The Email of Paige Walcott

To: pawa4529

From: hena3490

Subject: Need to Reschedule

Hey Ms. Walcott,

I’m really sorry to tell you this. I know it’s last minute, but I don’t think I can take the test next Friday, you see my poor grandmother has passed away….

To: pawa4529

From: Shoes Shoes Shoes

Subject: 20% Off Sale

Feeling sexy? Feeling fine? Nothing like a new pair of shoes to boost that confidence ladies! Enter this…

To: pawa4529

From: Duolingo

Subject: It’s Spanish time!

It’s time to get in some practice! We noticed you haven’t been around as often...

To: pawa4529

From: beki2267

Subject: A Small Request

Dear Ms. Walcott,

I hate to have to ask for this, I’ve been studying like crazy! But I realized I have a funeral to go to next Friday during the midterm. My grandfather on my dad’s side…

To: pawa4529

From: drwalcott22

Subject: Some Resources

Paige, I know you hate when I do this, but I’m your mother and concerned. I know you don’t want to keep two weeks' supply of food in your crawl space, but you have to read this article on the rising tides in Miami and the number of serial killers people meet each year…

To: pawa4529

From: erii3997

Subject: Reschedule

Hi Prof (you’re a professor, right? You totally should be)

So I have some really bad news for the midterm next week. I’ve been super sad for a couple days now which is why I haven’t been to class, cause my grandpa….

To: pawa4529

From: Lewis and Clark Biology Department

Subject: Congratulations!

Congratulations Ms. Walcott! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your application. The department was impressed by your experience and practical knowledge suited for our specialized fieldwork program. You have been accepted next to semester to assist Dr. Khatri in her project “Nitrogen Variation in Soil from Different Climates.” It is a four-month long commitment with three of your fellow grad students. Here is a list of things to prepare and expenses for the trips…

Paige couldn’t believe her eyes. She sat on her bed gaping.

It took a full minute before she jerkily stood, walking around in a circle, and then punched the air, “yes!” She bounced up and down on her heels. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She had only meant to check her email for a moment before finally forcing herself to go jogging, but it turned out to be worth it.

She spun around in loose circles. “I did it,” she grinned at absolutely nothing. “This is it!”

She had been accepted into a fieldwork program, and not just any fieldwork, but one with a top professor at the university. Paige jumped up and down until she didn’t know what to do with herself anymore and picked up her phone.

She dialed quickly. “Hey mom,” she said, feeling lighter than she had in months. “Guess what?”

“Did you get my email?” Her mom said with her usual tense tone. “I don’t want you going to Miami on spring break.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Paige said and rolled her eyes to herself. “But guess who got into that fieldwork program?!” She could barely contain herself.

“The one that goes to Alaska?” Anxiety entered her mom’s voice sharply.

“And Canada! And all over the country.”

A long pause followed that seemed to swallow Paige up whole. “How are you going to pay for all that?”

Paige clicked open the email and skimmed it one more time. Of course, they’d pay for plane tickets. The university wanted the program to be accessible. Of course, they’d provide a way for her to get there.

… all transportation costs will be left to the participants to cover.

Paige let the phone drop from her ear and felt like the room itself was stretching and morphing around her. “Shit.” She said and it felt like she couldn’t feel her toes.

A brick plunged through her gut and it was like her head was submerged in cold water. It felt like a big midterm was coming up and she was about to lie about her grandparent dying.

“Shit,” she clenched her hands and could hear her mom talking on the other line.

“...you know with your father’s hospital expenses and my retirement…” Paige bent down and picked up her phone again.

“I know, I know mom,” she squeezed her eyes shut, but she wasn’t ready to accept it just quite yet. “I know my scholarships don’t cover plane tickets.”

Her mom talked into her ear for another ten minutes before she finally said in a robotic voice. “I need to go… jog.”

“You’re still doing that?” Her mom sounded delighted, “Good for you. That should help with the whole Rob thing.”

“Gotta go.” She hung up. She went to the door. She went outside to where the sun was mocking her by faintly shining through the cloud cover. She started jogging without really seeing. She started moving without thinking.

Paige even forgot to turn her music on as she passed one street after the other. Something wrestled deep inside Paige’s chest.

I don’t want to give this up! It pleaded, I don’t wanna, I won’t wanna, I don’t wanna.

She could get another job. She didn’t have time for another job. She could petition the university for a bigger grant. She didn’t know how to petition with the university. She could sell her used panties onl--

“Hey!” A voice accosted her from behind. “Hey, you!”

Paige might not have stopped, but she didn’t have music on right then and was running on autopilot. She turned slowly.

A small figure dashed out of the doorway of a coffee shop. She looked familiar with her short choppy brown hair and intense heavy gaze. She was wearing a baggy brown button-up shirt and slim black pants with a strange bone-necklace. It was oddly fashionable for someone who looked rather flippant overall.

“Hello?” Paige took out her headphones to be polite.

The stranger frowned even harder at her and stood there like a cat slowly fluffing up before it started hissing. Finally, she put her hand out. “I’m Bri.” She said shortly, “I’ve seen you around.”

“Okay?” Paige wasn’t always great with social cues so she just stared at her open hand for a moment.

“Alright. Anyway.” The girl took something out of her back pocket. “You should consider this. I’ve been putting them up, but you seem like the right fit.”

“What?”

The strange intense girl unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to her. Paige stood there dumbly as she held what looked like a flier.

“Just… give it a think.” The girl finally smiled for the first time and it was enormous and almost angry. “The phone numbers on the bottom.”

And then she turned and walked back into the coffee shop with her back perfectly straight.

Paige blinked several more times until she was convinced this wasn’t a fever dream and stared down at the flier. She read it carefully and once more considered this might be some sort of fever dream.

WANTED: Beautiful woman to inspire poetry, art, and general feelings of creative wonder. Must be over 5’8, speak another language, have a reasonable knowledge of 18th century poetry and an open schedule before 12pm.

Paid position.