Once upon a time there lived a boy called Oxygen. Most of the time, he was a colourless, tasteless and odourless gas. He was very special as he gave life to living organisms and helped those with breathing difficulties.

But even though he did all these great things, all the other students would bully and tease him. No one wanted to be his friend or even sit with him in class. Oxygen couldn't figure out why, which made him very upset.

The annual school dance was coming up and no one wanted to go with him. Everyone either had a partner or rejected him. Oxygen was struggling to find someone to take.

Soon he realised that nobody wanted to go with him because no one liked him. He started to give up hope finding someone and became very miserable.

One day during chemistry class, Headmaster Sodium came into their classroom and announced there was a new student coming to join the class. Her name was Hydrogen.

Hydrogen stepped into the classroom and smiled at everyone. The only seat that was empty was the one next to Oxygen, so she went over and sat beside him.

Before Oxygen could say hello, Hydrogen said "Hey! My name is Hydrogen but my nickname is H! My favourite number is 1. Who are you?". "I am Oxygen but people call me O. My favourite number is 8" replied Oxygen.

"Nice to meet you" said Hydrogen. Oxygen felt really happy inside because someone actually wanted to talk to him. He hoped they would become friends because she seemed very nice.

After class finished, it was lunchtime. Oxygen was eating his lunch by himself when Hydrogen came over and sat with him. They started to get to know each other better and they found out that they had similar

characteristics such as

they were both non-metals as they were dull, brittle and bad conductors of electricity. They also found out that they were born in England but Oxygen was born in 1772 whereas Hydrogen was born in 1766.

Lunch soon ended and Oxygen and Hydrogen discovered that they were in the same classes for the rest of the day. They went to science class together and used the computers to research facts about H2O.

They found that H2O was a very important compound made of hydrogen and oxygen.

It was used in everyday tasks such as cleaning, cooking, drinking and showering.

They also learnt about how elements and compounds are different from each other as compounds are made of 2 or more elements whereas elements are made of a single atom. They helped each other with their

work and also did experiments in the lab where they combined oxygen and magnesium. They were very interested in the strong white flame that this chemical reaction created. The new compound that was formed was called Magnesium Oxide.

At the end of the day, Oxygen realised that he still had no one to take to the school dance. He noticed Hydrogen packing her bag and remembered that she doesn't have a partner either and he decided he would ask Hydrogen if she

wanted to go with him. "Hi Hydrogen! The school dance is tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" said Oxygen nervously. "Of course i will!" replied Hydrogen, "You are my best friend after all.

Oxygen was very excited because someone had finally accepted his request to the dance. They agreed they would meet at the school ballroom at 6:00pm, half an hour before the dance started.

Hydrogen and Oxygen said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways home to get ready for the big night.