Seven

It's just a little bumpy in this shell. I'm getting pulled forward and snapped away seven times on each orbit, and I'll be darned if there isn't a party going on in the p-shell. It could be worse. Fore and aft, repulsed like good electrons, are a pair that deserve basement detail. I saw them flinging around with the p's, laughing and carrying on all night and then something terrible happened. It's probably their fault, and I'm sure that that they're going to be stuck in the bottom s-shell for a very long time.

Not me, though. I've got just a bit more zip than they do, and if I can play the wavefronts just right, or catch a lucky photon at just the right angle, I might just get my shot at valence. Oh what fun I will have as a responsible p-shell electron. I might just get to swap atoms one day. For now, I'd be happy doing something a little more exciting that this simple spherical cloud.

Wavefronts and Photons. One good femtosecond is all I need.