A Nefarious Secret

Chapter 1

BEEP. BEEP.

Chiara's alarm blared. Today her junior year of classes began. Earlier last week the students returned back to campus in a stampede. Freshman moved into their dorms, out-of-state drivers crowded the streets around campus with tickets on their windshields. Chiara had spent the summer at her apartment. With a summer internship and a part-time job, going back to Des Moines wasn't really an option for her. So she stayed on UI's campus, working at an Italian-American restaurant and interning with the local city magazine.

Having the students come back brought the city back to life. It's not like Champaign was boring during the summer, but with most of her friends home, she had spent most nights with her coworkers getting wine drunk.

It was 9:20 when Chiara decided to get out of bed. It only took her 15 minutes to get ready. While 10 am classes seem like nothing, after working 60 hour weeks during the summer, the idea of having to go to a class she didn't care about made waking up difficult. Environmental Science 202, Ecology of Illinois. But the class fulfilled her last science requirement. She only had a handful of gen-ed classes left, hopefully allowing her senior year to be completely dedicated to her major.

Roll out of bed. Brush teeth. Curl eyelashes. Put on leggings and a grey oversized t-shirt. Throw on her Adidas sneakers. Laptop and charger in bag. Then out the door she went as she walked towards campus.

Because this was a gen-ed course, there were about 300 students in the class. When she arrived at the lecture hall, she found a seat in the second-to-last row. She pulled up the syllabus on her laptop, ready to half listen. She still had 8 minutes before class started, so she opened up her assignment for her internship.

While her internship paid only $10/hour, she accepted the extended position. Her restaurant manager wasn't thrilled, but she promised she'd still work 20 hours a week. She was one of the best employees they had, plus it helped that she could pronounce the words on the menu. While the restaurant was by no means authentic, she didn't mind working for a place that but an American twist on her culture. She never felt tempted to eat there and honestly, the customers felt better somehow knowing she was there. As if it validated the place.

She began researching for her listicle for the Best Brand New Places to Eat in Champaign.

"All right everybody. Welcome to Ecology of Illinois," the professor yelled into the microphone, pinned to his shirt.

"I am Dr. Andrew Capps, your professor for this course. This is a lecture and discussion course, which means that on Monday we will host lecture and the second day will you will meet with your discussion groups. These discussion groups are mandatory to attend. If you miss more than four without a valid excuse, 10% will be taken from your final grade. Every skip after results in another 2% deducted. So, please everybody, attend. I don't want to have to talk to 100 students in December about why you are failing my course."

Chiara continued to work on her split screen, scanning between the syllabus and her work. The professor was introducing the TA's that would lead the discussion groups. She peered up past her computer screen.