"The parietal bone, occipital bone, frontal bone, maxilla, and mandible are all connected to form the skull which connects to a whole bunch of vertebra which connects to the sacrum and ribs which connect to the sternum. All of that makes up the axial skeleton. Then there’s the appendicular skeleton—"

"What are you doing?"

Mina pulled away from her book to turn around and stare at her friend, Jimmy. Then she narrowed her eyes in a glare. "I’m studying for a make-up test for anatomy."

Jimmy shrugged. “Why? You’ve never really studied before.”

She let out a huff. "Yeah, I know. That’s what got me into this problem. I need to get a high score on this test or else I’ll fail the course."

"Once again, why? You’re here for English, not science."

She slammed her book shut and resisted the urge to throw it at his head. "It’s a required course, remember? You were just griping about it last semester because you had to take calculus."

He fell back onto her bed, disrupting her neatly organized piles of books, papers, and dirty laundry. "Why don’t you just cheat? It’s easier." Then he grinned at her. "Plus, you’d be able to come to that party tonight."

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she flipped back to the pages she needed. "With my luck, I’d do something stupid and the professor would find out. So, no thanks. I’d rather just study." He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but she continued. "And I can’t go to that party if I have to study. So go away."

He threw her a faux wounded look. "Well, if that’s how you’re gonna treat me, then I will." He stood and walked out of her dorm room, muttering under his breath.

Sighing, she glanced back at the anatomy book. "Okay. Appendicular skeleton. The breastbone, AKA clavicle, is connected to the scapula which is also called the—"

"MINA!"

She jumped and turned around. In her doorway was Sarah, the girl who sat next to her in literature.

"Yes?" she asked, her tone sugary-sweet.

Sarah bounced into the room. "Can I borrow The Three Musketeers?"

Mina raised one eyebrow and asked dryly, "Where's yours?"

Sarah pushed back her bangs in a frustrated gesture. "I can't find it and I really need it to cite something for that report that's due tomorrow so—"

Mina's gaze snapped over to Sarah at the words "due tomorrow". "What report?" she asked, cutting off Sarah.

There was a flat look in Sarah's eyes. "What do you mean 'what report'? It's the one the professor has been talking about for the last month."

Mina's breath hitched. "I thought it was due next week."

Sarah let out an unladylike snort. "He changed it remember. It's due tomorrow so he can get them graded before the term's over."

Mina's head hit her desk. After a moment of silent contemplation (and staring from Sarah), she waved her hand at her bookshelf. "Go ahead and take it. It should be on the second row."

Sarah babbled her thanks as she got the book and went out of the room. Once she was gone, Mina lifted her head and gave a long sigh. "Study first, report later," she muttered as she looked back to her book. "Okay. Then there's the humerus which connects to the radius and ulna which connects to—"

Her roommate, Lucy, walked into the room, talking loudly into her cell phone. Mina sent her a dark glare but the stupid girl didn't notice. Gritting her teeth, Mina tried to concentrate, but it was futile. Her roommate just wouldn't shut up. At the end of her rope, Mina glanced around, eyes finally landing on her savior.

She tugged her CD player close, pulling the headphones on. But when she pressed the PLAY button, a little battery symbol flashed several times before it disappeared, the CD player turning off. She gaped at it and then pushed it away, frustration building. The shrill voice of her roommate finally got to her and she glanced around the room. Her gaze landed on the bathroom and an idea came to her.

Grabbing her book, she stood up and went into the bathroom, slamming the door and falling into the bathtub. A sigh left her as she looked at the diagram in the book. "The pelvis is connected to the femur which is—"

The bathroom door slammed open, making her jump and smack her knee on the hard tile of the bathroom wall. "Ow! My patella," she murmured under her breath.

In the doorway, Lucy looked hatefully down at her.

Mina flushed and unnecessarily clarified with, "My knee."

Lucy just sneered and bit out, "Get out of here."

Clambering out of the tub, Mina scowled. "Get out of here," she mocked in falsetto as she walked out of the bathroom. The door slammed behind her. She flopped onto her bed and looked back to her book. "Alright, I was at the patella and that—"

The door slammed back open and Lucy walked out, chattering on her cell phone once more. Mina's eyes widened and then narrowed into a nasty glare. Then she cracked. "Do you ever shut up?"

Lucy sent her a cool look. "Do you ever stop being a nerd? If you want me to be quiet, then why don't you just go away? I have every right to be here." To make her point, she sat down on her bed and crossed her legs, a snooty look on her face.

"Fine," Mina snapped. She grabbed her book and a sweater off her bed, pulling it on as she walked out the room and started towards the park. It might have been a bit of a walk, but once she got there and sat down on a bench, she figured it was worth it. Being a cloudy and slightly chilly day, barely anybody was there which meant it was quiet.

She flipped open her book. "Okay. The patella connects to the tibia and fibula which connects to the talus and—"

Just then a spider crawled over her hand. Her eyes widened to comical proportions as she shot up, book in hand, and took off in a run. A few minutes later she stopped, bent over, and exhaled raggedly. "I haven't run that fast since gym class in freshman year."

Breathing deeply, she stood and started over to a new bench. Then the sky decided to open up and rain. Quickly, she shoved her book underneath her sweater and then looked darkly up to the sky. "Thanks," she muttered.

She was too far to head back to the dorm but there was a little coffee shop nearby she knew she could go in and study. As she walked she started to shiver from the wind and ice-cold rain.

Once she saw the coffee shop, she ran straight into it. Then she sighed. The warm and welcoming aura was a great thing after the cold rain. She flopped down into a chair and placed her book on the table. Two seconds later, a cup of hot chocolate was set down in front of her. Without thinking about it, she curled her hands around it and sipped it slowly.

Then she looked up. Jack stood there, smiling down at her. "Like the hot cocoa?"

A flush rose to her cheeks. "Yeah. It warms my uh…" she thought for a minute. "My tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "It warms your feet?"

Her flush deepened. "No, uh, I mean, my, uh, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges."

He gave her a grin. "That's what I thought." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his work apron. "Hands are more appropriate for the sentence."

She nodded and then gulped down some hot chocolate. When she put it down, she looked at him. "How did you know that it was for feet?"

Laughing, he leaned against the table. "I'm studying to be a doctor. I have to know that."

"Oh," she said, looking away and sipping the rest of her cocoa.

He laughed again. "Yeah." He pushed away from the table and looked back at the clock on the wall. "If you give me a few minutes, I could get you some more hot cocoa." Here he swiped the mug away from her which she reached after futilely. Then he looked at her anatomy book. He nudged it with the mug and sent her a confused look.

"Studying," she supplied.

He smiled at her. "And I could help you study."

She grinned. "Really?" He nodded. "Thank you so much," she breathed. "I need all the help I can get."

"I can guess. I mean, mixing up hands and feet?" he teased her.

She swatted at him. "Yeah, yeah doctor boy. It's English for me. Now hurry up. I need to do this so I can go finish another report."