Chapter Two
Jayson
“Hey dude, get up!” I hear the sound of my very obnoxious twin brother’s voice along with the banging on my door.
“I am up, asshole, so quit banging on my damn door,” I yell back at him.
My brother instantly says, “Dude, I don’t want to hear about your junk being up!”
Yeah, every morning we go through this routine. I think we both have it memorized. Connor might be a giant pain in my ass, but he’s also my twin, so I guess I kind of have to like him. Actually, even though we sometimes annoy the shit out of each other, there’s no question that we have each other’s back.
I immediately jump out of bed and start getting ready for my day. Yes, I am a self-professed nerd; I love school, and even though I would never admit it out loud, going to school on the first day of a new semester secretly thrills me. I’ve always been like that even when I was a kid in grade school. Of course, I can never admit that to my brother or any of our friends. I can only imagine the hell they would give me for the rest of my life.
As I take a shower and get ready for school, I wonder how this semester will go. I don’t know why, but I keep feeling this weird sense of anticipation. Connor would say I sound like a chick, but that’s his standard burn in the contest we’ve got going. I tell him it’s not very original, but that doesn’t seem to deter him at all. I realize I don’t have time to contemplate any of this; I still need to finish up, eat breakfast, and find my new classes.
It’s a new semester at Rice University and I’m in my junior year as a Pre-Med student. At 23, this makes me one of the older students in the program. It also puts more pressure on me to stay focused so I try to take classes that will help me go farther in my career.
Because I already have my core classes completed from my time in the engineering program with Connor and the overlap in program credits, I have some wiggle room with my electives, which is what my first class is. Being an ER doctor, I know I will have to tell people that their family or friends didn’t make it so I think taking Psychology 305: Death and Dying-Understanding the Grieving Process will be beneficial for me.
I like getting to class early so I can find a seat close to the door near the front of the room. When I started college, I quickly figured out that if I was going to learn anything at all, I had to find a place toward the front of the class. That’s what led me to always sitting in the 1 st row, 3 rd seat in every class I take. I hate when it’s not available. I think about this while eating and wonder if I might be a little OCD. I bet Connor would say yes to that because I am constantly on him to pick up his crap around our house.
I hate that I sound like the fun police and tell myself that I am going to quit being so serious all the time. I wasn’t always like this. At one point, all I wanted was: girls, alcohol, and going to parties. Last year, when we had a friend get messed up in an auto accident, I did a 180 degree change. Now, I’m thinking I went a little too far…I don’t want to go back to the way I was, but I need to have some fun. Yeah, my bro’s going to love this! It’s been a long time since we were the “double trouble” brothers.
As I get in my truck and drive to school, I wonder why all the introspection today. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Dr.Phil since it’s always on in the ER waiting room at the hospital where I work. That weird feeling starts up again and I tell myself that nothing is going to happen. But as I am driving, my stomach tightens and it's evident that the feeling isn’t going away. It doesn’t matter because whatever it is, I’m going to face it head on like anything else I do.