The Sweet Escape

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

During the week that followed Skylar and Ian did not speak much apart from the simple nod of acknowledgement or a small, friendly smile. Skylar spent most of her free time in the library or in front of her laptop screen, studying. Always studying. There were days when she only got around four hours of sleep, a bit over five if she was lucky. 

She made her morning coffee extra strong with no sugar, she would also carry a mega can of Monster Energy in her school bag, drinking it little by little so that it would last her half the day. Her lunch break then consisted of a large iced coffee or another energy drink. And she always had a cup of Starbucks on her while in the library.

"You're going to get a heart attack," Jason said one day as he watched her type on her computer without even blinking. He had been in there studying as well, but unlike her, seemed more relaxed about his classes.

Skylar had been hanging out with Jason a lot more recently, they usually just studied together or met up for a quick chat during coffee runs.

"Says the person drinking coffee," she replied, her eyes still glued to  her screen.

Jason smiled. "Mine is decaf."

Skylar managed to roll her eyes but still didn't look up at him. 

"You overdo it on the caffeine," he said. "You know that, right? There's such a thing called caffeine addiction and babe, you're there. Heck, you've been there for quite a while. I would recommend a cleanse."

Now Skylar looked up from her screen. "A cleanse?"

"Yes. A cleanse. It's for your health."

"Jason, I don't need a cleanse," she said. "I need more energy to manage my studies. Ian is getting me an internship and I need to learn how to manage a big workload. If I can't handle this, then I'm obviously not fit for the job."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Ian?"

"Ian is a friend," she said. "He owns a firm in San Francisco and is giving me an internship there."

"That's very generous of him," Jason said.

"It is," Skylar agreed. "And forget about that cleanse. I'll tone it down a  bit, but there will be no cleanse."

Jason sighed. "Don't say I never tried to help you."

Ian soon released the names of the students he was picking for the internship: Skylar, obviously, and the guy with all the question on the first day of classes, Micah Nesterovich.

"Congratulations, I heard the big news," Sarah said when Skylar walked into their dorm room. She sounded sincere, which surprised Skylar. Sarah usually wasn't this nice.

"Thank you," she said.

"Mr. Rinaldi must have really been impressed by you," Sarah added. "But I get it, you're really committed to this. I have to admit that you're one of the good ones."

Skylar didn't know what to say to that. "Uh, thanks," she said.

Sarah just smiled. "I'm applying for an internship at a firm in Palo Alto."

"That's great," Skylar said sincerely. "I'm sure you'll get it."

That was when Skylar noticed the mess on Sarah's bed, the makeup clutter all over her desk. Sarah was smiling and acting nice, she was putting on makeup and looking for a nice outfit! It all clicked.

"Are you seeing someone, Sarah?" Skylar asked.

Sarah froze for a millisecond. "What? No. No. Of-of course not. Why would you think that?"