Subjects

1- Scholarships Are Not For Everyone

"Sounds stupid. I'm not doing this."

"Come on, Eva, it's a great opportunity. At least consider it."

Leo can hear their conversation loud and clear even though the door is shut. Set on the 84th floor of the company's skyscraper, Eva's father's office has one of the most impressive views on earth, but Leo had seen better.

"What opportunity?" Eva replies, raising her voice. "An opportunity to drown on the way there? No thanks."

"You could learn a lot, meet new friends..." her father argues.

"I'm perfectly pleased with the friends I already have. There's no way I'm going to spend six months on a fricking island in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by complete strangers, doing what? Counting birds?!"

If it was up to Eva, she would never agree to go. Lucky for us, Leo is going to try his best to make sure that it isn't.

"I think that this will do you good, and I'm the one paying for all the expensive things you buy. You want a new phone next year, don't you?"

"You're unbelievable!!" Eva yells angrily and storms out of the office. She sees Leo sitting in the waiting area and stops. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I'll have to decline this scholarship of yours," surprisingly enough she doesn't sound sorry at all. "I'm just not the type of person for this."

"Eva, right?" Leo asks as if he doesn't know her name for years by now, he has to have her full attention when he speaks. She nods. "I do think you might discover you can enjoy this."

She hesitates, not as sure as before, "Maybe... It can be fun..."

"Exactly! This will be good for you," He continues.

"Yeah... You're right..."

"So what do you say?" He encourages her.

"I'll do it," Her voice is weak, not as confident as it was when she spoke to her father.

"That's what I thought," Leo smiles at her and gets up from his seat. "we'll be in touch," And so he leaves.

Who Leo is, you must be wondering. Leo is... Let's just say that he's an immigrant. He goes by the name Leonard, or Leo for short, and is currently working as a college science teacher. Well, at least most of the time.

His other job is keeping an eye on four teenagers, making sure they're alright, at least for now. At least until they decide that it's time for the second phase.

You just met one of Leo's subjects, the third one he was visiting - Eva Marshall, 18.

Next stop- Ben's house.

For someone who never personally met him, Leo sure knows a lot about Ben.
Name: Benjamin Langley
Age: 18
Just like all the other three subjects.
Address: 660 Ash Ave, South San Francisco
Just like all the other three.
Well, obviously not all four subjects live in the same house, but they do all live in San Francisco, Leo's area of responsibility.

What the records do not tell are all those small details he learned about the subjects, watching them grow up over the years.
For instance, Ben. Ben is an adventurous one. He'd go for the scholarship for sure. Going outside, camping, hiking, are basically like breathing for him, along with running his own YouTube channel about... Guess what, survival in nature.

This opportunity Leo is about to offer him is his dream come true. This is going to be easy.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Small house, little garden, in the suburbs of San Francisco.

Ben opens the door, just like Leo expected. Ben seems like he is in the middle of something, probably editing another one of his videos.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, my name is Leonard. Your school gave me your contact info and I am here to offer you a scholarship."

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