The Beautiful Monster

However, if she had to be here for the rest of the night to at least have a chance at Dr. Hahn's research project, then she would be here all night. She had to work for what she wanted.

There were so many great opportunities at this campus, but there was also a lot of competition that she had to battle with. She was far from the smartest or most accomplished student on this campus.

She had to work all that much harder to score opportunities like these.

Some of the questions were easy, like what research would she want to do or what she saw herself doing in so many years.

The professors wanted a feel for the goals and drive of their research assistants, and she was going to show Dr. Hahn that she was one of the most driven students on this campus.

She reached the question: what do you hope to gain from this research opportunity? She tapped her fingers against her desk as she thought about that.

The answer was in her head, but sometimes it was hard for her to pull out what was in her head and put it in actual words.

She could see herself gaining a lot from this research opportunity. Not only would she be able to learn and study under someone accomplished and gifted in her field, but she would also be able to practice research methods to prepare for her own research. This was the trial run that she needed.

However, she could also possibly discover something groundbreaking with this project.

She had read about it happening before, and

she would be honored to be involved in something extraordinary like that.

She wanted to push medical practices forward, to save more lives. This put her on the right path.

She tried not to write anything too dramatic or emotional. At the end of the day, this was scientific and serious. No fooling around.

She got her point across as best as she could. She felt like some feelings and hopes couldn't be properly explained in words, though. Dr. Hahn would just have to infer a little.

She wrote down some general information, like her GPA and major. Luckily, those lined up with the qualifications for the research project assistantship.

She hoped that she heard back soon about whether or not she got the position or not. She had to plan next year's schedule around it so that she had time to work in the lab with Dr. Hahn.

The thought of actually working in a lab and doing actual scientific research and work made her heart jolt a little. She didn't count her labs for her classes. Those were so closely monitored and set up.

What she did with Dr. Hahn would be far more real world. She had to be precise and careful. She had to be like who she wanted to be in the future.

Alyssa read over her form at least five more times before feeling comfortable enough to hit the send button. She sat back in her seat and let out a quiet breath.

That was done. All that she had to do now was wait and see if she got accepted. The waiting period would be the most torturous part for her.

She shut off the school computer before grabbing her things and finally dragging herself back to her dorm room. It had been a long day, but at least it was exciting.

She felt like she made a big step toward her future. Hopefully, this shot landed, but she would just have to see.

**********

Alyssa and Elias sat across from each other on Elias' bed with heavy stares. It was time. They knew it would be soon, but Alyssa wasn't sure if they were ready or not, despite them looking forward to this for a few days now.

"Are you sure? At the same time?" Alyssa asked him as she grabbed her phone. She knew that there was a notification on her phone screen that she hadn't looked at yet. She was honestly nervous too.

Elias sighed before nodding.

"I mean, we have to look eventually, right?" Elias pointed out. He grabbed his own phone and prepared to unlock it. "Want to count down?"

Alyssa nodded as she put her thumb on her phone screen.

"One," she said, feeling her heart race slightly.

"Two."

"Three!"

Alyssa unlocked her phone and went into her school app, pulling up her grade for the first history test that she took a few days ago. She read the grade over and over before her eyes shifted up to look at him.

"Count down?" Alyssa laughed softly. She wasn't sure if she was going to win this round, but she had a little bit of faith. That had to be enough.

"One," Elias replied.

"Two."

"Three!" Alyssa said before shouting her grade. "92!"

"92!" Elias said at the same time.

Laughter broke from both of them as they smiled at each other. It was a tie. Elias' grade was still slightly higher because of Alyssa's reading assignment mishap, but at least they were tied on the test scores.

"We didn't do too bad," she said. She wished she could've done better, but the test questions were a bit tricky. She had to make a lot of inferences and read lots of passages. This history class was going to be the death of her.

However, she had the best study partner and motivator. As long as they both stayed on top of everything, she believed that she could turn her grades around, beat him at their competition, and still learn something from this class that he would take with her throughout her years.

Elias nodded.

"Not too bad at all, but I'm going to beat you next time. I know how the tests are now," he told her with a bold look.

Alyssa scoffed at his confidence. She knew how the tests worked now too, and she was going to adjust how she studied to fit that. She had it in the bag for the next tests.

"You can try," she replied with sass in her voice. She wasn't afraid to face off with him when it came to academics.

This was her playing field. She had to show her dominance. Unfortunately, she was off to a rocky start.

Elias tilted his head at her as a wicked smile crossed his lips. He then grabbed her and pulled her into his lap, making her straddle his waist.

"I think we should celebrate since we did so well," he pointed out. His eyes glinted slightly as they roamed over her body.

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