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“I wouldn’t miss it,” Cassie said. “You were great.”
“You were!” Acacia said, preventing the awkward silence that would’ve undoubtedly come next. “You fucking killed it. And now we’re gonna go fucking kill the after-party.”
A cappella parties, it turned out, were messy. And loud, because everyone sang all the fucking time. But it was fun, too. Cassie spent most of the night on a couch pressed tight between Parker and Acacia, and even though Parker spent more time singing than talking to her, it was great. They took about twenty selfies together and drank too much, until Parker and Acacia disappeared to the bathroom, leaving Cassie to stake their claim on the couch. She stretched herself across it and scrolled through the pictures they had taken.
They all looked good in all of them, thank you very much, but she found her favorite—they were laughing over something Cassie couldn’t even remember anymore, none of them looking at the camera, Acacia almost falling off the couch, Parker’s nose pressed against Cassie’s cheek. She hadn’t sent Erin a picture today, so she sent her this.
Erin [11:58 PM]
My favorite girls!
Cassie felt warm as she slipped her phone into her pocket. The couch was so soft. Her eyes slipped closed. Members of the Sky High Notes were belting Olivia Rodrigo songs, but still, Cassie almost fell asleep before the other two got back.
It was a great way to start spring break, and it just got better from there. Three days later, in Cassie’s humble opinion, she’d nailed the interview. She’d worn a black jumpsuit with a red fabric belt and red flats—professional and as femme as she was willing to go.
“I’m glad you’re in closed-toed shoes,” Joel, the head of the lab, told her. “Means I can take you on a proper tour.”
That’s right: it wasn’t just an interview. It was a lab tour and so many introductions Cassie had already forgotten names and they even took her to lunch. That had to mean something, right? And yet, when she’d asked when she might hear from them, Joel had only said “Soon,” with an enigmatic smile. It’d been the low point of an otherwise excellent six-hour interview process.
The day had been long enough that when Cassie got back to her hotel in the late afternoon, even buzzing from the interview, she lay down for a quick nap, which turned into a not-so-quick nap. At least she woke up refreshed instead of wondering what year it was.
She was still in the hotel bed, passively scrolling Yelp reviews on her phone when it rang. It was the UAL number. Cassie gave herself time to take a breath, then answered.
“Hello, this is Cassie.”
“Cassie, hey, it’s Joel from UAL.” This seemed like a really good sign.
“Hey, Joel, how’re you doing?”
“Pretty great,” he said. “I’m calling because—now, we don’t usually do this so quickly, but there was unanimous enthusiasm in the lab today, and we want to offer you the position.”
Cassie couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Really?”
“Really.” Joel laughed. Cassie leapt out of the bed and pumped her fist as he continued, “You’d be an excellent addition to UAL. If you accept, I can’t wait to see where you’ll take us.”
“Of course I’m accepting, Joel,” Cassie said. “This is an amazing opportunity. I’m so excited.”
“Great. You’ll get emails from HR with the details tomorrow, and we’ll see you in a couple of months. Feel free to call or email me if you’ve got any questions.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Thank you. I look forward to working with you, Cassie.”
She ended the call and collapsed back onto the bed. She got it. She couldn’t believe it—or she could, sure, she’d totally rocked today, but—she got it. Holy shit. She let out a little scream of joy.
She had to tell someone. Fuck, she was so excited. Shehadto tell someone.
“This is Erin Bennett.”
“Erin,” Cassie laughed into her phone. “What are you doing right now?”
“Cassie?” She sounded tired. “What’s going on?”
“What are you doing?” Cassie repeated. She paced in front of her hotel bed.
“I was—resting,” Erin said. “Napping. I worked an overnight yesterday.”
“Shit, I forgot. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I just—I’ve got some kind of exciting news!”
