Erin nodded. “Yeah. He’s really nice. By the way, I actually met your mom the other day. She seems nice too.” She turned her head and offered me the vaguest hint of a smile. “I’m really glad George finally found someone. He’s been single for a long time.”
Bingo.I’d finally hit on a subject that Erin seemed keen to chat about. “My mom was single for ages too,” I said. “She divorced my dad when I was a toddler, and she hasn’t been in a relationship since. Until now, I mean. I think she was scared because my dad had a whole bunch of issues, and she didn’t want to risk going through that all over again.”
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I worried I was oversharing, but Erin didn’t seem to mind. She lowered her voice to a hushed tone and leaned her head a little closer. “George’s ex-wife ditched him and Jax and ran off to Croatia with a guy who’s like, fifteen years younger than her. Crazy, right?”
“Wow.” My brows lifted. “I had no idea.”
“It was a while ago.” Erin lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Anyway, do you think your mom will apply to join the PTO? George is involved in it. My parents are too.”
“PTO?”
“Parent-teacher organization.”
“Oh.”Duh.“I’m not sure. She hasn’t said anything about it. She was a member of the organization at my old school, though, so she’ll probably be interested.”
“The PTO here is mega-serious,” Erin said, rolling her eyes upward. “Ted and Nora Vincent head up the parent side, and they consider every single application like it’s a nomination for POTUS.”
“So you don’t automatically get membership as a parent of a student?” I asked, brows furrowing.
“Nope. Only the right kind of parents are allowed to join the PTO at CPA. Usually people from the so-called ‘legacy families’,” Erin replied, rolling her eyes again. “It’s ridiculous, right?”
“Yeah. Sounds pretty classist,” I said.
“I used to think the exact same thing. But there are super-wealthy people in town who’ve had their applications knocked back. So I think it’s more of a personality thing. They only want people who are genuinely interested in the school, really want to get involved, and have a ton of time to spare.” Erin shrugged. “I guess people from the old legacy families are more likely to fit that ideal than newer transplants. Probably because they’re rolling in old money and barely have to work, which gives them more free time.”
“Ah. I see.”
Erin arched a brow. “Honestly, if I was a parent, I’d totally want to join just for the parties.”
“Parties?”
“They hire out a space in the Kingsley Hotel for their meetings. After the meeting is over, they have a big party. Not like a high school rager sort of thing. A proper party, where everyone is dressed in cocktail dresses and suits. You’re only allowed in if you’re a member. It’s all catered, and there’s endless free drinks.”
“Sounds fun.”
“I know, right?” Erin’s head whipped to the side, and she stopped in her tracks. “Oops. We almost missed the chem lab.”
Over the next fifteen minutes, the conversation with Erin flowed quite naturally. While she wasn’t smiling or joking with me yet, the ice had definitely thawed, and she didn’t seem anywhere near as standoffish as she did earlier.
As we walked along, she opened up enough for me to learn several things about her. She was a tech geek who wanted to get into software development as a career, she loved true crime podcasts, and her favorite place to eat was at a little family-owned Thai restaurant up in Woodsen’s Bay. I loved true crime and Thai food as well, so I had a feeling we’d have a lot of other things in common too.
Perhaps my mom was right after all. Making friends at CPA might be easier than I thought.
After Erin showed me where all my classes were, it was time to check out the school’s sporting amenities. We walked back through one of the main buildings and came out the other side, heading for the eastern part of the campus. The meticulously-landscaped grounds sprawled ahead of us with signposted paths winding all over the place.
“If you go that way, you get to the aquatic center,” Erin said, pointing down a path on the left. At the end lay a large modern-looking building with huge glass windows. “There’s lap pools and diving pools inside, and out the back there’s an artificial lake for the rowers.”
“An artificial lake?” I said, brows shooting up.
“It’s for safety reasons. Rowing in the ocean isn’t always the best idea.” Erin turned her attention to another building which stood to the right of the aquatic center. “That’s the main gym. It’s got strength training equipment, a climbing wall, a basketball court, and an indoor track. Out the back, there’s an outdoor track, tennis courts, and a soccer pitch.”
“Wow. Sounds like it’s got everything.”
“Trust me, that’s not even half of it,” Erin said, tilting her chin farther to the right. “If you gothatway, you get to the archery range, equestrian center, and orienteering range.”
“Jeez. Next you’ll be telling me CPA has an entire football stadium too.”
Erin’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Um… it does. See that building all the way down the end of the main path? The football stadium is behind it,” she said. “There’s a baseball field there too. Oh, and there’s also a ton of parking lots around there, so on game nights no one has to walk all the way down there from the main part of the school.”