White Jacket Required Read Online Free Page B

actually!”
    Helen’s eyes got wide. “Oh my God! You would be perfect for that! The culinary school over on the parkway?”
    â€œYeah, there’s a Le Cordon Bleu there. I never really thought I would actually go, and I’m still pretty unsure, but I just finished going on the school tour. I’ve had it up to here sitting at home and looking for entry-level writing jobs online, you know?”
    The waitress came by and set down a glass of water and lemon in front of me. I scanned the menu and quickly ordered some orange-peel shrimp, my favorite. Helen ordered a spicy noodle dish and a soda.
    I took a long sip of water and picked up my fork. “But what about you?” I asked her. “I heard some rumor you are moving here to become . . . a cop?!” I raised my eyebrows incredulously.
    Helen giggled. “I am! Can you even believe it? Well, I graduated from the police academy last month and got placed here right after. I’m supposed to start my job in two months and I’m looking at apartments like crazy right now.”
    I still couldn’t get it through my head that Helen, little Helen from down the street, was going to be a police officer. Something about it just didn’t add up in my mind. “I had no idea you were serious when you said you wanted to work with the police! What does your mother think about all this?”
    Helen sighed and made a face. “You know Mom. All she does is worry. I mean, of course she wishes I had chosen a safer career, but I really want to help people and this seems like the best way.”
    Our meals came, and the serious talk ended as we dug into our lunch. My shrimp were perfect, slightly spicy and crusted with chewy orange peel. I cleaned my plate in about five minutes flat.
    â€œYou know,” Helen said, “if you were actually serious about this culinary school thing and were planning on moving here, we could totally live together.”
    I looked up from my plate. “I didn’t even think of that,” I said.
    When we were kids, Helen and I made a pact that we would be roommates when we were finally old enough to get our own place. I hadn’t thought about that for at least fifteen years.
    â€œRemember how we always said we would be roommates someday?” she asked, excitement growing in her voice. “We always said we would live where it snowed and have a little house.”
    I laughed. “I was actually just thinking the exact same thing. We also said we would have a big furry dog! It sure isn’t about to snow any time soon here in Orlando, but yes, I remember.”
    The rest of lunch was spent gossiping about friends we went to middle school with and discussing potential future apartments. I still hadn’t made up my mind, but now that I knew Helen was going to be there and wanted to live together, the idea of moving seemed much more feasible. When we said good-bye, I promised to call her immediately after I talked to my family and made a decision. She was heading to look at one more apartment that afternoon before driving home to Naples, and she promised to keep me updated as well.
    During the next few weeks, I thought long and hard about going back to school. I weighed the pros and cons and discussed the matter at length with Rob. He urged me to go, saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that we would work out the distance between us. My parents were supportive, but of course they reminded me that the tuition would come out of my own pocket. Finally, I decided to just go for it. It was only fifteen months, after all, and how could I turn down living in a new city with my best friend? I called Helen as I was faxing my paperwork over to the school, and we both starting screaming into the phone. She had found a nice two-bedroom apartment about four miles away from school, right next to the newest and nicest mall in Orlando. We set a move-in date three weeks away, and I started to