I told them everything.
Silence on the other end.
I thought the signal had dropped. After calling "Hello?" twice, my parents finally spoke:
"Louisa's not wrong, you know. You really aren't that bright. We're your parents—we'd know better than anyone."
"Besides, Louisa was doing college entrance exam problems at eight years old. She's a prodigy! Of course someone like her thinks you're slow. That's just how it is!"
"And this thing with Otis Armstrong? The guy goes to an Ivy League school. What, you're going to tell him who he can and can't hang out with? Anyway, it's late. Get some sleep."
I wasn't having it.
"But—"
"Enough!"
Dad's patience snapped.
"Who do you think got you that internship at a top hospital? Louisa pulled strings for you! She's been more than good to you, so quit making a scene!"
The line went dead. I couldn't stop my eyes from burning.
But Mom, Dad... I never wanted to study medicine in the first place.
Louisa Pruitt was a medical prodigy.
I wasn't.
Far from it.
My grades had always been rock bottom.
Junior year of high school, Louisa got a guaranteed admission to a top university and took a leave of absence.
Every single day, she drilled me on problems she could solve at a glance.
My parents tried to reason with her:
"Matthew doesn't have your brains. Just go to Capital City on your own. Worst case, he can stay here and sell vegetables with us."
But she was adamant:
"If Matthew doesn't go, neither do I.
"He sells vegetables, I'll gut fish. We'll be a team.
"Wherever Matthew goes, I go."
I knew how stubborn Louisa could be.
If I didn't get in, she really might end up selling vegetables and gutting fish with me.
During those brutal study sessions, I'd told her to just worry about herself.
But she grabbed my hand, eyes rimmed red:
"I was five when my parents died. My uncles took everything. You're the one who brought me home.
"You ran my bath water. You chased off the kids who called me an orphan.
"Your parents gave me food. When they saw my grades were good, they spent their vegetable money to send me to prep courses out of state.
"If I forget who pulled me up when I had nothing—if I just walk away—then my whole life meant nothing.
"I'm not capable of that kind of betrayal."
To keep her from actually gutting fish beside me, I studied like my life depended on it.
I barely scraped into a second-tier university in Capital City.
But now, Louisa had grown tired of me.
What hurt even more—
My own parents were taking her side.
I didn't go back to the dorm. I crouched downstairs, smoking.
My buddy came down and found me.
After hearing everything, he shot to his feet, ready to go find Louisa.
I grabbed his arm:
"Forget it. I've made up my mind—I'm done with medicine!"
Ned Delgado stared at me, eyes wide:
"What are you going to do?"
"Sell pharmaceuticals!"
Ned's jaw dropped.
I'd never been much of a student.
But I could sell.
Whenever I helped at the vegetable stand, my parents always got to pack up early.
All those years interning at hospitals—I hadn't picked up many skills, but I'd figured out the entire pharmaceutical supply chain.
"I thought about it all night. With my half-baked abilities, if I actually had to perform surgery someday, I wouldn't have the nerve.
"People could die.
"I already found out there's a warehouse up in Northside District sitting on a pile of inventory. I'm going to check it out tomorrow."
Ned looked at me:
"But you put in five years. Walking away now... that's a lot to throw away."
I shook my head.
The sky was starting to lighten at the edges.
