A phone call in the morning.

A stylish jet touches down in a private hanger, slowing to a halt.

Various men and women in suits hurried to the private jet, rolling up a red carpet while also bringing along snacks and wine on silver platters.

Just as the stairway connected to the jet’s door, it opened to reveal a young woman in fancy clothing frantically stepping down the steps, her two personal bodyguards following closely behind and telling her to calm down.

Her cotton fur scarf hung closely on her shoulders as she reached out to the first worker she saw, holding him by the shoulders and ignoring the clattering of his dropped lasagna platter, she desperately asked, “Please let me borrow your phone! Mine only works overseas and I forgot my other one back in my luxury suite in Germany!”

“Uh, yes! Of course, malady Empress!” The man faltered nervously, stumbling around as he pulled his phone out and handed it to her with a gracious bow.

She took the phone and immediately dialed a familiar number, before holding it up to her ears and praying to herself, “Oh Lord John, please be alright!”

An unfamiliar ringtone startled me awake.

I grunted, instinctively reaching out to grab and shut off whatever demonic hell spawn was cutting into my beauty sleep. The table was way too far away from me though, which was annoying to no end. The downside of sleeping on a super sized mega bed, apparently.

Thankfully, the noise shit itself off as soon as it started.

I opened a bleary eye to see Stacy already up and in her usual business clothes. She smiled over at me and held up her phone, “Sorry. Important call waiting for me.”

Okay, good, so it wasn’t for me. I don’t think I’d be coherent enough to form a single sentence in my current state.

“Wha time izzit?” I mumbled out.

“It’s time for you to sleep a little bit longer.” Stacy replied softly, leaning down and kissing me on the head, “You’ve barely gotten any sleep last night. Go ahead and catch up on those Zs, you deserve it.”

“Wat about yous?” I asked, “Aren’t you tired toos?”

“Don’t worry about me, John. This is more or less my daily schedule anyway.” She giggled, “Just worry about resting up, okay?”

“Okay…” I mumbled, closing my eye and snuggling deeper into my blanket, “I love yous.”

Out of my view, Stacy gave a heavy blush that I couldn’t see and was smiling stupidly at herself. She gave me another kiss, before taking her phone and leaving me to sleep.

Once outside in the main room of the penthouse, Stacy opened up her phone to check the caller ID, only to raise an eyebrow at the unfamiliar phone number.

Responding to the call, she cautiously replied, “Hello?”

“Dr. Mandel? Oh thank god!” A familiar voice on the other side caused her eyes to widen as she realized who just called.

With relief, she called out, “My Empress! You finally called back!”

“I’m so sorry! I came as quick as I could!” The empress apologized, “I was so stupid! After I heard the news that my husband got into an accident, I rushed back to Clutopia as soon as I was physically able! But because I rushed, I forgot my phone back in Germany and none of my other phones had any Clutopian coverage! I wanted so badly to call sooner, but I just couldn’t find a way!”

“It’s fine, your lordship. You have nothing to apologize for.” Stacy reassured her friend.

“How’s my hubby, Dr. Mandel? Please tell me he’s alive and doing just fine? How bad was the accident?” Stacy could hear the frantic paranoid breathing in the empress’ voice, “The thought of anything happening to him is just too much to bear! He’s my life and soul, Dr. Mandel! If anything were to happen to him, I just- I just…” there was a brief moment of silence before she heard the empress whimpered, “Please, oh please, tell me he’s still alive!”

Stacy took a deep breath, knowing she was about to tell a long and uncomfortable story about the status of John.

“He’s alive, thankfully. Surgery was a success, but… there was a small caveat…” Stacy explained.

“Like what? He should still be fine, right?” Stacy could hear the empress ask nervously.

“Hoo boy, you’re probably going to need to sit down for this.” Stacy sighed, before saying, “Actually no, scratch that. While I’m explaining, you should get to the penthouse suite of Hotel Picasso as soon as you possibly can.”

“Hotel Picasso? Why not at our castle? Is that where Lord John is staying at right now?”

Stacy gave another sigh, “Alright Lady Bella, listen to my instructions very carefully, alright? This is very important if you want to protect Lord John.”

2016, high school.

There she was, the girl of my dreams. She was in the hallway, catching up with her friends as everyone made their way to their next period classes.

God, she was beautiful. With her wavy dark hair, and her hypnotic hazel eyes. Her smile could bring a whole room up with light.

If the rumors are right, Bella Cardigan is currently single right now, after leaving a pretty messy relationship with her ex-boyfriend from a different high school. This means she’s on the market, and every single guy who’s even remotely interested in her will be on the hunt.

I gotta get to her before anyone else can. This is finally my chance to get the girl and stop being a lonely single pringle for the rest of my life!

I opened my locker door and got myself ready. Using a mirror panel in the locker, I checked my face for any blemishes or marks and the like, checked my breath, and proceeded to clear my throat.

“Gonna do this.” I told myself, hyping myself up for what’s to come, “Every opportunity not taken is an opportunity missed. The worst she can do is say no. No pressure, no fears of failure. You got this, man.”

Taking another deep breath, I closed my locker door and put on my game face.

“Showtime.”

With a confident swagger, I proceeded to courageously walk towards Bella and her group of friends, doing my best to act natural and suave like teenage heart crush.

Bella noticed me walking up to her, raising an eyebrow before notifying her friends I was coming.

The other girls all suddenly squawked over to stare at me, their eyes piercing into me like lasers. It almost nearly made me falter in my step, but I didn’t let it deter me.

The worst thing she can do is say no, I kept telling myself over and over again.

When I finally reached them, I gave a casual greeting, “Hi there.”

“Uh… hello?” Bella cautiously greeted back.

“What do you want?” A particularly snarky girl next to Bella asked, “We’re kind of busy at the moment.”

Don’t panic, don’t falter. The worst thing she can do is say no.

Not letting my nerves get to me, I smoothly replied, “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt the conversation-“

“Well you did.” The same snarky girl interrupted.

Jesus Christ, she was really killing my flow here. Have I don’t something to offend this girl or something?

Focus!

“I was just hoping if I could ask Bella something. Once I get an answer, I promise to get out of your hair soon.”

All the girls gave Bella a knowing look as some of them snickered and giggled amongst themselves. Bella uncomfortably and awkwardly scratched her neck, before sighing to herself in resignation.

First impressions not going so hot.

The worst thing she can do is say no.

Doing her best to put on a smile, she turned to me and politely asked, “Yes? What do you need?”

“Okay, so,” I started off, “I know we don’t usually talk to each other a lot, and you probably don’t know me very well. I just wanted you to know that I’ve been really interested in you, and I want to make an attempt to get to know you better. So I was wondering if you'd maybe want to hang out sometimes? I’d love to take you out on a date and see how things go from there.”

Yes! Perfect delivery on the first try! Didn’t stutter or mess up once! Hell yeah!

At this point, it probably didn’t matter if she said no or not. The fact that I was able to ask her out so cleanly is a huge first step for me to becoming more confident and outgoing! Even if she’s not interested, I know now at the very least, I have the backbone to ask out any girl I might like in the future.

Predictably, Bella cringed and awkwardly looked away, “I’m… flattered, really. I really am. But this isn’t the best time… Sorry, I’m going to have to say no, John.”

I nodded respectfully, “No problem, thanks for taking the time to listen. I just wanted to see if I had a chance.”

The snarky girl beside her scoffed, “Only a complete idiot like you wouldn’t see that you had no chance to even begin with.”

…

I felt my eye twitch at this girl’s inconsiderate responses.

“You seem to have some sort of problem with me. Can I ask why, considering we never even met before?” I calmly asked the rude girl.

“If it’s not obvious why I have a problem with you to begin with, then you’re a dumber idiot then I thought!” She laughed haughtily, “Do you think you’re smooth and cool or something? Don’t you realize how creepy you are right now? Bella just recently broke up with her old boyfriend, and now you’ve just conveniently decided to ask her out today?”

“What exactly is wrong with that? I just wanted to show that I’m interested, she doesn’t have to say yes or anything.”

“And she didn’t say yes, dumb fuck! She said no!” The girl then gestured to her and her friend, “So why are you still bothering us? What, were you hoping that you might be able to change her mind by mentioning how you can afford taking her to some overpriced expensive restaurant or something?”

“For your information, I was actually planning on reserving a table at Chuck E. Cheese.” I felt the need to defend myself.

Poor choice of words, probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it, considering how everyone suddenly guffawed into laughter. Bella covered her face as if she could be dying from embarrassment at any moment.

“Oh my god, was that a joke or are you being serious right now?” The girl laughed condescendingly at me. “For your sake, that better be a joke!”

“Look, what exactly is your problem and why does my existence seem to offend you so much even though I’ve done literally nothing wrong?”

“People like you disgust me.” She sneered, “You’re like a vulture picking up scraps after an accident. You wait for the prime time when something goes wrong, and then you jump in and steal anything not bolted down on the floor. The moment you hear rumors that the popular girl in school broke up with her boyfriend, you waltz in like you own the place and charge straight after her without any thought or consideration to how she might feel. Hey, maybe she didn’t want to enter a new relationship so soon after leaving messy one behind, huh? Or maybe she didn’t get over her old boyfriend yet and is still having issues? Ever thought of that when you came over her to bother us?”

“Is it so wrong to just ask if I could hang out with her? How was I supposed to know any of that?” I argued back.

“Exactly! You don’t know shit! Because you’re an inconsiderate loser who annoys others when they don’t want to be annoyed!” She growled.

“Stop it!” Bella came between us as she held her friend back. “You’re making the situation worse. Just stop talking to him and let’s get to class before we’re late.”

The girl harrumphed before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and childishly stomping away. Her other friends gave me various looks, as if I was some piece of garbage on the street, before following after her.

Bella sighed and turned to face me as she said, “Probably would have been better if you just ignored her instead of calling her out like that.”

“Did someone hurt her or something? What did I do to piss her off so much?” I asked, feeling frustrated over the encounter.

She sighed, “Look, don’t worry about it. Please, I’d like to ask you to just leave me and my friends alone, okay?”

Her too? Seriously?

“I just…” I looked at Bella, seeing her look at me with such a stern accusatory face, as if I was somehow at fault for this. “...am I really that unattractive and gross to you and your friends?”

She gave an annoyed sigh, before saying, “Look, I don’t want a boyfriend right now, okay? Even if I change my mind, you’re not my type. So just don’t bother us again if you don’t want to deal with our drama.”

She didn’t give me the chance to respond, already hightailing it out of there to go back with her friends.

Leaving me behind, alone in the hallways.

…

“Worst she could do is say no.” I bitterly told myself.

A flare of anger washed over me as I kicked a locker, letting out a huge clanging noise.

“If the worst thing she could do is say no, why the hell does it still hurt so much to hear?”

I could feel myself nearly tearing up. Agh, I’m such a baby.

I slapped myself in the face to calm down. I didn’t want to have to face the indignity of crying over a girl’s rejection.

Whatever. Dating for teenagers is stupid anyway. Everyone’s an asshole and nobody is ever happy.

The bell rang, signaling that I was late to my period.

With a sigh and heavy step, I slouched over to the front door of my next class.

I didn’t really care that I was late, to be honest. I just want to get through the school day as fast as possible so that I can get home and hang out with my friends and family.

Shaking my head clear, I pushed the door open-

The other side of the door was a hospital room.

I… wait, what?

Wasn’t I just in school a moment ago? What’s going on?

“Mom!” I heard a familiar girl’s voice call out from behind me.

I slipped to the side, surprised to see Bella running past me to get to the patient’s hospital bed.

In the room, I saw an old couple. The man was sitting by his wife’s side, gently holding her hand with a happy and relieved smile. The woman on the hospital bed gave a bright smile to Bella when she came in, reaching out for a hug. “Bella, my sweet sweet daughter!”

“Mom, are you okay? Are there any side effects from the surgery? Is everything in your body still functioning?!” Bella worriedly asked as she examined her mom for every nook and cranny.

With a gently wave, her mom stated, “I’m absolutely fine, Bella. The kind doctor was able to cure my throat cancer without a scratch.”

At this point, I felt myself speaking up, “Take some vitamin supplements, drink lots of water, you should be as healthy as a newborn by next week.”

Wait, what was I doing here? Why am I with Bella in the hospital with her parents right now? What was I even talking about?

Bella looked back at her mom and asked, “So does this mean…?”

Her mom nodded gently, “Yes sweetie, Mom’s throat cancer is gone for good.”

Bella began to tear up, before holding onto her mom and crying into her shoulder. Bella’s mom gently patted her back in return, whispering “There there” over and over again.

I felt myself sigh, before feeling a little bit awkward in this family gathering. After a moment or two of staring at Bella as she was getting consoled by her mother, I decided that I was a creep and went to leave the room.

As I went to leave, I saw Bella’s dad following after me.

Just outside the room, her dad caught up and told me, “We can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us. You know, you’re the tenth doctor we came to about this, and out of all the treatments and therapy, you were the only one that managed to actually produce results.”

What? Since when the hell was I a doctor?

“Don’t worry about it.” I waved away, casually pulling out my phone to check my schedule. “As long as you promise to look after your wife so that she takes better care of herself, that’s thanks enough for me.”

“Are you sure it’s alright to do all this for free?” He asked, “I’m sure I can pay you back- I mean, you absolutely deserve every single cent-“

“Nonono- It’s fine.” I shook my head and politely declined, “I don’t usually do surgery as a healing services anyway, so it’s really not necessary. Maybe if you want some cosmetic plastic surgery done, you can hit me up for a price quote, but think of this as a free gift for Bella. That’s all.”

The old man gave me a knowing look as he waggled his pointer finger at me and smiled, “Ohohoh, I’ve been meaning to ask about that actually. Do you and my daughter already know each other? Have you two met before? Why else would you decide to help us?”

I awkwardly rubbed my neck, “A few times, yes. But it’s been a while, and Bella doesn’t remember who I am. I’d actually prefer it that way, if she doesn’t remember me at all, so if you could keep this quiet between us, that would be great.”

The dad gave a neutral hum, before going, “Well, alright then. Whatever the deal is between you and my daughter, I hope you work it out soon. I just wanted to say thanks again, for saving my wife’s life. Anything you need from us, just know you have our gratitude.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Cardigan.” I nodded, before gesturing, “Why don’t you go hang out with the family for a bit? Bond over the good news?”

He nodded gratefully, before heading inside, leaving me out alone in the hallways.

I gave a sigh of relief, thankful to be done with that.

This whole thing was still so confusing though… why am I seeing all this? Is this some sort of dream? Is this some sort of prophetic vision of the future?

The me who was a doctor checked the time, and muttered, “Aaand I’m late for the next appointment. There goes my perfect attendance record.”

Pocketing my phone away, I yawned tiredly and went to leave. But before I could, I heard the door slam open behind me, and a hoarse voice called out, “Wait, Doctor!”

I sighed, dreading this moment. Turning around, I greeted the familiar girl, “Need something, Miss Cardigan?”

She ran up to me before nervously smiling, “I can’t believe all the rumors were true! You really are a miracle doctor just like everyone’s been talking about!”

“Miracle Doctor is a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest…” I mumbled dismissively. “I’m sure your mother would have been cured sooner or later by someone else if you found them instead of me.”

She adamantly shook her head, “That’s not true! Doctor, don’t you realize? It took you only a week to accomplish something that all of our previous doctors couldn’t even come close to in years! My mom’s had this throat cancer for a while now, and you’ve just cured it like it was nothing! Who else in this world can do something like that?”

“Probably an actual licensed medical practitioner, maybe?” I half heartedly offered.

“I just wanted to thank you, Doctor Doe!” Bella bowed gratefully, “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. I don’t know what I would have done if I never found out and came to you in the first place! You saved my mom!”

“Hey, Miss, there’s really no need for the whole bowing thing…” I uncomfortably gestured her to stand back up. “Besides, I got enough thanks from your mom and dad already, so there’s no need to go overboard.”

“Sorry, I just-“ Bella stood back up with an embarrassed blush, “I wanted to show my gratitude and I didn’t know how to make it clear.”

“No problem, it was nothing.” I assured her, before turning to leave, “So, like, I’m kind of in a rush to get back to my office… if there’s nothing else you need, I’ll be going…”

“R-Right! I’m sorry!” Bella nervously stuttered out, “I’m taking your time and keeping you away from your job! You have so many other people to help after this, I nearly forgot!”

“Don’t worry about it.” I waved away, “Welp, see ya. Stay healthy, Miss Cardigan.”

I turned to leave, waving goodbye to Bella behind me. But before I could even take my first step, I felt her grab my sleeve from behind and nervously squeaked “W-W-Wait, please!”

I sighed in resignation, before putting on a polite smile and asked, “Yes? What is it now?”

“I- um, er, it’s just- I just- I- I- I-“ Bella looked like a stuttering nervous wreck, unable to form her words properly. Taking a deep breath, she gulped and said, “I know we’ve only just met a few weeks ago, and you probably don’t know me very well! But I just want you to know that I’m really interested in you and want to get to know you better! If you want, I’d like us to go on a date! Please!”

The scene struck a nostalgic chord in me, as I watched her nearly repeat word for word the same pick up line I used back in highschool.

It’s so bizarre to be the one on the opposite end of this scenario.

I looked into her eyes, seeing this almost hopeful yet **** girl clinging onto my sleeve as she waited with bated breath for my answer. This girl I used to have a crush on since high school, now coming to me and asking me out on a date.

With a raised eyebrow, I asked her, “You do realize that I’m usually not allowed to date my patients, right?”

She nervously looked around, before replying, “W-W-Well, technically, my mom’s your patient here, not me. That should make me safe, right?” She nervously chuckled.

…

“Welp, fuck me if that’s not a good argument.” I sighed, before reaching in my coat and pulling out my business card, “Contact me the same way you did before about your mom. I’m available this Saturday evening. Wear something cute, I’ll be reserving a table at Chuck E. Cheese and then I’ll come pick you up. Sound good?”

She blinked incredulously, “Wait, did you say Chuck E. Cheese?”

“Will that be a problem?” I insinuated.

“Uh- No! No problem! I love Chuck E. Cheese! Been there so many times as a kid!” She nervously chuckled as she reassured me. “I’ll pick out my best outfit and make it there!”

I clicked my tongue and winked at her, before pulling my sleeve away and leaving the hospital building.

Once I was out of view, Bella slumped on a nearby wall and held her heart still as it beat against her chest like a machine gun. “Holy hell, how does a guy make a girl quiver like that over a date at Chuck E. Cheese?”