* * *
"Have you seen my keys?" Kate muffled while brushing her teeth.
It was 7.15 in the morning and we had about twenty minutes to leave the apartment or else we'd be late for our first day of med school. Ah, the excitement.
"No, Kate. I haven't. Have you checked your pockets?" She was as anxious as I was, forgetting about everything and anything.
"They're not in my pocket, I'm not dumb," she said while searching through her pockets. You could clearly hear the tickling of her keys. I just laughed at her and her stubbornness and she shot me a glare.
"Alright, let's go. Make sure you bring your brain with you." I told her while picking up my stuff, ready to leave.
"You're so funny."
"We can't be late. Move your ass." I practically pushed her through the door and closed it while Kate pressed the elevator's button.
We got there in perfect timing. And that was thanks to me, not to my beloved roommate who wouldn't even have left our home yet by now.
Cooley's university was aesthetically pleasant to anyone's eyes. It was a beautiful old European building that presented an eclectic avant-garde style.
My nerves got to me as we got inside. I would officially become a med student today, and I couldn't be more excited. I was living my dream.
As we reached the entrance we were greeted by a secretary at the information desk.
"Hello there, do you need help with your schedules?" The lady said. She looked cheerful with her black hair and brown eyes that stared at us through her cat-like glasses. She looked about fifty.
"Hey, yes that'd be really helpful, thank you." I answered while looking at my friend. She seemed mesmerized by everything in this place, being similar to a five-year-old on Christmas. The secretary was looking at her too, trying not to laugh.
"May I know your names?"
"I'm Amalia Knox and this is Katherine Henderson," I answered as the lady immediately started clicking on the computer's keyboard.
"Alright, here it is, Miss Knox," she said as she handed me a sheet of paper. "And Miss Henderson," Kate finally got off her trance and received her schedule.
"Alright, welcome to Cooley's university and have a great day you two."
"Thanks, you too." Kate spoke for the first time to the lady.
"Oh my god, Lia. We're going to have so much fun!" My friend was the only person that called me Lia. And probably the only one that I'd let do so. I honestly didn't know where that nickname had come from, but I didn't mind.
"What classes did you take?" We started comparing our schedules as we reached a garden area where all of -what seemed to be- first year students were.
We took a seat on a bench near a group of overly nervous students. They seemed to be studying. Alright, seriously? Studying fifteen minutes before the actual class starts won't help in any way. My friend laughed along with me at the sight of the tense environment those people were in.
I kept on revising my schedule and something caught my eye. "Uhm... Kate?" I scanned the paper over and over again, trying to convince myself that the information plastered on it wasn't part of my vivid sense of imagination, but a piece of complete reality. "I've gotten into the special program!" I squealed, overly-excited, deciding to finally believe the sheet of paper. "Did you?"
I basically got to be in a neuro class full of senior year medical students. Just picture it, the top of the food chain and the bottom of it mixed in one room. The only thing that caught my eye was that it didn't say who was teaching us. It was sudden, to be honest. We had been informed that a few freshmen could get the chance to get into this program about a week ago, and the submissions only lasted for approximately twenty-four hours. The university's website practically collapsed, but Kate and I managed to send our applications.
"You bitch, there were five vacant spaces for first year students and I didn't get in. How come? I'm a genius." She scowled. "Unbelievable," she stared at me in defeat and then proceeded. I knew she was trying to hide her actual sorrow under her famous sarcasm. "Anyways, who's teaching?"
Kate was indeed a genius, I couldn't figure how she didn't get in the program either. I just hoped this wouldn't bring her down or anything for the matter.
"Doesn't say, must be like a surprise or something incredibly last-minute," the group of nervous studying people seemed to be listening to our conversation because one of them looked at me.
"Didn't you hear? There's a rumor, it says that the neuro class for seniors is headed by Dr. Vennberg himself. If that's true I need to study to be prepared for his class." I assumed she got in the program too.
"Dr. Vennberg? As in the neuro-cardio god?" Kate answered, almost losing it.
"That's right. The one and only." Oh man, please. Really? Haven't I had enough already? This can't be happening, not again. I'll have to see him on a daily basis. He hates me, I hate him, what's the point? I guess he got fired and came here to teach instead of saving lives.
Then it came back to my mind: "Damn last day."
Someone please shoot me.
"So, he got fired from Cooley's hospital?" I asked, becoming curious. One of them, a guy this time, entered our conversation and answered me.
"Oh, I doubt it. I've heard that the principal, Mr. Hershel, is a close friend of the neuro-cardio god, well, more like a mentor. They said it was Vennberg's idea to come here and teach for a year. To bring up better surgeons. And since he had been mentored by Hershel himself, you could guess he had the job assured. They also say that he still works at the hospital. Part time," wait, what? The boy continued. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Jacob, nice to meet you."
"I'm Kate," she stared at me as in cue for me to say my name, but I was in shock.
"This is Amalia. And she's super screwed." Jacob stared at us in confusion and then laughed.
Thanks for the update, Kate.
This was the only chance I got to learn more and actually study to be a great doctor and I seemed to have already messed it all up. Nice.
It was about time to get into the conference room where the principal would give a few words to the new students. I already disliked the man just because he had the amazing idea of hiring Vennberg. I mean, besides the fact that I would rather jump off of a train instead of having to face Mr.grumpiness again, he's the best there is in medical surgery nowadays -well, at least everything regarding the brain and heart-, so if I were another student, I'd be delighted to be taught by him. Hell, I'd be in tears of joy thinking about how blessed I was. But I'm me. And he hates me. So I'm not enjoying the idea.
"Lia, wake up." Kate was guiding me through the crowd of new students while I was feeling sorry for myself. We got to the fancy conference room and took a seat.
"Good morning, ladies and gentleman," Dr. Hershel himself showed up behind the podium at the stage. Everyone gasped and whispered about how excited they were to finally see the principal. He is another neuro-cardio god, and took Mr.grumpiness under his wing, taught him everything he knew, and then he retired and took over the management of this university. Let's just say that most doctors-if not all-do their specialties in just one area, I mean, that's the normal thing to do. But Dr. Hershel was one of the prodigies that could specialize in two areas. Cardio and neuro. The most difficult areas. The hard-core ones. And Vennberg too, of course. But I'm not talking about him, it'll make me sick.
"I wanted to welcome you in person and say that I'm tremendously excited for your first year. Even though it's true that I'm a doctor and my specialty is biology, Cooley's university is a science faculty, meaning there are lots of different degrees you get to choose from here. I hope you chose wisely and listened to your true passion." I felt like I was in some sort of TED talk. "Here, we form professionals. The best ones. I assure you, there will be some students who'll be quitting because it will feel like it's too much. It is. That's the big obstacle. The ones who stay will be the ones with great futures ahead of them. It won't be easy, so prepare yourselves." Gee, I feel super encouraged. "I also want to mention the big collaboration of Dr. Vennberg this year. He will be teaching senior medical students and a few lucky freshmen ones about neurological procedures," here's when the rest of the students who didn't know about the awesome news started to freak out. Dr.Hershel kept on talking but I just stopped listening.
So, it was true. Deep down my heart I knew it was, but this huge percentage of me wanted to believe that this wouldn't happen. I wanted to fool myself by thinking this year-and the rest of my life-would be Vennberg free. Guess life is not a wish maker.
The principal dismissed us and told us to get to our classes. My first class, Anatomy I, was forty-five minutes in, so I'd only have half of it.
The day kept on elapsing like that. It was great, all my professors were nice and easy to handle. I've already dealt with Anatomy I, general formation, medicine & society, and math. You see? Just great. Now I had what should be my favorite class ruined by Vennberg.
I walked in the room and thankfully he wasn't there yet. Instead, the place was full of senior students looking at me like they were some kind of predators and I was their prey-and it wasn't in a good way. I recognized Jacob, the studying guy at the back of the class and there was an empty chair next to him.
As I sat down I heard the door close. "When I shut the door nobody else enters this room, I don't care about your excuses." Everyone was dead quiet, focusing completely on the man speaking. I didn't want to look up, so I stared at Jacob instead. I didn't get the chance to give him a close look before, because the news of Vennberg distracted me. So why not now? I thought it was the perfect time to take his features in. "I'm doctor Vennberg, I'll be teaching you about Neurological procedures. You'll be learning stuff like making forecasts and analyzing scans, upcoming complications, and how an actual surgery would be done. I didn't choose you, Dr. Hershel did. So if you're here, it's because of something." Jacob had dirty blonde hair and green eyes, he wore glasses and had cute freckles. He was adorable. I could already see us as good friends.
"This class has forty students right now, by the end of the semester they'll only be fifteen." The room was floated in anxiety. "Fail a test, you're out. Make me mad, you're out. Think for a split second that you're better than you are, out." Anxiety that only kept on raising. "For me? It'll be a game, a really fun one. For you? It'll be the very start, or the crappy failure of your surgical careers," I noticed that Jacob started to feel nervous under my stare-more than he already was by the scary professor, so I had to help the guy and look away only to meet my gaze with Vennberg's. His eyes were such a deep blue color that I could literally drown in them. I was hoping for a furious look or an 'are you kidding me?' one, or even for him to kick me out right away, but instead he looked amused. Amused.
He broke our eye contact and finally spoke.
"Welcome to neuro, kids."