Future Plans (Chloe PoV)

My head thumped softly against the table, arms stretched out over the table. I groaned miserably, though it was hard to be completely miserable when I felt Alexis’ hand rub my back. I lifted my head to find Victoria grinning.

“You are both so melodramatic.”

I looked down at my phone. College. It still didn’t feel real. I’d considered it before, but never seriously. I always planned to start fresh after I graduated. My grades were decent, having artificially inflated them. Only after I started dating Jake did I realize what I was capable of with a little effort. Still, I didn’t like studying. I could do it, sure, but was it really something I wanted?

What did I want?

Jake. Obviously. But with graduation on the horizon, I was confronted with reality. My ‘plans’ post-graduation was nothing but vague idealized dreams. I had money, but what would I do with it? I couldn’t use all that much of it. Jake had mentioned a few times how I, well, might have committed a rather large case of tax evasion over the years. Which was... fantastic.

A problem for another day.

College. Right. That’s what I was doing. I’d been spending a lot of time with Alexis and Victoria. They showed me around campus a few times and helped give me a taste of what college life was. It was... fine? The people and social aspects were certainly appealing. Victoria and Alexis even took me to a frat party, which was fun. The prospect of sitting in class listening to professors talk for a set period of time sounded like **** though. Then there was homework and studying. Ugh. Alexis and I were in perfect sync on that.

I know Mom expected me to go. That was the point of moving and going to this hell of a high school. My diploma was a magic key that would open the door to any college of my choice, complete with a scholarship. With a degree from some posh, prestigious college, I would have opportunities galore. With opportunities came success, and that is what Mom wanted for me. What she busted her ass to get me.

I sighed and looked at my phone.

“I don’t know...”

“It has one of the best emotional therapy programs in the state,” Alexis said, patting my back.

I scrunched my nose. “I don’t really think that is a good fit for me.”

“You’d make a great therapist!”

Victoria nodded. “It’s not a traditional therapist. You aren’t helping people work through problems, but how to best cope with their Gift. Your Gift would be perfect to counteract certain negative Gifts.”

I frowned. “Yeah, but it’s not like I have a way to use it to help them.”

“Fuck them into a better mood!” Alexis said with a laugh. She rolled her eyes as both Victoria and I glared at her.

“What about law?” Victoria offered. “You can specialize in Gifted ethics and law. Those schools are tough to get into since the competition is cutthroat, but that shouldn’t be too hard considering where you are getting your diploma from.”

“Sounds miserable.”

“Agreed,” Alexis said. “You can always do something mundane. Business maybe? You already have experience with that.” Her voice was teasing.

“Of course, that would have nothing to do with you studying business, right?”

Alexis gave her beautiful friend a gasp. “What? Of course not.” She looked over at me. “But I would love a minion, er, business associate.”

They had a few other ideas, but I wasn’t feeling any of them. Bah. Why was this so hard? I suppose I had time. I missed a lot of deadlines already, so any decisions would be next year. I could probably get special privileges due to where I was graduating, but I didn’t feel any rush.

“There is another option.” I looked up from my phone at Victoria. “You could get licensed.” I sighed, slumping forward. “Just putting it out there. It’s not anything different than what you are doing now.”

“And that’s the problem,” I mumbled. I looked between the two. “I don’t really want to be a prostitute my entire life.”

“Gift practitioner,” Alexis corrected with a grin. “Or you can go sophisticated and call yourself an emotional engineer.”

“No matter what society calls it, that doesn’t change I’m selling sex for money.”

Alexis laughed. “That’s illegal, don’t do that. You are selling your Gift, not your body.” I stared at her flatly, and her grin turned cheeky. “What? It’s true. Moskwa v. Department of Gifted Affairs. The government has no right to deny someone from selling their Gift, even if the application of the Gift is sexual in nature. You still have to get licensed to make sure your Gift is safe and does what you say it does. They also rate it on intensity and duration for transparency reasons. But, yeah. Totally legal to sell your sex Gift.”

We both stared at her.

“What?” she said, a touch defensively.

“That... was unexpected,” Victoria said. That was putting it diplomatically.

Alexis’ cheeks flushed, trying to match her hair. “What? I study.”

Victoria laughed, looking at me. “This from the girl who picked business because, ‘It has the hottest guys.’”

I laughed as Alexis crossed her arms. “And I stand by my decision.”

I tuned out their banter after a few minutes, my thoughts turning inward. _Should _I get licensed? The idea of it seemed... wasteful. Like I was throwing away all the hard work and sacrifice Mom made to support me. As much as it pained me to admit, I enjoyed what I did. Hard not to. It was easy money, and most guys I slept with weren’t complete assholes.

That all changed when I started dating Jake. Sure, he didn’t mind, but I did. It felt wrong, enjoying it with other people. And that was the crux of the problem. I enjoyed it. A lot. How could I not? My Gift was literally euphoria. It wasn’t so much the fear of Jake not being enough for me, the things he could do made even the best euphoria bump a minor rush in comparison. It was thinking of what the future could be. Did I really want to sleep with other men as his wife? As a mother?

My heart raced. Since when did I start thinking of marriage and kids? That was... premature.

Right?

Right.

... But it was possible. Someday.

“Chloe?”

“Hmm?” Brought out of my thoughts, I looked between the two. Alexis had a conspiratorial smile. “What?” I asked, dragging out the word as my suspicion grew.

“What are the chances you could convince Jake to come to a club with us?”

“Jake? At a club? Uh...” I stared at her. “What are you planning?”

“Well, I do have a birthday coming up...”

Both Victoria and Alexis were smiling. Oh boy.