Med School Chemistry - 2/? -
Posted as soon as I could as promised! Thanks for all the great coment, and especially to whitelder for the explanation of the LJ cut - let's see if I can get it right this time!
Please keep the comments coming, they mean a lot!
So, I'll cut the rambling and just leave you with the cut;
Erica had her head buried in a medical journal as she waited outside the lecture hall for the class before to finish when a cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, Erica.” She glanced up immediately to see Callie passing with a small group of her friends.
“Hi,” Erica said back, a tone of disbelief lacing her voice. Had Callie Torres just said hey to her, in broad daylight, in front of her friends? Shaking her head Erica told herself to stop over thinking it. It had been two words, and in no way did those two words justify the butterflies currently fluttering around in her stomach. Even if she did like the way Callie said her name.
“Did you just say hi to the dullest girl on campus?” one of the girls that Callie was walking with asked her.
Callie turned to her with a frown. “So what if I did?”
A couple of other girls laughed a little.
“Well I didn’t see any of you helping me out when Mike was trying to pull me up to his room after the club last Friday,” she snapped, shaking her head at them as she walked away, annoyed that they were judging Erica. As she walked ahead of them, her arms wrapped around her folder, she could hear them muttering. ‘Probably just wanted Mike for herself…’ ‘Like she would have a chance!’
Since that day, Callie had made the effort to say hi to Erica whenever she seen her, ignoring the mutterings of the girls she had formerly been hanging about with. It frustrated her that they judged Erica when they didn’t even know her. If they knew that Callie was just as much of a geek in high school would they judge her just the same? Callie didn’t doubt they would. Since the night she had had her little fright with Mike, Callie had been going out less. It was something she had kept saying she would do, and never got round to it, but that night had been a kick in the ass, making her think. She had noticed her grades had been slipping, but had kept telling herself she could catch up. The endless nights of partying, however, had meant they had slipped even further. Callie knew she was letting herself down. She had worked hard to get here, and there was no sense in throwing it all away now.
It was with that in mind that Callie turned down Claire’s invitation of hitting her big brother’s party at his frat house, and hit the library instead. She had a paper due in for Friday that she hadn’t even started, despite the fact she had known about it for over two months now. Two hours later, she was sitting with her head in her hands at the small table she had claimed. She couldn’t work the stupid library computer system for finding journals and the books she needed, which after checking the database of books available, and so knew the library had, were nowhere to be found.
Erica had been watching Callie for quite some time that day, amused that the social butterfly herself had come to rest in this dusty old place. She had watched Callie set out her things, and look ready to work…and then continued to look on amused as Callie went on to swear at the computer, then go to a shelf, then to the reference database, and then back to the shelf…four times. It was during Callie’s final round of the library that Erica finally took pity, strolling over to the vacated desk and lifting a page of Callie’s hectic notes and checking to see what she needed. Taking the list with her, she slipped behind the librarian’s desk, something which she did often and the librarian’s now didn’t question, to check the returned books section. No doubt Callie wouldn’t be the only one leaving all her work to the last minute, so the books would be quite popular, and most likely to be sitting in the returned section, seeing that after they were returned it seemed to take the librarians about a day to even think about putting them back on the shelf. Taking the one’s Callie needed, Erica quickly scanned them out under her own card and wandered back over to Callie’s desk. She put the books down beside Callie’s arm, which her head was currently buried in, her hair spilling out all over the desk. It was then that Erica noticed the earphones that Callie had in; the reason she hadn’t heard Erica. With a smirk, Erica carefully leant over the deflated form of Callie and accessed the journal database on the computer in front of her, finding the four journals that Callie had found so elusive and leaving them open on the task bar at the bottom of the page. Taking a final look at the girl she found her heart fluttering for, she smiled to herself and quietly slipped back to her own desk.
Letting out an annoyed groan Callie turned her head to the side, her eyes falling on the spine of the book next to her, and flicking over the title. How the hell? She sat up properly, realizing there were five books in a neat pile next to her, with a small note on top.
Nest time try the returned book section behind the librarian’s desk. They like to take their time putting them back out on the shelves. They’re not so slow with the fines though, so please don’t hand them in late! Erica
A slow smile spread across Callie’s features. Erica had saved her again. She glanced round for her savior, wondering how she had managed to put the books down without Callie seeing her. It was as she looked around that she noticed the change in the computer screen. Concentrating, she realised that open on the screen in front of her was the lead article she was looking to use…and that open on the taskbar were the others she had been searching for. She laughed in disbelief. How the hell had Erica managed it? Had she dozed off? The sudden change in volume in her ears gave her the explanation. She tugged the earphones out and put them on the desk, looking around for Erica. Her eyes settled on the tall blonde in the corner behind a low wall of books. Pushing out her chair, she tiptoed across the quiet room until she stood before the desk. “Hey.”
Erica looked up and smiled. “Hey. How’s the work going?”
“I think it’s going to go a lot better now!” Callie laughed, a smile lighting up her face. “Thank you, by the way.”
Erica just shrugged. “I spend enough time in here, I should know how things work!”
“Still it doesn’t mean that you had to help me,” Callie smiled. “So thank you.”
Erica felt the effects of that smile on the butterflies in her stomach. And the effects somewhere else as her eyes dropped over Callie’s curves as the beautiful latina started to walk away before finally dropping her gaze back down to the book in front of her.
“Erica?”
The blonde looked back up, no trace of the annoyance that usually met anyone who interrupted her.
“Since I came here, I’ve let my grades go big time, and I shouldn’t have. But I’m trying to change that now. I was just wondering, um, if, you know, if I get stuck again, could I come to you so that you could help me out a little bit?”
Erica had never used the word cute to describe a person, but that is exactly the word which came to mind as she took in the nervous form of Callie Torres before her, hands clasped in front of her to stop them fidgeting, eyes flitting everywhere but Erica. She tried her best, if least used, reassuring smile. “Of course. You know where to find me. If I’m not in class or here, you know where my room is.” As the words left her mouth she knew she was torturing herself, but she trusted her self control enough that she could enjoy the young woman’s company without making things too awkward.
“Great. Thanks.” Callie let out a sigh of relief, although she wasn’t quite sure what she had been nervous about. “If I want to be a great doctor I better start learning from the best now, huh?” she grinned, glad when she managed to make Erica grin too. Turning away, she strode back over to her desk with purpose, liking the familiar feeling that came over her as she settled into her work.