With the exception of our water aerobics classes, or my tortured bike class while Ellie floated like a swan, I literally spent the entire day Sunday with her. While I for sure preferred we stayed busy with another activity, we studied and crammed for each of our four midterms.

Whether up close at the dining room table, at the other end of the three-seat sofa with our feet intertwined in the middle seat, or from across our small living room, the deep furrow in Ellie's forehead, the way her eyes shifted repeated over the same page, and how she tapped a pen repeatedly into her teeth all pointed to the same conclusion.

She's distracted.

While I was glad Ellie had written down how she felt to her Dad, I was disappointed when she'd crumpled up her feelings and discarded them. In a questionable move during one time Ellie was in the bathroom, I unrolled the paper, skimmed over words that pinched a tightness in my chest while I read them, snapped a quick picture on my phone, then crumpled the paper back up. At this moment, I had a feeling Ellie might've wanted those words kept, although she threw away the paper after she came out of the bathroom.

In the short-term, I supposed Ellie and I had more important worries since midterms crashed down on us the week between our parents' visits. In an almost cruel punishment, I'd rescheduled my Biotransport midterm because it conflicted with Wednesday's practice to 7am on Monday. But in a nice gesture, Ellie walked my ass to the exam.

For once, Ellie and I were largely ignored while we walked around campus. Since my thoughts swirled with formulas and definitions for all blood flow-related topics Dr. Taylor promised she put on the exam, I welcomed the silence and privacy while most students walked around in their own stressed out mindsets.

"I almost never come by here," Ellie confessed when we rounded the Drumheller Fountain. "It's nice, closer to the water."

"It is," I replied absently. My forehead tensed from more than the frown I wore but I followed Ellie's gaze. Only the center fountain was one but shot the water high upwards into the sky. The soft splattered sounds echoed in my ear until we split off the sidewalk path for my usual Monday-Wednesday-Friday destination, Foege building.

Once we passed under the silver metal bridge over the entrance for Foege, I stopped short in the empty classroom that last week Dr. Taylor had told me to report for my rescheduled exam. My face broke into a big grin when I saw that my class buddy Santanu was the other sole attendee, even if he looked as worried as I did.

"Hey Logan," Santanu greeted me with his own wide grin of flashed teeth. Just as his chest slightly lifted and mouth opened, I braced myself and wasn't disappointed when he blurted out, "Why are tertiary structures selfish? Because the amino acids are all wrapped up in themselves."

While Ellie threw me an unamused side-eyed glance, I chuckled slightly at the weird habit of jokes we'd fallen into before each class and offered, "What did the cell about to undergo mitosis say to the geneticist? I hope I have your undivided attention."

"What did the snobby metacentric say to the telocentric?" Like usual, Santanu laughed before his own punchline. "Two arms are better than one."

"Terrible," I groaned quietly and shook my head, but greeted him with a fist bump and nodded at Ellie. "Ellie, this is -"

"Hi Santanu!" she chirped out and gave him both a bright smile and small wave.

My mouth dropped open as Santanu grinned at her. "Good to see you, Ellie."

"You know each other?" I gaped between the two of them when they simultaneously nodded.

"Santanu is another tutor for the Athletic Department," Ellie offered while her smile remained. "Although he obviously does more of the science and math classes than I do."

"You are?" I lifted my eyebrows at Santanu, who just nodded. "Why didn't we study together then?"

"You never asked. Wait... She's your girlfriend?" Santanu's voice squeaked out an octave higher while he looked between me and Ellie. Right when the corners of Ellie's mouth pulled downward, he added, "Dude, Logan, she's way out of your league."

He's not wrong.

Now I scowled but thankfully Ellie released a small giggle. "Thanks. Appreciate that."

The sight of a short, thin Asian student in the doorway with round glasses on the bridge of her nose and a stack of white papers in her hands couldn't have been better timing than if she'd shown up before Santanu's dig at me. Ellie pressed a soft kiss into my cheek, whispered good luck, then smiled over her shoulder at me on her way out.

I blinked a few times, then turned my head and met the biggest grin on Santanu's face. "What?"

"Now I see why you said you were taken," he mumbled and took his seat. "Total goner but you're a lucky guy. Ellie's really nice.."

Again, not wrong.

"Thanks." I nodded at the test administrator and took the test she extended to me.

"Exam is closed-book, closed-notes," she announced and walked to the desk at the front of the class. "You have two hours, good luck."

The Biotransport midterm, like Dr. Taylor had warned us, looked brutal. She asked only six questions but all were open-ended, not one multiple choice question. My eyes skimmed over the test, which I identified the easiest questions first.

Question 1: Explain how the thickness of the cell-free layer is affected by the aggregation of red blood cells in microvessels.

Question 4: Consider blood flows in a healthy cardiovascular system. If we suddenly increase the systemic hematocrit, then the blood pressure changes to maintain flow rate. Explain how this hematocrit change affects blood pressure in the system using the theory of local flow-induced regulation.

Question 5: Draw the Pressure-Volume Loop of a normal heart, then a similar diagram after a heart attack and briefly summarize the changes.

Questions 2, 3, and 6 were more complicated, with flow diagrams and formulas, so I completed the easier questions first. Santanu and I worked silently, with only scratched pencil sounds and the soft clicks of the administrator's fingers on her laptop's keyboard broke through the silent room. Other than targeted thoughts for each answer, I briefly felt thankful I'd rescheduled this exam sooner than later.

The clock on the upper right corner of the lecture screen wall tickled down the time and I tackled the more challenging questions slowly and deliberately. When I completed the last one, I looked up and saw only ten minutes remained. While I double-checked my answers, Santanu stretched his arms overhead, then stood up and turned in his test.

He gave me a tired, thin-lipped smile, which I must have returned based on how mentally drained I felt inside. I knew I'd done pretty well since there wasn't any question I hadn't known the answer for, but one fact remained obvious.

One down, three to go.

"Brutal," Santanu confessed to me while we walked out of the building together.

"Why did you take it early?" I asked him while I pulled out my phone.

"Dr. Chen's wife is scheduled for an induction the day of his Signals and Sensors midterm, so he rescheduled that one for the same time as Biotransport," he offered with his eyes glued to the ground in front of us and fists clutched around a bulky backpack that looked like it strained his back by the way his shoulders rolled forwards "I'm glad we got this out of the way."

"My too." I sighed when my phone vibrated with several messages when we reached the exit doors.

While I ignored the first few messages since they were practice-related, one in particular caught my attention. My forehead, which already throbbed with a dull headache, scrunched up as I cupped one hand over my screen from the overhead mid-morning sunlight.

unknown: Hi Logan.
unknown: This is Gianna, Ellie's Mom. Call when you can.

While I wasn't sure how Mrs. Harrison had gotten my number, I stopped on the sidewalk, stepped onto the grass for the foot traffic behind us, then looked up at Santanu.

"Sorry, I should take this," I muttered to him. "But we're studying before the final."

"You got it," he surprised me in how he stuck out one fist, which I bumped mine against and chuckled quietly. "Your place though. Ellie makes the best snacks for the monthly tutoring meetings."

I didn't even know she had monthly meetings.

Before I asked for further details, my phone rang with an 'unknown number' that I assumed was Mrs. Harrison. So I took the call and waved at Santanu, who turned and walked back towards the quad area of campus.

"Hello?"

"Hi Logan, it's Gianna." Since a brisk wind blew off the nearby water and whistled in my ears, I cupped my free hand over my opposite ear and strained for her response.

"Mrs. Harrison?" I made my way back towards the main campus, in the direction of the fountain. My next BioEngineering exam was at noon today, so I'd planned a quick walk around campus in between or otherwise my ass would've fallen asleep.

A tired, strained voice hit my ear. "Logan sorry to bother you, I'm just calling about Ellie."

"Ellie?" My eyes squinted slightly as I threaded myself back within the stream of student sidewalk traffic. "Is she okay?"

My ear crackled with static like she'd sighed. "That's what I'm hoping you'll tell me."

"Ellie is..." I checked the time on my phone, then informed her, "Taking one of her midterms right now."

"Oh, so I have bad timing," she spoke so quietly I strained to hear.

"Yeah we crammed all weekend, so... That's why she hasn't called."

Among other reasons. Quiet stubbornness and not yet ready to talk about the main ones.

Mrs. Harrison was silent for a long time, to the point where I wondered if she'd hung up, but then she answered, "I think we both know that's not why she hasn't returned our messages. Dale's beyond upset, I've never seen him like this."

I rolled my eyes up to the blue sky with faint, wispy clouds above me.

What about Ellie's feelings?

"Give her until this weekend," I assured her. "I know she didn't mean what she said -"

"Dale doesn't think so," Mrs. Harrison's now voice sounded frantic with remorse. "I've tried reassuring him but once he's got his mind stuck, it's hard to budge. He thinks Ellie hates him."

An uncomfortable feeling crept into my stomach, probably similar to the first, blissfully ignorant sensation someone felt before quicksand pulled them under.

"Look," I started with my own sigh and tightened my free hand's fist around my backpack strap. "For Ellie's sake, I know she wants to work this out but it has to be -"

"Can you just... talk to her? Please?" Mrs. Harrison's voice turned raspy before my phone buzzed with static from her ragged breath. "Please Logan."

"I've already talked to her, convinced her to write down how she feels -" My free hand smacked over my forehead at my blurted out admission.

"Oh my gosh!" Mrs. Harrison practically squealed her response, "She did? Oh, perfect. Can Ellie send it? I asked Dale to write his feelings down as well, during the flight back. He spent a good hour staring down at a blank piece of paper and grumbled the whole time but I now have a note."

My phone chimed with another message but before I responded to Mrs. Harrison that note was Ellie's private business and, by the way she'd tossed it into the trash, I was pretty sure Ellie intended that she kept those thoughts to herself.

"I just sent Dale's note to both of you... Would you see that she gets it?"

"Sure," I mumbled and sighed quietly. "I can do that."

"Can you... Do anything else?" she pressed with an edge of desperation in her voice. "Do you have Ellie's letter? Oh, I bet you do Logan. Please, I'm so desperate here."

"Mrs. Harrison -" I started as my mouth dried slightly. "I'm not going behind Ellie's back here."

Been there, done that, crashed and burned.

I might be a slow learner but lessons learned.

"You have to know she wants to clear this shit up," Mrs. Harrison continued. "Please Logan, I don't want my family fractured like this."

"Then they really -" I started when she interrupted again, this time her voice strained and raspy.

"Logan, please," she choked out. "Two of the people I love most have been at odds for years, I just... Don't want Ellie hurt by this anymore."

Her last words stabbed right into my chest and I rubbed my free hand's palm over the T-shirt material that covered it.

I really need to talk to Ellie first.

With one movement, I pulled up the picture I'd taken of Ellie's letter. "Let me try to convince Ellie to send it, okay? That's all I can promise."

"Please Logan," Mrs. Harrison's voice pleaded with me again. "Talk to Ellie but... Please give me something I can talk to Dale with. Do it for Ellie's sake... Please."

My thumb hesitated for a moment and lingered an inch above my screen, then I sighed and hit send. The guilt that welled up inside me blocked out most of Ellie's Mom's elated response.

Don't hate me for this Ellie.

___________________________________

Q: How do you write the first line of a story?

A: The first line of the first chapter is important, or last line in the first paragraph if there is one, but even more is the first line of the blurb. That's what people see first.

I don't think I'm good at writing blurbs but try to put something eye-catching in that first sentence and the story's first sentence. I like exposition instead of dialogue for a story opener unless it's fluffed a lot. I'm a sarcastic person so I always fall back on sarcasm. 

ex: "What do you think about this one?" My best friend held up an option.

vs. "Teagan, what do think? Hot, huh?" My either blind or completely delusional best friend picked up a strappy, blood-red dress that looked like part of it lost a battle with a meat grinder and all of it had no business being stretched over my short, curvy figure.