Elena checked the lab clock, then the numbers on her screen. The first set of readings was wrong. Not a little wrong, not the sort she could explain away in the report. Her lab partner, Priya, leaned over the notebook. “Please tell me that’s supposed to happen.” Elena shook her head. Volleyball practice started at five. Their results were due that evening. She pulled the procedure back toward them. “Let’s find where it changed.”

They worked backward instead of starting over blindly. A measurement in the setup did not match what they had recorded. Elena checked it with their instructor, corrected it, and reset the equipment while Priya prepared the next sample. The second run took time they had meant to spend writing. It also gave them results they could stand behind. Elena would rather turn in work she understood than a neat page of numbers she did not trust.

Before leaving, she and Priya divided what remained. Elena would upload the results table and her analysis before practice. Priya would finish the methods section, and they would review the complete report together afterward. “Send me anything that doesn’t make sense,” Elena said. “Even if it’s mine.” Priya smiled. “Especially if it’s yours.”

In a quiet corner of the student center, Elena opened her laptop beside the sandwich she had packed that morning. She had enough time, but not enough to waste. She checked the units, labeled the table, and wrote the explanation while the experiment was still clear in her head. When a sentence sounded smarter than it meant, she deleted it and said what had actually happened. Then she uploaded her section, finished lunch, and headed across campus.

Morgan was tying her shoes when Elena reached the locker room. “How was the lab?” “We discovered that science has no respect for practice schedules.” “You tell it who you play for?” Elena laughed and changed. She had arrived with a few minutes to spare, not because the day had gone perfectly, but because she had kept making decisions when it hadn’t.

On the court, she listened to the first drill and called the ball early. Morgan sent her a pass that made her move. Elena got under it and put the set where it needed to go. The next one was less pretty. She adjusted her feet, asked for another, and got it right. Her teammates did not need her day to have been easy. They needed her present, talking, and ready to do her part.

During a water break, Morgan nodded toward the court. “Your experiment working now?” Elena rolled the ball between her hands. “Still collecting data.” Coach called them back. Morgan took her place across the net, grinning. Elena stepped behind the line and lifted the ball for the next serve.

Elena took pride in being someone people could count on, in the lab and on the court. She was grateful for Zombie Infusion in the body wash she used after practice, helping her care for the body that carried her through both. There was more she wanted to do, and she meant to be there for it.

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