#go look at and adore the art linked if yall havent

[aces-and-angels]

Title: The MCAT

A/N: saw this beautiful piece of art by @oh-so-youre-a-nerd and had to stop what i was doing to write this

Character(s): OC: Enid Mendoza (she/her)

Summary: Before Enid became a lawyer, she was a lost pre-med student. @choicesficwriterscreations

Word Count: 484

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MCAT Testing Center; Brooklyn, New York; several years ago...

Numb. That's all Enid was. It'd been that way for much longer than she cared to admit. So she didn't. Indifference was masked with high marks and shallow nods. No one batted an eye at a nearly perfect GPA. Or a 520 on the practice MCAT. Instead, they cheered. Surprised her with an engraved stethoscope, pride shining in their eyes. What was left for her to do but smile back and take it? 

The days felt like centuries and seconds all at once until the time finally came. Bright, fluorescent lights flickered from above- the air stale and dry. Around her was a sea of nerves- a girl obsessively toying with the same strand of blonde hair, a boy who couldn't keep his leg from bouncing, and her staring blankly at the small ticket clutched between her fingers.

#14.

Thirteen others stood between her and that test. Thirteen monotonous exchanges between strangers until it was her turn. The seats gradually emptied out, leaving more room for the harsh pounding in her chest. There was a familiar heaviness there- one she usually swallowed down and buried. But today the lump was bigger. Tougher. Begged to burst through-

"Number 14?" 

A tired, deep voice knocked Enid back into reality. She glanced up and saw a man no older than thirty staring at her. From the look on his face, it wasn't the first time he'd called her number. Those still stuck in the waiting room turned to each other, confused. Then, one by one, their eyes pointed at her. 

"Number 14? You can come up now," the man repeated. 

"Um-" Enid slowly rose from her chair, a crumpled ticket in hand. But that thing inside her, whatever it was, wasn't going away. It rooted her feet to the floor, filled her limbs with lead. 

"Miss, we can't start the exam until everyone is checked in." A thousand thoughts ran through her mind- everything she'd suppressed for years finally bubbling up to the surface. She didn't want this. Any of it. The life mapped out for her instead of by her. It wasn't hers. It wasn't her. "Miss-" 

Enid ran before she could hear what he had to say. Through the doors, out the building, and into the congested city streets. Smoke billowed from the cars’ exhaust, its tendrils blown every which way by a cool breeze that nipped at her exposed flesh. There was no map laid out- no directions to follow. She went wherever her legs carried her. Past the apartment buildings, small cafés, and bodegas. She walked until the street signs were unrecognizable. Until her feet were sore. Until her frostbitten hands turned red and she finally registered the dampness on her cheeks as tears. 

No one batted an eye at the girl falling apart. They just kept walking. And so did she.