I swallow the grape then stick my tongue out at him. He laughs and kisses me.
“Seriously,” he says. “You’re going to do great tomorrow. I know it.”
“I hope you’re right.” I rub my eyes and yawn. “Oh my God, I’m so tired. What time is it?”
“It’s one in the morning,” Matt notes, looking surprised. “Wow. I didn’t realize it was so late.”
“Damn,” I say. “I better head home.”
I drag myself out of bed, still rubbing my eyes. Matt has a concerned look on his face.
“Maybe you should spend the night here,” he suggests. “I don’t want you to fall asleep at the wheel.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assure him.
I’ve started to pull on my jeans when Matt’s arms wrap around my waist.
“Please stay, Rachel.”
Okay, so I stay. It’s not that big a deal. We take separate cars the next morning, so it’s not like anyone is going to find out. And it’s so nice to spend the night snuggled against Matt’s warm body.
Maybe it’s my imagination,but the crowd outside the anatomy lab looks even more nervous than last time.
I have a clipboard and paper to write down my answers to the practical, and I camp out outside the lab like the rest of my classmates. Just like I’m any regular student who isn’t sleeping with the professor. And just like everyone else, I’m anxious. Hell, I’m scared shitless.
Because this time, I tried. If I tried that hard and still fail, well…
“Here we are again,” Heather says, nudging me on the shoulder. “Nervous?”
I try to pass off a casual shrug. “It’s just an exam.”
“What’s with Mason?” Heather asks.
I look off in the corner, where Mason Howard is all by himself, his back pressed against the wall, staring off into the distance. Most of the class has been pulling off all-night study sessions lately, but Mason looks truly awful. His face is unshaven, his clothes are rumpled, and he has this strange, haunted look in his eyes.
Oh my God, is Mason ondrugs? He never seemed like the type to me, but the problem is rampant at our school. And he certainlylooksdrugged.
“Hey,” Heather says, “do you want to hear the latest gossip? Apparently, Sasha and Mason are hooking up. How weird is that?”
Very weird. I can’t imagine Mason hooking up with sweet, quiet little Sasha, but then again, I’m probably pretty low on the list of candidates to be hooking up with the professor. There are much, much hotter girls in the class than me.
“By the way,” Heather says, a small smile playing across her lips, “where wereyoulast night, young lady?”
My mouth goes dry.
“I… I spent the night at school, studying.”
“Whatever you say…”
Eventually, the students are herded into the lab. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this scared about a test. If I fail, that’s it—I fail. But the worst part is that if I fail, Matt will be so incredibly disappointed. He seems to believe I have it in me to be some kind of anatomy genius, and I don’t want to let him down. I don’t want him to realize the truth: I’m not all that smart.
I position myself in front of one of the cadavers and try my best to steady my hand holding the pen. I can’t believe how badly I’m shaking. I look over at Matt, who is at the front of the room. Our eyes meet, and he mouths to me, “You’ll be fine.”
And it really does make me feel better. It’s nice that he believes in me, even if he may be completely wrong.
“All right, folks,” Matt addresses the class, “you know the drill by now. Good luck to everyone, and you may begin.”
43
