Chapter Ten
Danika
“Hi,I’mDedicatedDanika.”I wave to the small group in front of me. The boy to my left says his name isMarvelous Markand the girl next to him calls herselfElectric Ella. I hold in my groan as we continue around the circle. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s icebreaker games. I thought this was med school, not preschool.
Four more students introduce themselves, but I can’t find it in me to care. I’d rather get to know people the organic way, over a drink and shared plate of nachos.
Behind me the door opens and I don’t look to see who’s entered as we’re almost nearing the end of the circle and this mundane activity.
“Oh good, our late straggler has arrived. Please state your name and an adjective that starts with the same letter.”
“Uh, I’m Nervous Nico.”
My breath catches in my throat.
There is no fucking way he is here. He’s supposed to be at Columbia or NYU. That was his plan. Move back to New York.Get far away from me.So why the hell is Nico pulling up a chair and squeezing in next to me?
Nervous? Seriously?I can think of much better adjectives for him. Nefarious, naughty, narcissistic…
I feel him move close to say something in my ear but I lean away, giving him a look that says if he said a word to me, it would be his last. The scathing stare shuts him up, thankfully, and I turn my attention back to the group leader who had referred to herself asCharming Charlie.
“Excellent! I’m so glad we’re all here and ready to embark on this journey together! As I said, I’m Charlie. I’m a third year med student and I’ll be kind of like your mentor this year. Since there’s so many first years this semester, we’ve sectioned you into small groups to make things easier. So, you might want to get comfortable with each other. We’ll be spending a lot of time together this year.”
This time my groan is external. All nine pairs of eyes whip in my direction. “Oh, uh, ahh! Yay! I can’t wait to start!” I cheer to try and mask my moaning. I’m not sure they buy it, but Charlie starts talking again so at least the heat is off me. Next to me, Nico chuckles, and I have to hold myself back from punching him in his Adam's apple bobbing throat.
Charlie’s peppy voice breaks me from murderous thoughts. “We have Dr. Branford here to talk you through a few things before we break for lunch.”
A tall man with neatly braided locks and a pristinely white lab coat takes the metaphorical stage. He’s clearly older in age but also exudes wisdom. Everything about him is attention grabbing, from the way he towers over us, to the intentional way he looks each and every one of us in the eye before he speaks.
“You are all here to succeed at something great. In order to do that, you will need to work harder than you’ve ever worked in your entire life.” He pauses, his deep voice reverberating around the room “Starting today, you will do things you never thought you’d ever do. You’ll achieve things you never thought you would achieve. Some of you will fail. Some of you will leave or quit. Many of you will pass, but only a few will go on to achieve greatness.” He stops and looks at us all again. “I’ll be interested to see which of you fall into each category.”
Some of the group is avoiding his gaze, clearly lacking their confidence in the choice they’ve made to start medical school. Not me, though. I look Dr. Branford right in the eyes and when his gaze meets mine, I give him my best nod of determination.
Dr. Branford thanks Charlie before leaving the room, a sense of importance going with him.
“Let’s break for lunch and meet back here at two. If you don’t know where the cafeteria is, follow me.” The group gets to their feet and all but Nico and I follow Charlie out the door onto the quad.
“Just hear me out,” he says, grabbing my wrist before I can fly out the door. I pull myself free and cross my arms over my chest.
“What are you doing here, Nico? I thought you were going back to New York.”
“I had a change of heart.”
“More like a change of circumstance. You didn’t get in, did you?”
Nico’s silence speaks volumes.
“So because you weren’t good enough to get into Columbia, you think you’ll just slum it here with me and I’ll fall back into your arms?”
He shrugs. “Not in so many words but...Dani, if I haven’t given up yet you know that means I’m not going to. Besides, I don’t see you dating anyone else since we broke up. Clearly you’re missing me too.”
“You are delusional.” Turning on my heels, I head toward the door but his voice stops me in my tracks.
“We’ve got four more years together, Danika. I’ll wear you down eventually.” The resolve in his voice is undeniable. I won’t be getting rid of him easily. I’ll just have to think of something else to do.
Luckily I’m able to avoid Nico the rest of the day by strategically placing myself on opposite sides of the room from him. He doesn’t try to speak to me again, but I feel his gaze boring into me from practically every corner of the space. I can’t go through the next four years like this. Something needs to change. Now.
The minute I enter my apartment, I collapse onto the couch with a groan. Arden sits at the dining room table pouring over a copy ofIntroduction to Statistics. I sigh loudly.