Love with you

PTE

t on the fence about thi

f the truckload of obvious red flags. She was well aware that committing to years of u

knowledge might not be the key to happiness. That devoting her mind and body to academic

m surrendering herself to the most notorious and soul-sucking circle of hell (i.e., a Ph.D. program). Held her back,

ose name she ne

r stumbling blindly into the

f curiosity, is there a specific r

anaged to. Her entire field of view was blurry. All she could see was a watery

he ladies' restroo

ope." His voice was deep. So d

you s

es

all

this is my la

were. Her eyes stung, even closed, and she had to scrunch them shut to dull the burn. She tried to dry her cheeks with her

se she was blocking the sink. Or maybe because he thought Elaine was a weirdo and was contemplating c

estroom, just to dispose o

Poorly. She'd thought poorl

ly tall. His voice sounded like

?""Because you are cr

l, I sort of am, but it'

do

nd they were never that great to begin with. They messed up my eyes. I've taken them off, but

contacts?" He sounde

little e

s 'a l

know. A f

s were sharp and prec

a couple,

couple o

iration dates a

iration dates are so I don't find you

ity himself, he really needed to

led her eyes, if they hadn't been on fire. "T

ou've done

ned. "Do

acts.""Of course. Co

er are

Maybe last night, at the recruitment d

N

eren't

ally my

he fre

h the sma

: thinking they were better than everyone else just because they had the dubious privilege of slaughtering fruit flies in the name of science for peanuts an hour. In the grim, dark hellscape of academia,

ng for a spot in th

d, her eyes were on fire."What about you?

M

have you b

e. "Six years.

graduating

. .

. "Wait, you don't have to tell me. First rule of grad sc

then anoth

rd enough to begin with; the last thing she needed was fewer cues

oftly. "You

iled. "Annoy

worse Than

ricans get for leavi

in what she hoped was

to the drain disposal when she heard him step closer. The hand that closed around hers was dry, and warm, an

entirely

t American

sions committee, would you mind not mentioning my contacts mishap? It m

so?" he d

was doing a decent job of it anyway, because he laughed-ju

realized that she'd been

ning to enrol

ally hit it off. Elaine had stuttered and mumbled much less than usual. Plus, her GRE scores and GPA were alm

f the best biology programs. Or at least, that was what El

was a bit on the fence about

ween excellent career choice and critica

g toward screwup." He sou

. . . I

u j

to this random bathroom guy? And what was the point, anyway? Every time she aired out her doubts to friends and acquaintances, they all autom

ing

oment

se

ou want t

o . .

. What's yo

nd, and graduate school is the ideal environment to fo

sno

owned.

n an interview prep book.

bit weakly. "I want to shar

you don't know

N

dn't get an ind

even apply

the sink. Elaine could smell a whiff of eugenol, and laundry detergent, and clean,

t. "You'll have to fund your work through ludicrously competitive research grants. You'd make b

to decline my offer? Is this some kind o

ah

d hear h

d trust that it w

the time, and the

ough, but that's not what you should be asking yourself. Academia's a lot of bucks for very little b

I have a question. A specific research question. Something that I want to find out." Ther

uest

d realized that he was no

anyone else to do it. Because they haven't so far. Because . . ." Because som

racked them open; her vision was still blurry, but the burning was mostly gone. The Stranger was look

alone in the world. She didn't want weekends, or a decent salary. She wanted to go back in time. S

straightened and took a few steps

ter him, hating how eager for his approval she sounded. It was pos

ed back at her. "I

she thought. Or

on your int

ank

see you next year," she babbled, flushing a lit

she heard

me. But a few weeks later, when the Stanford biology departme