Chapter 3
THREE YEARS BEFORE
Aria
Ihave an urge running through my body.
An urge I so wish I could quiet, but it seems like that isn’t going to be happening anytime soon, especially with my schedule. It’s getting louder and louder with every passing minute.
It’s the urge to drop everything, get black-out drunk, and not worry about work, life, or anything else for a few days. I want to drown in a bottle of tequila and a whole lot of carbs and not think about anything other than what my next shot is going to be or my next bite of pizza.
Sounds a bit much, but when you decide to become a nurse, every once in a while, you get the urge to escape everything.
Sometimes, it’s the best job in the world.
Other times, I want to curl up in a ball and never walk into the hospital ever again, but I will because I love working in pediatrics and the kids I take care of. It’s a vicious cycle.
Maybe I could plan something.
Maybe I can escape Austin for a little bit, even if it’s just for a day or even a weekend. I need something.
Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
If I keep saying maybe, I will never do it. I’ll get fed up and quit if I don’t, though. I love my job, and the kids I see every day too much to throw everything away. So tonight, I will plan out a trip somewhere so I can destress and come back ready to conquer anything.
Just thinking about escaping the real world has a smile forming on my lips as I get off the elevator and make my way to my apartment.
It stays there until the second I walk in and close the door.
My ears are assaulted with the sound of a muffled scream no doubt coming from my roommate.
I turn the corner and find her with the pillow pressed against her face.
Interesting.
Serena, my roommate, is usually the calm one. I’m the one who is most likely to go off the rails, so her screaming into a pillow conjures up so many questions.
“Whoa, who pissed in your Cheerios?” I ask as soon as I’m deep enough in our apartment to grab the attention of my friend of almost eight years.
Serena and I met when we were twenty and getting used to college life.
We were in our third year at San Francisco State and have been attached at the hip ever since.
She is the closest thing I have to a sister, and I fill the same role for her.
I have no idea where I would be if she hadn’t decided to move to Austin with me for nursing school.
Sure, I have my parents, and so does she but mine live in California. Serena is here in Austin with me and I hope it stays that way for years to come.
Lifting her face away from the pillow ever so slightly, Serena mumbles, “The douchebag of a donkey’s ass.”
Donkey’s ass? Did I hear her correctly?
“What?” I say, grabbing the TV remote and muting whatever show she’s binging. If she is going to continue mumbling, I need to hear her clearly. You would think for a teacher who tells her kids almost every day that they have to speak up, she would follow the sentiment at home.
“Jeremy! He broke up with me, called me boring and bad in bed,” Serena lets out, crossing her arms, hugging the pillow to her body.
Ah. Douchebag of a donkey’s ass.
Now what she said makes so much sense. And given the asshole he is, I agree. He’s very much a douchebag of a donkey’s ass—a pendejo, as my stepdad would say. A top tier pendejo.
“Seriously?” I ask, more shocked that he called her boring and bad in bed than that he broke up with her.
I hated the guy. I’ve hated him since she first told me about him, but Serena really liked him, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
Serena is better off without him; he never deserved her.
I’m glad she’s no longer with him. Fingers crossed she will be over him in a few days and neither one of us has to think about him ever again.
“Yes!” She nearly flies off the couch when she responds, her whole body jerking in anger. “Oh, and he also said I’m way too stubborn. Who says that?”
I feel myself cringe a little, but I try my hardest to rein it in. I may hate the guy, but he does have a point. Serena is stubborn and a lot of the time, it’s her way or no way.
I give my best friend a shrug. “Well, you can be stubborn at times.”
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side, not agreeing with the bastard.”
“I am on your side,” I let out, holding up my hands in defense.
“I’m just saying, he might be right about that one thing.
” If she wasn’t my best friend, the death glare she sends my way would terrify me, but it makes me laugh more than anything.
Either way, I quickly change the subject.
“Can I just say I’m so damn happy you are done with that bastard?
He never treated you right, and every time he slept over, he gave me the creeps. ”
I swear, every time I woke up in the middle of the night to get water, I would find him in the kitchen in the dark like a creep. I thought that we were going to end up on Dateline.
Serena leans her head against my shoulder. “Yeah, he gave me the creeps too.”
Her statement surprises me so much. I voice my thought out loud. “Then why did you stay with him so long?”
The second the words leave my mouth, I hear the judgment and instantly regret them. Just because she might have been creeped out by him doesn’t mean it was all the time. He could have had qualities she liked. He could have made her happy and treated her like a princess when no one else was around.
Serena is quiet for a little bit before she responds. “Because sometimes, it’s better to feel wanted than completely lonely.”
Instantly, my heart breaks for my best friend. Her relationship with her parents isn’t all that great, so I’m sure how she feels stems from that, but I still want to do everything in my power to make her feel better.
Which is why, for the next few minutes, we joke around about how she’s not really lonely—she has me, and we can get a million cats.
As we do that, though, an idea springs into my mind.
It’s a win-win for both of us. It’s perfect.
“You know what you need?” I say, excitement running through my veins the more I think about it.
“What do I need?” she asks in the most monotone voice.
“A girls’ trip.”
I don’t waste any time thinking of all the possibilities. We can go to New York. Or better yet, Cabo! Sitting on a beach chair, looking out to the Pacific with a margarita in my hand sounds amazing. But that might be a no, because I’m pretty sure my passport is both lost and expired.
“A girls’ trip?” Serena throws out, her eyes brows shooting up almost to her hairline.
Cabo may be out of the question, but we can still go somewhere fun. Where, though?
Where can we eat and drink all we want and forget everything? What’s somewhere close?
It’s like a light bulb legit lights up in my head.
“Yeah, just you and me and a bunch of dresses that show off our bodies.” Yes. That’s it. The excitement continues to grow the more I think about it.
“And where exactly are we going to wear these dresses that show off our bodies?”
There is only one place where it’s suitable without any judgment.
“Vegas, baby!”
It would be like Cabo on steroids. I may not be able to look out on the Pacific, but I can look out at a pool and still have a margarita in my hand. It’s perfect. Serena will get out of her wallowing, and I will get that much-needed break from work and come back refreshed.
It’s perfect.
Serena starts to complain about why can’t we go somewhere else, but I shoot her down quickly and start booking the trip.
I can’t have her backing out. She needs this as much as I do, and I will do everything in my power to make sure she forgets all about that douchebag of a donkey’s ass while I get my R&R.
Thankfully, once I’m finished booking everything, she has a smile on her face. It’s a small smile, but it’s a smile, nonetheless.
I’ll take it.
Las Vegas, here we come!