The Beautiful Monster

Alyssa didn't know what she would do if he actually started talking to her. Though, she doubted that he would want to in the first place. Who wanted to be friends with that awkward girl? If he talked to her, he would probably just ask for an answer to a question or a pen. Even the thought of that made her heart race, which was sad.

"Hey, here's my number. Feel free to text me when you want to head to the mall," Zoe said, breaking through Alyssa's thoughts. She placed a torn piece of notebook paper on Alyssa's writing table attached to her seat.

Alyssa was even more shocked at the realization that Zoe was actually serious about shopping together. So many people "made plans" and never acted on them. They made mock plans merely to be kind, but it seemed like Zoe was actually very genuine.

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks," Alyssa told her. She meant her gratitude. She would say more, but she didn't want to come off that desperate. The last thing that she wanted to do was scare Zoe away.

"So, what's your major? Do you even need this class?" Zoe asked as she leaned back in her seat.

"Biological sciences. It's just an elective. What about you?" Alyssa replied. It didn't seem like Zoe was all that interested in the class, so she guessed that this was an elective for Zoe too. For most people, it was, unless they were psychology majors.

"Journalism! I'm nosy," Zoe laughed out.

A laugh broke from Alyssa. That felt good. She hadn't had such a good conversation with someone in a while.

"But you can get paid for being nosy now," Alyssa pointed out. She couldn't imagine being a journalist and having to ask so many questions to so many people.

She knew that she would have to talk a lot as a pediatrician, but her patients would be children. They weren't intimidating to be around, and she wanted to help them. Her drive to do that overtook her fear of socializing. Plus, she figured she'd get over her awkwardness by then.

"Isn't that awesome? What do you hope to be paid for?" Zoe asked as she nudged Alyssa.

"Saving kids' lives," Alyssa replied with a smile. It felt good to say that. She hoped that she'd be able to do that. Most of the time, it wouldn't be dire situations, but maybe she could diagnose something important just in time and save that kid's life.

"Dude, that makes mine look so lame! You're going to be a doctor?" Zoe asked.

Alyssa nodded. When she told her parents that she was going to school to be a doctor, they might as well have laughed in her face. They doubted that she was going to be able to actually make it through college, but she was determined to prove them wrong. She would prove everyone wrong.

"I want to make a difference, you know? You can too," Alyssa replied. Zoe's work was important. She informed the public, and there was nothing more important than information.

"You're right," Zoe said. She perked up.

"Alright, let's regroup and have a discussion," Dr. Pierce announced.

"I'm just going to sit here if that's okay," Zoe told Alyssa as she motioned to the seat that she took.

"Of course," Alyssa replied immediately. In case there were any other group assignments or discussions, she could pair with Zoe again instead of some stranger. Having a friend would drastically improve her semester, which was threatening to kill her already.

However, she knew that as long as her motivations were stronger than her exhaustion and fear, she would be okay. Every positive thing, even if it was small, gave her a little more motivation to tackle the hardships ahead. She just had no idea about how bad they would be.