I slam the door as I march into the dorm, hands curled up in fists, ready to scream and yell and destory something. I drop my backpack off my shoulders and grit my teeth.

Sexist, that's what he is. Sexist. And it makes my blood boil.

What professor in their right mind says that a woman can't effectively captain a starship? Who marks up a ten-page paper on the subject and then gives their student a D for it? Just because they don't agree?

I turn to my bed and punch at the mattress. He couldn't do this to me. Not now. Not when I've just started to gain some goddamn respect around here. Not in front of the whole class. No, no, no, no, no.

I feel tears starting to well up and I feel worse. Because that means I'm weak.

And Jamie Kirk is not weak.

I grab at the textbook for the class and move to throw it down when I hear the door open behind me, and Bones stands in the entryway, dumbstruck.

"Jamie?"

I'm holding the book, poised to strike, motionless. My teeth are barred down and it feels more and more like I'm going to cry as the seconds tick by. My hands are shaking. I don't answer him. Instead, I walk to my desk, set the book down, and try not to look at him. "Go," I choke out.

"What happened?"

My heart is beating so fast, and I'm so confused that I can't hear or feel anything anymore. It's all a blur. "I can't. I can't, I can't, I can't."

Slowly, he stars to walk toward me, face contorted in concern. "Jamie...Jamie, tell me what happened."

I shake my head. All of my weight is on my arms on the desk, and I feel like I can't breathe anymore. Nothing makes sense. Nothing is okay.

A hand falls on my shoulder and I shift away from him.

"Just look at the goddamn thing if you wanna know so bad," I point vaguely toward the paper on my bed that reads in bright red ink "D".

He reads the paper and then looks up at me. "This is your first bad grade here, isn't it."

"Ever, actually."

When I finally turn to look up at him, his eyebrows are raised in disbelief. "Oh. Huh. So...I'm rooming with a genius. Who knew."

"According to that paper, you aren't."

He sighs again. "Jamie..."

"You're not gonna make this better, Bones. You're not. It's bullshit and it's not okay and I'm not okay."

"Jamie."

I ignore him.

"Jamie, come on."

I bite my tongue so hard I wonder if it'll bleed.

"We're going somewhere."

I turn. "What?"

"Come on," he slips a coat around my shoulders and pushes me toward the door.

"Bones," I almost growl at him, but he keeps us moving down the hall and into the basement of the dorms. Before I know it, we're in the laundry room. "What the hell...?"

Without saying anything, he moves toward the ice machine and scoops out the biggest chunks of ice he can find. He tries his best to wrap them in his coat, but eventually gives up and just carries it in his arms.

"That's...that's cold, what are you doing?"

"Just go out the door, you'll see."

We step outside, and it's freezing. It's an overcast evening, and the light is so white it threatens to blind me. I can see my breath swirling in front of me.

"So now what?" I turn to him, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

With outstretched hands, he offers a chunk of ice to me. "Throw."

I look up at him. "What?"

"Throw it at the wall."

Tentatively, I take it from him. "God, this is cold."

"No shit, Sherlock. It's ice."

I look down at the ice and then up at the dormitory wall.

And then I throw it as hard as I can.

The ice shatters and makes a satisfying crunching noise, and I start laughing hysterically. "Oh my god, give me another one, please."

I throw another, this one higher. More shattered pieces.

And as I throw all of these chunks of ice, I realize that I start to feel better and better with each throw.

By the time I've thrown it all, I hardly even feel bad.

I turn to him slowly. "How'd you know that'd work."

"I know you better than you think I do, Jamie Kirk."