Elijah walked me home after we cleaned up. He murmured a sweet goodbye, picnic basket in hand, after placing a chaste kiss on my cheek, which made me shiver and blush profusely.

Losing the feeling of his fingers interlocked with my own was bittersweet. I didn't like when we parted ways, but it marked the moment I could start to daydream about being with him again!

He made sure I was inside before he began the walk to his dorm with a swing in his step. I smiled as I peeked through the door and watched him go.

I always felt dreamy and airy after being with Elijah. As much as I never wanted to see him go, the idea of him springing more of his well-planned surprise outings on me in the future made my heart soar.

This time though, I had solid plans to look forward to! Elijah's meet was in three days. His team is competing against Yale's biggest, and oldest, rival, so it's going to be a significant game. He has a lot of team activities scheduled beforehand, so I won't be seeing much of him outside of class until after the races.

He is the captain, after all. I'm not too upset about it. I like that he's so passionate about his sport and his team. Also, it will give me more time to fit in appointments without having to worry about giving Elijah excuses.

I would feel so guilty if I had to decline a date with Elijah and lie to him about why I couldn't attend. He puts so much thought and effort into surprising me with sweet gestures. I already feel guilty about keeping my secret from him, but I don't want to screw everything up.

"Gah! Just stop thinking about it, Sara!" I whisper-yelled at myself in the hallway. "I must look like a crazy person." As I shook my head at myself, the door swung open and out popped Elizabeth's head. Speaking of crazy people...

"Guys! She's back!" I heard thumping and I could picture the girls scrambling on top of each other to get to the door.

I shook my head and chuckled to myself as I walked from the main entrance. Next thing I knew, I was dragged to the couch with expectant eyes surrounding me. The girls looked like they were about to jump out of their skin. This is the same routine after I see Elijah.

Every. Single. Time.

Don't these girls ever have homework?

"So... Where did he take you? What was the surprise?" Maddy had her chin resting on her palm as she sat on the floor with her elbow leaning on the coffee table.

"It was a picnic under a weeping blossom tree." I smirked as the girls all feigned swoons at the same time.

Do they rehearse this or something?

"Where can I find an Elijah?" Lara sighed and stared off into space dreamily.

"Yeah, we need to go to the Science Building so the labs can hook us up with some cloning equipment! I'm sure it will interest some chemistry students looking for research hours!" Elizabeth seemed serious, but I knew there was no way that could be the case. Or am I just underestimating her deranged genius brain?

Maddy snorted. "Yeah! That would make a great thesis topic!" She was trying to talk between laughter.

Elizabeth just looked at me with a maniacal grin. "I'm sure Sara could get us a DNA sample. Possibly some of that plush hair of his. You have a good excuse and everything! 'Oh, Elijah! Just let me give you a little trim!'" She spoke in a high-pitched voice as she pretended to clip Mariana's hair with invisible scissors.

We all gasped for breath. 

While we were on the subject of Elijah, and before Elizabeth could completely phase into a mad scientist, I decided it was the right time to share the news with them.

As we were coming down from our high, I composed myself and took a deep breath.

"So, Elijah and I wanted to invite you to his big track meet against Harvard. It's in three days and we thought it would be fun for all of us to go." Wow. I got all of that out in one breath!

They looked at me with dumbfounded stares. I turned to Lara and her chin was practically touching the floor, which made me giggle.

"Can you please repeat that?" Mariana leaned in as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"I said,-"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

I was interrupted by a screech from, guess who?

"Elizabeth! We're not the only ones in this building, ya know!" I felt like putting a dunce cap on her and sitting her in my hair chair in the corner.

"Sorry, I'm just freaking out right now! We are finally going to be able to see Elijah in action! I've been waiting for this for forever!"

"But you just found out he was on the track team a few days ago-" Mariana should've known better than to question Elizabeth's thinking process.

"Shhh! That has nothing to do with anything."

"Yeah, a few days is an eternity in Elizabeth time. Similar to dog years." Maddy wore an amused smirk. Her comparing Elizabeth to a dog was both hilarious and alarmingly accurate. She was sweet yet feisty, hyper, nosy, curious, bold, etc. The list of similarities went on and on. She flip-flopped a lot between a playful puppy and an aggressive guard dog. It was just a matter of which Elizabeth you were walking in on at the moment. Yep. There is no major difference, other than species, of course!

Anyway, Elizabeth then began to frantically list all of the "supplies" she needed for the upcoming meet.

"Let's see, we should go to the bookstore and get merch to represent. We need snacks. Definitely tons and tons of snacks! Is there a tailgate for track meets, or is that only for football? How do you guys feel about body paint?"

At that, we all looked at Elizabeth with eyebrows raised, internally questioning her sanity. After a little while, we learned to go with the flow and let her go through her process. That's the easiest way to get through the day unscathed!

"Well, we have a couple of days to figure out the logistics and everything. In the meantime, I start my work-study program tomorrow. I should probably get ready for that." I started to get up from the couch when Lara snapped out of her daze.

"Oh yeah! Which job did you get again?" Of course, they didn't remember. I'm surprised the subject change even knocked Lara out of Elijah World. Everything pretty much went out the window for these girls since Elijah entered the picture! That thought made me chuckle.

"I'm going to be a research assistant for the Psychology Department. All I know so far is that I am going to be going through data and surveys to collect information for different research projects and professors. I bet I'll get a lot more information tomorrow."

I was ecstatic to find a position in my area of study. I figured it would give me a chance to be more involved in my major and even give me an inside advantage when it came to research opportunities. I was excited to meet other professors as well. I loved getting close to my teachers and developing good professional relationships, that way I could have trusted advisors and mentors throughout college and even my career. I looked at this job as a way to begin networking.

I also just plain enjoy research!

I heard there are currently two other research assistants who are going to work in the same department. Maybe this could be an opportunity to make some new friends with the same major! My mom would certainly love to hear that!

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I arrived at the Psychology Building about a half an hour early the next morning. I went straight to the room number I was assigned to and read until another girl entered and sat next to me.

"Hey! I'm Brianna, but you can call me Bree if you'd like. Are you a research assistant?" She had caramel brown braided hair that reached her upper back. She was about two inches taller than me with a similar build. Her smile was bright and endearing, immediately making me smile back.

"Yes! I'm Sara. Nice to meet you!"

"Oh my gosh! Are you reading Professor Colum's new book? I just finished it the other night! It's so interesting."

"Isn't it? I love reading about parentification."

"Me too! Its one of the topics that made me want to major in psychology in the first place."

"Really? That's exactly what I was going to say!"

We were both giggling when someone knocked on the open door.

"Am I interrupting something?" He smiled as he stood in the door frame. He was tall and somewhat lanky. He didn't look athletic, but instead kind of nerdy, in a good way. His dark brown hair was slightly wispy and curly and sat like a mop on his head, yet it wasn't very long. He wore glasses that emphasized his blue eyes and a sweater that looked like something a journalist would wear.

"No, not at all. We were just discussing Professor Colum's latest book." Bree responded with a polite smile and a gleam in her eyes from laughing with me.

"Ahh, parentification. Quite an interesting topic. That book is next on my reading list after I complete Dr. Elliot's book on empathy. You guys should check it out. It's very informative. My name is Will, by the way." He walked over to our table.

"Nice to meet you, Will. I'm Sara." I shook his hand before Bree introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet both of you. I assume you're the other two research assistants for this semester?"

"Your assumption is correct, William." I could tell Bree was the playful and outgoing type. She nudged Will as he took a seat beside her.

We discussed our classes and a little bit about ourselves until a woman who looked to be in her mid-fifties strode to the front of the room.

"I'm glad to see that you're all early. I appreciate that." She had her coarse, curly, greying hair in a loose french twist. She wore minimal makeup and a simple skirt suit along with glasses that sat on the tip of her nose and were connected to a necklace.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Nielsen and I will serve as your supervisor for this semester's work-study program. I will assign you different tasks to complete with a set deadline, usually being the next time we meet. Today will simply be an introduction, yet I will assign each of you some tasks I would like completed and emailed to me by tomorrow. It should not be very difficult. Now would be a good time for you to exchange information as you will be working very closely together for the entirety of the semester. I am looking forward to working with you all."

After we shared our contact information, we discussed more of what was expected of us and the subject matter of our initial assignments.

   ↞↠  

We exited the building together after being dismissed.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am so excited!" I walked between Will and Bree with an enthusiastic smile plastered on my face.

"Yeah, I really like Dr. Nielsen. She seems like the kind of professor who is really attentive and involved in helping her students." Bree nodded in agreement with Will.

"I agree. I can't wait to get started!" I've finally found people who get just as excited about research as I do! Yay!

"How about we grab some coffee. It's still pretty early. Maybe we can get something to eat, too," Will said as he checked his watch. Bree and I checked our phones.

"I don't have anywhere to be. What about you, Sara?" Bree smiled at me.

"Neither do I. Plus, I'm starving. I haven't eaten yet today. Maybe we could go to the Book Trader Cafe. I hear its really nice." I really wanted to check out the cafe for a while, mainly because of the books. I don't even drink coffee! Plus, I really wanted to hang out with Bree and Will. I had a good feeling about them.

"Sounds like a plan!" Will gave a goofy smile that made Bree and I giggle.

"Sounds like a great plan." I texted the girls that I wouldn't be back until later and headed off to get to know more about my new friends.

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Yay! I'm so excited to see Sara branching out! I feel like a proud mom! Honestly, I don't know who would be happier. Me or Sara's actual mom! Hmm, that's a tough one!

What do you guys think about Bree and Will? I know you haven't seen much of them yet, but I have a good feeling about those two! Any predictions? I'd love to hear 'em!

Thank you so much for reading! Please remember to VOTE and COMMENT if you enjoyed this chapter. I love reading and responding to your comments!!

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Well...