News Flash

by Liz Botts

  I looked away from his slightly leering gaze, and wondered if he was actually checking me out or if his face was just like that. Boredom reared its head as Mr. Fisher launched into the joys of copyediting. Even though he only lectured one day a week, I felt like he recycled two-thirds of his information from one semester to the next. People around me seemed just as bored. Some shuffled papers, while others just stared at the ceiling. Two girls had snuck out their phones, keeping them hidden just below the desk. My eyes started to droop, and my head bobbed as the fatigue that always accompanies the post-adrenaline high caught up to me. The next thing that Mr. Fisher said, however, jerked me completely awake.

  “And on Friday, instead of our usual movie day, the internship coordinator from Channel Fifteen, Marika Wieczorek, will be here to talk to you all about some exciting behind the scenes careers in the television news field.”

  I squirmed at the thought of Marika being here in my class. Sure, John was the reason I had applied for the internship in the first place—he was a local celebrity, after all— but I hadn’t known him then. Marika was my boss. I liked my worlds kept safely in their own little compartments. Besides I had a bad feeling that she and Mr. Fisher would spend the majority of the time flirting, and that was just not something I wanted to see. I’d much rather watch Never Been Kissed for the fifth time. That one seemed to be Mr. Fisher’s favorite Friday Film.

  “What if we don’t want to go into journalism?”

  There was a gasp from someone at the front of the room, and the entire room turned toward the voice. A girl I didn’t know beyond this class had asked the question. She had her head propped up on her hand, and her whole demeanor said she was beyond bored. I knew why whoever it was had gasped; that question was as close to sacrilegious as it got in that class.

  Mr. Fisher chuckled. “Amy, no one is forcing you to follow this path, but it’s my job to inform you about career paths in this field as that is the focus of this class.”

  There wasn’t much time before the bell so he couldn’t go on with a more in depth analysis of why Amy had chosen to take the class if she didn’t like journalism enough to consider making it her life. I’d heard the lecture before, and while I did have a passion for the news, I didn’t begrudge others the option of merely treating it as a hobby or less.

  When the bell finally did ring, signaling the end of class, I shoved all my stuff back in my bag, and hurried from the room. Once in the fray of the hallway teeming with adolescence, I headed toward my locker. I made it no more than four feet when someone slung an arm over my shoulder, making me stagger as I was thrown off balance.

  “So, first day of our new class.” Jake spoke louder than normal so I could hear him over the din. I shuddered.

  “Don’t remind me.” I yelled a little louder than necessary, and Jake gave me an odd look. Remembering what his grandfather had been through yesterday, I just shook my head by way of apology. My problems really were so insignificant, and yet…I really did not want to go to Mr. Carson’s Special Events Planning Class.

  Jake patted my shoulder, his mouth curving up in a careless grin. “Come on, we’re doing this together. Besides, you never know, it could turn out to be fun.”

  Chapter Four

  It was definitely not fun. Halfway through the first class I could say that without impunity. Special Events Planning should have carried a warning label. This class was not for the faint of heart or the logical of head. I was pretty sure intellect wasn’t a prized value in there either.

  “We’ve done all the fundraising,” Mary Beth Johnson said. She folded her arms, and stared at the rest of us. “We have a venue. Now we need to get down to brass tacks. The first order of business is picking the prom theme. Think hard, people. This has to be totally unique. I don’t want a theme that has ever been used before, and I mean ever.”

  I nearly burst out laughing, but I managed to cover up with a gross sounding, gagging cough. Jake shot me a warning glance, and I felt an odd amount of chastisement. I knew he liked the girl, but there was something in his expression that told me he was taking this class seriously. We’d have to have a chat about that later.

  Settling back in my desk, I took the opportunity to study this girl that Jake had been going on about for the last few weeks. Mary Beth had transferred to our school at the beginning of the year, and I hadn’t gone out of my way to get to know her. She had an uber cheerful, preppy look that I found sickeningly cliché. Still, I could tell why Jake liked her. She was gorgeous in a polished, cheerleader way with big blue doe eyes, and sun-bleached blond hair that curled perfectly down her back. Even her clothes looked like she laid them out the night before—they were just so put together.

  Suddenly I felt a little frumpy. After being at the station until ten o’clock last night, I hadn’t bothered to take a shower so my curly hair was tamed back into a ponytail, which poofed out like a lion’s mane around my face. I’d thrown on my oldest, softest pair of jeans, and a button down Western shirt that I liked to wear on my grandparents’ ranch every summer. Not that I was in competition with Mary Beth or anything, but looking at her did make me want to run home and change before heading to the station later.

  “Well?” Mary Beth tapped her foot, and looked over at Mr. Carson, who shrugged.

  I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. This was about the least important thing I could think of. A prom theme was silly, wasn’t it? It was just sort of a guide to help with the purchase of cheesy decorations.

  Mary Beth began to pace. She had lost the cheery look, and was now glowering at us. “Here’s what we are going to do. You call out your ideas, and I’ll write them on the board. Then we’ll take a vote.”

  “Under the sea.”

  “Midnight in Paris.”

  “Forever Young.”

  The suggestions poured out now that Mary Beth’s back was to them. From the way she flinched slightly, her shoulders hunching forward with each theme, I knew all the suggestions were just too common for her. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Polka dots,” I called. “Or horses.”

  Mary Beth paused mid word, the dry erase marker hovering an inch away from the board. She turned slowly, and the heel of her riding boot squeaked on the floor. “Who said that?”

  I raised my hand, slightly confused by the hostility in her voice. Yes, I was being a smart aleck, but I didn’t mean to provoke her or anything. She had said to call out ideas, and I was just using my suggestions to point out how pointless this whole exercise was. Before Mary Beth could say anything, Mr. Carson stepped up and said, “Mary Beth, why don’t you sit down? We have some new students in our class today. Maybe I should go over the expectations.”

  I felt an intense heat blaze in my cheeks. This was the kind of attention I didn’t like, and it made me feel combative. If Mary Beth Johnson wanted to go, it was so on. Battle royale on. I looked down at my hands.

  “The prom will be the culmination of a year’s worth of hard work and planning,” Mr. Carson began. “Mary Beth has graciously been the head of the committee all year, so I suppose she gets a little territorial when it comes to the planning. Now I’m sure that—“he paused. I glanced up to see him consulting his class roster. “I’m sure that Allison wasn’t being disrespectful, were you Ms. Jones?”

  My cheeks still flaming, I gritted my teeth, glanced once at Jake, then at Mary Beth. “Not intentionally, sir, no. My suggestions are just as valid as any of the others. Both are themes around which you can build decorations or whatever else is needed.”

  “Prom themes are supposed to be romantic,” Mary Beth said in a tone that sounded a lot like a dog snarling. “There’s nothing romantic about polka dots.”

  “Yeah,” someone else chimed in. “That sounds more like a little kid birthday party.”

  Taking a deep breath, and willing my face to go back to it normal color, I shrugged. “Sorry. I was just participating in the assignment. You could just have voted against it if you hate it that
much.”

  I glanced back at our teacher, who was nodding his head like he was lost in thought. “Allison is right that perhaps we don’t need such an extravagant theme. Sometimes the simplest things make for the most memorable experiences.”

  Physically restraining myself from rolling my eyes, I settled on what I hoped was a sweet smile. From the corner of my eye, I could see Jake grinning. There was my best friend. Phew. That was a close one. The last thing I wanted or needed was for my best friend to go changing a few months before graduation.

  Mary Beth tossed her long blond ringlets over her shoulder, and cast me a disdainful glance. “Whatever. I think everyone should come with ten suggestions tomorrow, and then we can narrow it down. We should have our theme by Friday so we can get the subcommittees set.”

  Thankfully the bell rang before she could go into more depth. I could churn out that list in no time. Maybe Rory could help me when I got to the station. Just thinking about him made the corners of my mouth twist up into a secret little smile. Last night the two of us had shared a carton of orange chicken and rice while sitting in the darkened conference room. Our chopsticks kept knocking together as we watched the lights of the emergency vehicles flashing off the buildings.

  “Dude, what was that?” Jake appeared next to me as we left the classroom. When I looked up at him I was surprised to see that he looked upset.

  “What? I was just doing what she asked.”

  “Al, come on. It was rude.” Jake shook his head. “That isn’t like you. Sure, you can be a little sarcastic sometimes, and when you use your old lady words you sound a little curmudgeonly, but you aren’t mean.”

  I laughed, hoisting my backpack up higher on my shoulder. “Come on, Jake. Curmudgeonly? Whatever. I wasn’t being mean. My point was valid. Look, I know you like the girl and all that, but why should you care what my opinion is of this class?”

  Jake gave me a look I couldn’t exactly read, but it was vaguely disgusted. “Because you are my best friend, but I don’t like your attitude lately. Look, I’ll catch you later.”

  Confusion clouded my mind as I watched Jake turn and get lost in the crowded hallway. Something had been eating him ever since basketball had ended. He’d led the team to the semi-finals where they lost by one point. I figured that was what was bothering him, but it had been over for weeks. Why wouldn’t he be over it by now? And he was going to play ball in college so he’d have other chances to be great. He was great. But one player couldn’t carry a whole team. I just wished he wouldn’t take his frustration out on me.

  ****

  When I got to the station later that afternoon, several people clapped when I came in. I pressed a hand against my chest in faux surprise. From zero to hero just like that. I bet that everyone knew my name now. A grin leaked out on to my face.

  Mom had lectured me when I stopped home to change. “Don’t let your head get swelled,” she said with an arched eyebrow. “I worry that you won’t realize it’s happening until your friends have all deserted you.”

  “Wow, thanks Mom. That’s very supportive of you. And maybe a tad melodramatic, don’t you think?” I kissed her on the cheek, and ducked up the stairs to change into a dress. I borrowed my little sister Lauren’s pretty heels, and booked it back out the door.

  I moved slowly through the newsroom to the back because the heels made me totter along. It really would have been smarter to wear flats, and practice in the heels for a different day. At the rate I was going, I was going to break my ankle or worse, my neck. The back room was dark, which was odd since I always had filing to do, so I flipped on the light, and sat down on the old office chair. And then I waited. Where was Marika? The minute hand on the clock ticked slowly by, and I was getting worried.

  “There you are.” Chloe appeared around the door frame. “Marika’s been looking everywhere for you.”

  “What do you mean? This is where I always come when I get here.” I looked around the little room where I had spent so much time in the past few months. Then I glanced at Chloe and shrugged.

  “Not anymore. Not after yesterday. Girl, you’re a rock star around here now. No more filing for you.” Chloe disappeared again as I stared after her in confusion. “Come on.” She came back, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to my feet as she giggled.

  Marika was at her cubicle when Chloe pushed me into the small space. “Here she is.”

  “Where were you?”

  “In the filing room,” I gestured toward it as I talked. “That’s where I’m supposed to go.”

  “Hmmm. Well, Esther would like you to do other things around the office now.” Marika looked down at the binder open in front of her. “You have a meeting with her in twenty minutes. She’ll explain what her plan is.” She gave me a wry smile. “I don’t pretend to know what goes on in that woman’s head. But after your meeting, we’ll meet to discuss what this will mean for your internship.”

  I frowned, still totally confused. As I tried to pick apart the various strands of Marika’s message, my head just became more cluttered. The only thing I knew was that I had to go meet with the executive producer who just yesterday had thought that my name was Amanda.

  “So should I just go wait?”

  Marika laughed softly. “That’s fine. Esther’s always punctual. There are some chairs outside her office.”

  She turned back to her work without really dismissing me, so I stood there awkwardly for a minute, not sure what to do next. Finally I made my way over to Esther’s office, and sat down in one of the cushy chairs. Twenty minutes seemed like forever, but I knew it was just because of my nerves.

  “Hey, Allison, how goes it today?” Rory dropped into a chair beside me. He adjusted his glasses and smiled at me.

  My heart fluttered. “Hey, yeah, I’m good. Got a meeting with Esther, and I don’t know what it’s about so yup. Totally good.”

  “Esther’s not so bad, right? Maybe you’re getting promoted.”

  “I can’t really get demoted. Filing’s about as low as it gets. At least Chloe gets to log video. And shoot the random stuff on location.” The jealousy in my voice was evident, and I winced out of embarrassment. What a juvenile sounding complaint.

  Rory stretched out his legs. “You’ll probably bypass all that stuff and become Bonnie’s assistant or something.”

  “Naw. All I know is that I’m just glad not to be filing in these heels.”

  “Do you want to grab dinner tonight?” His question came out of nowhere, and my heart nearly stopped.

  “Oh, maybe,” I said the best I could without stuttering. There was no way my mom would let me go out with a guy she’d never met, and as tempted as I was to lie that just wasn’t how I did things. No, there had to be some other way. “I’ll have to see what exactly Esther has in mind for me. Besides I do have homework. I’m a lame high schooler like that.”

  “You are anything but lame,” Rory said. “Swing by after your meeting, and let me know. There’s this awesome pub down the street. Or hey, if you can’t do dinner, maybe we can grab coffee later. Say, around eight?”

  “Coffee’d be good. Just text me the address and I’ll meet you there.” I reached over and grabbed his phone. As I input my information I was mentally freaking out. I had never done anything like that before. There was still the issue of Mom to deal with, but by eight Dad would be home and all of my sisters would also be around to distract her. So that wouldn’t be as big an issue.

  He took his phone back with a smile. Wow, that was a great smile. I hoped he was as sweet as he seemed because it would really suck if he was a jerk. With a small wave, he headed back to his desk. Just at that moment, Esther’s secretary poked her head out the door.

  “You can come in now, sweetie. She’ll be ready for you in a minute.” Then she was gone again. The glass door seemed heavier than it had been yesterday. I had no way to quell the nerves now. With a shaky hand I pulled it open, and stepped inside.

  “Allison Jones, correct?” Esther had glas
ses perched on the tip of her nose, making her look years older than she actually was. A file folder with my geeky security picture paper clipped to the top lay open on the desk in front of her.

  I nodded as I went to sit down. I half missed the chair, and tried to cover by adjusting it under me. Even though I must have looked like a moron, Esther had the grace to ignore my faux pas.

  “That was good work you did yesterday. We came out on top of the coverage with that Archibald Norman interview. Even John was impressed, and you know that’s a hard thing to do.” She steepled her fingers as she gazed at me.

  “Then—thanks,” I stuttered, wishing I could sink into a hole in the ground. There was no way that I would impress my executive producer with wit and charm like this.

  Esther leaned back in her chair, and turned toward the window. She gazed out for what seemed like far too long, but I decided to chalk that up to my nerves. I reminded myself to be patient because this could be huge if only I waited.

  When she finally spoke, she stood up, removed her glasses, and moved to stand in front of her desk. With her directly in front of me I broke out in a light sweat. “I realize,” she said, “that I have been under-utilizing your skills. Here we have someone who clearly has a passion for the news, and Marika informs me that you have been filing for the past three months.” She raised an eyebrow at me, the arch so high it looked like an arrow pointing to the ceiling. It took everything in me not to glance up. “We’d like you to go be part of our street team. I know it’s not glamorous, but you’ll get some on camera time, which is always good experience.”

  Sweat poured down the small of my back. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of Esther’s mouth. She did realize that I was the high school intern, didn’t she? This kind of work was what Chloe should have been doing all along. Man on the street interviews would look great for post-college job hunting, but I had four years to build my credentials. Chloe only had two months. Those facts were on the tip of my tongue, but the words got stuck in my mouth. Besides I had brought in a huge interview yesterday; maybe I did deserve it as much as anyone else.