𝐚𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 [𝟏𝟖+]

Chapter 1

𝐃𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐀 impatiently fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as she waited outside of her teacher's office. After a few agonizing minutes of pacing the halls and waiting, she heard his guttural voice call out to her. As she walked in, she took note of the various papers sprawled lazily across his desk, fighting the urge to organize them neatly as she sat on a chair across from him. "Ms. Winslow," He greeted her with a small smile "What can I help you with?". She nervously bit on the inside of her cheek, "I'm here about the internship for Calloway Labs?".

"Dahlia, we've talked about this," He sighs and continues, "As I've said before, the job is extremely risky, and you know the position is only open for those able to work well under such pressure." he tries to explain as respectfully as he can, but Dahlia won't take no for an answer. "Mr. Simmons, I'm a good student. I get good grades, hell, I've even sacrificed my relationship with the other students to maintain my spot on your list for the internship. Why can't you do this for me?" She argues, crossing her arms over her chest and impatiently tapping her heel on the hardwood floor. 

He shoots her empathetic glance, "Yes, I'm aware that you're a good student. You're one of the best in my class, but I'm not sure you're suitable for the position. I wouldn't want your school activity to be at risk, and the internship would take up most of your time." He calmly responds, but his calm demeanor only frustrates her further. She sighs, "You don't think I'm good enough, do you?" he says nothing, but his silence speaks more than his words. "You need to trust that I can do this, and if you don't, maybe you're the one that doesn't know what he's doing." She scoffs and picks herself off of the chair, making her way out of the room trying to conceal her disappointment. He sits at the desk, contemplating, and watching her walk away.

As Dahlia makes her way back to her dorm room, she stops at the canteen and uses the last of the money on her student meal card to buy a pint of vanilla ice cream. The sweet, creamy, cold dessert being her only escape from the situation. As her lips envelop the half-melted sugary treat, she lets out a satisfied moan and begins shoveling it into her mouth. "Woah, woah!" Dahlia's roommate, Irene, quickly grabs the pint out of Dahlia's hands. "What are you doing? Are you okay?" Her eyes widen as she seats herself on the bed next to Dahlia.

"Mr. 'smartest man on earth' Simmons said I can't do the internship because I'd risk my 'school performance'. What the hell does that even mean? Someone else is gonna get that internship now, and all of my work will have been for nothing!" Dahlia vents through a mouthful of ice-cream, causing her words to be slightly muffled. She rolls her eyes when she says Mr. Simmons' name, and puts 'School performance' in quotation marks. Irene gives her a sympathetic smile, and rubs her shoulder in an effort to comfort the sulking young-adult. "Mr. Simmons is a dick." Is all she says in response, causing Dahlia to laugh sarcastically. Irene begins again, "I mean, seriously, you're much better than everyone in that class- And everyone hates you because you're a teacher's pet!" Dahlia shoots her a glare, but Irene means no harm with her words.

Picking up on what she just said, Irene's eyes widen and she quickly apologizes. Dahlia throws herself back on the bed dramatically, staring up at the ceiling. "There's got to be something I can do to get that internship, right? I mean, imagine how good it would look on my resume." She sighs as she fantasizes about her future, imagining everyone dropping their jaws at the sight of her resume. Young prodigy, intern at one of the most prestigious demon-science laboratories? Anyone would kill to have her work for them. Irene giggles and lays next to her, staring at Dahlia. She whispers, "They'd be stupid not to hire you." And Dahlia smiles at her, her eyes scrunching slightly as she does so. The brunette teen switches the lights off, and turns her back to Irene before dozing off to sleep.