that friendship is all you feel, and observing how they obliviously flirt and flit amongst others. Her irrational feelings and her distracted attention just make her so real. Wonderful!

Gender-flip this and you have something similar to an episode I had during high school—even to the chemistry class. This is spot-on.

“My stomach macerated the food as angrily as my heart pounded out death threats into my brain.” Just awesome.