As Impa leads me to her car we pass a couple of students and teachers. I can feel them stare after us as I gasp for air but I couldn't care less.

"Take deep breaths," Impa advises. The fresh air floods my lungs and cleans my mind.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Impa," I beg.

"Just trust me."

She rolls down her windows as we drive off campus. I clutch the seatbelt and keep taking deep breaths. Passing every assignment with a 100 demands dedication and endless hours of studying, but even if I could pull that off it'd take a genius to pass every test without a single mistake. No matter how devoted and diligent I am, I am not a genius.

"Are you doubting yourself?" Impa asks, breaking the silence.

"How could I not? This is mental! What was I thinking?"

"What were you thinking?"

"I don't know."

"Well, think."

"I don't know, Impa!" I breathe and collect my thoughts. "I thought I could do this. I thought this was going to be fine. Maybe... Maybe I wasn't thinking at all."

"Correct."

"What?"

"For the first time in your life you weren't thinking. You were taking action."

"And look where that has gotten me."

"So you're going to give up, drop biology, and become a politician?"

"No," I exclaim. "I don't know..."

"Are we going to the pier?" I ask as we drive along the beach, the ferris wheel in sight.

"No."

"Then where are you taking me?"

"You'll see," she smiles faintly.

"Just tell me."

"Mhhh... Nah."

I pout and look out the window for the rest of the drive. After five silent minutes she leaves the main road and parks the car next to the coast. There's nothing but the ocean, cliffs, and hiking trails around us.

"What are we doing here?" I ask as Impa gets out of her car.

"We're going on a little walk."

"It's going to get dark in a couple of hours and I'm not wearing the right shoes to go hiking right now."

"I said we're going on a little walk, not a pilgrimage."

I sigh and follow Impa on a narrow path up a hill. It's a humid day and the heat stifles me like a heavy blanket. Still, the walk distracts me and helps calm my nerves a little. When we get to the top, Impa stops and we overlook the ocean. The sinking sun is slowly falling towards the horizon and gilds the glistering water.

"We're here," Impa says, her hands on her hips. There's nothing up here but a handful of dry trees and a few colorful flowers blooming by some scrubs.

"Great, now will you tell me what we're doing up here?"

"You are doubting yourself and you're thinking about giving up on your dreams," she tells me and pauses. She probably wants me to argue that, but I don't know if I can. I trace the little patterns on my palm. It's not that I want to give up... I'm just so exhausted from fighting for my dreams when there's still a good chance that it's all for nothing.

"Take a good look around," she tells me.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

I take my eyes away from the pink horizon and let them wander along the sandy path behind me. That's when I spot it... Among all the other flowers... I can't believe my eyes as I slowly walk over to an indigo flower. Impa smirks at me. She knows how much I care about wild flowers, but is she aware that this is a rare perennial herb?

"This one is called a Delphinium Bakeri," I say full of wonder as I gently touch its petals. "It's a rare and endangered species."

"How do you feel?"

"I don't know... Happy? Excited, yet worried that this flower won't be strong enough to survive out here. I want to make sure it doesn't go extinct."

"And how do you feel about dropping biology?"

"Awful," I admit. "I'm not ready to give up on my dreams. Someone has to make sure that nature can prosper. I want to research biology... I want to fight for what I love."

"That's what I wanted to hear."

Impa kneels next to me to look at the flower as well. I understand why she brought me here now... She knew that this flower would prove how much I care about nature and science. It kindles the fire in my heart and motivates me to chase after my dreams. I fall into Impa's arms and hug her tightly.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. We'll go to the pier tonight though, am I right?" She hugs me back and I nod. How could I say no?

"So you think I can do this?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Well... I think you should try no matter what."

"But I can't miss a single question on any exam or assignment or it'll all be for nothing."

"It's never for nothing. You're doing something incredibly brave and you'll regret it if you don't fight for your dreams. You'll just have to seek out some help. Go to the tutoring center and have them check your work. You can do this. But... not alone. I'd help you study, but I wouldn't be of much help. Find some people that are really good in the classes you struggle in and ask them to go over your homework before turning it in."

My mind immediately goes to Pik. I shouldn't have declined his many offers to help. I'll need his extra pair of eyes if I want to master astronomy, I'll just have to make sure there are boundaries. No need for another awkward confrontation by Father.

Impa and I start walking back to her car when the sun touches the ocean. Mosquitoes are approaching and the temperature drops. I haven't been at the pier in a couple of weeks and when the music reaches my ears, a smile on my face is inevitable. It feels so good to be here after a long and stressful day. Of course the first thing Impa wants to do is try to get that plush animal from the claw crane, but before we can enter the arcade we pass through the food court and our grumbling tummies remind us that we have not yet eaten a proper meal.

"Let's eat first," we both say at the same time.

"What do you want?" I ask as I grab my wallet.

"Tacos," she says, drooling like a dog with a bone. "No, nachos! No Pizza!"

"I think I'll have a hot dog and some fries."

"Me too!"

"Make up your mind," I laugh.

"I want it all, I'm starving!"

"You can't eat everything."

"Bet," she smirks.

"If you eat it all, I'll buy."

"Deal!"

I already know she won't be able to eat everything, and if she tries, I'll have to stop her. I need her alive after all. But either way, I want to pay for her food tonight.

"I'll go get the food, you go find us a table," I tell her. She nods and we separate.

As I wait in line, I check my phone. No new messages. Not that I expected any anyways, but I have to check to make sure I didn't miss any calls from Father. I also need to keep an eye on the time. It's 7.30 PM, so we still have an hour before we have to get back to campus. I put my phone away again when it's my turn to make an order.

The moment I am given Impa's nachos, I see someone familiar passing by and involuntarily turn my head in his direction. I have to look twice, for I nearly don't believe my eyes but his soccer hoodie gives it away. It really is Link.

How is it that he is always where I am? Can that really be a coincidence? I look again. He's wearing black Adidas shorts with blue stripes in the same color as his hoodie. It looks like he's alone, or is Mipha somewhere around as well? No, she's probably still at the library, but my eyes search for her anyways.

"Hey, move along," the large man behind me growls.

"I'm sorry," I apologize and step aside. When I turn around again to see where Link has gone, I am startled to see him standing right in front of me, looking at me with the same look he gave me when our eyes met during his soccer game a couple nights ago. I don't want to speak to him when he isn't going to talk to me anyways.

"Hey," he says, proving me wrong.

I want to be polite and say hello, but my voice is hiding at the rear of my throat. His eyes scan the pier, then return to the tray with the nachos in my stiff hands.

"Are you alone?" he asks me nosey, or caringly. Or threateningly? I can't tell where he's going with this. He's impossible to read.

"Yes, I mean no," I correct myself. My mind is clouded and I don't understand why I'm so troubled to talk right now.

"Who are you with?"

"A friend, my friend Impa," I say as normal as possible.

"Okay." He nods, his hands in his pockets and his face impassive. 

Link keeps walking and I want to call after him to find out why he asked me if I'm alone and who I'm with, but before I can do anything, someone bumps into me and presses the tray of nachos against my chest. The plate, and what's left of the nachos, fall to the ground and splatter my shoes with hot cheese. I look down at my summer dress in shock. It's covered in cheese and crumbs of chips.

"Oops," a girl laughs and I recognize her spiteful voice before I even look up to meet her gloating eyes. Malice tugs her pink strand behind her ear and grins when she sees the shock on my face. She's wearing a short skirt, black boots, and quite the revealing scarlet tanktop.

"Didn't see you there," she lies and giggles as she pulls up her phone, probably planning to take another awful picture of me. I'd like to rip that phone out of her hand and throw it off the pier.

"Zelda," Link says and Malices stops mid-action. My stomach flutters. Did he come back because he saw what happened?

"Oh, I see," Malice says to me with a deadly glower. "Here to stalk Link again, huh? You know... When Impa asked me to delete that photo of you and him in the equipment room, I didn't really get why. I mean, why wouldn't you want everyone to think the two of you are a thing? But I think I figured it out... You don't want your dear Father to see the photo, isn't that right? Makes sense, I mean... What would our beloved president think if he saw what his perfect little princess was--"

"Stop it!" I interrupt her much louder than I intended to. 

My chest feels like it's on fire, not only from the hot cheese but from the burning of my racing heart. I should lie to her, say that I don't care what Father knows or thinks, otherwise she'll gladly spread a rumor, but it might provoke her even more.

"Why do you look so nervous?" Malice glances at Link, who's still deciding if he should intervene.

"You deleted that picture, right?" I have to know.

"I deleted the photo that Impa made me delete. What she didn't know, however, is that I took two photos that day."

"What are you going to do with it? Post it? Show it to my father?"

"We're not in high school," she laughs, then her laughter dies abruptly and she threatens, "Just stay away from him."

Link steps closer to me, almost pushing himself between Malice and me, and narrows his eyes at her. This is the first time I see him angry, at least I think he is. It's still hard to guess what he's thinking, and while he seems calm on the outside, I can feel how tense he really is. It's as if he's trying to keep his anger hidden away, and if that's the case, then I know just how he feels. I would love to put Malice in her place in front of all of these people, but I decide against it. And so I stay silent as Link is blocking Malice from stepping any closer to me. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop her verbal attacks.

"It's quite pitiful; you stalking him," Malice spits as if Link wasn't standing right in front of her. "Link is a champion, a worldwide famous athlete. What makes you think he'd go for someone like you? You may be a little rich girl, but you have nothing to offer to someone like him. Aren't you ashamed of making him guard you like this? You're selfish for bothering him with your problems. And I don't know if you've heard it yet, but he's already dating someone. A swimmer, a real athlete. So take the hint, mutt."