"You know what I hate?" 

"What?" Will whispered back to me. "The rain in November." He chuckled. "November rain, huh?" I nodded, turning up my nose slightly. "It's so cold, so harsh."

"November rain," he whispered again, more to himself than me.

(edited xx).

****

I brace myself, squaring my shoulders. Here I go, this procedure marks the beginning of my career as a doctor.

I push open the door to the scrub room, and almost jump out of my skin. Zeus stands at the sink, putting a scrub cap over his head and tying it. I rub the back of my neck, contemplating walking right back out of the room. He looks over, and smiles. "Junior. It's good to see you." It seems he's taken a liking to the nickname. I hope to me too... He's sort of like a magnet to me, but I wanna turn and run at the same time. 

He's young, it's obvious, but still older than me. "Hi Zeu- I mean sir,  I mean... Chief Rose." He chuckles, turning to the scrub sink. I peeped from some other interns that his name is actually 'William Rose.' Tying a mask around my neck, I join him there, scrubbing hard up with soap to my elbows. He glances over at me and I look away quickly, my heart quickening as well. Why am I so awkward? It's just he's so... dreamy. I have serious problems.

"You have something, Junior." He says aimlessly, looking out the scrub window and into the operating room. "Something?" "Talent. Real talent, I can see it in you. It's incredible, and at such a young age." I clear my throat, flushing with heat. "Thanks." "Nervous?" "Nope." He chuckles for a long time, looking at me again.

"There are two things you should no about me, Junior. One? I love rock music." That explains the hair.  

"So you like it?" I jump, looking up at him. "What?" "You said, 'That explains the hair.'" Oh crap, did I say that out loud? "Do you like it?" "Yeah, it's, um... nice." He chuckles, half smiling. "Good. People with good hair have to stick together." Again, I flush with heat. He thinks I have good hair?

"Anyways, The second thing is I hate liars. You're not a liar, are you?" "No. really. I'm not nervous." I tell him, daring to look up at his face. His eyes are shining, he's half smiling. "Well, that's good. You wanna head in?" I nod once. "Yes, chief." He rolls his eyes, surprising me. He seems playful to me, not rude or short as I expected him to be.

I follow him into the OR, where two scrub nurses gown and glove us with latex and blue sheets. The smell of sterility and medication meets my senses, along with the smell of my own premature success. Hopefully. 

He motions to the table. The patient (some old man)is already under, laid out on the table, and ready for me. Zeus nods to the table, and I walk around to the right side. The scrub nurses, positioned and ready, stare at me. Zeus stands behind me, peering over my shoulder. "Are you ready?" I nod, stretching my neck side to side. "10 blade." I tell the nurse, who reaches over to the tray of instruments.

I gaze up in the gallery, and notice how every intern seems to have packed into it to see me. They're probably rooting for my failure, but that's to be expected.

"Now. Make an incision along the-" "Not to be rude, Chief Rose..." God, why did I interrupt? I just don't want him talking down to me. "But you know what you're doing." I can hear the smile in his voice. "Yes. I do." He only shrugs. "Alright. I do have some pretty good magazines over there to read..." "I'm not stopping you."

I've already made the cut, a deep incision in the flesh. It felt... smooth. He watches carefully. "And you've already made it inside the peritoneum, and exposed the appendix." I nod. "Retractors." I move the delicate membrane out of the way. This is such a by-the-book routine procedure; I could do it 4 years ago.

He leans forward for a better view, nodding at my work. "Amazing." My cheeks catch fire as his chest slightly rests against my back, and my eyes widen. He looks down. "What?" I notice he doesn't tie back his hair. That's risky. "Nothing," I choke. "Scissors."

"Are you blushing, Junior?" "N-no." He raises an eyebrow, and I look down, refusing to meet his eyes. He called me out, and it's obviously amusing to him, by the way he barely tries to hide his smile. "The appendix is out," I stutter, lifting the small organ. It's beautiful, and takes my attention away from the doctor for a while. I hear the applause of everyone in the gallery, and smile, putting the organ in the tray. "Alright, Junior. Now, you insert the stump into the cecum and-" "Pull up simultaneously on the purse strings." I finish for him, careful not to break them.

I place everything as it was. "Well, I can close too." He finally backs up a bit, smiling a crooked smile. "Wow. I have to say, I am impressed. Good job." He ruffles my hair beneath the cap, and walks away. My eyes wide, and my mouth like cotton, I turn back to the body. "Alright, um... 4.0 silk."

After finishing up with the surgery, I head back to the locker room to change clothes again. "God, this is such a high," I energetically whisper to myself. Michael, in the locker across from me scowls. "Yeah, I don't know why anyone does drugs." He spits. I turn, frowning. "You've been rude to me all day. Just because I got the surgery doesn't give you an excuse to be unpleasant." He turns, his eyes wide and angry with frustration. "No, idiot! It's not about the surgery, or the stupid internship!" He half-yells, causing everyone to turn to see the commotion.

"Then I don't understand what your problem is," I shrug, telling him point-blank. He drops his arms, shaking his head at me like I'm the one who's shameful. "Fuck this." He mumbles after a good moment of staring at me, slamming the locker room door behind him as he stalks from the room.

I growl under my breath. Everyone stares at me. "Well?!" They all go back to their duties, as I hastily exit the locker room, and then the hospital. I can't wait to come back, get assigned to a resident, and maybe see Zeus again.

****

Jay's hand fits snug in mine, warm and sweet. His smile is even sweeter as we walk through the park in the fading light, toward the moving mass of people around the great bonfire. I apologized profusely to him for being so late, explaining the appendectomy. He was so understanding and happy for me, congratulating me on getting the first surgery. He's so kind, the complete opposite of Michael.

We approach the corner of the park area, the fire lighting everyone's faces and tinting them orange. I forget who Jay's friends are until we approach their circle, my mood immediately going south at the sight of Michael. His eyes dip down to mine and Jay's interlocked fingers, before raking back up to my face, scowling yet again.

"Hey guys." Becky smiles, she always approved of my makeover. "Woah, Princess, is that you?" "Skipper." I correct, and Carleigh only stares at me, once again touching her already perfectly manicured afro. "Yes, it's me." I finish. "Woah, you look worlds better," Angel comments, raking his eyes down me as well. His girlfriend Tania gives him a dirty look, and he shrugs.

We sit down, Jay's arm sliding over my shoulder. Everyone continues their conversations, but I find that I can't focus. Not with Michael's eyes on me, cold as ice and piercing me like a needle. "Hey, you alright?" Jay asks softly, smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine." I tell him. He smiles, his thumb brushing my cheek. "You had a little something." I hear Michael growl, but ignore him. He should focus on someone else, find another girl to torment.

I have a feeling I didn't have anything on my face, but I don't care. Jay is so sweet to me, always seeming supportive. He's never insulted me, or... told me off, tried to get in my pants, and then returned to being an asshole constantly. He seems like the perfect choice, but there's a part of me who thinks of Michael kindly, believe it or not. Also a growing part of me that thinks about Zeus. I shouldn't, I mean it's classic, the student and the teacher, but that doesn't mean I can't fantasize.

"You two are adorable," Nat teases, tossing her long hair over her shoulder as she stares at me and Jay. Jay smiles, pulling me closer to him. "I know she is." I flush, Michael gags, and Nat laughs. "Do I taste jealously, Michael?" "Oh please." He spits, but doesn't finish off the insult, studying the smog-covered night sky.

"Is that blood on your shoe?" Tania asks, and I look down. There's a red smudge on the black leather of my flats. "Oh.. yeah." "Damn, who did you kill?"

 I laugh, picking my nails. "The question is who did I save. The blood must be from my surgery earlier." Carleigh's jaw drops. "You performed surgery on someone?" I nod, smiling. "Yeah, it was pretty great," I smile. Michael scowls deeper. "Shut up."

Jay perks up. "Michael, back off." "Excuse me if I don't wanna yet again hear about the heroic tales of the 15-year-old surgeon. I don't give a fuck." He spits, and I frown at my feet. Why does he do this? "Calm down, you're just mad that you didn't get the surgery, and she's a better doctor than you are." Jay defends, and I smile. "It's ok, Jay. You don't have to." Michael stares at me.

"Sure, I have to." Jay says, and leans in, his mouth touching mine. I jump, but kiss him back, ignoring the loud squeals and reactions of everyone in the circle. His mouth is warm and genuine.  Becky, the only one who knows about me and Michael's... incident, looks back and forth between Michael and I.

Jay smiles brightly after pulling away, stroking my arm a little with his fingers. But I can't look at Jay, I can only stare back into the wide eyes of Michael. His jaw falls open slightly, his eyes wide with... hurt. Then a wall falls, metal and cold, anger radiating off of him like the heat from the fire. His face flushing, he stands quickly. He hates me! So why does he care?

"Princess Joanne Nelson." He says evenly, calmly, making the knives in his voice. "Skipper." I spit, and he growls so quietly I can barely hear it. Becky looks away, biting her lip. "Skipper." He repeats, his chest heaving. "Can I please talk to you... in private? Over there?" He nods toward the fence separating the street from the park. "What do you want?" I spit, everyone is staring.

"Just come on." He groans, stalking toward it. Jay's eyes are wide and confused now. I squeeze his hand. "This won't take long." I assure him, and sigh, walking after Michael for reasons unknown to me.

I follow him to behind a cluster of trees right near the fence. He turns to face me, his face softening. "What the hell? Right in front of me?" I take a step back. "Wait, woah. What are you talking about?" He places a hand on my shoulder, sliding down my arm to my hand. "Don't tell me you don't remember." He says, inching closer to me. Oh hell no. He's not gonna just act like an ass, and then come running back whenever he starts to feel frisky...

"Michael, stop!" "You don't want me to." He says, closing the space between us. He holds my cheek in his hand, forcing me to look up at him. My heart pounds, the desire of his touch beginning to overpower the voice in my head. He hates me, he only wants one thing, he doesn't want to know me... but his mouth is so tempting.

A breath escapes me. "Michael, what about Jay?" I squeak, and he shakes his head. "Don't think about Jay. I see the way you're looking at me." He whispers deeply, leaning into me while his arm locks around my waist. When his lips mold to mine, I want to melt into him. My body reacts to him like no other, in a way I hate and love at the same time.

The voice in my head starts to take over again, filling me with alarming thoughts. This is exactly what he wants, to get in your head, mess with you. To stop you from reaching your full potential, use you...

I push him off, and he looks confused. "Baby what's wrong?" "Don't call me that!" I yell, and he jumps. "Damn, on your fucking period or...?" I growl. "You're such a chauvinist asshole!" I snap at him, clenching my fists with anger. "Calm down." He says, his hands out in front of him.

"You don't like me! You don't wanna know me! You only want to get in my pants." His eyebrows furrow. "I don't kiss just anyone." "I don't CARE! You can't just be an asshole to me 24/7, and then expect me to want to be with you! Jay is nice, and treats me how I deserve to be treated. He's a good man, you're... nothing." "Watch it!" He yells back, and I shake my head.

"All you do is make me cry." I whimper, feeling tears pricking at me again. Damn it. He steps forward. "I never mean to make you cry." "Yes! Yes you do, it's your exact intention to do that! I'm done Michael, I'm done with you! We can't do this, ever again! I'm gonna spend my time on someone who cares about me." "I care about you." He whispers quietly.

"No! You don't. I wish you did." I let it slip, and his eyes widen. "Skip, please." "Just leave me alone. Don't talk to me." I sniff, wiping away my angry tears as I turn and stalk away.

I hope he never comes around again. I might fall apart if he does.

Another chapter! If you're reading, I love you, and always want to know what you think! Votes and Comments would mean the world :) I'm extra appreciative of the readers who have personally communicated their thoughts, thanks guys!!