An Unfortunate Incident

Chapter 1

Her computer screen lit up. Right now it was only blue, no committee of scholars ready to decide if they wanted her or not. Her hands shook. Their eyes would soon be watching her, and this thought made her nervously run her fingers through her hair. Subconsciously, she bit her lip. Marie felt her stomach turn and remembered how, just ten minutes before, she had thrown up into the toilet seat in the bathroom.

The screen had shifted from blue to a reflection of herself. She had curled her limp, straight brown hair and put on makeup. Bright red lipstick caught the eye's attention. Instead of looking 17 years of age, she looked much more mature, more along the age of 25. In all honesty, she looked way better than she felt.
Marie checked her wristwatch and once again bit her lip. The university's professors who were going to decide her acceptance or refusal were late.

These last two weeks had been stressful. The university had told her she was on the border of their admission. They wanted to take in all of the native Irish students first before they allowed any foreigners. Besides that fact, Marie wasn't exactly a 4.0 GPA student.

She couldn't exactly explain why she wanted to leave America. Marie loved her little town. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone was nice to everyone. You knew everyone in your high school class, and if any of their grandmothers saw you walking during the evening, they'd invite you in for supper.

None of Marie's friends had been accepted to a college this early in the year, but she knew they were all going somewhere in the United States. She doubted the though of going to a foreign school had ever crossed any of their minds. Not that they were dense or anything. Just, no one had ever done it before.

Marie guessed the reason why she wanted to go to Northern Ireland for college was because once someone put a challenge in front of her, she wouldn't stop until she conquered it.

It had all started a year and a half ago. Marie was watching an educational show, because even during the summer, she never attempted to stop learning. The show was assessing artworks on the campus of a university in Wales. Her father was sitting in the living room with her, relaxing after a day of work. The show took a break from looking at art to talk about the campus and its history. Jokingly, her father said she should go to that college in Wales. While Marie feigned her interest in going to college overseas, she was immediately hooked on the idea.

It was an awkward conversation when she explained to her parents she wanted to go to college in Northern Ireland six months after watching the show. She felt slightly guilty about not telling them earlier. Behind their backs, she had been researching universities and colleges in many countries, including Scotland, Wales, and even Australia. Marie could only speak English, so her options were slightly limited.

She was always questioning things, and the summer before her senior year had decided she wanted to be a sociologist, where she would study the human's mind and motives. After she decided this, she could pick out a college. She chose Ulster University.

And now she found herself in a library with a laptop's camera pointed at her face. Once again she checked her watch. They were now 12 minutes late. Marie could feel a tear threaten to spill over the outside of one eye. Just as she was moving her hand upwards to wipe it away so it would damage her makeup, the screen went from a mirror image of herself to a view of eight scholars waiting to hear her speak on the behalf of why they should accept her into Ulster University.

She felt herself gulp and begin to feel faint. She hoped they couldn't see her sudden weakness. Not only did she hate being weak, but she didn't want this to be their first impression of her.

The screen showed a few of the scholars shuffling in their seats. One motioned to sneeze into the crook of his arm. Realization hit Marie when she didn't hear the man actually sneeze. A blush blossomed across her face as she realized her sound was turned off, which would mean they couldn't hear her.

Not the best way to start of an interview that could potentially alter the rest of her life in a seriously drastic way.

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Hi there!
I would be absolutely tickled pink if you voted, commented, or whatever! I've tried writing a few books before, but now that I'm older, I think I can finish this one with more expertise. However, I probably won't be able to give scheduled updates, as school and volleyball are approaching.
If you see a grammatical error or the timeline doesn't seem to add up, please let me know!
Lauren