Choosing Us

chapter 1 | chemistry sucks

Vivian

"If you do not take Chemistry 101, you will not graduate."

On January 28th, my academic advisor becomes the seventh person to be added to my shit list. The first entry is my ex-best friend from junior high school, the second is an old man who snapped my fake ID in half, blah blah blah, and the list ends with Miss Carly-fucking-Coleson, my senior year college academic advisor.

"Why?" I ask.

Carly raises an eyebrow. I want to take a waxing strip and rip those hairs from her face. "Why what?"

"Why must I take a chem class when my majors are Data Analytics and Finance?"

My advisor makes a few clicks on her computer screen and turns it to face me for my viewing. There is a list of eight or ten class courses, all with green check marks except for one, which has an angry red circle. "So far, you have completed all of your general education required classes, minus one lower-level science course that you must have missed in your registration process."

"But chemistry? Carly," I say, leaning forward in my uncomfortable seat to rest my elbows on her desk. I intend to intimidate her into pulling a few strings and letting me not take a science course. "Chemistry will kill me. I'm sure of it. Let me take Geology or something."

Carly smiles and I'm almost positive it is meant to be malicious. "All other lower-level science classes have been filled by underclassmen."

"What about waitlists?"

"Waitlists are full. The University of Virginia has overenrolled for the past two years so everything is overcrowded." Carly releases a huff of annoyance, not at me, but at the arising complications with barely enough classes for too many students. For a moment, I feel sorry for her, but then she opens her mouth again to say, "I enrolled you for Chemistry 101 on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays right after your Financial Reporting III class at 11 a.m. It is a 90-person lecture class. The bright news is that you do not need to take a lab with the course since you are not enrolled in the College of Sciences."

I think Carly expects me to leap out of my seat and jump for joy at that last bit of news, but I would rather leap out of my seat and jump out the window. Fortunately for Carly, I value my life and do not want to take it away. She should thank me for that.

"Any other questions, Vivian?" she asks. My time with her expires.

"No," I grumble, even though I would like to ask her if she has it out to get me and is punishing me with Chem 101.

The moment I breathe in the fresh air of the outdoors, I want to scream. Instead of doing that, I walk down the path and call my mom.

"Mommy?" I say once she picks up the phone.

"Viv, you need to stop calling me mommy," my mommy says. "You're twenty-two years old and are graduating college soon."

"Mooooooom," I groan into the phone.

"Whaaaaaaat?" I hear the clang of pots in the background, meaning she is beginning preparation for dinner. I wish I didn't live nearly an hour away because I would love a meal cooked by her to cheer me up. "Vivian, baby, why are you calling me? What's up?"

"I am apparently horrible at planning my college schedule because I failed to realize I need to take a lower-level science class and am now stuck taking Chemistry 101."

"Ew."

I wait for her to say more but she doesn't. I press the crosswalk button on the corner of the street and wait for the green. "That's it? Mom this is where you are supposed to tell me that the world clearly hates me and I should just drop out of college ."