Chapter 5

MILA

The worst words tohear after an exam…

Miss Patrick, I need to speak with you after class.

Ten words.

I obsess over the ten words for thirty minutes.

Class ends.

Everyone leaves.

Except me.

Dr. Donahue has zero personality.

You never know if she's serious or not.

And to be truthful, when it comes to a lot of the doctors I deal with, nobody is ever joking around. Especially in this pre-med world. This is all hardcore learning and prep for what I'm told is something even more insane - med school.

Oh, and then there's residency after that…

I try not to think too far in advance.

Now I'm standing at Dr. Donahue's desk.

I'm trying really hard not to give off the fact that I'm terrified.

I'm terrified of her in general and just as terrified of what she's about to say to me.

"This test," she says getting right into it.

Never a hello. Or how are you?

Her face is mean.

Not stern.

Not a resting bitch face.

It's just plain mean.

"The test," I say. "Yes. Did I… forget something?"

"Your analysis," she says. "You seemed to cut yourself short."

"I was up against space and time, Dr. Donahue."

"Is that a fair excuse?"

"The exams are timed. With all due respect."

"Timed," she says. "Fair to say that fits in well with medicine? A patient in front of you may only have minutes left to live. Seconds even. You have to decide. Act. There are no retakes."

"No, there isn't."

She hands me my exam back.

That's not a good sign.

"Perfect score," she says. "The only one in the class to get it."

"Wow."

"Wow? Are you shocked by that?"

"No," I say. "I studied more than everyone else here combined."

"And you're going to add on extra credit. Expand your analysis. I want a minimum of five pages by tomorrow."

And what does this get me?

Nothing.

Except… a sliver of Dr. Donahue's respect.

Or maybe - for all I know - she'll help me get into med school and beyond.

"I would be honored to expand my thoughts," I say. "And I would be honored for you to read it."

"I don't need anyone to kiss my ass more than they already do, Miss Patrick."

I nod.

I take my paper and get the hell out of her classroom.

The last thing I need is more work on my plate, but I won't turn down the chance to impress Dr. Donahue. Also, she didn't ask me to write an extra five-page paper. She kind of just demanded it.

I hurry back to my dorm and dump my bag out.

I dig through two different notebooks to find my notes on the analysis I started.

I won't bore you with the medical terms… but I wrote a theory on vitamin absorption based on types and their delivery systems…

I sit down at the table and get right to work.

I pick up where I left off from the part I wrote for the exam.

I'm honored to have gotten a perfect score on the exam, but I worked my ass off for that grade. And that includes dealing with any and all outside distractions. Which happens. This is college. I'm not just hiding in a corner reading books all the time. I do like to go out and have fun.

My door flies open and I turn, ready to scream.

Ward is there.

He's red-hot too.

When he's mad, his cheeks and forehead turn bright red.

He slams the door behind him and makes fists and shakes them.

"I hate this fucking place!"

"Whoa. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You want to know? I'll tell you, Mila. This fucking place. That's what's wrong. How can you fail everything and get another chance? Huh? How can you have someone do the work for you? Tell me that. Right now."

"Ward, I have no clue…"

"My sister!"

"Your sister? Willow? She's failing?"

"No! She's not failing. She's helping someone who is. She's been tutoring people."

"Oh, okay. That's a smart and easy way to earn a little money from the university."

"Mila, don't give me that happy shit right now, okay?"

"Hey, back off a little, Ward. I'm in the middle of something here."

"Oh, too busy for me? That figures."

"You're running through my door red-hot. I don't even know why."

"Ask your best friends. They're the ones fucking all the hockey jocks, right?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Your fucking friends. Bad enough you're in that circle. Now my sister is too. She's tutoring Jax."

"Jax? He's failing?"

"Why does it matter who is or who isn't failing?" Ward bellows. "Can't you see how messed up this is? I show up to Willow's dorm to check on her and she's in the shower and there's fucking Jax. Just standing there. Acting like a fucking cocky douchebag. Making all these sexual comments about my sister. Do you believe that?"

"Oh," I say. "That's… not good…"

"Wow, well said, Mila. Thanks for being there for me."

"Ward, you just told me what's going on. Plus, what do I say? If she wants to tutor him… if he needs help…"

Ward points at me. "No. Absolutely not. You know what he's doing this for. For… her…"

"What do you mean? Like he has a crush on her?"

"A crush?" Ward asks. "What are we… in elementary school? Jax wants to fuck her! He wants to fuck my sister!"

I suck in a breath. "Ward…"

"Gross, isn't it?"

"I think that's attacking Willow more than hating Jax."

He shakes his head. "Sometimes I can't tell you things."

"Want me to talk to Willow? Tell her to stay away from Jax?"

"She didn't choose this. They threw him at her."

"Can she quit?" I ask.

"That's the smart move," Ward says.

"Fine. I'm done talking to you then. I have to write a five-page paper by tomorrow."

"Okay. You do that. Enjoy that. I'll deal with my family issues on my own. Sorry to bother you, Mila."

Ward struts to the door, waiting for me to jump at him and beg him to not go.

Seriously, I have a paper to write.

And I can't get involved with his intense hatred for the hockey players.

Plus, I'm annoyed at what happened at the last party. And then the next morning.

Just… ugh.

Relationships did the whole ebb and flow thing all the time.

I'm not sure which is really the ebb or the flow…

Anymore with Ward, it kind of just feels like drowning.