Quite the Achievement

Karmi had always been smart, her parents had known that since she'd been little. No one really knew just how smart until she got older, though. It was the fifth grade. Most schools had done rudimentary science lessons prior to that, getting kids to understand the basics before really getting them started. So Karmi started with equal footing to everyone else, but the material was so much easier compared to her peers. Worksheets for homework were done in minutes, tests were turned in much earlier than expected, and her projects were well beyond what typical fifth graders should've been capable of. At Karmi's first science fair, there'd been talk of disqualification for cheating because there was no way an eleven-year-old girl could have been capable of what she'd done. But when asked to walk the judges through the steps, Karmi had done so with ease, proving that she knew what she was talking about.

The girl had a natural knack for science. Everyone was impressed. Well, the adults were. The other students thought that Karmi was weird. Or at least that was their cover. Secretly most of them were probably jealous that Karmi was easily able to finish homework in minutes that took them hours at home to painfully work through. But kids aren't the best when it came to accepting what was different, so Karmi slowly began to be more isolated at school. A few of her friends stuck around for a little while, but they too began to drop off, finding Karmi harder and harder to understand. They didn't comprehend how she understood the material so easily, and likewise, Karmi didn't know how they couldn't.

Sixth grade arrived, and Karmi found herself alone at school. No one wanted to sit with the science nerd anymore. Without anyone to talk to, Karmi dived further into her newfound passion. Soon she was ahead of the class, having read through the entire textbook and beginning to read further on the internet. Her parents and teachers knew she was gifted, but they didn't know how well until Karmi re-wrote a test. Unlike normal, Karmi was one of the last ones to turn in her chapter test. When she did, five additional pages of notebook paper were stabled to it with a note scribbled at the top:

Questions 7 and 19 are wrong. You didn't include the correct answers in the multiple choice. I redid the formulas and showcased my work, along with a few other examples to show where you went wrong.

Her teacher had rolled his eyes at the note. Over his twenty-five years teaching, he'd had one or two students who thought they were hot stuff try and "correct" him, but they'd always been wrong. So, he decided to humor the girl and went through her work, but as his eyes scanned her meticulous notes, he realized that she wasn't wrong. He was wrong. And not only was Karmi right, the way she'd found her answers were far beyond what was expected of students in a sixth grade biology class. Certain equations, the knowledge of biology she had, and the chemical formulas she had written down was material he hadn't seen since college.

The next day Karmi and her parents had been called into the principal's office to have a talk. The poor girl was worried out of her mind, having never really been in trouble before. But as the adults talked, she realized she wasn't in trouble. It was in fact the exact opposite of that. A third adult in the room that her principal or science teacher hadn't identified finally introduced himself, saying that he felt Karmi was more talented that anyone had yet come to realize, and he wanted to run some tests. They had her IQ checked. They gave her college level and beyond quizzes. They even set up an experiment for her to perform, and she breezed through it with ease. When the data had been calculated and the tests scored, the man sat down with them and delivered the good news. Karmi was a certifiable genius, and that wasn't hyperbole. She was so advanced that she was beyond high school level, but to continue anywhere she'd need her degree. So it was decided that Karmi would be pushed up to the eleventh grade, one day a lowly sixth grader, the next a junior in high school.

She'd been thrilled, appreciating the opportunity to challenge herself more. And the material did prove to be harder, but only slightly. Unfortunately, her social situation didn't improve much. The high schoolers didn't take kindly to having a literal 12-year-old planted in the middle of their class. There were always jokes about how small the freshman seemed when they arrived, but c'mon! But instead of the teasing from the kids her age, the high schoolers ignored her. She was lucky if one would apologize after almost running over her in the halls. She rarely got partnered up with for group projects, even when the teacher was in charge of picking the groups. Mostly she just confused them, making the subject more complicated thanks to her grasp on it.

She'd complained about the loneliness to her parents, but they promised it would be temporary. Once she left high-school and enrolled in college, she'd be surrounded by people like her, but she just had to tough it out for another year and a half. It was quite the accomplishment to jump five grades overnight, and everything would work out eventually. Karmi agreed and went back to school, eager for the day that graduation arrived. She graduated at 14, the age when most students were entering High School, let alone leaving it. But now she had her options available to her. So, she spent some time looking. There were lots of places that wanted a rising genius like her at their school, but most of them weren't as academic as they let on. Most just wanted Karmi for the inevitable news reports and donations she'd bring in, so she politely turned them down.

The offers kept coming from all over the country, even the world. London, Berlin, even institutes in Tokyo sent her recruitment letters. But they were too far from home. Karmi felt she needed to spread her wings a little but straying too far from the nest wasn't ideal. She loved her parents and wanted to be able to visit regularly, but she needed her space too. Then they got a call from the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. It hadn't been on their radar due to the school's investment in tech, but upon investigations, they had a really good biology program too. So a meeting was made and a little after her 15th birthday, Karmi was sitting with the dean of students. She recognized him immediately even though she wasn't a robotics nut. Robert Callaghan was a legend in the scientific community, and that fact wasn't lost on Karmi as he thumbed through her file.

"Graduated at 14? Quite the achievement." He said after a moment. "So, you like biology?"

"You can say that…" she replied sheepishly.

"Well, based on your test scores, you more than qualify. But why SFIT? You could easily get into any institution around the globe, and colleagues of mine from other schools have admitted to sending you letters. You haven't so much as even sniffed in their direction, and yet here you are."

"Well, I don't know… I guess it's pretty close to home compared to some of the other places that have sent me letters. So that's a plus. And your biology labs are state of the art. Some of the other places can't say the same."

"Very true. But, sometimes you only get out of something what you put into it, so what do you want out of SFIT? Besides an education, of course."

"I… I don't know. I hadn't really thought of that…"

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation and it opened slightly. Two people poked their heads in, one wearing a SFIT baseball cap, the other with blonde hair overflowing from underneath a bluish green beanie.

"Professor Callaghan?" Baseball cap said. "We put those boxes in the robotics lab for you."

"Thank you, Tadashi. Can you two come in for a minute?" He motioned for them, and they entered. "Karmi, this is Tadashi and Fred. Boys, meet Karmi. She's thinking about enrolling here in the fall."

Fred, the one in the beanie, stuck out his hand with a big smile plastered on his face. "Hiya! What do you do?"

"Biology…" Karmi answered as she reluctantly took Fred's hand.

"How old are you?" Tadashi asked.

"Fifteen…" Karmi mumbled sheepishly.

"Wow, that's awesome! You must be smarter than most of us here, then. I did things the old-fashioned way and graduated High School on time."

"And Tadashi's like one of the smartest people alive!" Fred said.

"I wouldn't go that far…" he replied, brushing off the compliment.

"You know, you'd be the youngest person ever admitted into SFIT if you enrolled." Callaghan told her.

"Really?" she asked.

"At just fifteen? Easily. Of course, that shouldn't be your sole reason for accepting."

"No, of course not." She replied, nodding. "But it would be cool…"

"So I ask again, what do you want to get out of this school?"

Karmi thought for a moment and turned to look at Tadashi and Fred. "Do you guys have… friends?"

"Lots of them, why?" Fred asked.

"It's just… I've always stuck out. I haven't had friends in a long time, and it'd be nice to be around people who understand me."

"I get ya." Tadashi said, nodding. "My little brother Hiro is like that. He's going to graduate High School soon too and he's only thirteen. He doesn't have anyone at school to talk to, and he doesn't admit it, but I think that makes him really lonely. But that's what's great about SFIT, is that we're all the nerds and outcasts here, so we understand. You'll find friends here no problem."

Karmi sat and thought about that. Callaghan smiled and turned to the boys. "Thank you, gentlemen. You've been a big help today; I'll see both of you later."

"See ya, teach!" Fred waved as the two left. The door clicked closed and Karmi looked up at Callaghan finally.

"I want to attend SFIT this fall." Karmi said. Callaghan smiled, the timing of Tadashi and Fred coming by not necessarily having been a coincidence. He scribbled his signature on a piece of paper and passed it to Karmi, finalizing her acceptance into SFIT.

"We'd be honored to have you."

The fall couldn't come soon enough for her. Finally, the day came and she moved in with the help of her parents. The dorm RA she'd been assigned to room with had been reassuring that Karmi would fit right in despite her age, and after many tears, Karmi's parents left. Things got off to a good start. Her teachers were nice, the material was challenging (for once!) and everyone was friendly. As the weeks went on, however, Karmi slowly began to become frustrated. Everyone was nice to her and very welcoming, but she hadn't really made a real friend yet.

She'd tried talking to her RA roommate about it, but she was usually too busy dealing with other people's problems, so Karmi didn't try to press the issue often. One of Tadashi's friends Honey Lemon was her lab partner in Chemistry II and was nice, but maybe a little too clingy. Tadashi's other friend Go Go (why did they all have such strange nicknames?) constantly had a "mess with me and I'll kill you" expression, so Karmi steered clear. On the random occasion she'd get an invitation to join someone for lunch, but by the time of mid-terms, Karmi had stopped accepting those invitations. She was far too busy for small talk with people that she only really saw for forty-five minutes a week in class. The schoolwork wasn't overly difficult, but Karmi for the first time had to actually work to keep up.

After the winter break, she didn't bother trying to find anyone to sit with at lunch or to chit-chat with. College was serious business, and unlike in her youth, she didn't have the time or luxury for friends. To slow down and fall behind meant that she'd again be different from everyone else, and she'd worked too hard to be like that again. Still, she was envious, watching Tadashi and his group talk and interact leisurely like so many other groups on campus. But as time had gone on, her title of youngest student ever admitted to SFIT had become more and more linked to her identity. At first she'd worn it as a badge of honor, but lately she'd been using to brag.

Oh, you think you're smart? Well, I'm the youngest student ever admitted to SFIT!

Instead of a topic on conversation, it had become a shield. Just one more thing to keep people away so Karmi could keep to herself. Callaghan had talked to her once about it. He said that while her grades were exemplary, she obviously wasn't happy anymore. And Karmi had to admit it was true. Her whole reason for wanting to come to SFIT, to finally make some friends, was being left by the wayside. It was the wake up call that she needed, and she told herself that she'd make friends no matter what. Tadashi's group seemed like a good place to start. He was always friendly and Honey Lemon would love getting to play mother hen like she had last semester during Chem II. So after the student expo, Karmi promised herself that she'd talk to them and ask if she could hang out.

But then the fire happened. A freak accident. Both Tadashi and Callaghan had been lost to it. After that she couldn't bring herself to speak to the mourning friends. So instead, she put on a brave face and went about her business. She didn't act arrogant or mean to anyone anymore, but she still kept to herself. Now lonelier than ever, she tucked herself away in her lab and worked on her organisms, the only friends she really needed. That, and the knowledge that she was the youngest student ever admitted into SFIT.

After all, it was quite the achievement.

Karmi sat back in her chair, her story done. Hiro had been patient and listened through the entire thing, knowing a lot of what she was feeling. He'd been there himself, alone without anyone. Mostly. He'd at least had his brother. But with her parents in a different city, Karmi really had been alone. Karmi rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a tangent. We should probably get back to this."

Karmi pulled the robotics textbook closer to her to get started again, but Hiro placed his hand over hers, stopping her.

"Hey, I get it. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, ok? That's what friends are for." Hiro smiled and squeezed her hand. She nodded and shifted sideways in her seat to lean over and hug him.

"Thanks, Hiro."

If past Karmi had been able to look into the future and see what everything would be like, she wasn't quite sure she'd believe it. For someone like Hiro to come in and knock down all of her carefully constructed walls wasn't easy. And the fact that he'd managed to worm his way into her heart as well was quite notable.

After everything they'd been through, it was quite the achievement.