Med School Chemistry - Part 1
Our ladies meet in med school and find they have a little more in comon that it first seems...(and since the storyline is mine, Preston never had to nab that top spot!)
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or settings, only the storyline that brings them together. All work is ficticious and non-profitable.
Follow the fake cut (and hopefully) enjoy! First Fanfic so please be kind!
Erica was never the most popular of kids, even since her kindergarten days. She had always strived for perfection, and would rather not associate with those who didn’t have similar goals in mind, whether that was creating the perfect playdough cat, or writing an A-star medical paper. Her isolation was something she had come to accept, relish now, even. She did have a few admirers, those who admired her brains, and those who had noticed her pleasing curves. Erica, however, had no time for the latter. Relationships, socializing, partying, was something she never dedicated any time to. Her schedule of research, revision and work left her no time anyway.
But having no time didn’t mean she didn’t notice some of the other med school students who did make time. And one in particular who had come to her attention recently, was new kid on the block Callie Torres. The confident latina had barely even begun med school, but she had already made her mark, known by many as the tequila queen, she could party all night and still be in seminars the next day. Erica, however, doubted she did anything but sleep in these after such a night. There was a part of Erica, however, that was slightly jealous of Callie Torres. She had been here years, and hardly anyone apart from her tutors knew her name. Callie Torres had been here a couple of months and half of the school knew her by name, asked her to lunch, wanted to take her out dancing, or to dinner. In short, Erica envied that she could so quickly become loved among her peers, envied the social skills that let her slip into any circle of friends. She also had the money to make people like her, always throwing parties, getting to know even more people. And, Erica didn’t fail to notice, she was gorgeous too.
This last fact, Erica found, was not something that she was jealous of, but something she found incredibly attractive in Callie. As time went on, she would often find herself distracted from her studies as she heard Callie laugh in the courtyard below her room, and would pause to watch her for a while, taking in her curves, her hair, her smile…before forcing herself to concentrate on her work again.
She would always watch her from afar, never approaching her, after all, why would the new cool kid even want to talk to the geek in her final year? It wasn’t until she found herself faced with no real choice, that she even came within a hundred yards of Callie Torres.
She had been coming back from another late night in the medical library, tired and sore from a whole day spent with her head craned over textbooks. The last thing she wanted to have to deal with was a domestic on the doorstep of her building. She heard the shouts, and it took her a few minutes to even identify the voice as Callie’s, despite the number of times she had heard the sound of it float in her window. Picking up her pace a little she saw Mike, a guy she recognized as living in her building shouting at Callie, and moving towards her, in what Erica could only think was a rather threatening manner, arms raised. Without thinking, Erica stepped forward. “Hey! Hey! Mike, what the hell are you doing?”
“Ask little miss fucking promiscuous here,” he shouted, unnecessarily loud considering Erica only stood a couple of feet away from him.
“Mike, give it up, okay?” She turned to glance at Callie, who looked thoroughly ashamed and still a little scared. “Obviously nothing is happening here. You’ve just had a bit too much to drink and-“
She was cut off as she wrenched open the door to the building “Oh just because you’re a boring little bitch who only comes out of her room to go to classes or the damn library!” And with that, he slammed the door.
“Thanks for that, Mike,” she mumbled. “You big egotistic asshole!”
“I’m sorry about that.” The quiet voice behind her startled her a little. The sting of Mike’s comment had made her forget Callie was even there for a moment.
Erica shrugged. “It happens, it’s okay.”
“No, I am sorry. That didn’t need to happen. It was my fault,” Callie sniffled, tears making tracks down her face. “I asked him to walk me home, he said this way would be quicker, and then he was trying to take me inside. I really only meant for him to walk me home. I hate walking home on my own,” she cried.
Erica’s experience, or rather lack of it, left her lost at what to do at this stage, and she hated herself for it. Callie, however, failed to notice her awkwardness, suddenly hugging her. “Thank you for what you did.”
“It, it was nothing…” Erica replied quietly, letting herself hug Callie back rather than remaining rigid. This close, she could smell Callie’s perfume, feel her warmth through the thin dress she wore…and knew her fascination with watching Callie had become more than that. The thoughts she had tried to suppress for weeks coming to the forefront of her mind. She liked Callie Torres. She liked Callie Torres a lot. She liked Callie Torres too much…
Then Callie pulled back, a bashful smile on her face. “No, I mean it. Thank you. And I am sorry it happened. Well, I guess I better be getting home.” She turned to go.
“No, Callie, wait,” Erica called after her.
Callie paused, turning. “How do you know my name?” she smiled.
“Is there anyone who doesn’t?” asked Erica, eyebrow raised. Then she softened her expression as she saw Callie’s face drop a little. “I’ll walk you home.”
“No, I can’t ask you to do that,” Callie quickly objected.
“You’re not asking, I’m offering,” Erica countered. “Look, I don’t mind walking home myself, I’m used to it, okay? No one takes the time to bother me.” She paused for a moment, trying to figure out of this was a good or a bad thing. “Just let me dump this,” she gestured to her book bag.
Callie smiled. “Thank you.”
“You want to come up while I dump this? Save you freezing your ass off down here,” Erica offered, opening the door and holding it open.
Callie quickly stepped inside, following Erica as she took the stairs. “I just thought, I don’t even know your name.”
“Erica,” Erica said over her shoulder. “Erica Hahn.”
“You’re Erica Hahn?” Callie asked almost immediately. “You’re the girl with the top grades in every exam and marked paper?”
Erica stopped at her door and turned to face Callie, a quizzical look on her face.
“Sorry, um, when I was looking to see what med school to go to I was looking up which had the best grades, academic achievements and stuff, and well, your name came up quite a few times.” Callie was blushing as she finished.
Erica was surprised at Callie’s explanation. She had never taken Callie as the sort of person to have put so much thought into her career. “I’ll, er just be a minute.”
“Oooh, could I be a bit more of a nuisance than I already am?” Callie asked. “Could I use your bathroom?”
“Sure,” Erica opened the door and allowed Callie in after her.
“Wow, this place is tidy,” Callie breathed as she entered. “My place looks like a landfill site compared to this.”
Erica smiled, trying to hide the fact that she was slightly embarrassed at her anally tidy bedroom. “The bathroom’s just through there.”
Callie nodded and went through the door Erica pointed to. Erica meanwhile sat on the edge of her bed, her head resting in her hands as she silently asked herself what the hell she was doing. She was attracted to Callie Torres, a woman, but that wasn’t the part that bothered her. The part that bothered her was that she was attracted to a girl, a very straight girl from what she had heard, who was way out of her league anyway. She quickly straightened herself out when she heard the bathroom door open again and Callie stepped out, having fixed her marred make-up now, and looking quite literally breathtaking.
“You ready?” Erica asked, pushing herself up.
Callie nodded, already moving towards the door.
“Do you not want a coat or something?” Erica asked as her eyes trailed over Callie in her dress. Logic told her it was to save Callie getting cold, while her growing lust told her it was to cover Callie up and save her eyes the temptation of too much exposed skin.
Callie paused and turned. “You’re already walking me home, you don’t need me stealing a coat too.”
“You’ll freeze.”
“Fine, you mind if I borrow this?” Callie pointed to Erica’s favourite turquoise blue John Hopkin’s hoody.
“Course not,” Erica smiled, her mind already taking very inappropriate roots, telling her how amazing that hoody would smell next time she put it on.
The walk to Callie’s wasn’t long, and more importantly for Erica, it wasn’t awkward. Callie seemed to either not care or not have noticed how socially awkward Erica was. They talked, firstly Callie clearing up the fact that she wasn’t drunk, explaining that she had only had a couple of drinks. She had only wanted to dance that night, she said, again sending Erica’s mind to places she would rather it didn’t go. Then they talked mostly about why they had come to medical school, both discovering that they had something in common here. Neither of them had been pushed into by their parents, rather the opposite, but both had their heart set on it. Callie had then asked Erica about how the course went on, what she could expect. It was only on arriving at Callie’s door, a keycard entry to a penthouse studio apartment, that the conversation ended.
“I would invite you in, but like I said, it is a landfill and if I can get the door open enough to let me in it’ll be a miracle!” Callie laughed.
“It’s late, I would need to go anyway,” Erica said, finding herself smiling back.
“Thank you, again,” smiled Callie. “I really do appreciate this.”
Erica nodded. “It was no problem.” She turned to go, not wanting things to get awkward with hugs and people not knowing what to say.
“Oh, Erica!”
She turned back.
“I almost forgot, your hoody.” Callie stripped off the garment, handing it over to Erica, who held it as if it was something precious now. “Well, I better let you go. I’ve already messed up your night as it is. Night, Erica,” she smiled, taking the steps to her building two at a time.
Squeezing through her apartment door, Callie took a moment to herself on the other side. She quickly ran through the events of the night in her head. It had started off well, but she kicked herself for being so naïve about Mike. Only wanting to walk her home, yeah right. And then her mind turned to Erica, who had rescued her from what could have been an even uglier situation. She had never met Erica Hahn before, only heard about her from other students, who never seemed to have a nice word to say about her, always calling her cold, and dull. But now that she had met her, she had to think that maybe they were wrong. She even kind of admired her. It was an awesome achievement for one student to hold all the top grades, and that her social life suffered for it was no surprise. Although she hadn’t admitted it to anyone here, Callie knew how that felt. All through high school, she had been the geek, trying so hard to get the grades she needed to make it to med school. The party animal she had turned into had been more out of a desperate effort to fit in, and to feel like she belonged here than anything else. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the partying, she did. It was a welcome change, but sometimes she would look at herself in the mirror and wonder how it had happened.
Erica had used to walk home to try and clear her head, but she failed miserably as thoughts of Callie pervaded her mind. She just couldn’t shut out the mental images; Callie stepping out of her bathroom looking stunning; the colour of her caramel skin against the turquoise of her hoody; the bashful smile on her face when she explained how she knew who Erica was. Finally slipping into her own room, she let herself fall back on the bed, still clutching her hoody. She lifted the garment to her nose, inhaling the sweet, spicy scent that was Callie Torres. Staring at up at the ceiling, Erica thought that she should be more bothered by the fact that she was attracted to a woman, but somehow it was more of a relief.