Simon slammed into the lockers, her bully's hands gripping the vest of her school uniform. She smiled even as the air left her lungs, the eighteen-year-old spotting the dean of students trying to work her way through the crowd towards them. She was very careful not to focus on that as to give away the incoming pain. "So Marsha? You still pissed that I don't like you now that I'm legal?" she teased the other girl.
"Shut up you fucking dyke, the dean isn't here to save you this time. You fucking scholarship shits think you have a right to be here. Well you don't. Seeing your face just pisses me off, and I can't help but want to wipe that smile off your face." Marsha practically spat onto the pink-hair lesbian.
Simon rolled her eyes, the girl was only here because her father had dirt on the headmistress. Otherwise, Marsha would have been expelled ages ago for her antics. Simon shifted her weight and let the bully react using their own instinct to keep her pinned to her favor. Mid-shift Marsha realized what was happening as Simon lined her bully's back to the incoming dean. A fat fist sailed towards Simon's face as expected. She caught it and twisted on Marsha's wrist putting her into an arm-bar facing the Dean in a single deft movement. She deftly dodged an unstable kick to her shins as the bully realized they'd been played; their posse had scattered without even giving them any warning.
The Dean's face could only be described as 'disappointment'. It wasn't that she wasn't aware of the situation, it was that she couldn't do much about it. The politics of the prestigious academy being what they were. Money was power and while Simon was whip smart, the fact she was a lesbian and very much out of the closet as well as being one of the scholarship girls painted a very large target on her. The bully struck first "Ms. Anson, Simon was trying to mug me! She's an absolute menace. I demand you expel her this instant, or I'll have your job!"
"You'll do no such thing." The dean's words carried the certainty of both a long time school administrator used to rich brats and a licensed lawyer. "Simon, I saw and heard the whole thing. I see the self-defense lessons didn't go to waste. The headmistress will be happy about that. As you didn't start anything and only acted in pure self-defense this won't count against your probation." The dean sighed. The bully had nearly gotten the prize pupil expelled through goading her into fights after the 'usual methods' of pressure hadn't worked.
The bully's face fell; "But, you saw her attack me! She's a menace!" they protested. The look on the dean's face transitioned from 'disappointment' to 'wrath' and Simon could feel the bully shiver in fear as she let them go and stepped back. The other students in the hall were scurrying away to class to avoid the dean's anger.
"What I saw was an unprovoked attack on a student by yourself. I have three different staff who alerted me to you seeking out that student deliberately. I have a separate report from another probationary student that you planned to try to get Simon expelled today, so she couldn't graduate and take her scholarship to university. Something might I remind you she earned as the top student in the entire
school
. She has only been on probation due to your own machinations and her prior lack of self-defense training. Something the headmistress and I saw fit to rectify this past holiday. Placing you into an arm-bar to prevent an assault is not considered fighting under the rules. However, initiating a fight
is
, and having seen it with my own eyes and recorded it with the security system the academy is forced to take action with the initiator. As you might recall, you are also on probation Marsha. Having been caught smoking, caught with contraband, and been involved in bullying incidents prior."
"As such you are hereby summarily expelled" the headmistress' voice interjected as her heels clicked against the tile of the hallway. "Marsha, I just got off the phone with your father. He's incredibly disappointed with you." She turned to Simon "get to class, you may only have half a day left here, but you should finish it properly."
Simon nodded and brushed her short pink hair out of her face and
walked
quickly away.
Clouds traced through the sky as she lay in the grass. She had expected more from university. The engineering school was quite prestigious, and she felt disappointed that she could have taught the classes as a freshman. It also seemed like her sophomore year hadn't changed much. It all felt so perfunctory. The sonorous chuckle of one of her professors brought her out of her thoughts. "Beautiful day isn't it Simon." he smiled at her as she pushed herself up onto her elbows.
She gave him a half smile and shaded her emerald green eyes from the sun. She didn't understand how he could always be so cheery. Life in her experience rather sucked, particularly if you were different. "I guess you could say that sir." she responded as he made his way over.
"I guess I could, and I will!" he laughed. "It's a nice warm day, not too hot or cold. The grass is perfect to lay in and ponder the mysteries of the universe. Also, I got you to smile, that alone was worth it. Because Simon, when you smile it doesn't matter how many clouds there are in the sky. The sun shines through." He teased her with a twinkle in his eye.
She laughed at that "I guess it's easier to smile when I have something to smile about." she retorted.
"About that, I talked to your advisor. Your other professors and I think that it would be best to move you to an accelerated graduate program. Undergrad is an absolute waste of your time. The only caveat is you will have to assist in teaching the undergrads. We checked your scores, you probably know the material better than most of us!" he laughed, making light of the fact the professors were mostly focused on their research.
She ran her tanned hand through her hair trying to take it all in. She shifted to a seated position, her legs tucked under herself. "But I don't have..." she started to object.
"You don't need a lesson plan." He interjected. "The TAs and I have watched you for a year; you de-facto taught your recitations last year. Your sections' test scores were forty percent above the rest. And anything you might be missing we'll help out with, so you won't be lacking support. We're not blind old farts Simon, I mean... I am," he chuckled at his own self-deprecation. "But, even I'm not
that
blind. As for your degree," He held up a hand as she started to object "the faculty thinks you'd be better off on an accelerated Ph.D. program. You graduate that, you'll have all your requirements. You in?" He asked.
She was flabbergasted, this was completely unexpected. Her mind raced a million different places "Ph.D. sir? That seems to be getting ahead of myself don't you think?"
"No." He cleared his throat. "Your term paper raised eyebrows. Human-machine interfaces? Simon that paper would have been good as a Master's thesis. The head of department and I have checked your work three times now. It more than checks out. If you want to pursue it, you can. We want to enable you on this. But if you want to spend hours bored in lecture...." he trailed off, making it clear it was her choice. But, he thought she'd be foolish to not take the opportunity.
"What about grants and funding?" She asked, normally Ph.D.s were fully funded by grants. It was the hidden secret about grad school. It wasn't really about the topic it was about the money. The school took a thirty percent cut of any funding before anyone else could touch it.
"What about the grants?" He asked. His cheerful smile had turned devious, and she raised an eyebrow in query. "You really should read the terms of your scholarship better." He suggested. "I'll be in my office when you have your answer." He said waving goodbye and heading off.
She flomped back into the grass, her mind racing. Opportunities like this didn't come by often. Much less unasked for. She pushed herself back up and pulled her tablet from her book satchel. She searched her email for the scholarship documents. The young engineer knew she had a mandatory internship, but she thought that was the only quirk.
It took a few minutes of searching before she found the language:
The scholar is hereby granted all funds, tuition, research funding, expenses necessary to further their education in addition to the aforementioned personal stipend. The University shall forward all necessary funding requests to LeetCo™️ directly without requirement on the scholar. LeetCo™️ reserves the right to challenge extraneous expenses without note or explanation, however no limit shall be placed on the total financial benefit to the scholar. LeetCo™️ further reserves the right to challenge any expense that does not benefit the scholar.
Her jaw dropped. Scholarships weren't usually a blank check. She'd just assumed it was tuition, room and board, and the stipend. But it was clearly far more than that. She shoved the tablet into her bag and raced to his office.
She leaned against the wall outside catching her breath, wiping her sweat soaked bangs out of her eyes. The door next to her creaked open. Simon's eyes darted over to the opening portal. A chocolate brown face poked out of it, beautiful brown eyes over luscious lips that were smiling at her. Her heart melted. She'd had crushes before, but this was something else all together. Her entire world turned upside down when that beauty spoke. "Simon? I'm Sierra, the professor thought we should collaborate if you're interested."
Simon smiled, at that moment all the clouds in her life parted, and the sun had come out. "I think I'd like that" she said softly. She didn't quite know what had just happened. But she hoped it would never end.
Sierra's head lay in her lap, the other engineer's eyes closed with a smile on her face. Simon could scarce believe they had just met earlier. "Sierra...do you..." She couldn't find the words and the whole thing felt surreal.