She was surprised by two things when he opened the door: he was a lot younger than she had assumed he’d be (could they possibly even be around the same age?) and he was already disappointed in her. In all her life, school had been the one sanctuary for her ego, the one safe house where she felt validated as a person (or a brain) and the fact that Dr. Dhaal was not immediately pleased with her as he should have been with a prize pupil caught Jaydin off guard.<br/><br/>She was made momentarily speechless, the effect lasting throughout their introduction and even as she took her seat. Clutching her tablet to her chest, Jaydin kept her gaze lowered more than she should have, cursing inwardly as she realized she was not exuding self-confidence, no doubt a mannerism that’d be held against her.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#666600">“Y-Yes,”</span>she managed a stutter when she realized he had asked her a question concerning the information she’d been sent to read. She winced at the sound of her mouse-y voice, having hoped it would ring with clarity instead. Christ, could she do nothing right?<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#666600">“Oh,”</span>Jaydin breathed in surprise at the doctor’s next statement.<i>Friends? Why</i>… would he want that? Wasn’t he her supervisor? For a moment a thought so ludicrous crept into her mind that it manifested as a blush straight across her cheekbones and over the bridge of her nose. It was so stupid, in fact, that Jaydin couldn’t even bring herself to mentally repeat it.<i>Fuck</i>… she cursed inwardly, knowing such a thought<i>was</i>a fuck up. He was making her nervous, she realized and it had to do with the fact that she found him handsome.<i>Keep it together</i>, she chanted, like a mantra.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#666600">“Y-Yes, Dr. Dhaal, of c-course you can trust me, I… I promise to keep everything you relay to me in the strictest of confidences.”</span>There. She had only stuttered twice. That wasn’t so bad…. Oh,<i>God</i>, it had been horrible.<br/><br/>Jaydin glanced at the door. At any moment he’d tell her to leave and this interview would be over before it had even begun.<i>Then</i>what? She’d be a failure and her uncle would ridicule her. Maybe she wasn’t as smart as she believed herself to be.