The school cafeteria was loud in the way only school cafeterias could be.
Metal trays clattered. The Canteen women expertly giving out the food to-and-fro
Chairs scraped the floor.
Students argued about homework, football scores, and rumors that changed every ten minutes.
The smell of chips, fried chicken, and burnt toast floated through the room like an invisible fog.
Elena carried her tray slowly, weaving between tables without really paying attention to where she was going. Her eyes moved instead—watching people, studying gestures, collecting tiny fragments of human behavior the way other students collected notes for exams.
A boy nervously rehearsing something under his breath. A test he wanted to ace to make his parents proud?
A group of girls whispering too intensely to be talking about homework.
Someone laughing too loudly at a joke that wasn't funny.
So many small dramas.
So many tiny worlds.
She spotted Rena at their usual table near the window.
Rena already had three notebooks open.
Of course she did.
Elena dropped into the chair across from her.
"You know," she said lazily, "most people eat lunch during lunch."
Rena didn't look up.
"I am eating."
Elena glanced at the tray.
One apple.
A protein bar.
And a cup of tea.
"That is not eating," Elena said.
"That is survival."
Rena finally raised her eyes.
Sharp.
Focused.
Excited.
"Elena."
That tone meant something was happening.
"You're thinking about the scholarship," Elena guessed.
Rena leaned back slightly.
"For obvious reasons."
Elena stabbed a chip with her fork.
"Because New York has better pizza?"
Rena ignored that.
"They have laboratories that our entire country would fight over."
Now Elena was listening.
Rena's voice lowered slightly, the way it always did when she started speaking about something she genuinely cared about.
"You know what I've been researching."
Elena nodded slowly.
"Your obsession with time."
"Not obsession," Rena corrected instantly. "Investigation."
She tapped one of the notebooks.
"Biological time. Chemical time. Molecular degradation rates. Circadian rhythms. The way living systems measure duration."
Elena tilted her head.
"You want to measure time using life itself."
"Exactly."
Rena's eyes lit up with a quiet intensity.
"Physics measures time with clocks. But biology lives time."
Elena smiled faintly.
"That sounds like philosophy disguised as chemistry."
Rena groaned.
"It's science."
"It's poetic science."
Rena pointed a finger at her.
"Don't contaminate my research with your philosophy."
Elena laughed.
But she could see it.
The ambition.
Rena wasn't joking.
If that scholarship really led to advanced labs in New York…
It could change everything for her.
"You'd apply immediately," Elena said.
Rena nodded without hesitation.
"Yes."
Then she narrowed her eyes slightly.
"What about you?"
Elena took a bite of food before answering.
Buying herself time.
Outside the cafeteria window, sunlight glimmered on the school courtyard. Students moved across the grass in lazy clusters.
Normal life.
Simple life.
"I want to study philosophy," Elena said eventually.
Rena snorted.
"Of course you do."
"And psychology."
"That too."
Rena folded her arms.
"You do realize those fields are financially suicidal."
Elena shrugged.
"I like understanding people."
"You could understand people while making money."
"That sounds less fun."
Rena shook her head slowly.
"Philosophy doesn't pay."
Elena smiled.
"Truth rarely does."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The cafeteria noise filled the space between them.
Then Rena leaned forward slightly.
"Are you going to apply?"
Elena looked down at her tray.
She pushed a chip around with her fork.
"I don't know."
Rena frowned.
"You're one of the smartest students in the school."
"That's debatable."
"No, it's not."
Rena tapped the table.
"You read people faster than anyone I've ever seen. Your essays make half the teachers uncomfortable. And you somehow understand psychological concepts that most university students struggle with."
Elena smirked slightly.
"That sounds like a compliment."
"It is."
Rena paused.
Then added quietly,
"And you need it."
Elena's fork stopped moving.
Rena didn't say it cruelly.
Just factually.
Everyone in the school knew which students came from money.
And which didn't.
Elena belonged firmly in the second category.
Her family wasn't poor in the dramatic sense.
But London was expensive.
Very expensive.
Every month was a balancing act.
Rent.
Food.
Transport.
Survival.
Nothing extra.
Nothing comfortable.
The scholarship would cover everything.
Tuition.
Housing.
Living expenses.
A ticket out.
Elena leaned back in her chair slowly.
"You're very blunt today."
"I'm being realistic."
Rena crossed her arms.
"If you get that scholarship, you could study anything you want without worrying about money."
Elena looked out the window again.
Students were laughing in the courtyard.
The sunlight was warm.
London felt peaceful today.
But peace had a price.
"You're definitely applying," Elena said.
"Yes."
"And if we both apply…"
"Then we compete."
Elena raised an eyebrow.
"You're okay with that?"
Rena smirked slightly.
"Competition improves results."
That sounded exactly like her.
Elena laughed softly.
Then she sighed.
"You know what the funny part is?"
"What?"
"I wasn't thinking about the scholarship at all this morning."
"Of course you weren't."
"I was thinking about a violinist outside the subway."
Rena stared at her.
"How is that relevant?"
Elena smiled dreamily.
"He played like he didn't care whether anyone listened."
"That is the definition of a street musician."
"But it made the moment beautiful."
Rena rubbed her forehead.
"I'm talking about your future."
"I know."
"And you're talking about violinists."
Elena looked back at her friend.
Then her smile softened.
"But maybe the river of fate decided I should miss my bus today."
Rena groaned.
"Not the river again."
Elena leaned forward slightly.
Eyes bright.
"Because if I had caught the bus…"
"Yes?"
"I wouldn't have heard the scholarship announcement."
Rena blinked.
"…You're impossible."
Elena stood up with her tray.
Still smiling.
"So the real question is—"
Rena sighed.
"What question?"
Elena looked toward the cafeteria doors.
"Did fate bring me to that announcement…"
She turned back.
"…or is it inviting me to New York?"
Rena stared at her for a moment.
Then slowly smiled.
"Well," she said.
"I guess we'll find out."