Chapter Seven

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5/17/15

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5/17/15

I GRAB MY tray with a soup and salad on it from the counter.

The local café is crazy busy at this lunch hour, but luckily Chase has already snagged us some seats on the patio. It's a beautiful afternoon with clear skies and a bright sun, and a perfect day to spend outdoors. I weave my way through the crowded lines and finally make my way to Chase and sit down with an exaggerated huff.

Chase smiles. "Mayhem breaking lose in there?" he asks with the tilt of a head.

I nod with wide eyes. "Just a little, and by little I mean straight hell." We both laugh at my words, and begin to dig into our food.

I wasn't lying or trying to get a rise out of Cale when I mentioned Chase and I having lunch together. Well I can't lie, a small part of me wanted to gain something out of it. But I still am only looking for a friendship with Chase, and from our interactions it seems the same goes for him. We texted all day yesterday and made the plans to meet up today for lunch. He was a little hesitant at first, but once I peeled back those layers he is the male version of Hayley in every way. And having someone to talk to, especially someone that reminds me of Hayley, might actually make this summer bearable.

I swallow a bite of my salad before asking, "So what is your major? I never asked."

He spins his fork in his pasta a few times. "Environmental engineering."

My face pulls in confusion. "So what does that mean? Like what do you want to do with that?" Besides Hayley's fashion classes, and my communication classes I have no idea what the rest of the school does.

He smiles. "I want to travel around the world, especially third world countries, and help with crops and make sure they have clean drinking water," he pauses to take a drink of his tea. "I've been given so much in life, and I just really want to help others."

I shake my head in amazement. "That's awesome Chase," I say honestly. "You could really make a difference, and having that opportunity to travel is invaluable."

He shrugs. "Tell that to my father. He thought me saying I wanted to go into environmental engineering, meant I was also going to attend law school after graduation. And then join him and my brothers at the family company. But that's not the path I want to follow." He sighs into his food.

"That's okay that you want to take your own path Chase. You have to be your own person," I admit.

He rolls his eyes. "Well my father would rather me be like my older brothers," he barks out a dark laugh. "Cale, Colt, and Clayton all went to college for engineering, and then either specified with law or public health or management. And all because that's what my father wanted."

Mr. Hasting is the founder and CEO of one of the largest construction and engineering companies in the country. His children are all set to be his successors, and all three brothers sit currently on the board of directors. That has to be a ton of pressure on Chase to follow his older brothers, but he doesn't need to.

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