Golden Boys (Golden Boys, #1)(37)

When I step into my room, I throw the pile of Post-its in the trash and sit on my bed, begging for the tears not to come. I see the group chat flooded with messages from Heath, mostly selfies of him preparing for his first shift at the arcade. His tan’s deepened, and I can tell he’s really enjoying his time in Daytona.

He also texted me separately, asking me how the presentation went. But … I can’t complain to him about this. I want to respond, but I don’t even know what to say. I turn on an old season of Drag Race and start taking notes on every runway look, every sewing challenge. I consider asking my parents if they can order me a cheap sewing machine somewhere so I can practice while I’m here.

I feel so defeated now, but I can’t let this beat me.





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

GABRIEL

My days are like this: I get up at five thirty in the morning, dart into the guys’ bathroom to shower before anyone else on my floor wakes up, then come back and take a nap until seven or eight. The Save the Trees Foundation’s office is about fifteen minutes away, and I usually walk there with Tiffany. Art and Matt usually get up early to grab us all iced coffees, which Tiffany and I appreciate, mostly because we learned early on the office Keurig is always out of coffee pods.

We technically start working at nine, but it’s really hard to consider it work as all we’ve done so far is learn about the program. A lot.

“Welcome to your final day of orientation and training!” Ali looks like she’s on her third cup of coffee. While everyone else they’ve had come in for these trainings looks like a human is supposed to at nine a.m.—a groggy urban forester, a half-asleep policy analyst—Ali, grassroots fundraising specialist, is alive with energy.

As Ali gets her slides ready for the last day of training, Tiffany leans over and whispers, “I don’t know how much more learning I can do. Isn’t it a little weird they still haven’t told us what we’ll be doing after training is over?”

“I’ve been trying to pick up bits and pieces from people’s presentations. Based on what the urban forester said, it seems like we’ll be helping plant trees from time to time?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” she says. “He said they do most of their planting in early spring.”

We’re cut off by three loud claps from the podium, which Ali used to get our attention. Even in this experience that feels so grown up, something like that just reminds me of being in school and being treated like a child. It sours my mood.

“Now we’re going to break into partners. You’ll be working together in these little teams for the rest of the internship program, so you’ll have to get close. We’ll just divide you by the tables you’re sitting at.”

She goes down the rows, eventually assigning Tiffany and me as partners, and Art and Matt become partners too. I don’t know what this partnership will entail, and as a rule I hate group projects, but I am glad to be partnered with Tiffany. We get along really well. She seems incredibly normal and not obnoxious, and we can both bond over being super anxious. Art and Matt seem like a good pairing too as they’ve become fast friends ever since Art saved Matt from the longest, most painful conversation of all time during that first event.

“Okay, now our last speaker of the week is going to walk you through how the first month of this volunteer experience will work, so you’ll want to pay close attention as you’ll be using all the information you’ve been getting this week.”

My stomach clenches, just slightly, and I feel a bit of excited anticipation for what’s to come. We’ve been learning so much, but not knowing exactly how to apply it. We know how much oxygen the company has brought to Boston through their programs, how they’ve developed ways to reduce the city’s urban heat effect, which is caused by the sun reflecting off concrete and blacktop, causing a sort of greenhouse effect. We know how donations from large donors and small ones alike directly apply to this process. We also know maybe too much detail of how to plant and relocate a tree.

But we don’t know what we’re doing.

The speaker gets up, and I see him paste on a smile similar to Ali’s—large, full of energy, fully unchanged by the time of day.

“Hi, everyone, I’m Casey, and I manage our grassroots volunteer program. While Ali focuses more on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the job, I get to be front and center with the people of Boston, which is really the best place to be.” He turns to Ali with a smirk. “No offense.”

We chuckle at this, and he settles in to talk a little more about the history of the program and how past volunteers have moved on to work anywhere from local community programs to more-corporate environmental-law roles. I feel a little better knowing this could open doors to me, but still, it’s like everyone is on the edge of our seats. What will we be doing?

Finally, he explains:

“For this summer, at least for this first month, you’ll all be our street advocates. What you’ll be doing is so critical to our mission, as it spreads the word about our organization and brings in massive donations in a way that we can never get through other means.” He smiles, and it’s a genuine smile, but I also get the feeling he’s trying a little too hard to be welcoming, as if we’re all about to run out the door. “You’ll be working in teams to stand on a few busy Boston blocks. You’ll be wearing your Boston Save The Trees Foundation shirts, and all you have to do is flag some people down as they walk by, talk to them about the organization, and see if they’d like to donate. It’s super simple, but very effective.”