Young Love

“Calissta!” a voice rang out from the front of the room. I looked up from the paper I was doodling on to my English teacher. “Do you know the answer to the question on the board?”

“Uh, yeah,” I lied, quickly glancing at the problem, then regretting it immediately. ‘Parallel increase is expressed by the ___ ..... the ___ as in the example: "The more I study, the less I know."’ What? I don’t even know what that means, much less know the answer to it!

“Um, well reading the sentence, it’s um…it’s quite simple…it’s-” I glanced down as my best friend Anne tapped my elbow with a small piece of paper from her seat next to me. I glanced down and saw the word ‘Comparative' written in her too-neat handwriting.

“Uh, comparative,” I said, and the teacher looked at me in surprise.

“Yes, that is correct,” he said, and then turned back to the board. “Now, onto the next question, you’ll see that if we…” The teacher droned on, but I zoned out again. I hated English, I was never very good at it. Biology and Advanced Technology were my strong points, while Anne’s was English. I turned to her and mouthed, ‘Thank you.’ She smiled and nodded as if to say, ‘You’re welcome.’

As soon as class let ended I was the first one out the door. Anne hurried to catch up with me and as soon as I exited the building I slowed down.

“Thanks again, Anne, for giving me the answer,” I said with a smile. She shrugged.

“No problem, just pay attention in class next time, ok?”

I nodded. “Ok, well see you at lunch,” I said with a wave as we went our separate ways. She had Algebra I while I had Biology I during this time, but we always met up at the college cafeteria afterwards. Sometimes we went out to a fast food restaurant on the days when we didn’t have classes immediately after lunch. Today was one of those days and we’d both decided to go to Arby’s. I got to Biology early, like a I normally do and picked a spot in the front row. The teacher arrived about ten minutes later while I was going over my notes from the previous day, and smiled when he saw me. I usually got here before him, and he always arrived thirty minutes before the class was scheduled to start.

“Hello, Calissta,” he said as he sat down at his desk.

“Hi, Mr. Michael’s,” I said politely.

“Calissta, can you come up here for a second? There’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said seriously. I looked up at him nervously as I put my notes down. Was I in trouble? I got up and walked to his desk as he cleared his throat.

“As you know, this college partners with different businesses and offers internships for it’s students a couple weeks after school starts to pick out the best students. I want to talk to you about a possible internship for you at the Biology Research Center nearby. They have shown an interest in you, and I’ve recommended you as one of my star students; top of the class,” he said with a smile, and I couldn’t help but beam at his compliment. “My question is, do you want the internship?”

“Oh yes! Of course!” I couldn’t help but exclaim. I’ve always dreamed of working in a biology lab, and the BRC was one of the most famous in the country, they didn’t just hand out internships willy-nilly. My professor smiled.

“I thought so. I’ll get back to them and tell them you’re interested. You should receive an answer in a week or two,” he said, then leaned back in his chair and dismissed me.



“Anne! Anne!” I squealed as I raced across the parking lot to her car. She looked up from the driver’s seat where she was waiting for me.

“Wow, what happened? Did you win the lottery or something?” she asked with a laugh when she saw my giddy expression.

“No, even better! I might be getting an internship at the BRC! Can you believe it?!” I gushed as I got in the car.

“Oh, Cali, that’s awesome!” she said, but I could tell she didn’t understand the intensity of the situation.

“Anne, this could give me a head start on my career even before I graduate! They’re one of the most famous Biology Research labs in the country! Think of the possibilities!” I explained.

“Cali, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy for you!” she said with a smile, placing one hand on mine. I smiled back at her and nodded. Anne started the car and put it in reverse.

“Cali, I’ve been meaning to ask you, can you help me with my Algebra class? I don’t understand some of the things in the book, and I know you’re great at it.”

“Sure, Anne. As long as you can help me with my English class,” I said. I would be a total failure at English it if weren’t for Anne’s help.

“I already help you,” she said as we drove down the road.

“I know, and I wanna make sure it stays that way.”



When I got back to my dorm room at six I saw my roommate Sarah was already there, watching the news.

“Hey,” she greeted me, not once tearing her eyes away from the news.

“Hey,” I replied, then went to the fridge for a snack. I opened it up and saw that almost all the food was gone except for a couple of eggs in a carton and a gallon on milk.

“Uh, Sarah, weren’t you supposed to go shopping today?” I asked, and she looked up from the TV in confusion.

“No, it’s your week, remember?”

I went over to the fridge to see the schedule taped on. It was definitely Sarah’s week. “Nope, it’s your week.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I’ve been so busy today. I had to take two tests and-” she started to say, but I interrupted her.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll go, I need something to do anyways,” I said with a shrug. I could never stay in one place for too long, I had a ‘move, move, move’ type of mentality. I got in my car and raced to the grocery store, making a mental list in my head of all the items we needed. As I pulled into the parking lot I paused for a minute before getting out, thinking about the possible internship.

What if I didn’t get it? I was one of the best in my class, but getting an internship was never a guarantee, even for the smartest kids. There were other factors they looked at too, and what if I didn’t measure up? Even as a young girl I knew that I wanted to be a Biologist, that or an advanced weapon technologist, and my mother was my biggest fan. She told me that I could be anything that I wanted to be, and she also gave me some advice that I will never forget: never let anyone tell you that you were too young to do anything or understand anything. She always believed in me, and looking back, I think it made all the difference.





I walked into my Biology class early as always on Monday morning, and to my surprise Mr. Michaels was already there. He beamed at me when he saw me walk through the door and he stood up with a piece of paper in his hand.

“Calissta, I have good news for you…” he started, and I knew what he was gonna say, “The Biology Research Center has decided to offer you a two-year internship.”

Before he could even finish I was jumping up and down inside like a little kid who got exactly what they wanted for their birthday.

“Here is your notification paper,” he said, holding out the piece of paper. I grabbed it with my hand slightly shaking and read it over and over, letting it sink it. I can’t believe I actually got it!