HILL VALLEY ¹, back to the future

x. tardy slip

➩ 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕪 𝕙𝕦𝕖𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕨𝕤

RUSHING DOWN the stairs, beating her dad to the first cup of coffee, Amanda continued on in a hurry with plans to meet Marty to see why the hell Doc hadn't been around recently. Before leaving, she caught sight of a letter from an internship she'd applied for in LA on the table and simply tucked it into her jacket, not having much time this morning.

With the push from Doc after he thought she had a natural instinct towards the mechanics to run in a lab, he suggested for her to start through potential colleges sooner. This then prompted for Amanda to take the initiative and apply for the high school program held at CalTech over the summer in favor of their renowned physics program. Being the first to show at the garage, unsurprised considering Marty was late for everything, she read the letter to herself.

Dear Ms. Callisto,

Thank you again for contacting us over your interest in visiting our campus. We look forward to scheduling you a meeting with our advisors come this winter. Best wishes in your studies and beyond.

Yours truly,
California Institute of Technology
Admission and Records

"Whatcha got there, doe eyes?" Marty said suddenly from over her shoulder, causing Amanda to jump in surprise and tuck away the letter. He lowered his sunglasses just enough for a glimpse at his blue eyes before commenting on her strange behavior. "You hiding something from me? Now that's just unheard of."

Tightening her grip on the letter behind my back, she shook her head out of embarrassment. "I'd rather not considering your opinion on the matter could vary drastically." Inevitably she gave up on trying to keep this from him as she knew he would be the first person to tell anyways. "Look, I'm actually already planning on visiting my dream school if you wanna know. But considering my average grades from last semester, my shot of getting in is less than likely. Even if I've got this program under my belt."

Marty only found her saying this as a joke rather than taking to heart her concerns. He knew well enough how much effort the girl put into her studies despite the material not coming to her naturally as opposed to the other top students. She was smart and he knew she was smart.

And more or less benefited from it considering Amanda was the reason he was getting by his classes now.

"A B+ isn't an average grade first of all. Plus, a lot of people are looking at colleges right now, we're seniors. It's normal."

Amanda still groaned in annoyance over this as Marty searched for the keys to the fence. "Honestly, I don't understand why they even responded. To give me some false hope I even stand a shot, I bet."

Not appreciating the way she was making digs over herself, he nudged her out of the rut she was slowly falling into. "Well, think about it: 17-year-old Hill Valley student gets into the school of her dreams by just being herself. It's kinda nice," Marty said and she squinted her eyes at him. "You're not just a pretty face Amy, jeez. Coming from me, you're one of the smartest people I know and those snobs would be clamoring for you to join them."

"I'm asking Doc at this point—"

Gripping her shoulders, she widened her eyes up to Marty in surprise. Only doing this to get the message to head clearly, he served Amanda the truth she seemed to be ignoring. "Look Amy, news flash, you're way smarter than anyone thinks you are and way stronger than you look. You're small, but you pack a punch. You're beautiful, but you don't use it to get an upper-hand on anything. You are amazing and you need to remember that," He said and let go of her to nod, "Understood."