Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Definitely not,” Noah responds with a big smile.
Instantly, I feel like the worst planner ever. “I’m really sorry you guys feel like you’re being put on the spot without any instructions. That’s probably my fault. I hope—”
“No,” Brooke cuts me off with a reassuring smile. She reaches out to squeeze my hand gently. “You have to understand that Noah and I have jobs that keep us pretty introverted. I mean, I’m a writer—definitely a reclusive career—and all of Noah’s patients can’t speak because they’re sedated. We’re both happy to be here. Just feeling like fish out of water because it’s not our normal gig to speak in front of a lot of people.”
“Definitely happy to be here,” Noah agrees. “And I feel like I know what to do, Katy. I’ll talk about how I became a doctor and give the kids some funny stories on what it’s like being an anesthesiologist.”
“Are you guys sure you’re good?”
“Positive,” Noah states and Brooke nods.
“We got this so good, Katy, we’re going to convince every one of these kids to become writers and doctors at the same time. Watch out, world, there’s about to be an oversaturation in two career markets.”
If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that Brooke Baker is just as funny in person as her characters are in her books.
She offers me two thumbs up. “It’s going to be great, Katy.”
“Ms. Dayton?” someone calls from behind me, and I turn around to find Principal Dana standing stage right.
I excuse myself from Brooke and Noah and head over to her.
“You think you’re ready to get this show on the road?” she asks, glancing at the watch on her wrist pointedly. “All the kids are here, and any minute, they’re going to start getting antsy. We can only make them listen to the Frozen soundtrack over the speakers so many times, you know?”
“Yep. Yep. Yep.” I nod and dart my eyes around the room in search of Mack. His speaker is the only speaker I haven’t talked to yet. “I just need to find Mr. Houston, and we should be all set.”
As if I conjured him to existence myself, I spot him walking in through the back auditorium doors.
“Looks like he’s here,” I announce and don’t even bother saying anything else. Instead, I haul ass down the stairs and close the distance between us.
“Hey, where’s your speaker?” I forgo a greeting and get right to the nuts and bolts of the matter.
“He’s running just a few minutes late,” he says, and when my eyes go wide, he quickly rests both hands on my shoulders. “It’s all good,” he reassures. “Your two speakers can start, and once he’s here, I’ll get him up on the stage without interruption.”
“But is he prepared?” I ask, and Mack squeezes my shoulders.
“It’s going to be fine, Katy. Promise. Thatcher Kelly knows how to work a crowd.”
I can’t refute that the man he’s referring to is a larger-than-life kind of guy. He’s the father of one of my students, Gunnar Kelly, and every time I’ve had a conversation with him, I’ve always walked away laughing or smiling.
“Okay,” I agree, and my feet are already heading back toward the stage. Once I walk up the steps, I look toward Brooke and Noah.
“Looks like we’re about to start. You guys ready?”
They both nod their agreement, and I step behind the stage to switch off the Frozen music and switch on the microphone.
A moment later, I’m standing at the podium and grabbing the attention of our students. “Good afternoon, everyone!”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Dayton,” a lot of them respond back.
“Today, we have three amazing speakers who have taken time out of their busy schedules to come in and talk to you about their careers,” I explain and feel like most of the kids are paying attention. “I expect that you’ll all be quiet and well-behaved while they’re speaking. And when it’s time to take some questions, you need to raise your hand to be called on, okay?”
Most of the kids nod, and I move along to introducing our first speaker.
“I’d like to introduce you to Brooke Baker,” I continue and look onto the stage where Brooke sits with her dog, Benji. “Brooke is a number one New York Times best-selling author. She is loved by many readers, and Netflix recently made a series based on her books. Please give her a round of applause as she comes up here.”
The students clap their hands, and Brooke makes her way to the podium. I note that Benji follows her very closely, and once she’s settled behind the podium, he lies right at her feet again.
“Good morning, students,” Brooke greets into the microphone. Her voice is a little shaky, but her smile is downright lovable. “I am so excited to be here with you guys today.”