Chapter 2 It's High School, Not Rocket Science

Lanie

"It's high school, though," I said again. "I didn't think I would be a counselor at a high school. Elementary school, yeah. Maybe junior high. These kids are going to be, like, almost my age."

"Mmm. You're twenty-eight."

"Yeah, well, I still feel like I'm twenty. Like I don't know jack shit."

"I think everyone feels that way."

"Are they even going to take me seriously?"

Erica inhaled for a long time before blowing out a breath that fluffed her bangs. "Assert yourself, and they will. To high-schoolers, ten years is a big difference."

"True."

I remembered all the teachers from when Erica and I were in school. Half of them weren't any older than I currently was, but they'd seemed so advanced. Back then, I figured they were all married, with kids and mortgages-three things I now still didn't have.

Though looking for counseling jobs once I received my master's degree after years of night classes was the obvious thing to do, getting a job offer after my first application had taken me by surprise. The interview for the position at South Seattle High School was supposed to be a warm-up, a chance to break myself into looking for a position. I hadn't actually prepared myself for getting the job.

But now here I was, hours away from beginning the next stage of my life.

I would have never gotten there if it wasn't for Erica. We'd met on the playground while I dawdled at the top of the slide, afraid to go down. She'd come up behind me and pushed my butt right down, and the girl had been pushing me ever since.

I would be nowhere without her.

"This is to you." I raised my wine glass in cheers. "The best friend I've ever had."

With a laugh, we clinked glasses just as her phone beeped.

"Matt?" I questioned.

"Mm-hmm," she murmured, busy typing away on the screen. A smile tugged at her lips. She was probably telling Matt that Dirty Pirate Guy had hit on her at yoga, and did he want to meet up and have careless, public sex in order to stake his claim?

It wouldn't have been surprising. They'd once gone to a BDSM club together-not to do anything but to watch. Still, the very thought freaked me out. Matt and Erica were spirited and adventurous, a true couple to be jealous of.

I might not have wanted to check out a sex club, but I did want what they had, a relationship full of passion, thrills, and love.

But that hadn't happened since-wait, hold on.

Never.

Suppressing a sigh, I picked up the menu and perused the apps. I'd already tried them all, but maybe there was something new there.

"Okay. Sorry. I'm done." Erica put the phone in her bag, but she couldn't stop the flushed face and big smile.

"Let me guess. He's getting the whips ready."

"Oh, stop. You know we don't do that."

I set the menu down. "You're really lucky."

"I know." Her smile turned into a frown. "Don't make that face. You'll find someone."

Erica rubbed my arm, making me feel like a little kid who hadn't gotten her way. I didn't mean to pout, but it had been a long, long time since I'd had a boyfriend. A couple of years. And I'd dated a bit during that time, but school and work took up nearly all my energy. Add that to the fact that I never really clicked with anyone, and the culmination of my decade of dating ended with me sitting in a bar wondering whether I should get the artichoke dip or bruschetta while my best friend made plans to make love to her hot, billionaire-heir sex machine.

The juxtaposition was painful.

"This is a new beginning," Erica pointed out. "A new job means a new stage of your life. Things always change all at once. That's just the way life is. You're all stagnant and stuck and then, bam, the world turns upside down."

It sounded like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but the look on Erica's face said she sincerely believed herself.

"All right." I nodded, raising my glass a second time. "Here's to a leap of faith."

"And to you finally getting some action."

"Erica," I muttered, burying my face in the glass and sucking down some wine. Secretly, though, I couldn't agree with her more.

A fulfilling job. A great boyfriend. Some hot sex. It was the holy trifecta, the triangle that would make my life complete.

But I wasn't about to hold my breath waiting.