When you do labs in chemistry, there’s this thing you have to do when you want to boil something in a round bottom flask: before you stop cock it, you have to put a boiling chip in first. It’s a pretty small thing—smaller than your average pebble. They say you only need one, but I always find myself putting in two or three, just because I’m not sure if one will be big enough. But it is.

You see, without that tiny pebble, we run the risk of bumping: the energy from heating the liquid has nowhere to escape; pressure builds and builds inside that small round bottom flask until the glass can’t take it and pop. But somehow, that bumpy stone provides just enough surface area for bubbles to form, relieving the pressure that would otherwise cause all the hot liquid to spill all over your hub.

So this is for all the people who have been my boiling chip. Who have sat with me well past mid night. Who've held me and laughed with me. Laughed at me.

My fail safes. The ones who swear they'll get me to calm down. The ones who will walk me back home in the middle of the night just because I called.

To the spontaneous fountain hoppers and the ones who make me brave. To the faces behind the knocks behind the door asking to hang out when they know I need it.

This is for those of you who drive an hour out to get your eyebrows done-- maybe even against your better judgment. For those of you who have held part of my soul in your hands and have caressed it so gently. You, who have fed me and watched me grow.

This is for you.