News Flash (4 page)
Authors: Liz Botts
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 thatâ“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 glasses 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.
“Thenâthanks,” 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.
“That sounds amazing. Thank you. IâI look forward to the challenge.” I wiped my damp palm on my skirt before standing to shake Esther's hand. As I left the office, I sank back down into one of the chairs just outside. The enormity of what I had just been handed was overwhelming.
“Did it go okay in there?” Chloe sat down next to me. She had a digital recorder in one hand, and a yellow legal pad in the other. When she noticed me looking at them, she giggled. “You know, John, he refuses to catch up with technology. At least he uses this instead of an old tape recorder. I'm transcribing all his interviews for tonight's show. You know he'll only use, like, two ten second sound bites, but I've got to pay my dues, right?”
I squirmed. I knew all about the idea of paying my dues. That was one of Mr. Fisher's favorite expressions. And now I had jumped the whole order. “Yeah, well, filing's been a blast, so hopefully I've already paid my dues.”
The words came out wrong, and I could see it in Chloe's eyes. She just smiled at me, though, and said, “Maybe. So we should get into the conference room for Bonnie and John's big announcement. They got preempted yesterday.”
Still shaky, I wobbled in my heels across the newsroom, trailing slightly behind my friend. Normally we would have entered arm in arm, a show of camaraderie and support between the interns, but I could feel the chasm opening between us, and Chloe didn't even know what I'd been given. I squeezed into the room just as John was calling for everyone to be quiet. My guess was that the two were finally going to announce their relationship.
When I had brought up the possibility of the anchors dating last week at dinner, my two older sisters had wrinkled their noses in disgust, Brooke had giggled, and my father had asked why anyone would care. My answer had been to stare at him in disbelief. How could I explain the importance of John and Bonnie to people who didn't even watch the news?
“Bonnie and I have an announcement to make,” John said.
Everyone quieted. I actually felt like the whole room was holding its breath. John paused, probably for dramatic effect. He was kind of known for that on the air, even as the teleprompter scrolled by, he would pause and then adlib whatever he wanted to say.
John glanced over at Bonnie. She smiled up at him, her perfectly plum lips pulled taut over gleaming white teeth. When she gave him a slight nod, I felt my stomach jump in anticipation.
“Bonnie and I would like to announce,” he paused again. “We'd like to announce that we have decided to accept the anchor positions for the ten o'clock news.”
The silence in the room was immense. At first I didn't think I had heard correctly. The four-thirty news had been John and Bonnie's show for years. At least the last ten. Bonnie had gotten the job right out of college. I glanced over at Esther; her face was a contorted mask of rage. Obviously they hadn't given her the memo before making their little announcement. The fact that they were making the move together seemed to signify that they were indeed in some sort of relationship, but it didn't matter anymore.
“Well, this isâ¦unexpected,” Esther finally broke in. “Everyone, go back to your work. John. Bonnie. I need to see you in my office.”
I waited while everyone filed past me, watching the expressions on people's faces. Some seemed bewildered, others upset. While I understood that losing both anchors meant fairly substantial changes, I also knew that I couldn't begin to grasp what most of these people were feeling. I had only been here a few short months, but many had been with the same team for years.
Rory hung back to stand beside me. “Well, I didn't see that one coming.”
“I don't think anyone did, including Esther.” I peeked out the door as the very angry executive producer ushered the anchors into her office.
“I don't either. That makes all this even more wild.” Rory glanced at his watch. “And we have a show to do in an hour. Should be fun. Hey did you give any more thought to meeting up for coffee later?”
“I'll be there,” I said, even as I knew I had to formulate a plan to get around Mom. Once the promise was made I always made every effort to keep it. This one to Rory, though, might be a gray area if it meant lying to either of my parents. Oh well, I'd worry about that one later. Right now I was going to bask in Rory's attention.
“So I'll text you later. You don't need a ride or anything, do you? It might just be easier to meet at the café.” Rory adjusted his glasses, and called attention to his freckles. He was just so adorable that I was pretty sure I'd agree to whatever he wanted me to.
“Yeah, that would be easier.” I smiled then, although I had no idea what I was smiling about.
We said goodbye with plans. That was the most luck I'd had with a guy in years, and I was giddy about it. The thing with Rory even outweighed the news from Esther, and that was saying a lot. I wanted to go find Chloe and giggle about it, but I felt awkward. Instead I went to find Marika.
She was sitting back at her cubicle looking frazzled. “Oh, hi, Allison. I know I said we needed to meet today, but after thatâ¦that stunt that John and Bonnie just pulled, well, we'll have to meet tomorrow. When you get in?”
I nodded. “But what should I do right now? There's still a lot of work left. Do you have any filing or anything?”
Marika's eyebrows knit together as she stared at me. “You aren't going to be doing that anymore.”
“I know, but I don't mind. It's not like I'll be going out today, right? I can't just sit around doing nothing for the next three hours.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, my calf muscles aching. I really needed to practice wearing heels.
“Well, if you really want to.” Marika reached for a stack of file folders.
I spent the next few hours doing what I was so comfortable with. No one came back to visit me, so I had plenty of time to think about what all of it meant. By the time work ended, I was both elated and confused. The combination of emotions did nothing to soothe my poor trembling stomach. Now that I was headed home I had to face the issue of getting out tonight without lying.