Our practicals, the rounds we attended, and glimpses of the world outside of school didn’t count as gaining real-world experience. The professors, doctors, nurses, and even the interns I’d spoken to at hospitals had made that clear to me time and time again.
“Theory that will be a great foundation for you to learn from when you start gaining your own experience,” she argued. “You’ve always been good at school, so I’m pretty sure every word in every textbook is glued to the inside of your brain.”
“School was easy for you, too,” I said. “Study buddies for life, remember?”
She snorted. “School was only easy for me because you learn by teaching. No way I would have gotten through business school without you. Besides, that’s not really my point.”
“You would have gotten through it just fine, and you know it. You didn’t want to go, remember? You were in too much of a hurry to get out into the world and start leaving your mark on it.”
“Yeah, I remember,” she groaned. “I just don’t know if it was the right call anymore. Most of the time, I’m perfectly happy with my choices. Every once in a while, though, something will happen that will make me doubt them.”
“What’s happened now?” I cast my gaze toward my friend and saw her chewing on the inside of her cheek. “Anything I can help with?”
“Nah.” She waved her free hand after tossing the popsicle stick away. “It’s some stuff I have to sort out with my banker. He just mentioned something that I’d never heard of before, but the way he said the word made it sound like it was something so obvious and commonplace that I didn’t even want to ask.”
“What was it?”
“Something that gets taught in business school. I can’t even remember the phrase because once I looked it up, the meaning was obvious. It’s the fact that I could have known about it if I’d gone to business school that tripped me up.”
“You haven’t needed it so far, though. Always remember that. How important can it really be if you’ve never heard of it before? Plus, you were smart enough to figure it out once you’d heard it. Problem solved. The internet is enough of a friend for someone with the natural talents you have.”
“Yeah, maybe. It was just something that got me down at that moment. Thanks for reminding me about all my regular arguments, though. I needed it.”
I bumped my shoulder into hers. “What are friends for, right?”
“Right.” Her teeth snagged her bottom lip when we reached the end of the pier. With a thoughtful expression on her face, she leaned with her back against the concrete barrier and shifted her focus to me. “If that’s what friends are for, then maybe I need to ask you some questions that will force you to re-evaluate how you are currently feeling about things.”
“Shoot.” I grinned, sliding my fingers into the pockets of my faded blue jeans. “I’m not doubting any of my decisions.”
“Okay.” She pulled her hair up into a ponytail high on her head and snapped a band from her wrist around it. With her eyes unobstructed from the breeze blowing the golden strands into them, I saw they were blazing into mine with a sudden fierce determination. “Why are you taking the slowest possible route to your future?”
I rocked back on my heels, but I wasn’t totally unprepared for her question. “I’m in no rush. Making a career is a marathon, not a race.”
“Bullshit,” she replied simply after pausing for a second. “A career might be more like a marathon, but you’re putting off starting yours with everything you’ve got. How many times have you been offered fast-tracking?”
Her eyes narrowed, and I knew it was time to come clean. “A few, but it’s never been the right time to take up one of those programs.”
“Why not?” She cocked her head to the side and gave me her take-no-prisoners glare. “Saying it’s never the right time sounds like an excuse to me.”
“You sound like my dad,” I groaned. “That’s exactly what he said when I told him I was needed here this summer.”
“Maybe that’s because it really does sound like an excuse,” she said. “You could’ve been graduating by now. Why aren’t you?”
My teeth sank into my lip as I moved to lean against the barrier beside her. Unlike her, though, I stared out at the vastness of the ocean instead of back at the pier. Haley didn’t turn, but she kept her eyes on me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted finally. “All I know is that I feel no sense of urgency to rush it. I’m not behind in school. I’m just not ahead, either.”
My best friend released a puff of air, but there was no judgment in her eyes when I glanced at her. “Twenty-four and twenty-five might not be that old. We might be spring chickens and we might have plenty of time, but we’re also not twenty anymore.”
“You’re right.” I knew she was. I’d asked myself these questions many times in the dark of night once Melody had fallen asleep. “The thought of settling into a career just isn’t something that drives me, you know?”
Haley nodded but was quiet for a long minute after. When she finally turned to face me, her side to the barrier now, I could see I wasn’t going to like her next question. “What does drive you then?”
I lifted my shoulders, shaking my head as my lips pressed into a tight line. “I don’t have an answer for that. Whatever it is, I don’t think I’ve found it just yet.”
“Maybe you should look into that,” she offered in a gentle voice.
I nodded, giving her a grateful smile. It would’ve been easy for her to judge me, to accuse me of wasting money and time. Knowing I had a safe place to confide meant the world to me,
