Page 9 of It Started with a Sunset
Right as they got back to the Student Center, Luciana said, “Okay, I’ve got one last question. Are there any famous people who went to Lake Baldwin State?”
“Lots,” Summer said. “In every field. The one you’ll probably know the most is Declan Davenport.”
“The YouTuber?” Abby asked.
Both Brock and Summer nodded, and all the group seemed star-struck. It was a good question to end on; students were always so impressed that Declan Davenport had been an Aquamoose.
As all the prospective students and parents dispersed, Brock kind of marveled at how connected he’d felt to the group after having only spent an hour with them. He’d gone on tours as a prospective student himself, and he’d filled in as a tour guide at least a dozen times over the four years he’d worked in the Welcome Center, but it had never felt like that. Bringing people together seemed to be a skill that Summer had in spades.
She walked over to him, and they headed through the door leading into the common area outside of their offices together. She seemed even more energized by the tour, even though he was feeling a bit drained from it. “I swear the scholarship question doesn’t come up every time.”
He smiled, kind of amused, and said, “Sure,” dragging out the word like he didn’t quite believe her. “And how often does your switching to nine different majors come up?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Pretty much every time. It always horrifies the parents, but I think it opens the kids’ minds to possibilities they haven’t thought of. Maybe.”
“And what did you end up majoring in?”
“General Studies.”
“You have a Bachelors ofGeneral Studies?” Did she not care about how that would look on a resume?
“Well, I had enough credits that I could’ve finished two different majors in that time, but geology had been calling my name, so I decided to do a semester of that first and take General Studies as my major. Besides, I think that major fits me.”
He didn’t understand that at all. How did she even manage to get letters of recommendation from faculty members? Didn’t she worry about making connections that would help in her future career? Her path through school was like throwing all the rules and expectations out the window.
Which really made him worry about this huge event that they were supposed to plan together. “We need to get together soon to make plans for Aquamoose Tracks. I’ve been making notes, but it’s going to take a lot of work to pull it off perfectly.”
“Perfection is a myth.”
It felt like she’d ridden up to him on a horse, like a knight of old, and stabbed him in the chest with a lance. Perfection was what he strove for daily.
“Things are always changing,” Summer said. “The target is always moving. What students need today is different from what they needed last year or when we were students, and it’ll be different a year from now.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shoot for hitting a bullseye. Anything less than striving for perfection is just being lazy.”
“No, you do your best to improve over the previous time and make the next time better.That’sthe goal. You’ve got to take the ready, fire, aim approach.”
“What? Summer, you aim first. ‘Ready,aim, fire’ is a thing for a reason.”
“Nope. Not effective, because there are other factors that you can’t always anticipate that affect where on the target you’ll hit. So you fire, see where it hits, then adjust. Ready, fire,aim.”
He just shook his head while walking back to his office. Planning this event together was never going to work out.
Summer called out to his retreating back, “Don’t forget to sign the card for Pavani!”
Without even turning back around, he said, “Do you really think I haven’t already?”
As he was shutting his office door, he heard her say, “True. You probably had the exact time to do it already scheduled in your to-do list.”
He smiled as he sat down. Of course, he had. He drew a neat line, crossing Campus Tour off the to-do list he’d rewritten after Summer had thrown a monkey wrench at his previous to-do list. It looked so nice with each item above it crossed off just as neatly.
Chapter Five
Summer
Summer was the first one through the door into Pavani’s hospital room, and she went to her bedside and gave her friend the tightest hug she dared give her. Pavani’s normally tawny skin had more of a gray undertone, and her dark hair looked like she’d spent a rough few days in a hospital bed.
But she was smiling at all of them, and her sweet husband, Zain, was sitting in a chair by her side.
