Rolling Stone

13. 3 PC Combo with LEMON PEPPER only in CHICAGO

"You can't be serious."

Your voice came out sharper than you intended, but you couldn't help it, you were pissed.

You were sitting in your advisor's office, staring down at the schedule in front of you like it had personally offended you. Because it had.

Or at least, it felt that way.

"I'm sorry, Y/N," you advisor said, not sounding sorry at all.

"But the university's policy is clear. We can't accept your internships from Stark Industries or Deloitte because you weren't enrolled at UIUC when you did them. You need an internship under UIUC's credit requirements."

"And you're telling me this now?" You asked, barely able to keep the frustration from bubbling over.

"Why couldn't you tell me this six weeks ago?"

She sighed, like she had a million other things she'd rather be doing than dealing with me.

"It's been on the majors guidelines since the start of the semester. You were supposed to come in and get this sorted earlier." I clenched my jaw, trying to keep calm.

You already had the response locked and loaded, "I've already done two internships. Two. I've been more than prepared. Why should I have to scramble to find another one when I have a damn return offer lined up as a damn financial analyst for next Fall after graduation?"

"Y/N, I understand your frustration, but the rules are the rules. You have less than a month to find a UIUC-approved internship. If you can't, you'll have to push your graduation to December instead of May."

Push my graduation? You stared at her, my hands gripping the edge of the chair so tight you thought it might break. A month. No. Scratch that, less than a month to find something or push my life back by months. You had 95 thousand dollars a year post graduation job offer lined up with JP Fucking Morgan after you graduated.

There was no way you could afford to push that back.

As you stormed out of her office, you could already feel the anger settling in, like a heavy weight you couldn't shake off. Why the hell couldn't they have told me earlier? You could've planned something, done something about it. Now you were scrambling, and it wasn't even your fault.

Later, you talked to Nia, since she always kept your secrets, as you pacing back and forth in that tiny-ass dorm room, feeling like the walls were closing in.

"They really told me less than a month before the deadline that my internships don't count. Like, I did Stark. I did Deloitte. How the hell am I supposed to find something last minute?"

Nia nodded. "That's messed up, Y/N. Why didn't your advisor give you a heads up?"

"That's what I'm saying!" You threw your hands up. "Now I'm sitting here trying to figure out what the hell to do. I don't even know where to start. Every fucking company only accepting Summer and Fall Internships right now."

There was a long pause.

A thought crept into your mind, one you didn't want to acknowledge but couldn't push away either.

Technically, you still had a connection to Stark. There was a return offer you could use if you wanted to. You could intern at one of the satellite locations. Tony had been in LA with Lauren and all over NYC with the Avengers.

Chicago was safe.

You could work without ever having to deal with him. But that idea? It came and went as fast as your brain thought it up.