The Verdict from Hell

1- Back When Things Were Normal

"Honestly mate, you're really quite an idiot. But I'm sure chicks would dig the whole blonde-hair thing you've got going on. You could be in Hollywood or something! Bollywood, even! Yeah, I'm sure people would just bloody lick that up. Anywhere really, mate, just not fucking med-school! I'm telling ya, follow my advice and just get on the next plane to Los Angeles..."

Charles Montgomery tried his hardest to ignore the idiot in front of him, but it was really quite difficult, seeing as from time to time little spit bombs from the twat's mouth would fly out and land on Charles, speckling his face and arms in a disgusting, unhygienic pattern. How hard would it be to shut him up, Charles wondered. He looked down at his spindly arms, subtly forming a fist....No, even if he wasn't shaped like a twig Charles was positive he would never get the guts up to actually hit the bloke in front of him.

"I mean, yeah your forehead is kinda on the large side, and damn you could really use some Proactiv, but hey, it's not anything a couple hundred layers of make-up couldn't fix. What do chicks call it? Foundation? If I'm being honest mate, it sounds like the name of some tacky condom or some shit, but I really hear it does the job. Oh, and talking about condoms..."

 The idiot was still rattling his mouth off, and all in all Charles wasn't really sure why. It wasn't like Josh Morton, aforementioned idiot, looked like a stereotypical doctor either, with his overly bulging arms and snorting laughter. If Charles had been more of a twat, he would have made some smart-ass comment about how Josh must have lost the majority of his brain cells when he was slammed in the head playing rugby, but as it was, Charles just pushed past the man and headed to his seat in the back corner of the lecture hall, ignoring Josh's call of, "Hey! Where are you going, mate?" Making his way through the mingling clumps of students, Charles barely had the chance to sit down before he heard the echoing clacks of the professor's heels as she made her way into the room.

"Good morning, class! Today we will be discussing something utterly fascinating- the function of the kidney! I suggest everyone take quality notes on the lecture today; the majority of your exam next week will be based off of this topic." Professor Spidine's voice was high pitched and, according to Charles, much too excited for another day of discussing body parts.

He inwardly groaned. Another exam? He'd barely passed the last one. In fact, he could barely remember having passed any exam this entire year....Yes, now that he thought about it, he was positive he had failed at least ninety percent of all the exams he'd written throughout med-school. What was he to do, though? He had always been the type to only study if he found something interesting, and so far medical school seemed the exact opposite of interesting. There was genetics, and biochemistry, and oh god the class he was sitting in now was the worst of them all,-

"Mr. Montgomery! How many times do I need to call your name before you'll bother to respond to my question? I'm not going to ask you again. Will you kindly inform the rest of the class about the function of the sympathetic nerve, or do I need to ask a student that was actually blessed with some degree of intelligence?"

Charles opened his mouth, a thousand witty retorts on the tip of his tongue, but before he could let out more than a stuttering of, "..I...I-," the professor shook her head of perfectly set curls and called on another student. Charles shrunk back in his seat, his face a wild shade of red, he was sure, and mumbled so only he could hear that he actually knew the answer to her question.

To ease the blinding pain of academia, Charles let his mind wander to Josh Morton's earlier comments. He wasn't even quite sure why they had angered him. It wasn't like Josh had said anything mean, really. The man was just a bit of a twat, annoying and a pain in the arse, but nothing Charles hadn't dealt with before. In fact, in an odd sort of way Josh had almost been complimenting him, telling him he had a pretty face or something. The problem was, Josh's comments struck a cord in Charles because they hit upon Charles' greatest worry- he didn't think he was good enough for medical school either. For perhaps the millionth time that year, Charles asked himself again why he put himself through this while he knew he had not the slightest desire to be a doctor. There was not a profession he dreaded more- the idea of spending every day in a lab coat, doing surgeries, or perhaps taking x-rays or performing check-ups...Charles shuddered at the thought. This had never been his dream, but Charles thought of his mother once again, sat up in his chair, and vowed to try and pay attention.

~

"As you've all learned today, the kidneys really are one of the most fascinating organs in the human body! Class is dismissed for today, but I expect to see you all bright and early Wednesday morning. Charles Montgomery, that includes you!" Charles once again turned a deep shade of red, causing every girl close enough to see his face to giggle like they were watching a re-run of Friends. He grabbed his notebook that was as blank as the day he bought it, shoved it into his backpack, and rushed out of the class to the sound of Josh yelling, "Hey, mate, wait up!" Rather, Charles did quite the opposite, speed-walking until he finally came to the front door of the Anatomy building, rushing to pull the glass door open, and making his way outside before he could be caught up in the swarm of students behind him. He muttered a muffled curse when he realized that in his haste he'd walked right into a blinding sheet of rain. He briefly turned back to the door, but seeing the hundreds of students on the other side, he decided he would much rather face the storm. Pulling the hood up on his sweatshirt, he jogged off at a brisk pace towards home.

Home. What a perfect word. After all, home was where Allie was, and there wasn't a more perfect person in this world. Charles smiled at the thought of her, her dark-brown hair that fell in waves down her cocoa-colored skin, skin that housed the most beautiful heart Charles had ever known. He thought of her tinkling laugh and her sweet personality, and by the time Charles was making his way up the stairs to the tiny home they shared at the edge of university grounds, Charles couldn't keep the smile off his face. Before he could even get his key out to open the door, she had opened it, proving once again that they had some kind of unexplainable connection. She ran into his arms, though it had only been hours since they had last seen each other. There they stood, a blonde-haired man with a too-big forehead embracing a dark-skinned girl on the steps of a pale yellow home, both soaking wet as the rain came pouring down, back when things were normal.

AN:

Hello, wonderful readers! Welcome to my first (hopefully) full-length novel... Honestly, it's pretty freaking terrifying to actually try and write a full novel! Definitely gaining a whole lot of respect for some of the amazinggg authors on this site! <3 Anyway, if you liked this, please leave a comment or vote, it would be amazing to get some input! As always, constructive criticism is also appreciated (: Hopefully I'll get the next chapter of this out soon, but omg I'm so unreliable with writing...

Stay beautiful, stay strong, and love always!

 Phoenix <3