She just had to get through the rest of the year, do well in her exams, get a good score on her admissions test... Why did that list feel so long to her?
"I'm okay," Natalie said after another too-long pause. She attempted to smile convincingly. "I'm just tired. I've been having trouble sleeping."
"Mhm," Mr G hummed. He tapped his chin for a moment and said, "Have you been practicing for the UCAT?"
She almost groaned. Of course, he had to bring up the UCAT. That admissions test she'd been dreading for the past year. She started studying early in Year 11. Some people started in Year 10. She didn't realise until she was two months into Year 11.
That was probably the start of it all—the beginning of the end. The early signs that she didn't want to do medicine as much as she'd thought. The signs that she liked the idea of it more than what it actually entailed.
Better late than never, she figured, except she was still scoring lower than she wanted a year later. Okay, her scores weren't that bad, but nowhere near what she needed for her preferred schools.
"Good," Natalie lied. "Great even."
Mr G looked doubtful. Natalie shifted on her feet. Was she that transparent?
"I know it can be tiring. A lot of kids burn out around this time. Just make sure you're not falling behind, okay?" Mr G said.
Natalie nodded, wanting to end the conversation as soon as possible.
Mr G stared at her for a moment. She tried to relax her face. He sighed, nodding and waving his fingers, as if shooing her off to her next class. Natalie smiled, tugging her backpack higher and turning, trying not to look like she was sprinting out of his class.
"You've always been a good student Nat," Mr G called after her. "Keep it up! Just a few more months!"
A few more months sounded like too many.
In the hallway, she took a deep breath and walked into her next class, knowing she wouldn't be able to concentrate there either.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Honestly, it was Leon's fault for showing her the Golden Ring.
It wasn't far. Just a few streets away from her. She could probably walk there. The neighbourhood was pretty safe, and she knew it well.
She sat on her bed. Or really, on the edge of her bed. For the past hour, she had been inching closer and closer to her bedroom window.
It was a stupid idea.
Idiotic.
She was supposed to be studying. She'd spread out her study notes on her bed hours ago. She'd even made herself a cup of peppermint tea and put on a study playlist.
And yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him.
And worse, she knew exactly where to find him.
She kind of hated herself. She couldn't get him off her mind—a stupid boy. She had exams to think about; assignments, homework, her future. She needed to be sensible. How long had she known Leon? She couldn't throw away her dreams for him.
Except now, when she thought about med school, and the UCAT, and her exams—she wanted to just shrivel up.
And when she thought of Leon—she couldn't even describe the feeling he set alight inside of her. It was like she'd swallowed the sun whole and a fire began in her chest, spreading in warm tingles all throughout her body, but better. Better than words could describe.
YOU ARE READING
Bruised
Teen Fiction"Natalie," he repeated, her name like velvet on his tongue. He seemed to like the sound of it because he repeated it again, his voice turning low. "Natalie." Leon Hughes was a mystery masked by bruised cheeks and bleeding knuckles. He was a wraith...
