Page 44 of Switch!

“You’ll get credits during BMT and tech school. The rest can be done online from whatever base you’re stationed at.”

“Okay, but I thought—”

“What are you going to do in college, Caleb?” Major McCain says with a laugh. “Get drunk and screw around for four years? I understand the appeal, but trust me, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to sow your wild oats while on active duty. No, you need a system that will keep you in line. Take the same path I did, and I promise that you’ll be successful.”

The optimism drains from me, my stomach sinking along with it. The truth is, I’d rather pursue an entirely different career. I was planning to tell him once I was safely in college. Now isn’t the time. I’ll wait until I’m a legal adult and then…. I’m not sure. I could insist that it’s ROTC or nothing. Or set out on my own. I better start squirreling away some money. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

— — —

“So what’s up with you and this girl?”

Eddie is sprawled out on my bed, phone held above him as his thumb bounces around the screen. He’s always texting someone, or mentioning names I don’t recognize, and yet he still makes time for me. I’m glad to have him as a friend. He understands the ins and outs of being a military brat, and even better, knows how to break the rules without getting caught.

“Sarah?” I reply. I’m on the floor and digging through the last of Caleb’s moving boxes. “She’s awesome. Did I tell you she called me her boyfriend the other day? Sarah was on the phone with her friend and said she was too busy to hang out because, and I quote, ‘I’m having dinner with my boyfriend tonight.’”

“Yippee,” Eddie deadpans. “So how’d it go? Did you eat out?”

“No, we went to…” I notice his lewd expression and flip him the bird. Which is weird, because I never used to do that. Caleb did though.

Eddie doesn’t seem to mind. “Seriously, man. Have you gotten anywhere with her?”

“We’ve been all sorts of places,” I say innocently. “I told you about Titlow Park—”

“Which didn’t involve actual tits.”

“Dinner and a movie the next night,” I continue, pretending not to hear him.

“How was the flick?”

“Great! It was about this spy in deep cover who finds out—”

“If you were paying attention to the screen,” Eddie interrupts, “then I know nothing interesting happened. Next!”

“Next,” I say, gritting my teeth, “we went hiking together out at Dash Point.”

“Wrong kind of hot and sweaty, homie.” Caleb tosses aside his phone and sits up. “That’s three strikes. If you’re not out yet, you’re getting close.”

“What do you mean?” I pull an old sheet from the box, notice a bunch of sport trophies beneath it, and sigh, knowing that I’ll have to display them. The one I’m holding now is from the third grade, but Caleb still had it on display before the move.

“What I mean,” Eddie says, snatching the trophy from me to get my attention, “is that you’re on the verge of becoming the guy she calls when she wants to talk about her feelings.”

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“As in, that’sallyou’ll be.”

“Oh.”

Eddie nods. “You’re finally getting it. I don’t know what girls were like back in Wyoming, but everywhere I’ve lived, the guy only has so much time to make a move before he ends up in the Friend Zone. You better up your game. When do you see her again?”

“Soon, I think. Sarah mentioned something about going to an outlet mall.”

“Hell no, man!” Shaking his head apparently isn’t enough, because Eddie starts waving his hands back and forth in the air. “No fuckin’ way! Absolutely not. That’ll be the last nail in your coffin. Do you wanna be her boyfriend or her girlfriend?”

“Girlfriend,” I say instantly. “That way I could feel myself up, which at this point, would be a lot easier.”

“It’s not that complicated. I thought you had experience?”

“I do.” Sort of. “But I actually like her, okay?”