I shifted from foot to foot, trying to stem a surge of nausea. Not at the thought of the cadaver—I’m not squeamish or sentimental—but at the thought of spending a year with a roomful of people infinitely cooler than me. I’d never had a boyfriend, let alone interacted with a live penis. My first real glimpse of the male physique would be arriving in the company of an overendowed corpse and a trio of socially graceful hotties. This was not how I’d pictured med school. Maybe I’d made a mistake.

Across the room, the instructor gestured for our attention and sliced a hand through the air as if signaling a race. “You may remove your sheets,” he said.

I met Vani’s eyes again, trying to contain the distress in mine. I must have failed, because she reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I’m glad you’re my partner,” she said. She reached her other hand for Emma, who then reached for Zadie, who then reached for me, so the four of us were linked around the giant erection as if we were about to break into some kind of ultra-bizarre maypole dance. I felt the beginnings of a grin.

“Here’s to the best year ever,” said Vani.

—

DECLAN LISTENED TO the story of our first week—gross anatomy lab and all—with the same series of expressions as most men who’ve heard the story: keen interest, followed by a smirk, followed by an expression of abject horror at the thought of a posthumous penis dissection by a group of young women. “Aaah,” he said weakly.

“Over the years, the way we met has spawned a lot of penis jokes.” Vani motioned to Georgia. “Georgia’s the best at them, obviously.”

“I’m a urologist,” explained Georgia to Declan, “not a penis connoisseur. But yes: I know plenty of male anatomy jokes. It’s actually a requirement for our board certification.”

“It’s not,” Hannah assured Declan, even as Georgia launched into one.

She pointed at him. “Unscramble the letters P-S-N-I-E to name a part of the human body that works best when erect.”

“Penis?”

“Spine, you pervert. Nice try.”

“Aaaah,” said Declan again. He sat without speaking for a moment, blinking his blue eyes before giving himself a little shake. “Right! Spine!” He motioned to the server. “Anyone up for sangria?”