Page 3 of It Started with a Sunset
Brock
Luke, the high school senior that Brock was working with, jumped at the sound of Summer’s rings banging against her metal water bottle.
Brock glanced out his glass office walls to the common area, where Summer stood with a grin on her face. “Annoying, isn’t it?”
Luke shrugged like he wasn’t willing to commit to saying it was. Then his eyebrows drew together. “What’s she doing?”
“Calling everyone to go walk as a herd down the hall to Aquamoose Crossing.”
“That’s actually kind of cool. Do you need to go?”
Brock shook his head and held up his full water bottle as he opened the scholarship page of the school’s website that contained every scholarship offered only to LBSU students, along with his spreadsheet where he’d kept track of every scholarship he’d ever found outside of those, all categorized and ranked. “I don’t need to, because I came prepared. Okay, I’m glad you’re willing to write essays, because that opens so many more scholarships to you, and they’re the ones that have fewer students trying for them.”
He scanned through the categories, looking for the ones that most fit Luke and his situation, but all the movement outside his office was distracting, especially for Luke. It was one of the drawbacks to having the one wall facing the common area be made of glass. At least he didn’t have one of the desks out in the common area that was open to every distraction all the time.
He glanced over the half-wall that divided the Welcome Center from Admissions—a department they worked closely with. Avery Parks, the administrative assistant, was holding her water bottle, quietly poking her head into offices, likely asking if anyone wanted to join her in a trip to the watering hole. No massive distractions like what was going on outside his office, with the chatting so loud, now that almost everyone had gathered, that he could hear it in his office with the door closed. Luke kept turning to watch.
“Look at how nice and calm they do the same thing in Admissions. Maybe I should request a transfer over there.”
“No!” Luke’s attention whipped back to Brock, a panicked expression on his face. “You can’t. I need you here. I have two older siblings—Lily and Logan—do you remember them? They were only able to go to school here because you helped them to get scholarships. I’ve been working all that I can after school, but there’s no way I could ever afford college if I don’t get scholarships. I reallyreallyneed your help.”
And this was exactly why Brock was where he was at. He couldn’t have gone to Lake Baldwin State University without scholarships, either, so he knew well the panic that was showing on Luke’s face. There was nothing that brought him more satisfaction than helping someone decide to go to college, decide on getting their degree at LBSU, or helping a student find a way to pay for it.
“And I’m going to help you find what you need.” He smiled at the kid. “You’ve got someone to critique your essays, right?”
He nodded. “My English teacher offered to read through all of them. And my guidance counselor said he’d help, too.”
“Excellent.” He gave Luke a fist bump. “I’ll help find you the scholarships, you work hard on the essays, and you’ve got this. By this time next year, you’ll be an official Aquamoose, heading off to class.”
Luke grinned widely at him.
The kid only had one free period at his high school, so they needed to be finished with this meeting in time for him to make it across town for his next class. Not to mention the morning stand-up meeting that Brock had in just a few minutes. The kid’s focus was back one hundred percent on Brock. The fact that the herd had left to get their water bottles filled helped.
So they dug in, and just before the kid had to leave to get back for his next class and Brock’s meeting started, Luke had in his possession a list of scholarships that he could apply for, ranked by importance, a game plan for writing the essays, and a hopeful smile on his face. He probably thanked Brock half a dozen times as he walked him from his office to the lobby of the Welcome Center.
Brock really did have the best job ever.
He got back to the common area just as everyone was gathering for their morning meeting. Once a week, they met via video call with everyone in the office and the recruiters over other areas in the state and nearby states, but this meeting was just the seven of them. And they did it standing up in the common area—that way, no one got comfortable and the meeting didn’t go on longer than absolutely necessary.
He took a spot across the circle from Summer, which was fitting—they seemed to be on opposite sides of most topics. Like a flock of birds, they all turned their attention at nearly the same time toward Elle’s office. She had a phone to her ear and held up one finger to them while nodding and slowly bending toward the phone base, like the person on the other end could see that she was in a hurry. Deja left the circle and grabbed a pen off her desk—the only one that sat in the common area—then made it back to the circle just as Elle left her office.
“Okay,” Tess, their boss, said as her eyes went from the tablet and stylus in her hands to the group. “I’ve got to meet my husband to go to an appointment in an hour and a lot to do before then, so I’m going to make this fast. We’re going to go around the circle in this direction. Give me a two minute or less update on where you’re at and what you’ve got planned for today. Go.”
Everett talked about some texts and emails about visiting campus that were going out to high school seniors that were showing some interest and some partnerships in the works with local businesses to provide some perks, and Elle talked about what stage she was at with some recruitment events.
The whole time, Brock kept stealing glances at Summer. He’d liked her hair when it was long blonde curls, but this shoulder-length style fit her more. It brought out her smile more, somehow. She might drive him crazy sometimes, but that smile of hers was infectious. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood around her. He hated to admit it, but maybe he was, too. Even when she disagreed with him on virtually everything.
She was dressed the same as everyone else—LBSU Welcome Center polo and nice, dark wash jeans, just like the dress code in their employment contracts stated. But unlike everyone else, Summer wasn’t wearing the sensible shoes the contract called for. She was flaunting the rules without a care, and right in front of their boss, even. He didn’t get it.
When it was Summer’s turn, instead of giving an update, she crinkled her brows. “Where’s Pavani? Since it’s the first day of school, we don’t have any events scheduled.”
Tess let out a slow breath and then grimaced. “I was going to bring that up at the end. Remember how she was worried that she had either food poisoning or an ovarian cyst last week? Apparently, it was her appendix, and over the weekend, it ruptured. She got to the hospital quickly after that and they did surgery almost immediately.”
Summer gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. “Is she okay?”
Tess nodded. “I talked to her this morning. The surgery went well and she seems to be in fine spirits and is recovering, but she’s going to be out for two to four weeks.”
“We should take her flowers,” Summer said.
