She laughed. “Glad to hear it. Now… let’s see who’s your partner for the night. We only have a handful of newbies so pairing you guys up with vets shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Yara scanned her spreadsheet of names. I looked along with her and noticed my name next to an Arnold Kramer. Yara’s nose wrinkled at the information. She glanced up at the group of people mingling around us before moving closer to me.
“I’m going to revise this a bit. It’s better if Arnold’s with another guy,” she whispered as she crossed out my name. “Who do you prefer to drive around with, me or Dakota?”
I opened my mouth, but she cut me off before I could speak.
“Actually, don’t answer that. It was a silly question.”
She wrote my name in a new block next to Dakota’s.
“I would have preferred you,” I said. At this point, I knew it would be near impossible for my crush to fade if I continued having conversations with Dakota.
Yara smiled. “That’s very sweet but I know what’s up.”
I raised a brow, curious to know what things looked like to an outsider. Before I could ask, Yara hurried to the next new person in need of a partner for tonight.
There were about forty people on the team in total. Most would get a golf cart to patrol. The rest would act as dispatchers who took calls in case the school’s app wasn’t updating students’ requests.
We all wore our matching tees with the school’s angel-winged logo, along with the emergency team’s number printed on the back. Before we could head out, our supervising professor, Dr. Ainsley, said a few words about our campus impact. She reminded us about doing our part in making Westbrooke a safe space for all. We were encouraged to hand out small cards with the phone and address to the student counseling center anytime we dropped someone off.
“Most of the time, students don’t want to talk in the moment but might change their minds later,” Dr. Ainsley explained. “Our job is to make it as easy as possible for them to get help when they’re ready.”
I loved what this stood for and felt more determined to clock in hours after Ainsley’s speech. Before tonight, I knew the emergency team was important, but now the level of that importance dawned on me. I was reminded once more about my budding doc idea centering around what this team stood for.
As Ainsley started on her final remarks, my gaze trailed to the shift leaders behind her. Finding Dakota felt like second nature now. He was nursing a cup of something steaming. Every few seconds, he’d take a tentative sip, closing his eyes like he was trying to enjoy the simple moment. I smiled a little at the action. He looked cozy in his jean jacket and red beanie. A part of me wished I had my camera and it wasn’t creepy to take photos of people you liked from afar. I wanted a snapshot of him seeming content.
Once Dr. Ainsley released us, Dakota looked at the sign-in sheet before heading in my direction. He greeted me with a smile and offered to buy me a cup of tea before heading out.
I shook my head. “No, but thank you.”
“Alright.” He finished off the last of his drink before tossing the cup in the trash. “Ready for me to show you the ropes?”
I tried to push down budding excitement I had no business feeling. “Lead the way.”
“How long do we usually wait?” I rolled the walkie between my hands.
Dakota put me in charge of communicating with the dispatcher. I rode shotgun as he drove us to the side of the campus we’d be monitoring until we got an official request for pick up.
“Varies from night to night.” He braked to let a large group of students pass in front of us. “Usually, when there are campus events, the requests are difficult to keep up with.”
“I’m still confused on how you have time for this and practice and the general life of being a student.” I placed my foot on the dash of the cart as we started moving again. My position would be deemed “unladylike,” by my mom. Thankfully, she wasn’t here because she didn’t recognize that long legs needed room to breathe.
“I don’t,” Dakota said. “Once the season starts, I won’t clock in many hours.”
“Good for you,” I mused. “I was getting tired just imagining what your schedule looked like.”
He chuckled. When we came to another stop, I was once again reminded that Dakota was far nicer than me. I liked to barrel forward and beep whenever someone got in my way. They always moved because, well, what else could they do? Challenge a cart going twenty miles an hour? I think not.
Taking things slow was a respectable change of pace, though. I suppose the way of calm people had some merits. Reduced blood pressure was one. Anger and the slow lull of Dakota’s smooth turns didn’t mix.
“How long have you been on the team?” I studied his profile, mentally tracing a line between the moles on his cheek.
“Football? Or this?”
“This,” I clarified. I knew how long he’d been on the team, since his freshman year. Might have casually gotten the info from my dad after feigning interest in team stats.
“Since this past summer semester.”
