So for any of you who had been following my previous story, this will go without saying...but this took me a LONG time to crank out! Quite a long time for me. Just goes to show what happens when I write outside my comfort zone. My poor best friend was subject to many a frustrated text and request for editing. Which she did very honestly, and I SO appreciate it! I had a tough time doing some research that this story requires. I'm not the type to research usually when I write, so that made me a little bit crazy! Speaking of the research, here comes my disclaimer... So, not only did I myself not attend college of any kind, but I know even less about college in the UK. I was so totally lost when I started having to figure some of this stuff out! I did do some research having to do with Oxford, and also basics of medical school. But I feel sure that if there's anyone out there reading this who actually knows what's what, they will find things amiss. Please feel free as this story continues, to correct anything that makes you go "huh? what's she talking about?" So all that having been said, I hope you enjoy this chapter as I get into the actual story just a bit more. Please review, I do love reading them so! ;)
-The year 2002-
Molly walked across the grass and surveyed the area. There were other young men and women everywhere. A sea of people out to learn more and become something they, or perhaps even others, wanted them to be. She hoisted her tote further up her shoulder and walked toward a nearby tree. She needed to take a little break and get herself organized before heading to her first class.
She sat down and took out the building plan again, reminding herself of which way to go. She checked and double checked that she had gotten everything she needed. She was still in a bit of a mess in her room. She'd barely begun to get everything in order. Things were still in boxes and bags. This made it difficult for Molly to look forward to returning to her room later that evening. She wished she had everything clean and completely set waiting for her so that she could study and rest in peace. But it was clear there would be a significant adjustment period at the start of her time here at Oxford University.
She was upbeat though. What could be better? She was on her way to becoming a doctor. She was making her family, and herself, quite proud. She was sure that lots of her former classmates wouldn't have thought she was capable of great things, but she felt sure she'd prove them all wrong, and what a beautiful place to prove them all wrong. She'd told herself that her time here needed to be serious. More serious than the four years she'd already spent studying and acing tests...but of course, it was easier said than done. There would certainly be plenty of distractions available around here. She picked herself up and knew it was time to move along quickly before she made herself late.
Molly found her morning's first class and took a seat. A pretty blond girls sat next to her and smiled warmly.
"Hi, I'm Jane. I hope you're as normal as you look because I'd like to find some friends for the five minutes a week when my head isn't stuck in the books."
"Hi, I'm Molly Hooper. Nice to meet you. And I'd like to think I'm frighteningly normal. Nothing exciting ever happens to me! So prepare to have a very boring five minutes of freedom every week." She shook Jane's hand just before the professor walked up to begin.
Molly was thrown into the world of studying and reading and listening and note taking immediately. There was no easing into things in that regard. She was thrown into the deep end and had to quickly learn to swim. She knew she was up to it, based on the fact that she was here at Exeter college in Oxford University earning her medical degree. But she still felt overwhelmed, and there was no helping that.
One thing in particular stood out to Molly in this biology class on that first day. There was one student that was very frequently answering questions. Well, not exactly answering all the questions. More like, questioning the questions. He would ask the professor what the basis for this lesson was, and get into details that were slightly beside the point, and at one point he even asked the professor why he had only gotten four hours of sleep the previous night. Molly cringed, expecting the young man to be thrown out of class immediately, but he wasn't. Instead the professor just shook his head and tried to move on with the lesson as the young man was heard quietly chuckling to himself. He seemed to know this student already and wasn't shocked by the strange behavior.
Jane leaned over to another student near her and asked who that was. He said that was Sherlock, and he's third year and majors in Chemistry. He's usually like that and everyone is used to it by now. Said he's smart in a bizarre sort of way, but he's not very friendly. Molly peered down a few rows to where he sat, and could only see the mass of dark curly hair and a white dress shirt. When the class ended, he stuck his arms in a coat and pulled it up his shoulders as he stood. He turned the collar up and quickly exited the room with his laptop in tow.
Molly spent that first week in class after class and studied quite a bit as well. Any and all extra time left over was spent getting her room in order. By the end of the first weekend, she was completely settled in and felt more at ease in her own space. She got along well with a few students she'd met at Exeter, so was feeling more comfortable with the people too. The strange faces all began to be familiar faces, and so she felt more at home.
Molly liked the living conditions. She began regularly using the gym, which was happily free for the students and on the same road as Exeter house where she lived now. The room was fine. Simple, but certainly good enough. It wasn't her favorite thing in the world to share a bathroom and kitchen with other people, but she was certainly used to it by now, being a graduate student. There were some rooms that had their own bathroom, and even fewer others that had a bathroom and small kitchen, but those were certainly out of her reach. She felt lucky enough to be at Oxford, and she couldn't afford to indulge in luxury.
Classes went well. She was fascinated and challenged. She was doing what she had wanted to do for a long time, so it made any difficulty worth the effort. And it was difficult of course. There was a lot of memorizing involved in the first year of medical school, and she had known that was coming. She looked forward to the clinical experience of course, and that was what comforted her when she felt herself already becoming sick to death of all the book work.
She continued to see this Sherlock fellow around pretty often. She had a few classes with him, and he tended to stand out a bit, so it was easy to notice him around Exeter college. While in classes, he usually stirred things up a bit in the same way he had on that first day. He didn't seem to have much of a filter. He said whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted, including the professors. He was also usually right. Molly was a little intimidated, even watching him from afar. That other student had said he wasn't friendly and he certainly didn't look it. She didn't see him standing or chatting with other students. He seemed to keep to himself.
Into the second month of classes, Molly was rather further surprised to see Sherlock upset a fellow student. A young woman named Sarah was his lab partner in biology, and after about a half hour she rushed out of the room appearing to be in tears. Sherlock barely blinked. He continued working on his own and the girl didn't come back till the lab was almost over anyway. Molly watched him for a while, becoming distracted from her own work. He was so very different, it was clear...it was a bit intriguing.
Intrigued wasn't really the feeling she experienced though, when some days later she herself was assigned to work with Sherlock. At that point it was just plain old fear. She was hoping that she wouldn't end up running from the room crying, or that he'd be questioning her every move. She slowly gathered her belongings and made her way over to where he stood, looming over the table and supplies. She stopped as she came over next to him and put her things down. He didn't even glance over at her. He was busily working already. Molly cautiously looked at him. She cleared her throat and bravely stuck her hand out.
"Hi. I'm Molly Hooper."
"Yes, I know. I'm Sherlock Holmes, but you already know that...pleased to meet you." He turned toward her, accepting the handshake briefly.
Molly hadn't seen him up close before this and was then struck by the experience of having him look right into her eyes. It looked like someone had condensed the entire Atlantic Ocean into this man's eyes. The color, colors more accurately, and depth were unreal. She immediately concluded that there had to be more to this strange man than how he appeared at first, and she just wanted to know him, even though it seemed unlikely.
"You're a chemistry major right?" she asked as he turned back to the table.
"Yes, that's right. I gather someone has told you that. I find it unlikely you'd be able to deduce my major."
"Oh, um, no of course not. I'm not sure how I'd do that. Yes, someone told me."
"And you're getting your medical degree, correct?"
"Yes that's right. Someone told you then?"
"Nope."
Molly frowned to herself. "Oh, really? So, how did you-"
"And you'd like to be a pathologist, I believe," he stated and met her eyes again briefly as Molly stared at him, mouth now agape.
"H-how would you...know that?" she said quietly, a bit nervous now.
Sherlock shrugged. "It's easy enough to deduce...for me, that is."
"Well that's, that's...amazing. Can't hide anything from you I suppose!" Molly made an effort to be cheery, afraid that she'd get on his bad side.
"Are we going to do this lab?" he asked, and she detected some impatience now in his voice.
"Yes, right, ok. You're right, let's get going," she said quickly, and then got serious about the work.
The angle she took with Sherlock that day was to keep him happy. Appease him. He seemed to like calling the shots and staying in control. He clearly didn't like being questioned either, so she let him take the lead. He seemed to be rather happy doing this lab, with her as a sort of assistant. She assumed that lots of other students would be offended that he was making them take a back seat. But she felt that he was the kind of man you take small steps with. Maybe they wouldn't be best friends by the end of this cell respiration lab...but he also wasn't going to hate her. That was the most she could hope for at this early stage.
The class ended and Sherlock began to quickly gather his things and get ready to exit the room. They weren't done with the lab yet, so Molly knew she'd be seeing him the following day and they'd be working together again.
"Glad we got to work together, Sherlock. I'll see you tomorrow!" she said with a smile.
Sherlock frowned slightly, seeming a little taken aback at the way she spoke to him. He simply nodded at her and then turned to leave. Molly could see he was obviously uncomfortable with the idea that someone had just been nice to him. She smiled to herself as he left the classroom, and she looked forward to the prospect of getting to know this unusual man better.
