at this point it seems like we've

d r i f t e d  a w a y,

but there are tides in this ocean

so i can't help but think about you

even though you won't think of me the same way.

✕

The thought of dissecting a heart—a cow's especially—was unsettling. Mae wasn't like formidable Minhee; instead, she could feel her sweaty palms through her gloves as she crossed her fingers, hoping to be in a group with Ryan, Jasper, Moni, Brooklyn, Minhee, or any of her friends. Unluckily for her, she was paired up with Michael. The only way to describe Michael was to say that he paid no attention whatsoever to anything except for her friend Molly. The hearts were placed in front of them with a sickening splash. Molly sighed tiredly while Jasper fooled around with the scissors and unbeknownst to her, Michael was standing behind her lab stool. He put her hands on her shoulders and she suddenly jumped, caught by surprise with the stool teetering. 

"Does my little curly fry wish that I was in her group?" Michael asked softly, his lips barely brushing her ear. She shuddered at his warm breath and shook her head fervently in an attempt to regain her composure. She turned around and looked him dead in the eye, gaze unwavering.

"Hey Michael? I'm not a curly fry, much less your curly fry."

"Sure you aren't. Your face is red by the way," he replied with a smirk. Her hands flew to her face instinctively, and she averted her eyes from him, hearing a giggle from Mae's direction.

"Okay lovebirds, break it up," Mae said after becoming serious again and Michael gave Molly a wink before crossing back to his side. Meanwhile, Minhee was in the background, loudly whispering "I SHIP IT!" Luckily for Molly, Ms. P called them over to watch a preparation video and that gave Molly a little more time to calm herself down. They then separated into their groups but when Jasper went back to his seat, his tray had disappeared.

"Hey Minhee!" 

"Yeah Jasper?" Minhee asked, stifling a giggle as Mae tried to focus on cutting the heart.

"Where's my heart?" he asked jokingly, "Oh wait! You stole it!" A laugh erupted throughout the laboratory; Mae let out a dry chuckle despite feeling her eyes watery. Her vision became blurry, and in seconds, the scalpel slipped from her grip and she let out a little yelp.

"Dude, what happened?" Minhee asked as Michael handed Mae a paper towel to clean up the blood. 

"I accidentally cut myself," Mae muttered and she wiped away a stray tear.

"Mae, you can't be so careless! You know that it's dangerous in the lab, especially if you're not holding the knife right. You can't become unfocused like this and cut yourself! For one, you got hurt, and another, what would happen if you weren't wearing gloves? They would've become infected or something! Pay attention to what you're doing next time!" Jasper scolded, reaching for Mae's wounded finger when she suddenly pulled away and glared at him.

"Jasper, don't worry, I'm fine," she hissed without turning back to look at him. She walked up to Ms. P, explaining the situation, and she got permission to go to the nurse's office. She put pressure on her cut, and although she wasn't hurting there anymore, she was still in pain. She went down to get a bandaid, but she was still preoccupied with her thoughts.

"Jasper, where does your heart truly lie?" she asked into the empty hallway.

hey.

so in this chapter, minhee made the scene for the moment between michaelxmolly and i wrote the rest, incorporating some plot suggestions from her as well. 

there's a lot of things that have happened lately, but as rocky as it may be, someone will pave a path eventually.

the heart was kind of repulsive at first, because the smell is HORRIBLE. if you haven't dissected anything, you wouldn't understand, but it just smells like really strong chemicals.

from this chapter, you could possibly tell how real michaelxmolly moments would be, just not this intimate. he jokingly says that they were dating and that they broke up but even if they aren't dating in real life everyone wants them to. for the most part. at least minhee and i do.

thank you for reading!

lots of love,

daze