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1.1

Ali checked her phone while the representative rifled through his papers. He cleared his throat and started speaking.

"Although you qualify for most scholarships, it-, erm, excuse me, miss? Are you listening?"

"Yes." She didn't move her eyes from the blue text. "Why?"

"... Surely you can't read and-"

She snapped her eyes up and her hand tensed around the phone. "Of course I can, sir." She nearly hissed the last word. She plastered a fake smile over her lips and attempted to lower the intensity of her heartbeat. "But would it make you happier if I put it away?" She didn't like people telling her what she could and couldn't do. 

You can't offend people, it'll only make your future less neat.

You can't argue without it being a debate, they have more power than you do. 

Don't talk back, children don't deserve to speak.

He nodded and she put it away, her expression unchanging. She fidgeted with her earrings and necklace, crossing one leg. She'd spent her whole life working to be the perfect student, except for her one flaw: her inability to sit still. 

"As I was saying, scholarships can only pay for so much. You are also eligible for an off the record University."

"If it's off the record how do I get credit?"

He was dull and cold, and the lipstick didn't make him more attractive to Ali. It just made him look more faded. "It'll be put under a more on the record name. You don't pay like other students at other schools do, per say. Scholarships for here will pay for one semester, after that, your actions pay for everything."

"Actions?" 

"Geniuses aren't as rare as society makes them out to be. Geniuses who push to reach their maximum potential are." His monotone voice irritated Ali. It was almost as if he was reading from a script.

"And?"

"Attend a semester free of charge and if you can't provide your way for the rest you can go to Harvard or wherever." He checked his files again and his bored expression turned to one of panic.

'The hell is he panicking for?'

Ali stared at his circular glasses and attempted to read the reflection. She tilted her head until she could read it from her perspective.

"No is not an answer."

It was right underneath her name in red ink. She smirked as she realized the representative was screwed unless she said yes. The university clearly wanted her. She cleared her expression and decided to use it to her advantage.

"Two semesters."

He looked at her and sighed. "That's not how this works."

"Two semesters free of charge or I'm going somewhere else. No one I applied for declined me and with my earnings from my supposed genius, I don't have to pay whatsoever. You haven't even given me the school name. Rather incompetent of you, isn't it?" She let a corner of her mouth turn upwards into a smirk. She leaned back and rested her elbow on the armrest of the chair. She cocked an eyebrow and set her chin in the palm of her hand, a pair of fingers crawling up her cheek. She set the other arm on the armrest and failed to resist the urge to pull the matching leg  onto the chair.

"... Two semesters free of charge it is." He shuffled in his seat, rather uncomfortable with her predatory expression.

"Location?"