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Chapter 3
Day Off
Sunday mornings off were a rarity, even more so when those mornings off aligned with Sara’s, which meant I would inevitably be coerced into going on a run with her.
She ran in front of me, fast little thing that she was, and I couldn’t help but stare at her cute little behind. Her short, blonde ponytail bounced with her stride. We often laughed together because we both knew people always wanted something other than what they had, especially when it came to a body. I’d kill for a tiny body like hers, and she wished for my Amazonian physique complete with muscular thighs. I wished my hair was blonde like hers, and she lusted after my thick, dark brown hair.
I was stronger and could lift way more than she could, but her low body weight made her fast. So fast. I could barely keep up with her on our runs.
When we finished, we splayed out on the grass and stretched. Sara took her earbuds off and pulled mine down as well to grab my attention. The weight of my hair pulled the hairband loose, so it was sliding down my ponytail. I took it off and regathered the ponytail, tightening the hairband more securely.
“What are the chances I could persuade your dad into makingchilaquilesfor us?” She grinned so wide it was hard to deny her, but I had to. At least this once.
“Rain check?”
“Um, okay. That’s a first. I’m guessing you don’t want to go elsewhere for breakfast, either?”
I shook my head and brought my water bottle to my lips, buying time from having to answer.
“Caro? What is it? Should I be concerned?”
Damn her and her closeness with my family. Dad loved her like a second daughter, and he’d never say no to her if he could help it, especially if she was asking him to cook for her.
Sara basically lived with Dad on her days off. I think the only reason he survived me getting through med school was that she kept him company when I was studying nearly twenty-four hours a day.
“Fine,” I said finally. “I haven’t told Dad, okay? I don’t want you to be a nosy ass and spill the beans before I have the chance to talk with him.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Sitting on the ground, I massaged my calves and tried to answer nonchalantly. “I haven’t told him Dr. Medina is my new boss.”
“I didn’t know that was something to tell him.” She crossed her arms in front of me.
“Okay, I’m going to tell you, but you have to swear to take this to your grave.”
“You very well know if you ask me to, I will.”
“Okay, here it goes. When I was in high school, I was a bit obsessive about Dr. Medina—or rather, his research.”
“God, you were such a nerd,” Sara teased.
“Anyway, Dad knew about it. I just want to tell him in person without anyone there to sway his thoughts about it.”
“What? You mean, like mention that you actually combed your hair,andyou wore something other than scrubs to meet him?”
I eyed her menacingly and pointed with one finger. “Yeah, somethingexactlylike that.”
“I doubt Mr. Ramirez remembers. And if he does, why would he care anyway?”
“You don’t get it. I had three posters on my wall growing up. One was ofIndustrial November. One was a vintage cover ofJane Eyre,and the last was the abstract of Dr. Medina’s published paper on his first clinical trial.”
“You are such an enormous nerd that if it weren’t for theIndustrial Novemberposter, I don’t think we could be friends.”
I introduced Sara to my favorite band during our freshman year in college when I met her. She hadn’t listened to much music before that, so it would be a stretch to say she had any sort of musical taste, but after hearing Brenner’s deep, raspy voice, she was a goner for heavy metal. “Yeah,Industrial Novemberhas saved me more times than I care to admit.”
“Me too,” Sara said with a broken voice. College was a dark time for her. Her family had been neglectful of her as a child—her parents were drug addicts—and she was just starting to break ties with them our freshman year. There was an anger inIndustrial Novemberlyrics that I think reflected what she was feeling, and she could finally let it out after bottling it up for so long.
“Fine, just tell Mr. Ramirez he owes mechilaquilesbecause of you.”
