Page 22 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

"I'd say that's the perfect experience. Where are you from?"

My heart sank. They were going to want a reference. I wasn't going to be able to put any real ones down. "North Dakota."

"You're a long way from home."

"Yeah." I tucked a lose strand of hair behind my ear. The blank references section stared back at me. "I'm going to have to call my old boss to see if it's okay if I use him as a reference." I gave her a small smile and handed her the paper back. So much for that.

She glanced down at the sheet of paper. "Don't even worry about it. Luckily for you, I'm in charge of hiring. The owner is my husband," she said with a wink. "When can you start?"

Really? "Tomorrow. I have classes in the morning and afternoon. But I could be here by four. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I can be here even earlier though if you need me."

"Four is perfect. I'll put you down for the dinner shift tomorrow and we'll see how it goes. Wear comfortable shoes or your feet are going to be killing you by the end of the night."

"Thank you so much."

"Welcome to New York..." she glanced down at the paper, "Sadie. I'm Joan by the way." She shook my hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Joan."

"See you tomorrow." A customer just walked in, and she was back in hostess mode.

I quickly made my way outside before she had a chance to change her mind. Maybe New York wasn't so bad. I had made a new friend. My classes seemed really interesting. And I had just landed a great job. I stopped on the sidewalk and looked across the street. The best part was that it was only a few minutes from campus. I could actually see my dorm building from the windows inside the diner. Straying much farther than that made me feel a little nauseous. I was going to stick to the people Mr. Crawford knew I didn't know. That was the safest.

I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The air was stale. I noticed a pile of trash on the curb. Okay, New York wasn't perfect. But I was going to make the best of this.

***

"Ready to go find that super sexy job?" Kins said as she sat down next to me on the bench. I looked up from my phone. I was trying to memorize my number so that when people asked, I wouldn't have to look it up. Eli had already made fun of me for having to do that this afternoon.

"Actually, I found one already." I slid my phone into the front pouch of my backpack. "I just got hired at the Corner Diner." I pointed across the street.

"Well, congrats. That's like one of the most popular places to eat off campus. You didn't even need me." She looked slightly disappointed. "How'd you find it?"

"I went to lunch with Eli and..."

"Really?" she said, cutting me off. "Patrick's friend? I thought you kind of ruined that after you totally ditched him the other night."

"Well, it wasn't a date or anything like that. We got paired up for a psychology project. We were discussing our topic."

"That sounds hot."

I laughed. "How on earth is that hot?" It was kinda hot. "We're just friends."

"And there's a 70 percent chance it'll become friends with benefits. Fact."

I laughed. "That's not a fact."

"So how about we just go shopping instead?" she said, ignoring my comment.

"That's a great idea. I really do need to pick up my books. We have that reading assignment for sociology and..."

"No, not for books. For clothes. You mentioned that you wanted to go shopping the other day. That'll be more fun than a job search anyway." She stood up. "And I know the perfect place. I need to pick up a new dress too. Patrick asked me on a date later this week."

"That's great." I touched the side of my neck that my hoodie was covering. I couldn't go shopping today. She'd see it. "I'll definitely help you look. But really I just need a new pair of sneakers."

"Suit yourself."

I grabbed my backpack and followed her. "So, a date with Patrick? I thought you had the hots for our RA?"

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