The following day I couldn't look at Luke without thinking about what had happened to me in the bath. And it didn't help that I found him even more tempting than the day before.

I took a train that arrived at Paddington station in London in the afternoon, because I couldn't cope with missing more lectures, and couldn't turn Africa into my personal driver. When I got to King's College, the group was already working in the room where I had found Luke the previous day. Professor Abbey was a chubby sixty-year-old that looked serious but friendly at the same time. He got out of the classroom to talk to me.

"You must be Tessa."

"Yes, Professor."

"I had a look at your record this morning. Impressive, I have to admit."

"Thank you."

" I also read your letter. I assume you are a very ambitious student."

" I try to do my best, Professor."

"We don't have many fifth year students here. Most of them are a year ahead of you. You may feel lost at the beginning, but after going through your record, I believe you won't have many difficulties in catching up."

"Does that mean I am officially in the group?" I asked, excited.

"I want you to be. However, I need an official letter from the University of Oxford to make it happen. Talk to whoever told you to come here, and you'll be working with us the instant I have the letter."

"Thank you so much, Professor Abbey."

" I am sure I won't be disappointed. As for today, you can stay and get to know your mates and their working methods. We must make your trip from Oxford worthwhile!"

Don't worry about that, Professor, I said to myself as I took a sit and sneaked a peek at Luke. Although I didn't even turn my head, it gave me the impression that he caught me checking him out, and I blushed.

There were another eight students apart from Luke and me, working hard. Some of them where sitting in the microscopy tables where Luke had been sitting the day before. Some others were using pipettes, flasks and test tubes at the other part of the room, where the laboratory equipment was. Luke had a pile of books and was taking notes from the one he was reading. It seemed as if he was the only one that had noticed me. The rest of the students kept working, very concentrated. It was all so quiet that it seemed something terrible would happen if a flask or a pipette fell to the ground. The contrast between the ongoing activity and the quiescent feeling was intimidating.

I could tell they were some of the best students at King's College. As Professor Abbey had told me, it was obvious I would feel left behind on the very instant I got to know them and what they were able to do. But I didn't mind being part of a group that was too advanced for me initially. I wanted to learn from the best. When I did catch up, I would have learnt almost everything I needed to know how to succeed in my project and make death a phantom from another time.

I felt like an outsider that first day, observing each of the students and trying to guess what they were working on. After a while, Luke stopped taking notes and made his way to the table where I was sitting, with a book for me. He looked at me in the eyes the whole time he was walking. I didn't stop staring at him either, partly because he hypnotized me with his emerald eyes, and partly because the shiver he made me feel down my belly was very pleasant, and reminded me of the explosion at my bath.

"Hey, Tessa. I realized you weren't doing anything, and I thought you may find this book interesting."

"Thanks, Luke." I said, and my heart throbbed when his hand touched mine as he handed me the book. "Is this always so... silent?"

"Yes, actually. But don't be afraid to approach anyone. They are nice; they're just lost in the bubble of their research, that's all. I can introduce you after we finish working, if you want to."

"Please. That would make me feel less uncomfortable."

"And, after this, I was wondering..." he started to say. I could tell he was nervous. Seeing him flustered as he talked to me made the chill down my belly more intense. "What time do you plan to go back to Oxford?"

"I should probably take the last train back, but... until then, I am in no hurry."

I tried to flash a flirty smile as I said that, but my face turned into a sincere excitement-filled smile instead.

Luke went back to his desk, and I tried to concentrate on the book he had given me. I read the title and glanced over at him immediately. "Cancer Treatment and Research. Acute Myelogenous Leukemia: Genetics, Biology and Therapy". There was no way he had given me that book by chance. I kept looking at him, waiting for him to look back, to question him with my eyes. But he didn't look up from his books.

After Luke introduced me to the rest of our mates when the meeting ended, we went for a walk along the Thames. It was funny they called that a meeting: A meeting in which nobody talked, apart from a few questions to Professor Abbey.

"You read my letter!" I said to Luke as we passed the London Bridge. It was illuminated and looked like it had been taken out from a fairytale.

"I did." he admitted. "I was too curious. And I am even more curious after reading it. Who was the girl who died?"

"Oh no, you don't get to ask questions before you tell me about your research. You know almost everything about mine, and, as far as I know, yours could be about hospital clothing."

Luke laughed. I liked the sound of his laughter. It was contagious.

"Okay, fair enough. It is actually quite related to yours. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. But I didn't choose that because of any personal reasons. Our Genetics Professor divided the deadliest cancers among us, and she assigned that one to me. As she thought my work had turned out to be pretty good, she suggested I should join this research group to continue investigating. As you can see, my story is not exactly fascinating, so let's get back to yours: Who was that girl?"

I sighed.

"She was Nora, my best friend."

"I am so sorry, Tessa."

"She died last year. Ever since she got sick, I keep looking for ways to focus my medical career in a useful way to hold on to her. I know there is nothing I can do to bring her back, but I would feel like I have avenged her if I found a cure for cancer... and for death itself."

"Had you been friends for a long time?"

"Forever. I can't remember a time in which I didn't know Nora. She's part of who I am. She was... a free spirit. She believed in herself, and she also believed in me. She loved making crazy plans for the two of us. We both believed that we would travel the world in our hippie Volkswagen van someday, and that we would change it."

I smiled when I said that. I could see Nora's face lighting up as she made plans for the summer, plans of climbing the Everest, plans of getting lost in alluring, exotic cities.

"We were afraid our lives would be ordinary, predictable, like everyone else's. We wanted to be independent. And then death imprisoned her."

I felt tears about to come out of my eyes. Then I looked into Luke's eyes and Nora's image faded away.

"Let's talk about something else." I suggested. "Do you live here in London?"

"I do. I share a flat here in Southwark with two classmates. What about you?"

"I share a room at Worcester College with Africa, the girl that came with me yesterday. And on Friday's, she drives us to Brighton."

"Wait, Brighton? I go to Brighton every summer. My family owns a house there."

"Oh god, the world really is small." I smiled.

"At least England is. I can't believe you're from Brighton and I had never seen you until yesterday."

"Maybe you had seen me, but hadn't memorized me."

We looked at each other. In the London night, his mouth was even more annoyingly irresistible. His eyes were greener and deeper than the sky. But they weren't opaque, like Africa's. I couldn't see through them, but I felt drawn towards them. The fact that I couldn't figure him out made me want to get closer to him, all the time.

"That's impossible. I would have definitely memorized your eyes." he said.

I blushed and batted my lashes continuously in disbelief. Hearing him say things like that, I couldn't help thinking he felt the same urge to kiss me as I did to taste his skin. But it was all being so flawless, so quick and effortless, I kept looking for the downside. However, I couldn't find it.

"I should get going to Paddington."

"You are right. Hey, do you know what my favorite place in Brighton is?"

"What?"

He shrugged his shoulders, lifted his hands and clenched his teeth, as if he was very sorry about something.

"It's a pity, but I don't think I can describe it to you. It would ruin all its charm." he answered, laughing, and making me laugh as well. "Maybe I could take you there, this weekend."

"Sounds good." I said, and I flashed yet another excitement-filled smile. I was eager to spend more time with him. "Bye, Luke. I'll see you on Thursday."

I must have gotten to the Tube and then into the train floating, marveled, spinning around. I heard music in my head, and I felt like the luckiest person on earth. I didn't think about anything, which was very unusual for me, I just let images of Luke and our walk by the river fill my mind and make my body burn with desire. I imagined both of us walking on the beach on a rainy Brighton afternoon. I pictured him putting his arms around my waist and pulling me as close to him as he could, to make me melt with a long deep kiss, while both of us got wet.

It was very strange for me to be so high over a boy I had just met. My analytical-self didn't find anything she needed to go over and improve, which was surprisingly relaxing and liberating. I had never felt like I didn't have anything to worry about. But, with Luke, I did. His green eyes disturbed me but made me feel safe at the same time.

I arrived at Worcester and found Africa eating a whole chicken from Tesco while she watched an old film in black and white, wearing the old Nirvana t-shirt she used to sleep in. I must have flashed a similar smile to the one that had showed on my face when Luke's gaze had let me know there were many possibilities he wanted me, because Africa stopped eating and came over to me, grinning:

"Tess! Why on earth do you look like you won a Nobel?"

I laughed. On a normal situation, that would be the only explanation for me looking like such an idiot. I told her about my walk with Luke, and about the pleasant dizziness he made me feel. She kept quiet. At first, I didn't understand why. Then, I recognized a winning look on her face, and I knew she was thinking about our fight back at the weekend. She was enjoying watching how lust made me weak too. Her stare made me feel like a hypocrite, like I was betraying myself by being so wonderstruck.

"So... that thing you said about sharing your life, or your... bed with someone one day... is this it?" she said, quoting what I had yelled to her, and making me feel even weaker.

She was cautious. She wanted to rub my words in my face. But I hadn't claimed something that wasn't true. I had said that I didn't need a partner, that I wouldn't look for one. Luke had appeared in my life accidentally.

"It might be." I said, coldly. "Africa... you were annoyed that I didn't date, and now you're upset that I have met someone?"

"What? I am not upset! It's just funny that we had that conversation on the weekend, and you met someone right after. That's all. I'm happy for you, Tess."

"Well... It's still nothing to be happy about. It's just an entertainment. There are other things much more worthy of being happy about..."

I finished the sentence in my head: ...A tiny, growing possibility to liberate humanity from its sentence.

"Like what?" she said, still eating chicken.

"Like... us." I lied. "Being alive. Being together. We should celebrate that."

It wasn't so much of a lie. It was another way of putting it.

What did you think of this chapter? Do you like Tessa and Luke together? Let me know in the comments! I am entering the Wattys2016, so, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote :)

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