Before the sleep

Chapter ten

Daddy

If any man declared themselves happier than I was right now, I would straight up laugh to their faces. That concept was just that impossible. My happiness had left the sky and joined Buzz Lightyear in the infinity. I was like a young bird leaving the nest for the first time, a little apprehensive of this new territory but nothing will ever make me go back to the old days.

I had tasted the sweet, intoxicating flavor of love. What could possibly be better than that? Irene loved me. The love of my life had decided to synchronize her life with mine. A simple kiss, that's what it took to let our mutual love flourish.

I was walking on clouds, drinking milk and honey from the Promised Land. Dear Lord, with Irene in my arms I felt like I was able to slam down the Great Wall of China with my pinkie. She pulled me up from the shadows and made me a god. With her by my side I was capable of anything and everything – as long as it would make her happy. She was mine and I was hers.

The night of our first date, I went to sleep happier than a captive fish after being set back in the ocean to drown. My mind kept replaying that kiss. The way it felt, the way she clanged to me. I didn't want to leave, I didn't want it to stop. I spent a good five minute nibbling on her lips and just inhaling her delicious scent after we had say goodnight.

It didn't seem like we could spend too much time apart. Right now, she was sitting crossed legged on my bed with a calculus book and notes sprawled between us. That was the one of the two good outcomes about being on a pre-med track – more time to spend with Irene since we have to take many similar classes. The other one was making my mother proud. I could do without everything else. I didn't want anything else it brought but it was better than the unsure future acting provided.

"I don't get this," Irene grunted before slumping back on the bed. Her beautiful brown hair extended on the bed, the tip lightly brushing my calves.

I chuckled, "You've said that four times already for the past fifteen minutes."

"That's because I really don't get it. I don't even get why we have to learn calculus for medical school."

I moved a little lower to reach her cheeks. I ran my knuckles on them, feeling the soft skin give in under the slight pressure. "They just want to make sure that whoever gets in is smart enough to handle the heat they will bring."

"I'd rather spend my time emptying my brain to make enough space for all the information I'm sure they're going to dump on us."

She groaned before turning back to the textbook. It was always like that, she would talk and talk about the impossibility of all the work that's expected from us but she will end up doing it to perfection in plenty of times. She had what I was lacking – the passion for the field.

Medical school was just a mean to an end to me. It was something I needed to pursue not something I wanted to pursue. I wished I was like Irene, in love with my career choice. We haven't even finished freshman year and she's already worried about the MCAT. Creases would appear in her forehead when she couldn't figure something out.

I did the work but that was all. I didn't care much about the information I was accumulating, I just cared about what they represented to me.

Irene groaned once more before letting her head fall on top of the textbook. "I hate calculus," she muffled on the pages.

I laid on my elbows right next to her. "We've been studying for two hours now, I think we've earned a break."

She giggled before lifting her head to look at me. She moved her head onto one hand and used the other one to push her hair back. "You've said that five times for the past two hours. Your breaks always involve the same thing."