Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

Less Than Three I

Inequality: The relation between two expressions that are not equal, employing a sign such as ≠ "not equal to," > "greater than," or < "less than."

***

"And this right here is the Queen Library, named once again after the Queen family, who made yet another large and generous donation for the campus." Caitlin pointed at the structure, reciting her practiced script from memory, and allowed the students she was guiding a minute to take in the site.

As an ambassador for the school, a job she took up to pay the bills and boost her resume, she was spending her morning taking prospective high school seniors on a tour of Central City University.

The students, some of them with their parents, talked excitedly amongst themselves and Caitlin took a minute to glance at her phone.

Bio-tech exam grades were up.

Caitlin had avoided opening up the school app to check her grades, but that didn't stop her class's GroupMe from exploding with people complaining about their grades.

Cisco had texted her separately with a bombardment of messages and from what Caitlin could gather from his ranting, he had received a 68%, which he was happy about because he was expecting worse. But, she found out a few minutes later that he was also pissed because the class average was much higher than previous years, which meant Dr. Stein was apparently not curving the exam despite the drastic difference in scores among the students.

NO FUCKING CURVE, CAITLIN, Cisco texted. I was happy with a 68 bc I thought it would be a B- at least.

CAITLIN.

I have an actual 68 on the exam...

:'(

HE COULD HAVE AT LEAST GIVEN ME ONE MORE PERCENT SO I COULD HAVE A LITTLE CHUCKLE ABOUT IT BUT NO.

A 68.

THE LEAST SEXY NUMBER! >:(

Even Linda Park got a better grade than me. I heard she scored the highest in the class... HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! AHHHHHH!

CHECK YOUR GRADE SO WE CAN FREAK OUT TOGETHER PLSSSSS!

OK BYE HAVE FUN AT WORK.

Caitlin bit her lower lip while she stared at the string of texts and felt her nerves rising at the idea of checking her grades.

"Um, excuse me," one of the high school students interrupted, after they were waiting in the same spot for some time.

Caitlin looked up from her phone screen and forced her customer service smile. "Sorry about that. We're done with the tour and you each have one swipe on your card for a meal at the campus diner, so feel free to use that now and explore our beautiful campus. If there is anywhere you want to go, I'd be happy to take you, but you're all welcome to look around on your own!"

The crowd began to thin after that until there was only one student left standing.

"Hi!" the high schooler who had interrupted her earlier said cheerfully.

"Hi," Caitlin responded, slightly taken aback by the girl's energetic nature. "Do you need help finding anything?"

"Yeah, I wanted to check out STAR Labs since I've heard it's one of the best labs on any college campus, but I can't tell any of these buildings apart!"

STAR Labs.

It was a bit of a walk, hidden in the corner, just outside of the edge of campus. Caitlin remembered getting lost the first time she tried to walk there and knew the young high schooler would probably struggle just the same if Caitlin just gave spoken directions.

But Caitlin really, really did not want to go back there.

Bad memories and a long trek were the primary factors for her reluctance, but Caitlin was never one to let someone wander around lost on a big campus. She had just promised to help the students, so she would keep her word. Tour guide's honor and all that.

The young girl trailed happily by her side, unaware of the inner turmoil that Caitlin was currently facing. She would just take the girl to the building. That was it. She didn't have to go inside. Nope.

When they arrived at the building, after climbing up and walking down many steep hills and staircases, Caitlin finally turned to say her goodbyes to the girl when she saw someone she knew from her internship days approach.

"Caitlin!" The older lady approached in a lab coat with the STAR labs symbol emblazoned on the front.

"Dr. Brand," Caitlin bit out. She forced herself to make conversation with the kind lady, even though all her instincts screamed at her to run in the other direction. "How are you?"

"I'm doing okay," Doctor Tracy Brand responded, "It's good to see you after you left our lab so suddenly. One minute we were working together, the next thing I know, I heard you had quit and transferred out."

"Yeah..."

"I think your locker still hasn't been emptied yet."

"Locker?" the young girl beside her asked. "You worked here?"

Tracy noticed the high school girl standing beside Caitlin and nodded. "Caitlin was one of the best interns we had."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Caitlin said humbly, the whole situation making her feel uncomfortable. She needed to leave. She really did not want to stay near this place any longer.

Ghost feelings crept up on her and Caitlin forced herself not to shudder. Her heart beat quickened every time she looked at the building and though the sun was bright in the sky, everything felt so overcast and dark.

"I would," Dr. Tracy Brand playfully objected. "Are you thinking of interning here too... uh..." she trailed off, waiting for the girl to introduce herself.

"I'm Nora!"

Caitlin felt a little ashamed that she didn't remember to ask for the girl's name beforehand.

"It's nice to meet you, Nora. I'm sure Caitlin would love to give you a tour of the place. It can be pretty confusing for newcomers."

Leave, leave, leave.

Caitlin waved her hand. "Oh, I should prob—"

"Oh my gosh, Caitlin, could you?" Nora bounced around excitedly. "That would be so great!"

"Well, I..."

Leave, leave, leave.

"And you could probably clear out your locker while you're at it," Dr. Brand added jokingly.

"Right," Caitlin chuckled nervously.

Leave, leave, leave.

"Um... alright, I guess I could take you on a quick tour." Caitlin's inner thoughts screamed unmentionable words at her. "But we'd have to do it pretty fast since you haven't eaten lunch yet."

"Yay!" Nora cheered. "Let's go."

Dr. Brand and Caitlin watched as Nora sprinted into the building, startling one of the distracted scientists that was walking out.

Chuckling, Dr. Brand said, "We definitely need more people like her on the team. People who are truly passionate about what we do. People like you."

Caitlin swallowed nervously when the older scientist asked, "I never got to find out the reason why you quit Wells's class and lab."

"I... I just needed a quick break. I had to deal with... um..."

"You don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable. I didn't mean to pry. Just know that there's always a place for you at STAR Labs and we all miss you."

"Thank you, Dr. Brand." This time, Caitlin really did smile genuinely. "I really appreciate it."

Dr. Brand was one of the bright spots of her internship experience, always ready to explain a procedure that was confusing or help her with a mechanism that wasn't working. She wished things could have ended differently.

"Of course, Caitlin. Now get in there before we have another lost person roaming our confusing labyrinth of a lab for the rest of eternity."