Kyleigh had spent weeks poring over pamphlets and websites for every university in Below. She just wanted to be sure of what choices were available to her before she made a final decision. She had even gotten information about the community college even though she really had zero interest in any of the curriculum offered there. Same with Grendel; she enjoyed the arts but was not interested in becoming an artist herself.Since she was young she'd been torn between botany and chemistry, but plants and flowers had almost always won over chemicals and reactions. Of course, plants had their own kind of chemistry, their own actions and reactions that could be explained with science. So maybe choosing to major in botany could give her the best of both worlds.
Which would mean choosing Leviathan. But was she sure she wanted to devote the rest of her life to Botany? Pale hands smoothed across her lap, thumbs tracing the flowers that decorated the fabric before plucking at the lace that separated the layers. She had always had a love for flowers and plants but now that it was down to the wire so to speak she was nervous about making the decision that would color the rest of her life.
Sure, she could always transfer to a different university later if she ended up not wanting to major in Botany after all. Or she could double major in Botany and Chemistry since both were offered at Leviathan. She chewed her lip and wondered why she was making this so hard on herself. It should be a simple decision. Or maybe it wasn't supposed to be simple. She sighed and leaned forward onto her elbows, rubbing her eyes. When she looked up again, she glanced over to all the plants she had accumulated from the Winter Solstice festival. She had been taking care of them faithfully every day, the variety of plants had pleased her. And beside them, fully grown and thriving even in the dim light that was the brightest sunlight in Below, was the colorful flower that had bloomed from the random seed Malachi had given her when she joined the Garden Club he'd founded. He'd been so shy, but she had thought he did a good job directing the meeting even though he was only a freshling.
Maybe she had already made her choice, and this was just her brain agonizing over nothing. Sitting back again, she looked over the pamphlets for Leviathan one more time. She looked through the class list for Botany and found herself getting more and more excited at the prospect of taking these classes. Beneath the excitement was nerves; she had never been good at making friends. In fact, the few she did have were all members of the Garden Club. But she couldn't go through life afraid of new experiences, afraid of trying to make new friends. She couldn't let her nerves talk her out of going to university. She wouldn't.
With a smile, she pulled her laptop closer and pulled up the application page for Leviathan's Botany program.
