PART 6

"What am I going to do, Andy?" Nat asked his friend. Nat and Andy were sitting down for their morning break the next day. Nat had just finished telling Andy what had happened the night before.

"I guessed that you liked her," Andy smiled at his friend.

"But what do I do?" Nat was getting desperate. "Andy, I need help. As selfish as this may sound, I want Nan. I can’t let somebody take her away from me."

"I know you want her, Nat. Which means there’s only one thing to do."

"What’s that?"

"Tell her."

"Tell her! I can’t just tell her. What if she says she doesn’t feel the same way about me?"

"Then you’ll know. You won’t know, though, if you don’t find out." Andy saw the desperate look on his face. "What exactly did Aaron do?"

"He came to call on her," Nat was beginning to calm down a little bit.

"Then why don’t you call on her?" Andy asked.

"Me?" Nat looked surprised.

"Yeah, you."

"How am I supposed to do that? I live in the same house as her. Am I just supposed to walk up to the front door and ask her father if I can call on her?" Nat said sarcastically.

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"Yes, Nat. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do."

Nat was beginning to understand what Andy was saying to him. That was it. He had to try it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I can’t believe he called on you, Nan. He’s so cute, don’t you think?" Anna said to Nan.

"Well, yeah, I guess he is." Nan looked hesitant.

"Something wrong, Nan? Sounds thrilling to me," Anna was smiling. She was still a little sick, but had gotten over most of the catarrh that she had come down with.

"Thrilling? Yeah, I suppose. I have to admit that it was flattering. It’s nice to have a good-looking guy like that come calling on me."

"But…" Anna sensed there was a ‘but…’

"But, it would never work, Anna."

"Why?" Then it dawned on Anna what Nan meant by it would never work. "You have feelings for Nat, don’t you?" she asked her friend.

Nan blushed when her friend guessed the truth. "Yes, I do. Nat and I go back four years. We’re the best of friends. I have so much fun with him. I can just be myself."

"You want Nat to call on you, not Aaron?" Nan only nodded.

"Give him time. Maybe he will," Anna tried to give her friend a little hope.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nan was headed out of the college at the end of her school day when Aaron stopped her.

"Hi, Aaron," she smiled at him.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" he asked. He looked really angry.

"Tell you what?" Nan was confused.

"Tell me about your little secret."

"What secret?" Nan was still very confused.

"Your secret about you going to become a doctor."

"You never let me. You kept interrupting me," she told him. "Would it have mattered?" she asked curiously.

"Mattered? Yes, it would have," he said in a loud voice. "Women have no right to become doctors. That’s a man’s job."

"Excuse me. I have no right. It’s a man’s job. What planet do you live on? There are women doctors on this planet."

"Only men can be doctors," he insisted. "You’re not a man; therefore, you can’t be one."

"Sure she can be," Nat had just come out of the building and saw what was going on. "She has every right to be one if she wants to be." Nat walked up to Aaron.

"No, she can’t be," Aaron repeated. "She’s a girl."

"She’s a woman," Nat corrected. "Why, are you afraid that she’ll be a better doctor than you?" Nat questioned him.

"No, women can’t be doctors at all."

"If that’s what you think," Nat said, doing everything in his power not to punch him in the nose. "Fortunately, not everyone thinks the way you do." Nat looked over to Nan. "Come on, Nan. He’s not worth standing here looking at." Nat took Nan’s hand and they walked home together.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nat and Nan were quiet at supper that evening, but Joseph didn’t question them. He figured something would be said sooner or later.

After supper, Nan and Nat went about their regular routine of going to their rooms to do their homework. Little did Joseph know that one of them didn’t stay in their room.