That night I barely slept. My mind found it hard to wrap around the whole thing that happened that day. It was just like a movie. Funny how I was the bad guy in that movie. A part of me was saying what I did to Lily was despicable. This part of me wasn't ready to let Lily go. It still yearned for her. But another part of me just didn't care. It was as if Lily didn't exist in it. All it wanted was to have Tasha by itself. All most the whole night I spent thinking, trying to figure out what I actually wanted but failed to reach a conclusion. I guess this is the hardest part in a young man's life, not knowing what your heart actually want and you're just torn between two options. Both of which seems perfect. But all in all, I knew I was in hot pepper soup because the two girls were now angry with me.
I don't know the time I was hijacked by sleep, but I was woken up the next morning by my ringing phone. Someone was calling. I groaned on my bed, I was still sleepy. I just stretched my hand and picked the phone. I placed my index finger on the fingerprint sensor and placed it on my ear without even looking who the caller was.
"Hey bro, where are you?" It was Mike. I didn't know what he was calling very early that morning. He was my best friend, and we could talk for hours. But that day his timing was very poor, because first I was stressed and second my eyes could barely open because of sleep
"Ooh fuck Mike, it's still seven for fucks sake, I'm still trying to sleep." I complained and I could hear Mike laughing on the other side of the line.
"Dude! You're trying to sleep and the test is about to begin in ten minutes."
"What….?" That statement alone was enough to flood my system with adrenaline. I didn't even bother to listen to whatever else Mike had to say to me. I dropped my phone on the bed and jumped down. Bathing wasn't an option and definitely I could survive two hours without eating so it took me a few minutes before I was ready. I and my pen, but for the content that was another story. I had completely forgotten about this anatomy test completely. After putting on my long sleeve shirt which seemed like it had been chewed by a cow, I was ready. I picked my phone and stomped out of the house, almost forgetting to lock the door.
"Eat well bro, you're going to need that energy for what's waiting. The lecturer has said the test takes three hours." that was a text sent by Mike after the call. I knew I was in trouble, but doing the test and scoring nothing was better than securing an incomplete. I knew what a mere random test being gifted three whole hours meant, but I was ready to face it. I was ready to pay the price for my ignorance.
I was late. The door to the lecture hall was already closed. But I didn't have any other option. If it were a normal lecture, I wouldn't even have bothered getting out of my warm blankets.
I pushed the door and entered. I could see the way heads bent and gazed at me. And of course the silent murmurs didn't escape my ears too. But I ignored them. Or at least I didn't have a clear picture of what was going on. I proceeded to the back and was about to sit down when the lecturer called me. At first I didn't know she was talking to me, but when all the gazes turned to my direction it was kind of hard to ignore that.
"Hey, Mr. lover boy. Noble men don't sit at the back during important gatherings like these. Please, just come and sit in front so that your fellow students can look up to you." I could feel the irony in her voice. And the hard cracks of laughter from my fellow doctors to be affirmed it. But I was not in the mood for any talks. I was only there for the paper, to answer whatever I knew and get the hell out of there. That Madam never liked me anyway from the beginning. The scandal just gave her more reasons to hate me but I didn't care. I was there to win my medical degree and not to win other people's favors. Honestly I didn't care if they hate me or loved me. That was none of my business.
My heart was beating very first and my palms were sweaty. Honestly I said I was ready to face the consequences, but that was only a word from the mouth. It was easy to say than to face it. As I sat there on the chair in front, I knew that in that paper I wasn't counting anything. As the paper was laid on my desk my fears were confirmed.
"Three hours?" even though I had seen Mike's text, I just found it hard to believe. Three hours! what would I be doing in that room the whole three hours. Staring at the ceiling? Counting the number of tiles on the floor? For what? I didn't have that much of content for fuck's sake.
I flipped through the pages trying to find something I could attempt at least to be a little different from those who wouldn't do it completely. Luckily my ancestors didn't abandon me completely. At least I could remember something even if they were just rumors, they were better than nothing. It was this point where I didn't mind settling for anything. But that didn't last long because after answering a few questions the rest that remained I couldn't remember anything.
Cold sweat trickled down from my face to my armpits. I had to remove the sweater I was wearing because the heat of the test had become unbearable. Everyone was busy writing. Only the sound of pens dancing on papers could be heard. And maybe the sound of my heartbeat to the guy that was sitting beside me. He was busy writing too. He saw me scooping my sweat on my face with my index finger and only smiled before turning back to his paper. It seemed like I was the only who didn't know what I was doing in that hall. I felt out of place and before I knew it I was raising my hand.
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"Excuse me madam, I… I have finished." The lecturer didn't say anything. She just approached me and took the paper and started scrutinizing my answers, the worst thing I ever wanted.
"You haven't finished yet. There's still a lot of questions you haven't answered. You still have two hours."
"What…"
"What, what? Your head is full of pickup lines but when it comes to anatomy concepts is where you draw the line. You can write your favorite love story if you don't know what to write. You're not going to leave here till the time for the test is over."
I was pissed. I wanted to pounce on this woman and dislocate her old bones. But I knew that would only invite more troubles, so instead I laid my head on my desk and decided to wait till the times is over.