The sixteen quarters of Victoria's college years had passed quickly by. She soon held a Bachelor's Degree in Education and had no idea where she wanted to work. Ever supportive Lola, her wife of two years, decided that there was only one way to settle the debate.
"A pin?" Victoria asked, her mousey-brown eyebrows knitting together in a sudden moment of confusion. "You're joking." She was lying on her naked stomach, on top of Lola, their full breasts pressed together, in their Bellingham condo.
Lola shrugged. "Come on. We have a map of Washington State from our road trip to Wenatchee last summer."
Victoria sighed. "My apple phase got completely out of hand. I'm still apologizing for that..."
Lola smiled, leaning down to kiss her wife. "Come on. It's fine. Now get that little ass over there and take one of those pins and prick the shit out of a part of the map."
"You make it sound so easy..."
"That's because I neglected the most important rule of keeping your eyes closed," Lola replied.
Victoria nodded, heaving herself off of the bed and crossing the room towards the map. Cocking her head to one side, she reached out, selecting a pin with a red ball on one end. Shutting her eyes, she reached out, spinning three times for good measure, and stopping when Lola informed her that the map was directly in front of her again. Reaching out, she felt the pin stab something, and she opened her eyes.
"Where'd you prick?" Lola asked.
Victoria narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the microscopic writing on the map. "Port Townsend," she replied, shaking her head. "It's on the Olympic Peninsula. It's not so far from Forks."
"Hey, maybe we'll end up meeting some vampires," Lola joked as Victoria got onto their laptop positioned dead center on their cherry wood desk against that wall. Typing in "Port Townsend, Washington schools" into Google, she was presented with the following:
1. Port Townsend High School
2. Blue Heron Middle School
3. Grant Street School
4. Swan School
5. Jefferson Community School
"The last two are private schools," said Victoria. "I'm not about to do some extra schooling, not now. Grant Street School seems to be the elementary school there." She entered "Port Townsend" into the search box before clicking enter, and then clicked "Google Images". "It's a Victorian town," she said eagerly as Lola came and stood beside her.
"Wow. It's gorgeous. Maybe see what Wikipedia says about it..."
"Wow," she breathed. "Less than ten thousand people," Victoria said. She found the number for her academic advisor, Ms. Curtis, who told her to call if she had any questions. "Ms. Curtis? Hi, it's Victoria Collins. Yeah, I was wondering about an elementary school in Port Townsend. Yes, Grant Street Elementary. You do? You can? Jack Monroe? Okay, thank you so much! All right, bye."
"What'd she say?" asked Lola.
"Ms. Curtis gave me Jack Monroe's information. Apparently he's the principal over at Grant Street Elementary."
Lola raised her eyebrows. "Connections, connections," she hummed softly, giving Victoria a grin. "Come on. It's a Thursday in June. Two weeks before the school year ends. You'd better call him if you want an opportunity."
Victoria sighed, nodding. She put the numbers into her iPhone 8G and counted the rings. Gripping Lola's hand, her heart was in her throat as soon as the phone picked up.
"Hello?" said the voice.
"Mr. Monroe?" Victoria said. "Mr. Jack Monroe, Principal of Grant Street Elementary in Port Townsend?"
"Speaking," he replied.
"Hello, Mr. Monroe. My name is Victoria Collins. My school counselor, Samantha Curtis, gave me your number."
"Yes, Miss Collins-"
"Mrs.," Victoria replied swiftly.
"Mrs. Collins, I have received an email from Samantha and she's informed me of your academic achievements. You passed your six-month stay as an assistant teacher with flying colors. You got A's in every college course you took. You have numerous academic recommendations and many job offers, yet you call me? I am surprised, considering that Port Townsend is merely a small, Victorian town on the Olympic Peninsula. Why work here when you have so many job offers in Seattle?"
"I stuck a pin in a map," Victoria admitted, feeling as if she was confessing to the theft of an additional cookie at snack time. "Once I looked up the town, I felt I had to work there. It is just such a beautiful place..."
"Well," Jack Monroe continued, "I never have been let down by Samantha in my entire life. If she says that I should take a chance on you, I'll do it. Come into town next Tuesday afternoon. We can have an interview. And I'll need a background check of course, but let's see how the interview goes."
"Thank you, Mr. Monroe!" Victoria cried, excited.
"Mrs. Collins, really. Call me Jack."
"I'm Victoria," she replied.
"Nice to meet you, Victoria," Jack replied. "I shall see you and your husband on Tuesday."
"Wife," Victoria said.
"Wife," Jack said, and hung up.
Victoria and Lola got out of Bellingham and made good time to the Edmonds/Kingston ferry. They paid their fare and got in line, the kindly elderly man telling them that they'd be on the next boat, due to arrive in thirty minutes. Victoria spotted a small French café close by, so they got out of the car to investigate what they could have.
Heading inside, they were immediately assaulted with the heavenly smell of fresh croissants baking. They ordered a couple of crepes and chewed them on the back terrace, watching as the ferry slowly pulled up to the dock. They washed their hands before returning to the car, getting in just as the last of the ferry's passengers unloaded.
The thirty-five minute crossing was slow and steady. They arrived in Kingston and proceeded to look for the sign which would direct them to the small town of Port Gamble. Victoria pulled off at a gas station and filled up just before the turn off, returning to the car shortly thereafter. They were back on the road, navigating through the small, twisty, bayside town known as Port Gamble, complete with some gorgeous architecture as well.
They made a right after a mile or so after they got out of town and onto the Hood Canal Bridge. They made their way over the impressive bridge, resting on the surface of the water, and returned to the main road as soon as they were across.
"We're looking for a turnoff that'll take us past Port Ludlow and on to Port Townsend," Victoria told Lola.