Juan Ramon Sereno: The Wise Slave

Chapter 6: How To Cheer Up Martin

I think I’ve gotten used to the life of a Medicine student after more than a month. I could say that I seldom have problems nowadays when it comes to my studies, including Anatomy. I might have found the right way to study so I could now do it a bit more easily, but I had to leave behind some things I used to do because of this. For the last month that passed, I never touched my 3DS and I have never played with any games installed in my tablet. Wreck-It-Ralph was also the last movie I have watched since then (to be honest, I was actually unable to watch it, but entered the movie instead using my ability to enter any story I please) because I never bothered making time to watch other movies, unless our whole family comes from church and we think of watching a movie afterwards, which hasn’t happened this past month.

I had a really big improvement in judo. Toby was able to bring me down less often than before everytime we practice. I could also manage to last longer in matches with other classmates, even with those who are bigger than me and I was also able to bring one of them down, but I think that was only a fluke, since he wasn’t looking at my feet that time. In order to celebrate my one-time victory, my classmates treated me to that roasting house we always eat in after class, but I didn’t order too many things, because too much of these grilled chicken intestines would not do any good things to my health.

Two months after the beginning of classes, Andre and I managed to make Ash come eat with us one Friday noon. We went and had lunch in Rose and Ted’s because Andre loved their grilled pork, and I assumed Ash would be able to eat there even if he had packed lunch with him. He’s a fine companion, just a bit too quiet most of the time, so it’s difficult to keep up a conversation with him, but that’s okay. I tend to talk more when I’m with someone. I just need to call Andre ‘Elvis’ in front of my other classmates so they won’t find out about his true personality.

My scores during our quizzes weren’t really that high (not failing, but not very high; just borderline) in all our subjects, but I always go on a roll during laboratory sessions. We once did a frog dissection during our Physiology class and I was able to do it really fast. We also did a titration procedure in Biochemistry and our group finished first because I was able to do things really fast. Also, our Anatomy group is always the first to finish during dissections because it was extremely easy for me to make incisions. Because of this, Michelle resorted to calling me “Senpai” since she often asks me what to do in the lab. I really don’t know why she would call me that, despite the fact that she wasn’t Japanese. This was also the reason why Manuel bullies me less often these days; I know I still get on his nerves, and he wouldn’t dare ask for my help in the lab. It was hard enough for me to have this much schoolwork, so it’s an extreme relief that Manuel would go near me less often than before and I am already thankful for that.

Chuck was able to invite me out to play volleyball with him, Ice, and Mang Gido. Naturally, Chuck and Ice were teammates, so Mang Gido became my partner. I would have liked the experience if that was an ordinary game of volleyball. But no! We played volleyball with the three of us topless on the beach, in the middle of a heavy rain. From what I remember, I looked like the only one who wasn’t enjoying the game, but I was lucky that I didn’t catch a cold. I also couldn’t blame Chuck because it was Ice’s idea for us to do it while it was raining. I just didn’t show anyone I was really pissed that day, because I didn’t want to dampen their spirits because of that, but as we arrived home, I immediately locked Chuck out of our room and refused to let him enter until he apologizes. But before long, I had to let him in the room because I can hear his voice shaking violently and began to sneeze because of the long time he was soaking wet and topless, knocking on the door. That night, I had to sleep on the seventh floor again so I wouldn’t catch his fever.

If I’m not mistaken, our first shifting examination was over before I knew it. I really don’t know why, but all the exams were extremely difficult for me, even in Histology, while if I remember correctly, I pulled several all-nighters just to study for these. I also didn’t know how I survived that intense ordeal even though I never understood most of our lessons especially that lecture of Dr. Quamar’s involving the reflex arc.