Erin glanced up from the laptop screen. She was sitting on the couch, her back leaning against the couch arm and her feet on her boyfriend's lap. Jake was sitting on the other end of the couch, one hand on her leg and the other flipping through his math book as he studied for an upcoming test. The one Erin had started studying for about a week ago. She smiled before looking back down at the laptop that the couple shared since Erin didn't want to waste money buying her own.
Her eyes scanned the website on the screen, clicking on a few things as she searched for information.
"Whatcha looking at?" Erin peaked up over the laptop to see Jake looking at her curiously.
She bit her lip, unsure how to bring up this particular topic. "Well,…you know how we graduate in a few months?"
Jake raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah. What about it?"
Erin looked back down at where her fingers rested on the keyboard. "Have you thought about what you want to do after school?"
"Of course I have. I mean, I don't want to live in the same house as my dad with my girlfriend for the rest of my life, and being a giant wolf doesn't exactly pay well." Jake answered, partially joking at the end, which caused Erin to crack a smile.
"So,…what do you think you're going to do?" she asked hesitantly, looking back up at him again.
Jake turned a bit in his seat so he could face her better. "Well, me, Quil and Embry have been seriously considering opening our own garage. We're all thinking about registering for classes at Peninsula College. Embry likes crunching numbers, so he's probably going to focus on the business and accounting classes, and Quil will focus more on the automotive tech stuff, and I'll do a bit of both. All together we should have everything we need to start our own shop."
Erin nodded with a grin. "Wow. I didn't know you had that much planned out."
Jake smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, well,…I was a bit nervous about what you'd think, I guess."
"Why? I think that's great, Jake. It's something you love to do and you'd be great at it." Erin assured him, which made him relax and give her a grateful smile.
"Thanks. So, since you brought it up I'm assuming you've thought about it, too?" he guessed.
"Yeah, I just wasn't sure if you didn't want me to travel for college or anything." Erin answered honestly.
"Well, there are plenty of colleges in the area that you can go to. Why? What college were you thinking?" he asked cautiously. He'd support her no matter what, but he was honestly hoping she wasn't planning on going to a college so far away she'd have to live either in a dorm or apartment far away.
"Oh, nothing far away. I've been looking into some stuff and…I think I'm going to go to Peninsula College, but also take online classes at Olympic college. I…I'm thinking I want to go into Psychology. Like, be a counselor." she admitted quietly, looking down at her lap. "But Peninsula doesn't have that program and Olympic does, but Olympic is about three hours away and I'd rather not drive that far everyday, so I'd have to take online classes there to get the actual degree."
Jake nodded slowly. "Wow. That actually sounds like a really good plan. You're sure it's something you want to go into?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I know it'll be hard, not letting myself get too emotional with some of my patients, but I feel like this is something I can do to help others. Because not everyone out there is lucky enough to have someone to be there like you and the pack were for me." she answered, looking up at him again with a small smile.
Jake smiled widely in return, leaning forward and taking her hand in his from around the laptop. "Good. I'm really proud of you, Erin. I know you'll be amazing no matter what you do."