Chapter 2 - Vivian

~ Tesla University, girls' dorm ~

Alarm is beeping, waking up Sarah at 8 AM.

Sarah does not like waking up early. She is a night owl who prefers the peace and quiet that night provides.

She scooted out of the bed and looked at herself in the mirror, frowning. It's obvious that she didn't sleep well.

After going to bed with an intention to sleep last night, she was tossing and turning most of the night thinking about mysterious Omega.

Objectively thinking, it's not a big deal. It's not like Omega did that just to spite her. But she always got the first place, and she wanted that top prize of $10k which comes with bragging rights. And Omega took it away. It is a matter of her pride.

'Uh, nothing much I can do now. It's time to get ready and do what I must.', Sarah thought.

Sarah took her phone and sent a text to her friend, Vivian: "Meet for breakfast in the cafeteria?"

Vivian is one of few friends that Sarah has on campus. Scratch that... Vivian is THE ONLY friend Sarah has on campus.

As much as Sarah is a computer genius, she is an introvert who believes that machines are much better companions than humans.

Sarah doesn't have many friends. Besides her introverted personality, another reason for her lack of friends is that she skipped 3 grades during her elementary and middle school. In high school Sarah found herself with classmates who are 3 years older than she is. They didn't pay attention to her because she is so much younger, and with her great academic achievements everyone immediately got an impression that she is conceited. Teachers praising her almost all the time, only made things worse. Classmates her age were 3 years behind her with education, and they also had an opinion that she is not a friendly person since someone who skips grades can't be normal, right? In reality, most of them were jealous of her, but they would never admit that. But Sarah was friendly until something inside her snapped, and her behavior ended up matching the rumors.

Sarah made few odd attempts in earlier years to befriend people, but they all ended up with others scheming and gossiping behind her back, so she gave up on that idea and got used to be by herself (mostly).

Back to Sarah's friend: Vivian.

Vivian's studies are focusing on robotics, her goal is to be a top designer of artificial limbs.

Vivian and Sarah became friends about six months ago. At that time, Vivian was working on a project and her teammates bailed on her. One evening, Vivian was stuck late in the computer lab on campus and she found herself alone with Sarah. After asking Sarah for assistance in deciding on the best choice for an API between several options, two of them chatted a bit and Sarah ended up helping Vivian with her project. After this, Vivian and Sarah interacted more, and in no time, they became good friends. Vivian is a social butterfly, and she has many friends, but she usually drops everything to be with Sarah.

Back to present…

Sarah took a shower and put on a simple white sweater and jeans. She checked her phone and saw a reply from Vivian: "OK. See you in 10 mins in cafeteria."

One minute of light make up helped Sarah to look fresh and to almost hide signs of lack of sleep. Sarah looked at herself in full length mirror that was hanging on the back of the room door, with a smile on her face. She has a simple outfit on, but it looks great on her 5'8" tall and slender body. She has a great skin, medium length dark brown hair and green eyes.

Sarah is content with her look.

She put on her coat and scarf and headed out towards cafeteria.

~ Tesla University, cafeteria ~

Sarah reached cafeteria within few minutes. When she didn't see Vivian at the entrance, Sarah pulled out her phone and sent a text to Vivian: "At the entrance. Where are you?"

Within seconds reply from Vivian arrived: "1 min"

While waiting for Vivian, Sarah observed students entering and exiting cafeteria. Her aloof expression helps deter young men who hope to approach her successfully. Sarah smirked internally when she saw two young men who were looking at her curiously, but without enough courage to approach her.

Before those two made a move to approach Sarah, Vivian arrived with a smile: "I'm here. Are you waiting long?"

Vivian is 5'6" tall. That is few inches shorter than Sarah, but she is still a beauty in her own way. Vivian has a short brown hair, slightly curled. Vivian's style for today is a hip-length white furry coat, high heal black boots and leggings which show her long and slender legs. Her clothes are showing that she is someone who follows latest fashion trends and puts an effort into her appearance.

'It's good to see a friendly face' , Sarah thought and showed her best smile. "Not long. I just arrived."

Vivian took Sarah under her arm and made an exaggerated expression. "Let's go in and grab food. I'm starving. "

They got inside cafeteria, picked their food and took a seat at a table next to the window.

Number of young men were looking at them and trying to get their attention, but Sarah and Vivian ignored them.

Vivian observed Sarah's tired expression and sighed, "I haven't seen you more than a week. What are you up to?"

"Oh, I was trying to earn extra money."

Vivian glanced at Sarah and spoke patronizingly: "I see. Maybe you should spend some of that extra money to get some clothes. You are wearing all these no-name brands. As a girl don't you want to put some labels on you?"

Sarah laughed. This is not the first time that Vivian is bringing this up. "When will you give up? You know that I don't care about those things."

Vivian frowned. "Well, I guess with your appearance, everything looks good on you… Are you getting enough sleep? I can see make up on your face. Are you trying to conceal eye bags?"

"Yeah, last night was not good for sleep.", Sarah admitted.

Vivian perked up. "Really? What happened? Did you meet a booooooy? Tell me all about it!"

Sarah waved her hands defensively, trying to dismiss any wild ideas Vivian might have. "No, no… not a boy. Why is that your first thought? It's a long story, and I'm not sure if it's a boy or a girl..."

Sarah saw that Vivian is confused, but she does not want to talk about her hacking activities with anyone. "Something happened, I'm still trying to figure out stuff..."

Sarah changed the topic. "Last night my old man called to remind me of upcoming exams. Can you believe that forgot about it? After breakfast I need to check out info on the exams and register."

Vivian rolled her eyes, "You forgot about exams? Hey, girl, are you playing with your life again? You will lose your 1st position in rankings if you don't focus. Your grades are on top, but if you skip exams again, it will pull you down on the score board. "

Sarah smiled, "Yeah, I know. But I can't help it. When I find something that interests me, everything else seems to fade away."

In truth, Sarah does not care about student rankings. As much as she loves being number one, the commotion that is caused every time University posts updated student rankings is giving Sarah a headache. She wished more than once that instead of her name only an alias is shown so that people don't know that is her.

Vivian was frustrated when she saw how Sarah does not take this seriously. "You are a student. How can you forget exams? That should be your priority!"

Sarah obediently nodded. "Yes, yes. Priority. I will make it a priority starting now. I don't need much credits to graduate anyway. Once I get these few out of my way, I won't need to think about those unnecessary things."

Vivian shook her head. 'Unnecessary things? It must be good to be you.'

Sarah didn't notice Vivian's sour expression. "As soon as I'm done with food, I will go to figure out this exam stuff. Did you register your exams?"

"Yes, last week. But I can join you." Vivian offered.

Sarah was happy that Vivian wants to join her. "Thank you! I always enjoy your company. After exam registrations are done, how about we go to a cafe for some drinks?"

Vivian smiled. "Sounds like a plan! Your treat."

Two of them happily chatted and then went to the university office building to check out information on upcoming exams.

Sarah picked 4 exams that she wants to take and submitted registrations.

Registration is necessary so that appropriate amount of materials and seating is prepared in advance.

After Sarah finished her registration process, she headed with Vivian to a nearby cafe.

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