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Wednesday – 1 Week Later
D erek had brought in another plate of freshly made chocolate chip cookies tonight, which he placed in front of me as I sat down at one of the call desks when I walked through the door, arriving there right after school. It had become a habit of his to feed me chocolate chip cookies when I showed up, and eat them together with a glass of milk in the break room whenever we needed a pick me up after an especially tough call. “Some of these calls will get to you,” Derek said. “We have to remember to be nice to ourselves and to support each other.”
“You sound like a Renaissance man,” I said.
“I am,” Derek said. “I don’t care about how I’m supposed to act because I’m a guy. I do what I do because it’s the right thing to do as a human, not by gender.”
Gail came by to greet me and to grab one cookie before heading back to her office. “You must be making a great impression on Derek here. He wouldn’t let anyone touch the cookies except you, saying you needed it.”
A slow flush went up Derek’s neck and to his chiseled cheeks. “Gail’s just jealous I didn’t bake her a plate, but that’s because she told me she’s on a diet.”
“And I’m not?” I asked, acting offended.
He looked me up and down in a way that made it obvious he appreciated what he saw. “Sam, you should be on a diet, a feed me diet. If you don’t mind me saying it, you need some fattening up. I don’t know if it’s possible, but it looks as though you’ve lost some weight since starting here.”
“Oh, I have a high metabolism,” I waved away his concern, turning away from him to look at the empty screen in front of me. I had my own call desk now. A week ago, I was officially declared a full-fledged peer counselor, which meant I could handle all my calls by myself and that I could help other peer counselors with their questions.
Derek pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. “Just remember Sam, like I said, if you need to talk, I’m here.”
“Thanks for being here,” I said standing and smiling up at him.
He grinned back, smiling at me with warm eyes. “Anything for you,” he teased. “I’m going to miss training you, but you caught on very quickly and went through training with a breeze.” He smiled shyly. “I’m secretly proud of you. You’ve become a peer counselor faster than anyone here. And now you get to change shifts.”
“Thanks to a good teacher,” I said, using my hand to playfully shove him in the chest. He didn’t stumble back, like I thought he would. Instead he grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me in towards him.
“I’m serious, Sam,” he said, looking down at me with hooded eyes. “Soon, you’ll be taking on another shift, and I won’t be able to see you. You’ll be on your own at your own schedule. You won’t have the same one as mine.”
“Derek,” I said pulling away, but keeping my hand on his chest. “I’m sure we can have an overlap in hours.”
Derek looked like he wanted to kiss me then. I didn’t know if I wanted him to or not, but I pulled away. Spending hours with him had gotten us closer as friends, and I enjoyed hearing about his classes at UC Irvine and his desire to pursue a career in counseling. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted anything more than friendship from him even though he was very cute in a collegiate boy way.
He looked disappointed.
Right then, the green light began flashing on screen and on my phone. I turned back to the phone, put on the headset, and said, “Hi, you’ve reached Sawyer House, what do you want to talk about?”
I watched Derek sit down in a chair next to me, putting on his headset. He was going to listen in.
“Uh, I don’t know where to begin,” a young man’s voice said.
“No hurry. Why did you call?”
“I did something bad, and I don’t know what to do.”
My eyes looked over at
Wednesday – 1 Week Later
D erek had brought in another plate of freshly made chocolate chip cookies tonight, which he placed in front of me as I sat down at one of the call desks when I walked through the door, arriving there right after school. It had become a habit of his to feed me chocolate chip cookies when I showed up, and eat them together with a glass of milk in the break room whenever we needed a pick me up after an especially tough call. “Some of these calls will get to you,” Derek said. “We have to remember to be nice to ourselves and to support each other.”
“You sound like a Renaissance man,” I said.
“I am,” Derek said. “I don’t care about how I’m supposed to act because I’m a guy. I do what I do because it’s the right thing to do as a human, not by gender.”
Gail came by to greet me and to grab one cookie before heading back to her office. “You must be making a great impression on Derek here. He wouldn’t let anyone touch the cookies except you, saying you needed it.”
A slow flush went up Derek’s neck and to his chiseled cheeks. “Gail’s just jealous I didn’t bake her a plate, but that’s because she told me she’s on a diet.”
“And I’m not?” I asked, acting offended.
He looked me up and down in a way that made it obvious he appreciated what he saw. “Sam, you should be on a diet, a feed me diet. If you don’t mind me saying it, you need some fattening up. I don’t know if it’s possible, but it looks as though you’ve lost some weight since starting here.”
“Oh, I have a high metabolism,” I waved away his concern, turning away from him to look at the empty screen in front of me. I had my own call desk now. A week ago, I was officially declared a full-fledged peer counselor, which meant I could handle all my calls by myself and that I could help other peer counselors with their questions.
Derek pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. “Just remember Sam, like I said, if you need to talk, I’m here.”
“Thanks for being here,” I said standing and smiling up at him.
He grinned back, smiling at me with warm eyes. “Anything for you,” he teased. “I’m going to miss training you, but you caught on very quickly and went through training with a breeze.” He smiled shyly. “I’m secretly proud of you. You’ve become a peer counselor faster than anyone here. And now you get to change shifts.”
“Thanks to a good teacher,” I said, using my hand to playfully shove him in the chest. He didn’t stumble back, like I thought he would. Instead he grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me in towards him.
“I’m serious, Sam,” he said, looking down at me with hooded eyes. “Soon, you’ll be taking on another shift, and I won’t be able to see you. You’ll be on your own at your own schedule. You won’t have the same one as mine.”
“Derek,” I said pulling away, but keeping my hand on his chest. “I’m sure we can have an overlap in hours.”
Derek looked like he wanted to kiss me then. I didn’t know if I wanted him to or not, but I pulled away. Spending hours with him had gotten us closer as friends, and I enjoyed hearing about his classes at UC Irvine and his desire to pursue a career in counseling. But I wasn’t sure if I wanted anything more than friendship from him even though he was very cute in a collegiate boy way.
He looked disappointed.
Right then, the green light began flashing on screen and on my phone. I turned back to the phone, put on the headset, and said, “Hi, you’ve reached Sawyer House, what do you want to talk about?”
I watched Derek sit down in a chair next to me, putting on his headset. He was going to listen in.
“Uh, I don’t know where to begin,” a young man’s voice said.
“No hurry. Why did you call?”
“I did something bad, and I don’t know what to do.”
My eyes looked over at
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