Walking down the quiet hallway of Jefferson Hall, my shoes squeak against the freshly buffed marble floors. Sunlight peeks out from under my academic advisor’s door. I stand there for a second before I knock.

“Come in,” I hear Janet’s cheerful voice say. Turning the knob, I push open the door to find Janet sitting at her desk, strumming away at her keyboard. Her chair swivels around, and she stands to shake my hand.

“Hi, Jessica! Nice to see you.” Her handshake is firm and fast. This woman is seriously amped on coffee or energy drinks, or really just likes to work during the holidays. “Take a seat,” she says, pointing to the chair that is perched next to her desk. Setting my purse on the floor next to the chair, I lower myself down, crossing my legs. Janet sits confidently in her chair, clicking away with her computer mouse.

“Thanks for stopping by to meet with me over the holiday break. I was reviewing this semester’s classes and your previously earned credits. Because of your dual-credit classes that you took in high school, you’re nearly done with your sophomore year of college,” she announces.

“Huh?”

“You did take dual-credit classes in high school, correct?” She lowers her glasses at me, waiting for me to validate her statement.

“Yes.”

“Well, when you started here this fall, you were only a few credits shy of an associate’s degree. With the amount of hours you completed this first semester, you’re well on your way to completing your sophomore year of college by the end of next semester.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope, kiddo. You are ahead of the game; well ahead of the game. At the rate you’re going, you’ll be graduating almost a year and half ahead of schedule.”

“Really?” is all I can muster. One might be excited about this, but I’m scared shitless.

“Well, this is why it was so urgent that I see you right away,” she says, looking back to her computer screen again, still clicking away with that damn mouse. “I see you have declared yourself a Broadcast Communication major.”

“Um, yes.” I validate, fidgeting with my fingers, still in complete shock at the news that’s just been dumped on me.

“Well, darling, you need to start considering an internship. You need to build your resume. There are classes on campus that you should register to take for the fall semester, but let’s get you a head start on an internship. It is a required part of the degree. They are difficult to come by. The sooner you start looking, the sooner you’ll land something. I’m worried if you wait until next summer, and don’t find anything, you’ll push back that graduation date over a silly internship.” She’s clicking away on her computer and talking at the same time. “Now, I’ve got a few contacts I’m going to e-mail you. Some are out of state.”

My heart stops. “Out of state?” I whisper.

Janet stops typing and looks up at me. “You don’t have to go out of state. I’m simply telling you that I have some contacts out of state. If you can line up something at a local television or radio station here locally, then, by all means, do so. What I am telling you to do, is get something lined up for the summer, and soon.”

My mind is in a million different places right now, and I’m beginning to panic. Shit. I have to get an internship lined up quick, and I’m not leaving Santa Ruiz. I’m staying here with Gabe.

“Okay, I’ve just sent you an e-mail with a couple of different internships that are available to students of SRSU. I’d love to sit down with you after the holiday break to discuss your plans for the summer and see if I can be of any assistance to you. Sound good?”

“Yes, thank you. This was really unexpected news.” I pull a tight smile onto my face. There goes a relaxing Christmas break; I’ll now be too fucking stressed out about applying for summer internships. Grabbing my purse from the floor, I leave Janet’s office as fast as I can.

Walking to my car, I feel my phone vibrating in the pocket of my jacket. A million thoughts are running through my mind. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I pull the phone from my jacket and click the e-mail icon. There sits the e-mail from Janet.

Jessica,

It was nice to see you today. Per our conversation, I have enclosed a list of internships that I know are accepting applicants. Please read each description carefully for requirements needed to apply.

I skim the rest of the letter until I get to the bottom where I see an attachment to the e-mail. I click the attachment, which opens another letter. My eyes run the length of the page, and all I see are:

Phoenix, AZ….

Albuquerque, NM…

Dallas, TX…

Wilmington, NC…

Hattiesburg, MS…

I’m not leaving Gabe, even for a summer, which means I need to find something local, and fast. I call Gabe and wait for him to answer.

“Hey, baby. How’d the meeting go with your advisor?”

“Hey.”

“Everything okay? You sound upset.”

“I’m okay, just stressed out.”

“What happened?”

“To make a really long story short, she wants me to find an internship for this summer. I’ve got so many credits that I’m almost done with an associate’s degree.”

“That doesn’t sound like a problem to me. Why are you stressed?”

“Because it’s all happening so fast. She sent me a list of internships, and all of them are out of state.”

“Aren’t there any around here?”

“Maybe, but I’ll have to find it myself.”

“So do it.”

“You’re not helping me calm down.”

Gabe starts laughing into the phone. “Just try to relax, babe. We’ll talk about this when you get home. Worrying right now isn’t going to help you.”

“I know, it’s just…the thought of leaving you scares me.” I wait for him to respond, but when the silence continues, I wonder if the call was dropped.

“So then don’t take an out of state internship. We’ll find you one here.”

I can almost hear him smiling through the phone. Breathing a sigh of relief, I find my nerves settling just a bit. I love that we’re a team, and in this together.

“I’ll be home soon.”

“See you when you get here. And, Jess.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t stress. It’ll all work out. It always does.”

“I hope so,” I mumble.