On Monday I woke up determined to make that day a turning point in my project. As I was in a don't-even-try-to-stop me mood, I run down the High Street to buy Ben's Cookies and coffee for breakfast. The sun was shining. I lifted my head to look at the spires of Christ Church, and I almost started to twirl as I had on Saturday. Oxford was majestic; that was the word that described it best. The blanched beige buildings, glistening in the uncommon late October sun that morning, had hosted people whose thoughts had been colourful rainbows, and that contradiction inspired me.

I was very surprised at my sudden urge to make the most of my life, even if Nora wasn't a part of it. I couldn't understand how my head had managed to kind of erase the grey blur that had gotten over it a year before. I deduced that, over the weekend, without even realizing it was happening, I had come to the conclusion that the best I could do for Nora was not letting myself die as well. We had always had lots of goals and plans for our lives. We had decided we would be successful and independent women; shiny and unstoppable. She surely would become infuriated if I didn't do those fascinating things, having the opportunity to do so.

Adrift in my thoughts, I lost track of time and had to eat the cookies on my way to the first lecture. I found Alex going over her notes, back at the first row.

"Hey! What are you reading?"

"Hey, Tess." she said, and she made the exception of looking up from what she was doing to greet me. "You look good!"

"Thanks! I feel good. Is that the start to your project?"

"Yes, it's not too juicy."

I couldn't help but smile at the adjective she had chosen, as if she was referring to a piece of gossip from the weekend. Only at medical school were we so embarked in our studies that we described them using tabloid words.

"I'm looking into the risks of the combination of depressants and muscle relaxants." she continued, ignoring my grin.

My first thought was that she couldn't have chosen a more tedious topic. My second thought was that it made me feel profoundly satisfied that she hadn't.

"Nice." I lied. "I'd title it "Perfect Party Mixture"."

Both of us chuckled as our Pharmacology professor started to talk about anxiolytics.

"What about you?"

Part of me wanted to tell her, to ask her what she knew about the time bomb, because she was Walking Wikipedia, and because I loved talking about the things I was enthusiastic about. Not being able to talk about it with Africa was unbearable enough, so having to ban the subject in class too was torture.

However, another part of me, probably the wisest, advised me not to hand my idea over to her. It wouldn't be the first time she robbed from me intellectually, and was handed Honors Awards due to the improved version of my work.

I pretended not to hear her, and started turning my laptop on.

"Cancer, right? But which part of it, specifically?"

She was tireless. I would have to tell her, sooner or later. That, and the fact that I was aching to talk about it to her, made me call a truce at our ongoing fight for the first position in the class ranking.

"Telomeres. I'm going to try to prevent them from shortening by using telomerase. I want to see if that is enough to keep DNA from mutating, and if an unchanged DNA stops cells from aging and developing cancer."

I could see in her surprised face that her first thoughts had been opposite to mine. She had realized her work was crap, and now she craved for mine. That made me proud, but also made me regret I had told her.

"Wow. It's..." she started, flabbergasted.

I could tell the expressions that followed those words in her head were "astonishing", "genius", "the fucking best I've ever heard".

"It's... good."

But, of course, she would never admit that to me.

"Do you know anything about it?"

I knew she did, but she rapidly answered:

"No, not at all. But it's an interesting subject."

We stayed silent for most of the lecture. When I had already almost forgotten about it, she added:

"You do realize that is going to be very difficult, don't you?"

"I do." And, with a victorious smirk, I added: "But that only makes it more appealing, doesn't it?"

I was aware she hated me right then. I had found a challenge, and she felt stuck doing average work. It was obvious that a truce couldn't be called. We were fighting for the same thing, and, if she was going to play dirty by not telling me what she knew, I would do the same by bragging.

"Honestly, I don't think they'll let you do it the way you want. It's just an undergraduate assignment. We're not going for the Nobel or anything."

She thought my project was Nobel material? Nice. Another irrepressible smile conquered my face.

"You're probably right." I said, not feeling the need to wind her up anymore. She was already jealous enough "I'll speak to Professor Richmond after the lecture, anyway."

I spent the rest of the lecture racing through my mind, trying to find realistic solutions for every problem my project gave rise to. I wondered what would happen if I did achieve my goal. An old saying echoed in my head: Be careful what you wish for...

Professor Richmond was already getting out of the classroom when my laptop finally shut off. I run after her, and told her about my plan, avoiding details that would make her think what I needed was a lab in which they would analyze me.

"You are not prepared to work on that, Tessa. I'll be very satisfied if you do a literature revision on the topic. That's more than enough."

"Please, Professor... I am prepared to work as hard as to compensate my lack of knowledge, and experience, and resources. I know that it's a great deal of lacking. I just have to figure out how to overcome it."

Her face showed that my insistence was making her curious.

"Why is this so important to you, Tessa?"

"I..." I gave up. Maybe if I told her the truth, she would help me more. "My best friend died of cancer last year. I need to understand why she died, exactly."

Her eyes darkened.

"I am very sorry, Tessa." She swallowed deeply, and added: "Look, when I was a medical student, my sister's boyfriend was sick. Hepatitis. She turned to me when she found out, I was her only hope. She seemed to think I was learning how to make miracles at college. And I believed that too. I failed some of my finals because I stayed up late reading and reading until I found something that looked interesting. None of it was. My sister was devastated when he died. And I thought it was my fault. I thought I should have known how to help him. I felt like I would never do anything valuable as a physician. As if I would never save anybody. But I was only in the second year. How could I get around a problem that experienced people couldn't solve?"

I could see in her eyes that she had never recovered from that experience. She stood there in front of me, biting her bottom lip. She seemed so... whole in the lectures, I would never have guessed a part of her was hurting that much. I felt out of words. Finally, I said:

"I am so sorry."

She shook her head, and shrugged.

"We shouldn't ask ourselves for that much, or we'll end up crazy, Tessa."

She started to walk away. I stayed still. After a few steps, she turned around, and said:

"However, if you really feel the urge to get to the bottom of this, I know a place where it may be possible."

"Seriously?" I couldn't help to smile.

"King's College, London. There is a Genetics Research Group. I believe they admit extraordinary undergraduate students sometimes. Good luck, Tessa."

I run back into the classroom, grabbed my things, and said to Alex:

"Alex, I won't be coming to the rest of the lectures today, I have a very important thing to do."

She nodded, looking surprised.

"What is it? Is it about your project? Tessa!" she shouted, as I stormed out.

As I run back to my room, I called Africa and yelled into the phone:

"Get the hell out of class! We're going to London right now!"

"Are you serious?" she said, laughing.

"Totally! I promise we'll look at every Camden Lock stall for half an hour after I do what I have to do."

Africa chuckled. Camden Lock market was her paradise. The hippie necklaces and strange pieces of clothing in each of the stalls marveled her. They absorbed her attention. She didn't like to have conversations when she was looking at the stalls. She didn't even ask for my opinion to contrast with hers before buying anything. She stared at the objects, mesmerized, as if she was waiting for them to call her name. When Nora came with us, we usually let her meditate and concentrated on our own conversation. After Nora died, I had no choice but to join her in her rumination. Mine always diverged to the times when Nora was with us.

She always ended up buying tones of incense. That's why our room at Worcester always smelled of jasmine and lavender.

Whenever she got tired of looking at those stalls, which did not happen very often, she liked to go to Portobello and look for antiques that matched her newly-bought second hand clothes and jewelry.

"You really do know how to get me to say yes. And what is that secret thing that's so urgent, mystery girl?"

"Our first step to a new world, Africa."

"Oh... I am not sure I want to leave this still, because, you know, I like cookies from this one, and I like Brian's arms, and..."

Both of us cracked up.

"Really? His arms? Shut up and get the damn car here!"

"I love it when you turn crazy; I'll be there in just a minute."

I felt like flying in Africa's car. We passed by infinite fields. Some of them were yellow, full of sunflowers that followed the sun, as I did from my front seat. I sang Pink Floyd at full volume and imagined Nora dancing along as she run through the fields. I imagined the three of us, with vaporous white dresses and flowers in our hair. It was a happy thought, full of colour and distant, loud laughter.

Africa parked her car at the outskirts of the city, and we took the Jubilee line of the tube to London Bridge, at the South Bank of the Thames. The weather was not as sunny as it was when we had left Oxford. It was turning quite misty. However, no matter what the weather was like, big cities always irradiated a sense of possibility, of newfound hopes. They insinuated: "It's a big city, have big dreams".

We walked south until we got to Guy's Campus. Three other campuses of the university were nearby, at both sides of the river, and there was a fifth one on a more southern location. Guy's Campus was where the School of Medicine was.

It was grandiose, with red brick and white marble columns. Ivy climbed up some of the red brick walls. We entered the building, and tried to look for someone who could tell us where to go. We walked on the garnet and white squares painted on the marble floor, and found an old lady that looked friendly. I asked her about the Research Group Professor Richmond had told me about, but she only replied by pointing to a staircase with an absent-minded smile.

The corridor we found upstairs was empty.

"What do we do now?" Africa asked.

"Let's look for someone."

I looked inside the classrooms as we walked through the corridor. Some of them were as empty as the corridor, and others were too full for me to enter to ask a silly question. Finally, I found one in which there was only a man in a white coat looking through a microscope. The door was open, but he didn't notice us staring at him. He kept looking through the microscope. I looked at Africa, and shrugged.

"Are you sure you want to interrupt him? He seems very focused." Africa said.

"I don't have another choice, seeing as we can't find a proper place to ask."

I knocked on the door, and the man turned around to look at us.

My heart skipped a beat at his piercing green eyes met mine. He was very young.

"Can I help you?" he asked, and his manly voice almost made his full lips tremble as he talked.

"We... Well, I... was looking for someone who knows about the Genetics Research Group."

"I do." he said, and although his disturbing mouth didn't move, he smiled a warm smile through his dark eyes. "I am part of that research group."

"Really?" I asked.

I could feel Africa trying not to laugh out loud.

"Actually, I was looking at some bone marrow cells just now. Do you want to have a look at them?" he said, pointing at his microscope.

"Oh, sure." I said, and I made my way to him.

He got up from his chair, and made a gesture inviting me to take a sit. I sat down and looked at the cells. I was becoming more and more enthusiastic about what I was seeing, when he leaned down and made it impossible for me to concentrate anymore.

"Can you see a dark patch on the upper right side?" he whispered in my ear.

I felt the warmth of his body and mouth and started to feel a bit dizzy. I sighed, and answered:

"Yes."

I couldn't manage to say anything else.

"Close the condenser a bit so that you can see it better." he advised me.

The air he expelled as he talked caressed my neck and made it warm. In fact, my neck was not the only part of my body that was getting hotter. I quit looking at the cells and turned my head to face him. He pulled back a little in surprise, but then he got closer to me again. This time he smiled with both his eyes and his mouth. Then, he said:

"Your eyes are very blue. I'd like to look at them through a microscope."

Both of us laughed.

"Wow, that's a great chat up line." I said, and felt my cheeks redden as I said it.

I realized I was smiling like a silly teen who was flirting for the first time in her life. That thought made me blush even more.

Luckily, he didn't stare at my ignited cheeks for long. He turned his head, and I mirrored his movement. We both found Africa, still standing at the door, looking like a hippie mermaid.

"Don't you want to have a look at it?"

"Oh, no. I am not yet another masochist swot. I am an artist." she said, raising her eyebrows with pride.

The boy looked interested. Please, don't let him like Africa, I prayed. Then I thought my prayers were definitely never received by anyone who would respond to them. Or maybe they were ignored. Or they got lost around the moon or Mars.

"I study Fine Arts at Oxford."

"Wow, that's impressive." the boy reckoned, and then he turned to me. "I assume you are studying Medicine."

"I am, at Oxford as well."

"And what did you want to know about our research party? Will you be joining us?"

"I might. I want to. I wanted to know how to do that. I brought my academic record, and a letter explaining why I am interested in joining you."

"I think you should talk to Professor Abbey. He's our boss." He said, smiling. I really liked his smile. But the urge to bite his bottom lip it made me feel bothered me.

"Where can I find him?"

He shook his head and shrugged. Every time he moved, a wave of his enticing smell filled my nostrils.

"I don't think you'll find him now. He's only here very early in the mornings, giving some lectures, or on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons."

"Is that when the group meets?"

"Yes. We can use the microscopes or the labs to work anytime we want, but Professor Abbey is only here to guide us those days, from three to seven in the afternoon."

"Okay. I think I'll come back tomorrow to look for him."

"If you want, I can tell him about you."

"About my blue eyes?" I asked, with a coy smile, and I surprised myself in doing so. I had no idea I could be flirty like that.

Many parts of my body got even hotter as I waited for his answer.

"I think I'll keep that detail to myself." he answered, smiling back. "I can hand him your record tomorrow morning if you give it to me."

I gave it to him, and he read the first page:

"Tessa Blake. Twenty-two. Fifth year."

"And you are?" Africa asked, as she walked towards us.

"Luke Clayton. Twenty-three. Sixth year."

"And what is your research about, Luke?" I asked.

"Oh, that's a very well-kept secret. I'll tell you about it when you tell me about yours."

His smell was very innerving. I stood there in front of him trying to analyze exactly what he did to my body. I couldn't understand it.

"We should probably head to Camden." I said to Africa, waking from my trance.

"Oh, no hurry." she said, relaxed.

I could tell she was enjoying seeing me so nervous over a guy for the first time.

"We'll talk tomorrow." I told Luke, as we got out of the classroom.

He smiled a promising smile, and waved.

When we got out of the building, I started to feel like myself again. I recovered control over my body. Back at the classroom, with Luke, I couldn't manage to govern my heartbeat, breathing, or body temperature. That feeling scared me. It was as if he could do whatever he wanted with me, and my body would respond in awe, always in awe at his gaze and his provocative mouth.

The London air wiped away the memory of Luke's smell and filled me with common sense. I remembered why I had come to London: To find a solution to a problem that tore people apart, and not to find a boy that altered my physiology in such unpredictable, teenager-like way.

Africa spent our ride in the tube laughing at me and my new horny facet, and didn't stop until the jewelry and hippie scarves form the stalls at Camden Lock absorbed her brain.

After we had seen almost all of them, we bought Chinese food at the food stalls, and sat by the canal to eat it. I enjoyed the afternoon light on my face. It was a shade between bright orange and sepia; the shade in which blissful memories are stored. It was warm for a late autumn English afternoon. The warmth enhanced the feeling of distant but palpable joy. When it started to get dark, which was quite early, we decided it was time head back to Oxford.

"I am glad we took this trip today." I told Africa as I looked out of the window of her car.

"I can think of a main reason." she said, and my face reddened at her allusion to Luke.

"I meant apart from finally meeting a boy that makes me shiver. And I am not so sure I am glad I met him. What he makes me feel scares me."

My mind drifted back to the weekend, to Brighton, to... David. I hadn't thought about him for two days. He was incredibly attractive. Objectively, he was probably more handsome than Luke. His features were perfect, and his arms looked comfortable and satisfying. However, I hadn't felt as tingly as I had with Luke. He hadn't made me nervous. He hadn't made me feel... out of control.

"Desire scares you?"

"I guess. Uncontrollable things scare me. Like Nora's death. I don't like it when I can't do anything about things, when they get out of my hands. It makes me feel... very powerless and weak."

"I understand some uncontrollable things freak you out, like death."

Death. I still hadn't told her anything about the time bomb.

"But others... like desire, shouldn't scare you, Tess, they should make you feel alive. I reckon the best thing about life is how mysterious and unpredictable it is. I wouldn't like to be able to control it. It would make everything so boring."

I couldn't help but think how different we were from each other.

"I think I've always believed I love thrills, but it wasn't true. Now I realize it is because I've always found those thrills in challenges that weren't really that challenging, because I was sure all along that I could find a way around them. And then, when Nora got sick..."

"Nora's cancer was not a challenge for you, Tessa. It wasn't a challenge for her either, nor for the physicians that tried to make her body hold on to life. It was just a tragedy. You shouldn't think you could've stopped it. Nobody could have."

"I guess you are right." I said, but I didn't believe it.

"Death is uncontrollable, and scary." she continued, and my need to share it with her increased a lot... but not enough. "But it is not the prototype of what I consider a fascinating thrill. I think you should definitely learn to love that kind of bangs that send you up to the stars and back down to a sea full of water... In which, hopefully, you won't drawn."

I stepped into the water that evening, but into the hot water of our bath. Africa was out with her Fine Arts crew, so I was by myself in our room. I wanted to let everything that had happened that day echo in my brain, as the heat of the bath diffused through my skin.

It had definitely been a thrilling day. I had finally found a way to carry out my project. I did see my project as a challenge. But this time, it was a real challenge. I wasn't sure I was going to succeed. Indeed, I believed failure was quite more expectable than success this time. Hopefully, though, I would have the help I needed to fulfill my mission: the resources at King's College, Professor Abbey, and maybe, just maybe... Luke Clayton.

Luke looked very intelligent to me. Nonetheless, I didn't think it was very wise to trust my impressions on him, because they were blurred by lust. I couldn't swear I had seen mind-agility through those emerald eyes. I only knew I had seen fire. Fire that would burn through my skin more than the water I was submerged in.

A feverish chill ran from my head to my toes as I imagined him lying beneath me in the bath. I leaned my head back as if to rest it on his shoulder. I imagined his smell intoxicating my senses. His lips whispering into my ear. I would turn my head to face him and put my mouth very close to his, until he couldn't resist anymore and kissed me deeply, biting my bottom lip and making me explode with yearning. When he heard me groan, he would run his hands up my thighs, separating them with caresses until he reached the center of my body. He would keep touching me there, getting inside me, while he kissed and bit my neck more and more wildly. I started to touch myself as I imagined he would do it and convulsed. I would like to feel his longing under my butt, getting bigger, getting harder. If he were beneath me, I would turn around and taste his skin while he made me his completely.

I moaned loudly and I let go.

Did you like this chapter? Who do you like better, David or Luke? Do you think that Tessa will be able to succeed in defeating death?

Let me know in the comments!

I am entering the Wattys2016, so, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote :)

To find quotes and pictures from the book, follow me on Instagram: seasidewhispers

To find news and updates, follow me on Twitter: swhisperswriter

You can contact me at: [email protected]