High Impact || Genshin Impact H.S AU

Chapter 7.5

Sucrose groaned, face down on the table. She looked around at the many papers surrounded her. Her brain felt dry, devoid of the inspiration needed.

After receiving the presentation and materials regarding the decathlon, Sucrose discovered she’ll need to make a working product for the science fair, capable of solving a problem. The winner of the science fair will get an investment and be able to mass-produce their product for the public, garnering lots of money in the long run.

Hearing this, Sucrose knew she needed to win the science fair. Before, her only reason to win the science fair would be to look exceptional on her college resume which she deemed unnecessary.

While going to a good college is cool, it’s not something she would extremely hard over, rather contempt with her local college or university nearby in Mondstadt.
But when hearing the cash prize, she knew she needed the money.

Every break, every extra long weekend, every chance she could, she would visit her mom who lived in Mondstadt. When she was invited for her first year of high school, her mother was unable to move with her, having to stay for her job to fund the two.

The Genshin District was a dangerous move for many, being a small town that didn’t have many economic opportunities. If a family couldn’t find a job for the breadwinner, then only the child could go, the school having a special program to make sure the child is supported and cared for within the Genshin District.

Mr. Albedo was the teacher assigned to make sure she was cared for and eating healthy, coming once a week for a chat and making sure she had food, etc.

With these small chats, Sucrose had gotten to get to know the teacher and they shared their common passion for science, their undying curiosity.

Now, Sucrose knew she needed the money, her mom has been unable to afford trips out the last two chances they had. It had stung her the second time they had to cancel, her mom realizing the flight tickets were too priced during the holidays. She spent the Windblume festival with Mr. Albedo who was kind enough to stay behind and make sure she was alright.

She could remember the night she cried, anguished over not seeing her mom, not seeing the pretty flowers that grow, and enjoying the festivities. She promised herself she wouldn’t suffer through a similar fate again, aiming to get the money one way or another.

She tried to get a job but there weren’t very many fast-food places in the district wanting young teenagers to hire for low wages. Especially after the Superintendent taxed fast-food chains to promote healthy choices.

So she resorted to tutoring, yet it still was low pay and she had a lot of competition, having one kid she tutors. So with the science fair large sum of money, she could use the profits and get herself to visit her mom more often.

Currently, Sucrose felt stuck, unable to think of a good enough idea to win the competition, let alone one she had a kindling to know how to make for real. Continuing to tap her pen aggressively against the notepad, hoping it would trigger an idea but nothing pops in her head.

“Argh!” Sucrose cries out, frustrated. She gets up from her chair, going to the kitchen, needing some food to fill the void that was her stomach. Her apartment floor creaks, making her feel subconscious of her steps as her neighbor below her, could hear the steps.

She remembered Mona (her neighbor) mentioning it once in class and she felt incredibly embarrassed by it. Tiptoeing around her apartment, she steps out of her room. Moving forward, she passed her tidy and clean bathroom, something she aimed to keep clean.

When first living alone, she had managed to out off cleaning her bathroom so much to a point when Mr. Albedo made her clean it, she realized the horrors of loose hair everywhere. She spent two hours cleaning the tub drain and gagging as she had to get rid of her hair. The memory scared her straight and now she cleans it weekly.

Otherwise, the rest of her apartment was relatively messy, with lots of papers and clothing on the ground. Mr. Albedo told her to clean it up and she does a bit of work and then gives up.

She finally reached the kitchen, feeling the cold tiles send shivers up her spine.

Looking in the fridge, she felt unenthusiastic about the food, seeing it was too much work to cook at the moment.

Side eyeing a bit despite no one being in the apartment, she checked her pantries, hoping for an ounce of candy. The young scientist had a huge sugar tooth, loving to buy candy and consume it instead of making healthy decisions of eating fruits and veggies.

To no luck, she found no candies or sweets she saved. She let out a groan, very disappointed. Her stomach growls, making g her more agitated and annoyed. She needed to focus and think of an idea to start working on yet she also needed to take care of herself.

She checked her wallet, seeing if she still had enough money from last month’s allowance. She found little amounts of money. Groaning louder, she realized it was the end of the month, a small difficult time where she lacked the funds to buy food. If she wasn’t careful, she would end up spending a few nights hungry.

Then in the corner of her eye, she spots something glimmer in the fruit bowl. She knew she shouldn’t be picky but she still despised more technically healthy food items. Her stomach clenched, reminding her that she needed to eat. So, she walked forward and saw an apple.

Smiling softly, she accepted her fate and picked the single apple up. Immediately when feeling the apple, she felt a soggy touch to it. She flipped the apple over and realized that one entire end was soggy and rotten.

“Argh!” Sucrose cried out, now mad at the world for punishing her. She just wanted to eat an apple but now she gets less than half of one to eat. She pulled out a knife and cupboard, separating what was edible from the inedible.

“Gosh, I wish these apples lasted longer,” Sucrose mutters, furious. Once she finally cut the apple apart and took a bite, feeding herself, her brain starts to think.

“How would that even look like?” Sucrose thinks, wondering about the biological possibilities of preserving fruit. Her mind begins to rush, remembering previous lessons she had regarding the biology and how fruits age in general.

“What if I make a sealant to keep the fruit fresh?” Sucrose thinks next, remembering the special sealants people used to keep body paint intact and prevent from smearing.

“This could work!” Sucrose exclaims, finishing the apple, desperate to go research more about fruits and preservatives. She began to dash back to her room, ignoring the fact that her neighborhoods below could hear her loud footsteps. She was too excited, having a chance at winning.

FYI I'm not a scientist