“I’m not a brain surgeon,” I told him. “Lives aren’t at stake here.”
He nodded. “I’ll be quick.”
We drove across town in the opposite direction of Starlight Palms past all the picturesque parts of Palm Springs until we arrived in an area that could only be described as normal. There was a Target with ample parking and a Chili’s and a big chain movie theater with twelve screens.
Eli pulled into a Walgreens. Without a word, he ran in and quickly returned with a small bag.
I didn’t know where we were headed, but I did not expect to find us parking in the third visitor spot at Los Santos High School.
“Is your girlfriend a teacher?” I blurted. It was hard to imagine Eli dating a teacher. A lawyer maybe or even another doctor. But a teacher felt... sweet. And if she was sweet, I’d have a hard time justifying my distaste. Which was for no valid reason already.
He turned the car off and got out. “Not a teacher,” he said. “A student. My daughter, actually.”
My eyes widened and my stupid mouth fell open. “Your— How do you— You have a daughter?”
“You coming in?” he asked, leaning through the still-open door.
I scrambled to open my door and followed him in through the entrance, where we were buzzed into the front office.
“Are you here for an early pickup?” asked the woman behind the counter. Her hair was jet black with white roots coming in.
“No, actually.” Eli cleared his throat. “My daughter started her period and asked me to bring this to her.”
He held up the bag from Walgreens and took out a small box with a menstrual cup inside.
“We have pads and tampons in the nurse’s office,” the woman said.
“She’s a cup kind of girl,” Eli said with a shrug. “It’s Brigid Buckley.”
As the secretary got on her phone, Eli turned to me. “As of last summer, Brigid is very eco-conscious and refuses to use disposable menstrual products.”
Behind the counter, the woman covered the receiver with her hand. “The nurse said she’s been free bleeding in her office for the last hour.”
“Does she need a change of clothes?” he asked.
“Does she need a change of clothes?” the secretary repeated into the phone. She listened for a second, hung up, and looked to me. “Your daughter is on her way up.”
“Oh, she’s not my—” I began.
“Thank you,” Eli said.
We waited for a moment before a girl with wild pale blond hair stormed in through the door leading to the office.
“Hey, pumpkin,” Eli said like she wasn’t a day over five.
Brigid was stunning, which probably meant her mom was too. She was at least five foot nine and her heart-shaped face wore full lips and wide eyes. Back when I was in school, she would have been the kind of girl who could wear pajama pants and a messy bun every day while still being everyone’s number-one crush.
She hugged her dad for a millisecond as he asked, “Do you need a change of clothes?”
“No, I wasn’t even free bleeding, I stuffed some toilet paper up there. And I don’t get why the nurse was freaking out. It’s just a little bit of blood. She whispered every time she said the wordperiod, like I’m supposed to be embarrassed or something.” Brigid threw her arms up and said loudly enough for everyone in the office to hear: “I’m bleeding from my vagina. My uterus is shedding its lining. Just a little PSA for anyone wondering.” She took the bag from Eli. “Is this a cup?”
He nodded. “I think I got the right one.”
Brigid’s gaze cut over to me. “Who are you?” she asked bluntly.
“We’re coworkers,” I said just as Eli said, “An old friend.”
She shrugged, already bored. “Well, which is it?”
