Chapter 3
***JACKSON***
Another wave of the strange feeling he’d experienced when he looked into Abby’s eyes rolled over Jackson, and he could only stare at her, trying to control whatever it was, hoping that she didn’t notice.
A few seconds later, her words finally sank in, and the feeling vanished, replaced by annoyance, and he scowled at her.
It wasn’t his fault he didn’t remember her.
There were over a thousand students on campus, or at least there had been.
“Hey, there’s no need to insult me just because I don’t remember you,” he said, trying to control his temper. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I just don’t remember you.”
“We don’t exactly run in the same circles, but I thought you’d at least recognize me,” Abby said, some of the tension fading away. “It’s not a big deal, I’m just frustrated. I might have taken it out on you, I shouldn’t have.”
“I get it,” he said, the anger evaporating, replaced by that same feeling. “This has all been stressful. Change always is.”
“This is a bit more than change,” she said with a sigh.
“I really need to get into a good medical school; it’s all I’ve ever dreamed about, and this could ruin my chances.
I might be freaking out a little. I’m sure it’s hard for you to understand, you probably already have a spot waiting for you somewhere. ”
“Why do you say that?” he asked. “Do you know something I don’t know?”
Abby looked over at him, then hesitated a second. “I know how the world works,” she said. “You come from money, which means you have connections. Someone somewhere will pull a few strings, and you’ll get into one of the top schools even if you don’t deserve it.”
“Wow, I guess you’ve got me all figured out,” he said. “Too bad you’ve got it all wrong, but I’m not going to bother telling you the real story. You’ve already made up your mind about me, so why should I waste my breath.”
Before Abby could respond, Dr. Simmons cleared his throat loudly. “Now that you’ve all had a few minutes to settle down, let’s get started,” he said. “Our first task of the semester is to clean the dissection lab. It should have been done at the end of last year, but we won’t get into that again.”
There were groans around the room, but Dr. Simmons ignored them.
“There are detailed cleaning and stocking instructions in the back of your materials for this class. I expect you to follow them,” he said.
“I don’t care how you divide up the chores, I just want it done.
This will be your first test, so don’t screw it up. ”
Dr. Simmons exited the room with a slam of the door, and silence fell over the room.
Then, everyone began paging through the materials on the table in front of them.
No one said anything for a long time, but there were plenty of groans and sighs of annoyance as they read what they would have to do.
When everyone was finished, they sat looking at one another, waiting for someone to take the lead.
Tom finally stood up. “Fine, you bunch of chickens, I’ll take charge.
The way I see it, we just need to break this all down into smaller tasks and assign everyone a couple of things to do,” he said.
“We can have this knocked out in a couple of hours if we all work together, but first, I need some caffeine. I think someone should go for coffee.”
No one volunteered, and Tom started to look annoyed.
Then he saw Abby. “Oh, April, you can go. That’s a perfect job for you.
Grab a pen and get everyone’s order,” he said, waving his hand at her.
While you’re gone, we’ll divide up the list. I’ll make sure you’re on the cleaning crew. Maybe you can even be in charge.”
Jackson saw the color slowly rising in Abby’s cheeks and leaned back, preparing himself for the explosion that was sure to come, and rightfully so, he thought.
“First, my name isn’t April; it’s Abby,” she said, getting slowly to her feet and her eyes flashing with anger.
“Second, would you care to explain why getting coffee is the perfect job for me? And when you’re done explaining that, tell me why I would want to be on the cleaning crew, let alone running it. ”
Tom looked unsure of himself for a second, then looked around the room at the other men and squared his shoulders.
“Well, you’re a woman, you’re better at that kind of thing,” he said, looking around for approval.
“I mean, it’s in your genes or something, everyone knows that. I’m just trying make you happy.”
“Trying to make me happy,” Abby sputtered. “You’re nothing but a chauvinist pig, you can take your coffee and…”
He jumped to his feet and stood between them, “I have a better idea; let’s divide up the chores, write them down on little scraps of paper, and draw for who does what.
Add getting coffee to the list if you want to, but we don’t have time for this.
Dr. Simmons is going to expect that lab clean by the end of class. ”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Charlie piped up. “I’ve got some paper right here. Let’s get started.”
Tom gave him a dirty look, but turned and sat back down, “You’re not making any friends, sweetheart,” Jackson said, looking back at Abby. “Not that I blame you for being mad.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” she spat at him. “My name is Abby.”
“Hey, I was just trying to help,” he said, holding his hands up. “For what it’s worth, I hope Tom gets stuck going to get the coffee.”
That earned him a little smile, and Abby sank back down into her seat. “It would serve him right,” she said. “I hate guys like him. Just because I’m a woman, they think I should wait on them. It drives me crazy.”
“I think you got your message across loud and clear,” he said, grinning at her. “No one’s going to ask you to go get coffee again.”
***Abby***
Abby used her anger and frustration to fuel her through the morning. The only bright spot was the moment when Tom handed her the steaming cup from the coffee shop. She thanked him sweetly, then took a big gulp, not caring that it burned all the way down, and flashed him a pleased smile.
“Thank you, it’s perfect,” she said. “Maybe you should go for coffee all the time, they usually mess up my order.”
Behind her, Jackson had to stifle his laughter and almost dropped his cup when Tom shoved it into his hands. “You just couldn’t resist poking the bear, could you?” he asked. “Not that he didn’t deserve it.”
“I could have been nice, but I didn’t feel like it,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “He’ll think twice about messing with me again.”
“Remind me not to make you mad,” Jackson said, grinning at her. “You don’t play fair.”
“You’ve already made me mad,” she shot back at him. “You survived.”
Jackson studied her for a few seconds, and she made the mistake of looking into his eyes.
Heat rose up inside her, her heart began to pound, and her body started to tingle in a new way.
A strange look appeared on his face, something in his eyes changed, and she suddenly had the urge to turn and run from him.
The feelings slowly creeped through her.
Stunned, she looked away, fighting the urge to look at him again, to see if what she’d seen in his eyes was real, then forced herself to take a step away from him, wondering if she’d lost her mind.
“I don’t think I want to take that risk again,” Jackson finally said. “I think I got off lucky.”
She gave him a dirty look. “Very funny,” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the way her voice was shaking. “We should get back to work.”
Dr. Simmons walked into the lab at exactly twelve o’clock, inspected their work, and then gave them the rest of the day off, which was the first good news she’d had all day. When she ran down the stairs and plopped down next to Yvonne on a bench in front of the building, she was smiling.
“You must have had a better morning than I did,” Yvonne said. “Dr. Vigil droned on and on all morning about how important ethics are in medicine, and I swear that woman never shut up.”
“It’s her passion,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “At least you didn’t have to clean and stock the dissection lab.”
“Oh, gross,” Yvonne said, wrinkling her nose. “You win. Let’s go get some lunch, and then we can go back to your place and pack your stuff.”
“I brought my lunch, but I’ll go with you,” she said, getting to her feet. “It won’t take long for me to pack. I don’t have that much stuff.”
Several hours later, she carried the last box of her belongings into what was now her bedroom, set it down on the desk in the corner, and then looked around.
With a little whoop, she threw herself onto the soft bed, wishing she could take a nap right then, but a quick glance at the clock reminded her that she had to get to work.
When she sat up, Yvonne was smiling at her from the doorway, and she was embarrassed for a second, but then remembered they were friends.
She didn’t have to hide her background from her.
“I think this is the nicest bed I’ve ever had,” she said, bouncing up and down. “Thank you again for letting me move in.”
“I’m glad to have you here,” Yvonne said. “What do you want for dinner?”
“Oh, Yvonne, I’m sorry. I guess we should be celebrating, but I have work tonight,” she said. “Maybe we can do something when I get back. It’s a weeknight, so the bar shouldn’t be that busy. I could bring home some pizza or something.”
“That sounds great,” Yvonne said. “I’ll just grab a snack to hold me over.”
“I think I’d better shower, I’m a mess,” she said, getting up from the bed. “I should be back by ten, if that works.”
“Only if you put extra cheese on that pizza,” Yvonne said, grinning at her.
She took her time in the shower, letting the hot water soothe her tired muscles, then climbed out and began the laborious chore of getting ready for work.
When her hair was done and her face covered in makeup, she went to the closet and pulled out her uniform, then quickly put it on, avoiding her reflection in the mirror.
Reminding herself that it was just a job, a temporary one at that, she headed for the living room, almost forgetting that Yvonne was there.
“Oh, my God, what are you wearing?” Yvonne asked, throwing down the textbook she’d been reading. “Is that makeup on your face?”
“It’s my uniform. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I have to wear it,” she said, then sighed.
“The makeup is all part of the look. It gets me an extra thirty percent in tips so it’s worth it to humiliate myself.
You have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about this.
I’d never live it down, and they’ll never take me seriously. ”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Yvonne said, getting to her feet and walking around her. “What kind of bar is this place?”
She sighed, “It’s a hipster cowboy bar. Personally, I don’t get it, but the tips are good, and I don’t get hit on that often,” she said. “They make the men wear something equally degrading, so that helps. It’s just a job; at least, that’s what I tell myself every night when I walk in the door.”
“More power to you, girlfriend,” Yvonne said, shaking her head. “Who knew there was a temptress hiding underneath all those jeans and tee-shirts? You should show that body of yours off a little more.”
“Are you kidding? It’s hard enough to be taken seriously as it is,” she said, shaking her head.
“I’m more than happy to let a bunch of thirty-somethings ogle me for tips; it pays the bills, but that’s as far as it goes.
Men are pigs, you know that. As soon as I let a little skin show, they’ll all be looking at me differently. ”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but if you ever change your mind, let me take you shopping, my treat,” Yvonne said, giving her a hug. “You’d better go, you don’t want to be late for the ogling.”
She laughed and grabbed a long coat off the rack next to the front door. “I’ll be back with pizza around ten,” she said. “And since we’re celebrating, I might just grab a gallon of ice cream; we can eat it right out of the container.”
“I knew it was a good idea to have you move in,” Yvonne said, grinning at her. “Make it chocolate, and I’ll love you forever.”