Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133655 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Mrs. Patreetus is mid-chew on a hot dog the size of Gary’s Escalade when receptionist girl opens the door and leads me inside. A dollop of mustard falls on her sleeveless sweater, and she wipes it away with a dry napkin and a bun-filled, awkward smile. It’s a little weird that she’s eating a footlong this early in the morning, but a little weird is my love language. The tension in my shoulders leaves, my objective more in reach than ever.
Me and Mrs. Patreetus are about to get down. I can feel it.
“Welp, what brings you in today, Ace? Feeling nervous about your schedule? Thinking about picking a major? I know it’s a big decision, but—” She launches in, setting aside the jumbo dog and pulling her laptop to the center of her desk to get it fired up.
I don’t bury the lede—I know now I don’t need to. Clearly, Mrs. Patreetus can swallow it. Plus, I’ve got a fluffing pool where Julia’s currently unsupervised in a bikini with a bunch of fuckbags to get to.
“I’m here to change all my classes.”
Her eyebrows draw together. “Change…all your classes? Did you pick something that has some different requirements?”
“Oh yeah. I picked something different, all right.” I pull the crumpled piece of notebook paper from my pocket and smooth it down on the table between us. “These are the ones I need to be in.”
“Calculus 2? Physics? Psych 201?” She shakes her head. “Ace, these are some pretty tough classes. I thought at our last meeting we decided to steer clear of advanced math and stick with something more fitting of a communications major?”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I want to challenge myself. Really lean into my education and stuff. I mean, why else am I here, you know?”
“I don’t know that you’re qualified to move on to Calc 2—”
“Mrs. Patreetus, please. I’m begging you. I can’t…” I bite my knuckles. “I can’t quite explain the shift in my mind-set in detail, but I can tell you with certainty I’m dedicated to this.”
She doesn’t quite take the bait, so I keep going.
“I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to seek help when I need it.” From Julia as often as possible. “I’m going to dedicate my life to these classes…” And making the girl in all of them fall in love with me.
“This is quite the big challenge, Ace,” Mrs. Patreetus says. “But I don’t know if this is a good plan. I’m not so sure it’s setting you up for success.”
Shit. It’s time to really lay it on—thicker than the mustard that’s currently sitting on her footlong.
“Mrs. Patreetus, you know, I really appreciate that your goals revolve around setting me up for success. I can’t tell you how much that means to me,” I say and avert my eyes for a long moment, my gaze a little hesitant, a little shy, a little Hollywood Oscar-worthy. “I don’t have a lot of people in my life who do that for me. It makes me feel really comfortable around you, Cynthia. Do you mind if I call you Cynthia?”
“Uh. I—”
“My dad owns Kelly Financial,” I cut her off on purpose. “One of the biggest investment and accounting firms on Wall Street these days. It’s quite big shoes to fill, you know?” I sigh. “Of course you know. You’ve clearly worked your way up to success. Yours is the kind of job that you have to be incredibly qualified for. And I guess, in a way, when I first started here at Dickson, I was afraid to challenge myself. Afraid of failure because of how high my father has set the bar. But making decisions out of fear is never a good idea, you know?”
She lifts one shoulder in acknowledgment. “You’re right, Ace. Fear can be a big deterrent in reaching your full potential.”
“And that’s all I want to do, Cynthia.” I smile at her, really smile at her in a way that begs and pleads but also slowly pulls her into my web. “I want to reach my full potential. I want to create my own path. I want to step out of the shadows of my father’s big fat feet and be the best version of Ace Kelly I can be.”
She’s nodding along with me now.
“And when I set my mind to something, Cynthia? Well, there’s not much stopping me. It’s a familial trait. DNA coded. And I don’t think we should fight it. Do you?”
Cynthia stares at me for a long moment, before letting out a deep exhale of air and moving her focus back to her laptop screen. “Well, Ace, I can’t make any promises, but I can certainly try my best to get you in all the classes you want.”
Hell fucking yes.
“You’re the best, Cynthia.” I flash her my most charismatic smile. “See? This is why everyone on campus says that you’re the best counselor.”