Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Eve
“Are you waiting for Cell Biology?”
I look up from where I’m parked in the third-floor hallway of the med school. A dark-haired pretty brunette looks down at me, her expression curious. She’s holding a stack of books in her arms, dressed in black skinny jeans and a black hoodie. Her hair is tossed up in a casual ponytail.
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “I’m here super early, so no one is even here yet.”
I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to go to campus early, hoping a change of scenery would help me stop thinking about Carter, and the way he’d looked in his suit and tie yesterday.
I couldn’t deny that I was super into him, on so many levels. He was smart and sophisticated and handsome, to put it mildly. All the traits I found attractive in a man, Carter possessed. It’s hard not to think about him.
Hell, his Levis are still draped over the chair in my bedroom. The flashes of desire I’d seen in his eyes when we were flirting were something I couldn’t stop seeing in my head.
I'm thankful for someone to talk to and a much needed distraction.
“I’m Violet. Well, Vi,” she says. “I’d shake your hand but my arms are full. Do you maybe want to open the door of the classroom for me?”
“I’m Eve. And sure.” I climb to my feet, picking up both of my bags. Then I pull the door open, standing back to let her pass. She flips on a bank of lights on the wall as she enters, illuminating the whole place.
I stop for a second in the doorway to take in the space. It’s large, with student desks set up in multiple alternating rows, stacked high like an amphitheater. Down at the center of the room is a desk, stacked haphazardly with medical textbooks. Behind that is a chalkboard.
After all the wheedling and begging it took me to get here, I feel a giddy sort of rush.
I did it.
I’m here, not back in New Jersey, living under my father’s thumb.
I’m free… sort of.
My freedom comes with all kinds of strings, but at least I have the whole country between us now. I can breathe easier.
Vi is making her way down to the front of the room, wrinkling her nose as she puts her books down on a desk in the third row. She glances back at me, which makes me realize I look like an idiot, staring around the classroom like it’s an alien environment.
Clearing my throat, I head down to the same row where Vi has planted her flag. “Do you mind if I sit in this row? I like being in the middle of all the action.”
Vi waves her hand. “Sit anywhere. I’m going to talk to you no matter where you end up.” She fishes a pack of gum out of her pocket as I slide into a desk, popping a piece out. “Gum?”
Shaking my head, I frown. “No thanks.”
I start pulling out my pens and the binder I have prepared for this class, then stack them neatly on top of the three textbooks that are required. I pull out my digital recorder last, fidgeting with it while I look around.
“I don’t remember seeing you last year,” Vi says. She looks at me curiously.
I turn toward her, smiling slightly. “I’m transferring from a school back east. When I first applied to the University of Washington, they accepted me… only for my father to mess up my admission at the last minute by being… well… like he is.”
Vi’s dainty eyebrows rise. “How is he?”
I consider my answer for a second. Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone what I think of my dad, but this is a new start. All the whispers that might get back to him back home… well, they have lost a lot of their power here. I blow out a breath.
“He’s controlling, to the point of being draconian,” I say, a mocking smile on my lips. “I applied and was accepted to begin last year. But my dad refused to finish filling out the financial paperwork until the last minute. By the time I heard back, my spot had been filled.”
Her brows hunch. “I didn’t think that U of W took transfers.”
I hesitate, shaking my head. “I hate to out myself like this, but I think a very large donation had something to do with it.”
“Ah.” Vi nods, giving me another once over. She bites her lip. “I’m here on a full ride scholarship. So basically… I thank people like your dad for the education.”
Her bluntness catches me off guard. “Oh! Well… He has more money than he even knows what to do with. It’s better spent here than whatever other nefarious things he’s cooking up. Trust me, I don’t take after him at all.”
There is a moment of awkwardness, where she is staring at me, trying to decide what to think of me. She tucks a stand of hair behind her ear then smiles.
“I guess not!” She wrinkles her nose. “Do you know who you’ve got for your class advisor yet?”
I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I don’t even know what that is.”
“Oh! It’s basically the professor that you have to check in with every month. They can see your grades and what your professors have to say about you. Then you meet and they advise you on how to… I don’t know… be better at school, I guess.” She rolls her eyes. “I got Dr. Black, who is about a million years old and looks like he died a while ago.”
“Ahhhh,” I say, nodding. “I have no idea who I have.”
“Well, let’s hope you have a different professor because Dr. Black and I met yesterday and it took two hours. He lectured me on the basics of studying.” She makes an offended sound. “As if I somehow got into med school on a full scholarship without studying. It’s like… dude, I am so on top of my studying, it would make your head spin.”
She rolls her eyes so theatrically that I can’t help but smile.
“That does sound terrible,” I agree. “And if you ever decide that you want a study partner, look no further. I love nothing more than quietly spending hours reading and memorizing while my friends are in the same room.”
“I might take you up on that offer.” Vi smiles and opens her notebook.
People begin to filter in, taking the seats around us. I glance at the three chalkboards, set up side by side.
Just looking at that blank chalkboard makes me a little sick with worry. I’m in the middle of the room. Middle of the pack. No need to draw attention to myself just yet.
It’s only the first day. Fidgeting with my pen, I make sure that my binder is ready. This is my first day of med school, my very first class.
“It’s going to be okay,” Vi says softly.
My anxiety must be showing. I glance at her, pasting a smile on my face. “I know. It’s just nerves.”
The class should be starting any minute now. My index cards already read Dr. Finch— Cell Biology 201. All around me, students are sitting down, shuffling papers, preparing.
The guy to my right opens his laptop, queuing up a note taking software.
What is that software? Why don't I know about it?
Should I know about it?
Anxiety blossoms in my chest. I’ve done everything I knew how to do, every single thing I could think of… but what if it’s not enough? What if I am so much dumber than the other kids?
God, Dr. Finch is going to walk right into this room and just know. He’ll take one look at me and realize that I’ll never make it. Breathing in and out through my nose, I flip my binder open and study the quick chart I made. Dr. Finch peers out at me from the photo I have glued to one corner of the chart.
He’s old. He’s British. Apparently he likes to talk about Camus and his own collection of parakeets.
I did my research. I just hope it pays off.
I close my eyes and breathe. There is no way that he’ll just be able to spot the future dropouts right away. That’s just something I came up with because I already respect Dr. Finch so much. I am just intimidating myself for no reason.
It would help if he wasn’t late to the beginning of his own class, though.
“I’m here, I’m here,” calls a male voice. Way too young to be Dr. Finch, and yet… “Don’t worry. I’m going to be taking this course over from Dr. Finch.”
Opening my eyes, I look down to the center of the room. There is a young man standing at the chalkboard, facing away as he writes. He has flawless mocha skin and his short, close cropped hair has impeccable edges. He’s big and broad, his muscles bunching discreetly underneath his white dress shirt. His ass looks fantastic in his dark slacks, not that I’m looking or anything.
I’m not one of those girls that gets hot for teacher. Not normally, anyway…
The hair starts to stand up on my arms for some reason.
Why does the professor look so… familiar? My breath catches in my throat.
Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
“I am Dr. Carter Morgan,” he says, scrawling his name on the board in illegible handwriting. “And this is Cell Biology.”
My jaw drops as he turns around. And there he is: tall, dark, drop dead hot…
“Shit,” I mumble. Vi sends me a concerned look but my eyes are fixed on the man in question.
This can’t be real.
This has to be a dream, right?
Because if it is real, the only guy I know in Seattle… The one I’ve had a crush on since the first time we met. The one that I flirted with only a few days ago.
That guy is my professor. He’s in charge of my education. I’m in his hands.
My life, my career, flashes before my eyes. I’m doomed. I’ll never learn a fucking thing if I’m supposed to learn it from him.
God, don’t let him see me, I pray. Though that is silly, because of course he will see me. It’s not as if I can avoid him.
I have to get out of here, I think. I need to unregister from this class and somehow start all over, somewhere very, very far away from here.
Far away from Carter.
Carter turns around and scans the classroom. I want to hunch down in my seat but I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head that I can’t even begin to move. He looks down at some papers on his desk, clearing his throat. I put a hand to my forehead, hoping I can shield my face enough to hide my identity.
“As I said, I’m Dr. Morgan. I am relatively new to the U of W. I have my PhD in biology from Portland State. This class will be—” He looks up, sees me, and stops mid-sentence. I flush, biting my lower lip. His brows rise a little bit. Then he continues, clearing his throat again. “Ahem. This class will be graded on three things… attendance and participation, three tests, and then the final project. So you’ll be expected to attend class twice per week…”
I slump down in my chair as he continues his lecture, thinking of all the ways this will ruin me.
Another day in Seattle, another curveball from the universe.
I should have known it was going too well.