Page 12 of Fundamentals of Chemistry

“The goal is to make sure that the successful candidate is a good fit both academically as well as culturally. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Cooper and I said in unison.

Everything about this sucked. I couldn’t have imagined a worse situation in my craziest nightmare—an unexpected competition with a spiteful opponent being measured by subjective and biased metrics. Actually, it was worse than a nightmare.

Glancing over again—why couldn’t I keep my eyes off him—I found Cooper giving me the side eye. Game on. I couldn’t let him win. With Tim living with Silvia, I had no place to go back to. There was no other option but to make this work.

“Excellent,” Richmond said, clasping his hands together and looking at us both with fondness. “In addition, as staff members, you will be expected to advise an extracurricular student activity. There are currently two vacancies, and you are welcome to volunteer for whichever draws your interest.”

“What are the options?” I asked. Hopefully, one of the activities was soccer or cheerleading, the two sports that I had done in school. Though really, I would be happy to coach any sport at all.

“We need a faculty adviser for cross-country—”

“I’ll do that,” Cooper said before I could even open my mouth. “I’m an avid runner.”

I whipped my head to glare at him.

“I’d like to lead cross-country,” I said. “I’m an avid runner too.”

“Based on what I’ve seen of your running, I’m confident I’m a better fit.”

Of all the patronizing bullshit…

“Just because you’re faster, doesn’t make you a good fit,” I scoffed. “I have experience with high school athletics—”

“The irony of you bringing up experience—”

“Excuse me, I—”

“Mr. Cooper, Ms. Burke,” Richmond snapped, “that is quite enough! You will sort out your issues in the next two days as this constant bickering will not be tolerated when students arrive on campus.”

I glared at Cooper, but said clearly, “Yes, sir.”

“Now,” Richmond continued, “will you be able to reach an agreement like professionals or will I need to assign your extracurriculars to you?”

I tried not to hang my head. Beside me, Cooper looked similarly chastened. We locked eyes for the briefest flash before looking away.

“He can have cross-country,” I said with little enthusiasm, but feeling morally superior.

“Excellent,” said Richmond, clasping his hands together and smiling at me. “Then, you, Ms. Burke, will lead the October Lovers Club. The group was a passion of Mr. Stephens, and I’m sure you will lead with zeal.”

October Lovers Club—what the hell was an October Lover?

It wasn’t my first choice—or even my tenth choice—but I was confident that I could figure it out. Hopefully, it wasn’t camping. I didn’t know a damn thing about camping.

“Sounds great,” I said with all the zeal I could muster. “I’m excited to get started.”

“Me too.” Cooper’s gruff tone was at odds with his words.

“Now that that’s all sorted, you are both free to go. TJ will send you an email with additional information.”

Headmaster Richmond closed his folio and escorted us from his office, back to the antechamber where TJ sat. My tailbone was sore from sitting on the hard chair, and my palms were tender from my fingernails digging into them.

“Ms. Burke, please remember to give my regards to your father,” Richmond reminded me, before saying to both of us, “I look forward to seeing you at the orientation. And of course, my door is always open.”

With that, he retreated into his office and closed the door.

Cooper and I stood alone next to TJ’s empty desk. I rounded on him, my anger and indignation flaring now that we no longer had an audience.