An hour later, the homework was finished. But Maxim didn't feel like a cheater; he felt like a detective who had finally cracked a cold case.

Maxim was sweating. Not because of the heat in the classroom, but because of the massive, worn-out chemistry textbook by lying on his desk. It was his senior year—11th grade—and the final exam was looming like a dark cloud.

The next day, the teacher, Maria Ivanovna, called him to the chalkboard. "Maxim, show us the reaction for the oxidation of propanol."