Page 39 of Poison Aches

“What?” Samuel’s voice crackles over the line, but I remain silent, my heart thundering, body trembling with so much guilt.

I’m a liar.

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Samuel asks, a burst of excitement in his voice. “You passed the MCATs, right?”

Oh my God, what have I done?

Why did I say that?

“Uh…” I start but he cuts me off.

“Hey, everyone! My sis is about to be a badass doctor, y’all! She just passed the MCATs!” he shouts.

“Jesus, Samuel, who are you talking to?”

“Who else? It’s my entire office!” Samuel says with so much pride and joy that I’ve never heard from him before. Well, I have, but I was never the source of that happiness.

“You told your colleagues, S-Samuel!” I stutter as my heart kicks into overdrive.

This time, a shudder goes through my spine. Sweat starts dripping down from my forehead as I hear what sounds like thunderous applause and cheers from Samuel’s side.

“Ey! On behalf of my sister, I’m treating all you asshats to a drink at happy hour as you all celebrate my sister!”

An even more ruckus cheer sounds… meanwhile, it’s all based on a lie.

“Samuel…”

“Ah shit, Ivy, I knew you could do it! I knew you would make Grammy and Gramps proud! You’re following in our grandftaher’s steps the way they wanted! Damn, call Grammy! She’s going to burst in tears.”

Oh no… Grammy.

If she finds out I lied…

“Hey, send me a screenshot of your results and let me post them to brag!”

Oh shit!

It gets even worse.

Just tell him it was a joke…

But how do I do that?

“Send it as soon as you can, okay? I just texted Grammy that you got good news for her, as well as those med school acceptances coming your way now, huh?” Samuel starts laughing in excitement. “Fuck! This is great! You’ve worked so hard! Have you told your friends yet?”

What have I done?

I’m going to have a stroke and die.

“I gotta go, but I just sent a text to King and the boys! I bet they will be excited for you as well.”

“What?” I croak. “You’ve already told them?”

Jesus, Samuel’s stellar ability to multitask is ridiculous sometimes.

“Well, of course, sis!” He laughs. “Why wouldn’t we share the news that Doctor Ivy Marie Irving is about to take over the medical scene by storm? Christina Yang’s got nothing on my sister!”

“She’s a fictional character,” I mumble as I start to feel faint, but how apt. I have more in common with a fictional character than I have with reality.

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