Page 12 of Down My Chimney

“Icanput a price on it, and it’s more than I can afford.” I pushed the brochure back towards her. If I sounded a little snippy, so be it. “Look, I’d love to see all those places someday. But it just makes more sense to stay home and work here. To make connections that will be useful to me now.”

Noreen shook her head. “Henry, do you know why I agreed to advise you for your senior thesis? When you’re still two years away from writing it, and I usually only do that kind of intensive work with grad students?”

“Because of my sparkling personality and charm?” I gave her my most dazzling smile.

“Tryrelentless persistence and refusal to take no for an answer.” She snorted. “You showed up at my office the first week of your freshman year and informed me that you’d already picked your thesis topic and that I was going to be your advisor whether I liked it or not. And then you wouldn’t go away. You wouldn’t back down, no matter how much volunteer work I heaped on you or how much free labor I took advantage of.”

I squirmed in my seat. When she put it that way, I sounded nuts. I just knew that I wanted to work with Noreen, even back when I was in high school. I saw one of the plays she’d written for a summer theater production and I loved her way with words, loved the way her mind worked. The fact that she was a full professor who still found a way to make art, who hadn’t given that up, only made me more convinced I needed to learn from her.

“I love your focus,” she continued. “I love your drive. I love how committed you are. But sometimes, I worry that you’re so single-minded, you might be missing out on other opportunities, all because you decided on your path when you were still in the womb and you refuse to deviate an inch from it.”

She pushed the brochure to my side of the table again. “I just want you to take some time to breathe. To fill your lungs with all the world has to offer. To see things from a new perspective and see if that expands your desires a bit.” She tapped the little box in the top right corner of the paper. “And if you apply for this coming fall’s cohort, I will do everything in my power to get the committee to accept you.”

My brows drew down. “That sounds like you’re going to leave a horse’s head in the committee’s bed with a note that says,Accept Henry or else.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. Nothing bigger than a rabbit’s head, I promise.”

I laughed in spite of myself. “It’s tempting, okay? Very tempting. But I’d still be taking a whole semester off, essentially, which means more credits I have to pay for once I’m back, on top of the fact that I’d have to pay for this semester in the first place.”

She slid her folder back into her briefcase and smiled. “It’s your decision, Henry. I won’t pretend those aren’t real concerns. But I also wouldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t at least encourage you to give it a shot. Studying abroad is an amazing experience. And they’re still accepting applications for another month. Just think about it, okay?”

She stood up, and I stood too. I really did need to get to class.

“I will,” I told her.

“You promise?”

“I pro—”

“Henry! Oh, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you!”

I whirled around at the sound of my name to see Joanna Salazar standing behind me. Blake’s mom. What on earth was Blake’s mother doing at my school?

“One of our clients just had a building named after them over at the med school,” she said, reading my mind. “Dedication ceremony this morning. We’re onsite for the press conference.”

I nodded. Blake’s parents owned a PR firm that dealt with everything from corporate ribbon-cutting to celebrity scandals. I introduced Joanna to Noreen, then promised Noreen I really would think about the program before she begged off, saying she had a meeting to get to.

I turned back to Joanna and shoved my hands in my pockets awkwardly. Joanna and Josué Salazar were practically a second set of parents for me. I’d known them since I was six. I liked them, and I was pretty sure they liked me. But that was before I started dating their son.

Sleeping with their son, whispered a voice in the back of my mind.You’re not technically dating if you can’t even call him your boyfriend.

“Henry!” cried Josué, coming to join us, two massive coffee cups in hand. He beamed. “We haven’t seen you in ages. How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good.” I pulled my hands out of my pockets, only to realize I still had no idea what to do with them. I interlaced my fingers and shrugged. “Busy, but good.”

Sweat dripped down my back. They couldn’t possibly suspect anything was going on between me and Blake. They’d have no reason to. But that didn’t stop my stomach from twisting tighter.

“I hear that,” Josué said. “How are your classes this semester? Taking anything interesting?”

“I’m mostly trying to finish off some gen ed requirements this spring,” I said. “But I am taking this one course on Japanese Noh theater that’s fascinating.”

“Oh, is that what you were talking about with your advisor?” Joanna asked, smiling. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I just heard her mention something about studying abroad as I passed your table.”

“No, that, uh—that was for something else.” I waved my hand. “It doesn’t matter.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Doesn’t matter? Didn’t I hear you promise her you would think about it?”

I stifled a laugh. Sometimes I thought the Salazars cared more about my education than my own parents did. More than I did, even.

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