Page 109 of Dead Med

Is that so?

“Oh?” I say politely.

Please tell me more about Sienna, will you?

“You should probably know,” Mrs. Howard continues, looking straight into my eyes, “that before Sienna left for Paris, Mason gave her a ring.”

My jaw drops open. I try to hide my reaction because I hate to give Mrs. Howard the satisfaction, but she can tell I’m upset. And the thing is, I don’t even know why. I’m not Mason’s girlfriend. I don’t want to be his girlfriend. What do I care that he gave some other girl a ring?

Except maybe I do care after all.

Damn it.

After the “tour” of the house is over, I find Mason sitting at the dining room table. He’s staring down at the place mat, a glazed look in his eyes. For a moment, I remember all those dopamine capsules I’ve been slipping him and wonder if they could be having any effect. Probably not. He’s probably just tired from lack of sleep.

I slide into the seat beside him. “Hey.”

He startles, even though I’m sure he must have heard me come into the room. For a moment, he looks at me like he has no idea who I am. Then he shakes his head as if to clear it and offers me an uneven smile.

“Hi,” he says.

“I saw your old room,” I say.

“Yeah?” Mason grins. “God, I haven’t been in there in… a while, I guess. Hey, did you see if my Green Day poster is still on the wall?”

“Um, I don’t remember,” I say, “but I did see the picture of Sienna.”

Why did I say that? Oh well, too late to take it back now.

“Who?”

Okay, he doesn’t know who she is. That’s a good sign.

“That girl in the picture from Switzerland,” I remind him.

“Oh, her.” He rolls his eyes. “Christ, is that photo still on the shelf? I think my mother is in love with her.”

“Your mother says you gave her a ring…” I study his face, watching his reaction.

“Sienna and I broke up before college ended.” He lifts a shoulder. “I never gave her a ring.”

“Oh.”

But before I have a chance to be relieved, he narrows his eyes. “But so what if I did? What’s the difference to you?”

Mason has never spoken to me that way before, and it feels like a slap in the face. Maybe I’m not his girlfriend, but he’s always at least treated me with respect. This is the first time he has ever made me feel like he’s just using me for sex.

And when I look into his eyes, I realize even that part of our relationship is over for good.

83

I have a reallygood feeling after the second anatomy exam. During the anatomy practical, I felt confident of my answers for nearly all of the pins, and the written part of the exam was like a walk in the park. I aced it.

Of course, no matter how well I do, it seems like Mason is just always a little bit better than me. When the scores are posted, I fully expect to see his number at the top of the list, just like always.

The scores are posted outside the anatomy lab, and I go to check them right before going to the lab. There’s a small crowd of students looking at their scores, and I slide past them to get a closer view of the list. I look up and find my score on the exam: Ninety-four.

Ninety-four. Okay, it could be better. I’m slightly disappointed. But it’s still a good grade—an honors-level grade.