"I suppose y'all wonderin' why I asked you here."

Jim barely held a straight face as the sentence left his mouth. He shook his head in disbelief before tugging the reins and steering the horse between his legs onto the coastal path. Beside him Miranda offered a reassuring smile.

"Just because Jonas did that, doesn't mean that you need to. Sometimes the best way to embrace change is to break the expectations."

Jim nodded appreciatively in response.

"I see don't know what y'all were drinking when you nominated me to the big chair. I'm not exactly the paperwork type."

"Director Caspian loved the idea, she agreed almost immediately. After the last five years, everything with Hyperion, I think this is a great chance for the school. One we desperately need right now with the Foundation breathing down our neck." Miranda replied.

"It was going to be between you and Aiden. We both know that with Roth's connection to Jonas and Crestwood Hollow, it would have been a PR nightmare to elect him as the new chancellor."

"Oh," Jim had a wry smile on his face. "So I'm the-"

"-Safe choice?" Miranda interrupted with a smile of her own. "Doesn't take a telepath to know what you were about to say, old friend. And no, you're not the safe choice."

"You're the right one."