"Right! And here's the lab!"

Professor Adams pushed open the set of double doors, revealing the spacious room beyond. The dull thrum of mechanical whirring, beeping, and humming filled their ears. Rows of long benches running parallel to each other stood in various states of disarray, their surfaces populated with sleek equipment and experiments in progress.

Kaitlyn let her gaze wander across the space, taking in a deep breath. The faint scents of ethanol and fresh soil greeted her in return.

Yup. Home, sweet home.

Well, it wasn't always her home. The last few loops in particular hadn't seen her hanging around the lab with quite the same frequency as she once did. Still, she'd spent enough loops toiling away at these benches that it still counted.

Professor Adams turned back toward the doors. "I need to get to a meeting, unfortunately, so I'll leave you to introduce yourself. If you need anything, just ask a postdoc!"

"Will do. Thanks again!"

With a final wave, the woman rushed out of the lab just as quickly as she'd arrived. Kaitlyn watched her go with a slight smile of amusement.

I wonder if she's really that busy, or if she's just constantly in a state of perpetual stress? Like, I know she's got a lot on her plate, but still…

The woman was in charge of both running a lab and her Genetics class as well. Either one of those seemed like a pretty big time commitment. Maybe that was why she couldn't recall a single moment where Adams had seemed truly relaxed. She always was either in a rush to get somewhere or completely exhausted.

I guess that just makes it more amazing that she gives me the time of day to talk. Well, at the start, at least. I won't really see her much after this. But that's what really matters, isn't it?

Shaking her head, Kaitlyn stepped further inside. It didn't take long to navigate between the benches and approach the only postdoc currently visible. The cheerful, portly woman sat atop a stool, her attention focused on pipetting something into a white 96-well plate full of leaf disks and water.

Pulling up a stool, Kaitlyn settled in to wait. By the looks of things, she had arrived at a particularly time-sensitive part of the assay, so there was no sense in disturbing the woman. Introductions could wait.

After a minute or two, the postdoc stood up and quickly placed the plate into a black machine next to her. A few button presses later, it began to whir quietly and add its own sound to the white noise of the lab. Stretching, she let out a small sigh and rolled her shoulders. It was then that she glanced over and noticed Kaitlyn.

"Hello! Is there something you need?"

"Hi!" Kaitlyn stood up, moving to approach. "Christa, right? I'm Kaitlyn, the new undergrad."

"Oh! Well, nice to meet you!" Christa beamed a friendly smile in her direction. "I would shake your hand, but well…"

She spared a meaningful look for the blue gloves covering her hands. Kaitlyn just grinned. "No problem. Professor Adams told me to ask if there's anything you needed. I can wait until you're done with your ROS assay, though."

The postdoc blinked, a little taken aback. "Oh! I'm a bit surprised you know what a ROS assay is! Well, no worries at all, that was my last plate. I just need it to finish reading, though I do have a few more things to do today… "

Kaitlyn nodded at the questioning look she received. "I've worked in a plant lab before. If you're busy, that's ok. I don't want to be a bother. But is there anything I can help with?"

"Hmm…" The shorter woman tilted her chin, brows scrunching together in a thoughtful expression. "I heard you've had some experience of course, but…"

Kaitlyn waited patiently. She knew what the answer would be, but rushing things had never turned out well for anyone.

"...Tell you what," Christa finally said. "I have one more thing I need to start, then I need to make some media. Maybe you can help me with that? If you'll be here for a while, that is!"

Smiling innocently, Kaitlyn nodded in agreement. "No worries about that. I'm done with classes for the day. Do you mind if I watch you work?"

"Of course not! Oh, but before that, where are my manners! I need to show you around…"

With a brief gesture to follow, Christa began giving Kaitlyn a tour of the lab. It was an overview like usual, simply covering the main areas—each person's benches, the microscope room, the growth chamber, and some of the important storage areas. Right now, they were the only two people around, with the exception of a few researchers milling about in neighboring labs.

Once that was taken care of, the pair settled in at Christa's bench once more. The "one more thing" the woman needed to start was actually an RNA extraction, something Kaitlyn had altogether too much experience with at this point. It meant that she didn't need to ask questions about the how or why of each step. Rather, she took advantage of the opportunity to occasionally pick Christa's brain about higher-level concepts and whether substituting this step or that would still work. It was a little gratifying to see the woman's face go from surprise to genuine interest and enthusiasm about the topics.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Hopefully she doesn't think I'm a total brown-noser. I'm really not trying to show off or anything. I'm just curious.

A few times, she offered to grab reagents and samples for the next steps. The fact that she actually knew where everything was after being shown around just once seemed to throw Christa off more than anything else. Perhaps it was for good reason. The lab was an absolute chaotic mess sometimes, especially when it came to the fridges. Kaitlyn couldn't help her amusement at the reaction though. Especially when being able to find the spare lysis buffer aliquots was judged more impressive than her knowing what its components actually did.

Eventually, they finished up and moved on to media preparation. Their conversation had done a lot to build up Christa's trust in Kaitlyn and her competence, as usual. It meant that the woman actually allowed her to take the lead, albeit under her watchful eye.

"Here's the recipe," Christa said, appearing at her elbow with a well-worn notebook. "We'll be making a half batch, so let's calculate how much we need first…"

Kaitlyn quickly did the math and scribbled it down on her own brand-new notebook. "This look right?"

The postdoc checked over the numbers and nodded with a smile. "Wonderful! You're pretty fast. Do you want me to show you where everything is, or do you want to find it yourself?"

"I think I can handle it."

Kaitlyn went on autopilot, grabbing a whole tray's worth of bottles, bags, and canisters before bringing them over to the scale. It felt like showing off, but Kaitlyn's actions had a very important purpose—building up trust.

She already had an ok to work on the project she'd proposed, of course. But at this point, her project was just that—a proposal. No one in their right mind would let a new first-year undergrad take that kind of thing by the reins and simply run with it. No, it would take a little bit of convincing before Christa no longer felt the need to watch over her shoulder. And the sooner she proved herself, the sooner she'd be able to get down to real business.

As she began measuring out and combining ingredients, the double doors opened with a heavy clunk. Kaitlyn craned her neck to look over at the new arrival.

A tall student with slightly suntanned skin strode in, his ginger hair bound in a loose ponytail behind him. He held himself with a casual grace, his hands in his pockets and an olive flannel hanging about his wiry shoulders. Blue jeans and a pair of worn leather boots completed the look, giving off the impression that he'd be more at home working outdoors.

"Hey, Christa."

"Hello, Elli!" Christa beamed between the shelves at the newcomer. "Done with classes?"

"Yeah, for now." Elliot's deep emerald eyes scanned the room as he stowed his backpack, coming to a halt as they met Kaitlyn's. His head tilted ever so slightly. "Who's this?"

Kaitlyn gave him a small wave. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kaitlyn. I just joined the lab."

"Huh. Neat." He gave her a nod as he shrugged on a lab coat. "Elliot. It's nice to meet you, too. What year are you?"

"First."

His eyebrows rose at that. "Another first year, huh? Dang. You know Professor Adams or something?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm in her class, but… I'm just really interested in the research she's doing. I pitched a project plan and she liked it enough to bring me on."

The explanation still made her heart swell with pride. It had taken a lot of time and effort to put that plan together. Even if she hadn't done it entirely on her own, the fact that it was good enough to catch the professor's eye like this… it was pretty awesome. Presenting the newest version each loop always felt like a culmination of all her hard work in the lab.

Elliot chuckled. "Already? Well, you certainly didn't waste any time."

Kaitlyn gave him a wry grin. "I try not to."

"Well, let me know if you need anything. Christa knows a ton more than I do, but she's also pretty busy. I'll do what I can to help out when she's juggling a half dozen assays."

"Goodness, Elli! I'm not that bad," The woman laughed. "I'm no Freddy."

With a final nod and a smile, Elliot turned toward his own bench. Kaitlyn considered him as he stepped away.

Only two more male leads to go. Two more romance endings. And he's one of them.

Despite knowing that in her head, Kaitlyn didn't feel the need to avoid the lab like she was avoiding Vinny's house. Here, at least, she didn't need to interact with the ginger-haired student. She could keep her schedule so that their lab visits didn't overlap too much. Even when they did, it wasn't like they'd be working on the same stuff. Especially later in the loop, once she got her own project in full swing.

It's a completely different story compared to Vinny. If I go over there, I'll be literally living at his house. It's hard NOT to think about what that means, especially now.

Her cheeks colored slightly as she thought back to the first loop she'd stayed with the guys. Between her emotional state and desperation to get away, the implications had taken a long time to really dawn on her. Even once they had, she'd done quite a good job of rationalizing and shrugging them off. That had gotten a lot harder once she'd shared his room, of course, but still…

Christa called across the benches as Kaitlyn continued pouring powders into the solution. "What's your plan for today, Elli?"

"Just some genotyping and DNA extraction. Nothing too special."

Kaitlyn kept quiet. If Christa offered her up to help with the task, she'd obviously agree. However, this was her rest loop. She wasn't going to go out of her way to interact with the guy. Not this time.

The whole point is to not push things right now. I'm here to do my own thing. That's it.

Luckily, Christa seemed content to have Kaitlyn along with her own tasks today. After a brief conversation, Elliot walked toward the growth chamber to retrieve his plants, leaving the lab's other two occupants to their task. A beaker full of yellowish liquid swirled between them as they chatted.

Throughout the whole process, Kaitlyn could feel Christa's watchful gaze on her nonstop, the woman's instincts well-honed to detect any undergrad mistakes. But she hadn't given the woman cause for so much as a peep.

She'll come around in a few weeks. Until then… I wonder if she'll let me help finish that RNA extraction?