Fate (Steel Brothers Saga #13) - Helen Hardt Page 0,68
vast amount of material we were expected to learn on our own nearly overwhelmed me, but I took the time I needed to study and read.
I actually kind of enjoyed it. English was my favorite class, and I began seriously considering a career in creative writing.
Before I knew it, three weeks had flown by.
“Have you taken care of things yet?” Patty asked me one day during lunch.
“Taken care of what?”
“The health center. You need to get on the pill.”
“Oh.” I warmed. “Brad and I… We haven’t…”
She widened her eyes. Was that shocking?
“We’ve both been really busy,” I said.
“Daph, you’re never too busy for good sex.”
I couldn’t help a smile. The sex with Brad had been amazing, but what did I know of good sex? It hadn’t hurt, and I hadn’t bled. Did that make it good? Brad and I had an amazing connection. Did that make it good? Our physical chemistry was also off the charts. Did that make it good?
Patty, on the other hand, had slept with two different guys in the three weeks since we’d been at college. Was her sex the same as mine? How could it be, without the emotional connection?
“Earth to Daphne,” she said.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About sex?” She guffawed.
I warmed more.
“You’re blushing! You were thinking about sex.”
I stood. “I’m finished. I have some time before my next class. I’ll go to the health center now and get a prescription.”
“I’d go with you, but I’m meeting my lab partner to go over notes.”
“It’s okay. I can take care of it myself.”
Though I’d have liked to have her there. Hospitals and anything like them gave me the nerves. I breathed in and out slowly as I got rid of my tray.
No biggie. This was a student health center, not a psychiatric hospital. No one would shove drugs down my throat. No one would make me sit in therapy when I didn’t feel like it. No one would force me to write in a journal and then take it away from me.
I shook my head to clear it. I couldn’t go there. Not now. That part of my life was over. Kaput. I was in college, and I’d met an amazing man. New life. New life. I repeated the words to myself over and over.
Still, my nerves were in shambles.
The building housing the student health center loomed in the distance as I walked toward it. It seemed to pulse with a heartbeat of its own.
Just your imagination, Daphne. Do this. Do this for yourself and for Brad.
I grabbed my courage, opened the door to the building, and approached the reception desk.
“May I help you?”
“Hi. I’m here to… I’d like to get some oral contraceptives, please.”
“Sure. No problem. You’re lucky we’re pretty slow today. The nurse practitioner can see you without an appointment. Have a seat, and I’ll tell her you’re here.”
An appointment? Yeah, that made sense. Why hadn’t I thought to call in advance?
“Thanks.” I sat down in the waiting area.
No one else was waiting. No eyes to feel on me.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I had plenty of time before my class, but I was hyperaware of the seconds ticking by. This was worse than timing my shirtless experience in Dirk’s room.
I picked up a magazine from the table next to my chair. Seventeen. I was no longer seventeen. I was eighteen. An adult. Did this magazine even apply to me anymore? Why was it here, on a college campus? I perused the articles.
“The Ten Best Acne-Fighting Masks.”
I was lucky. I didn’t have acne. Not interested.
“How to Give a Hickey.”
Seriously?
“How to Tell if He’s Right for You.”
That one got my attention. I flipped through the pages to find the article.
“Daphne?” A tall woman in a white coat stood by the reception desk.
“Yeah. That’s me.”
“Come on back.”
She led me to an exam room and closed the door. “I’m Kathleen, the nurse practitioner here.” She glanced at a chart. “You’re here for oral contraceptives?”
“Yes, please.”
“How long have you been sexually active?”
“Not long. I only did it once a couple weeks ago.”
“And what method of birth control did you use?”
“A condom. I mean…he used a condom.”
“Good. Good. When was your last pelvic exam?”
Pelvic exam? “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“No one has examined your pelvic organs manually?”
“No.”
“That’s okay. A lot of women don’t have one until they’re eighteen. I’ll need to do an exam before I can give you the contraceptives. Just to make sure there aren’t any problems. Not that I expect any.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“Not that