standing and dusting the sand off my bottom.
“Sure,”Nora said, standing, too. She hesitated. “Um . . . there aren’t any sharks in the water, are there?”
“I’m sure there are somewhere. It is the ocean, after all. But maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll leave us alone,”I said cheerfully. Then, seeing how round Nora’s eyes had gone, I laughed. “I’m kidding. Come on—it’ll be fine. I promise.”
Chapter Eleven
N ora accompanied me to the next Ampersand meeting. She’d already spoken to Candace about joining the layout staff, and reported back that Candace had welcomed her on board.
Nora and I shared a table in the Ampersand office, while Candace—today wearing a crisp navy blue shirt dress cinched at the waist with a leather belt, her straight, blue-black hair gleaming under the fluorescent overhead lights—stood and called the meeting to order.
“Okay, everyone settle down,”Candace called out. The chatter and laughter immediately died down. Candace had that effect on people. “First, I want to get a status update from everyone.”She consulted her notepad. “Peter, Coleen, how’s the SAT prep course article coming?”
I felt a thrill of horror. I hadn’t started working on my article yet. It wasn’t due for another week, so I’d thought I had plenty of time. Apparently not. And now I was going to have to think of something to say in front of everyone. My stomach gave a nervous lurch. It didn’t help when Coleen and Peter gave long, detailed reports of the many interviews they’d already conducted for their pieces.
Nora scribbled something on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table to me. I looked down at it.
The note read: Have you written your article?
I wrote, No underneath, underlined it three times, and pushed it back toward her.
Nora looked at the note and let out a faint snort of laughter. She wrote back, Eek! I giggled.
“Miranda, do you have something you’d like to share with the rest of us?”
I started and looked up. The entire Ampersand staff had turned to stare at me. Heat flooded my cheeks. I had a sudden horrific image of Candace seizing the note Nora and I were passing, and reading out loud my admission that I hadn’t made any progress on my student-athlete piece. But when I glanced down, I saw Nora surreptitiously sliding the paper into her backpack.
“Um, no, thanks. I’m good,”I said.
Candace continued to stare at me. Her eyes were a clear, piercing blue.
“What about your student-athlete article?”Candace said.
“Oh, right. Sorry. I’ve, um, decided to interview a local lacrosse player who received a sports scholarship to attend a prep school in the Northeast this year. I’m going to write about his experience going away to school,”I said.
Candace nodded. “That sounds like an interesting angle. Have you done the interview?”
“It’s scheduled for this evening,”I said. Which was sort of true. Dex and I had a date to talk on Skype that night, so I could totally do the interview then.
“Good. I look forward to reading it,”Candace said. “Tabitha, how is your short story coming?”
Nora gave me a thumbs-up under the table. I exhaled deeply, relieved that the group’s attention was no longer on me.
After the meeting, Nora and I walked out together. I was giving her a ride home.
“Howdy,”a familiar voice called out.
I turned to see Finn walking down the hall toward us. He was looking jaunty in blue plaid shorts and a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan HIPPIES SMELL.
“How did you get that past the headmaster?”I asked, pointing at his T-shirt.
“Headmaster Hughes? He laughed when he saw it,”Finn said, joining us. “I think he agrees with the sentiment.”
“Typical. You get away with everything,”I said.
“Where’s Charlie been hiding? I’ve barely seen her in days,”Finn said.
“She’s been busy painting,”I said vaguely.
“Busy painting, huh? So you’ve decided to replace her with Nora
“Sure,”Nora said, standing, too. She hesitated. “Um . . . there aren’t any sharks in the water, are there?”
“I’m sure there are somewhere. It is the ocean, after all. But maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll leave us alone,”I said cheerfully. Then, seeing how round Nora’s eyes had gone, I laughed. “I’m kidding. Come on—it’ll be fine. I promise.”
Chapter Eleven
N ora accompanied me to the next Ampersand meeting. She’d already spoken to Candace about joining the layout staff, and reported back that Candace had welcomed her on board.
Nora and I shared a table in the Ampersand office, while Candace—today wearing a crisp navy blue shirt dress cinched at the waist with a leather belt, her straight, blue-black hair gleaming under the fluorescent overhead lights—stood and called the meeting to order.
“Okay, everyone settle down,”Candace called out. The chatter and laughter immediately died down. Candace had that effect on people. “First, I want to get a status update from everyone.”She consulted her notepad. “Peter, Coleen, how’s the SAT prep course article coming?”
I felt a thrill of horror. I hadn’t started working on my article yet. It wasn’t due for another week, so I’d thought I had plenty of time. Apparently not. And now I was going to have to think of something to say in front of everyone. My stomach gave a nervous lurch. It didn’t help when Coleen and Peter gave long, detailed reports of the many interviews they’d already conducted for their pieces.
Nora scribbled something on a piece of paper and pushed it across the table to me. I looked down at it.
The note read: Have you written your article?
I wrote, No underneath, underlined it three times, and pushed it back toward her.
Nora looked at the note and let out a faint snort of laughter. She wrote back, Eek! I giggled.
“Miranda, do you have something you’d like to share with the rest of us?”
I started and looked up. The entire Ampersand staff had turned to stare at me. Heat flooded my cheeks. I had a sudden horrific image of Candace seizing the note Nora and I were passing, and reading out loud my admission that I hadn’t made any progress on my student-athlete piece. But when I glanced down, I saw Nora surreptitiously sliding the paper into her backpack.
“Um, no, thanks. I’m good,”I said.
Candace continued to stare at me. Her eyes were a clear, piercing blue.
“What about your student-athlete article?”Candace said.
“Oh, right. Sorry. I’ve, um, decided to interview a local lacrosse player who received a sports scholarship to attend a prep school in the Northeast this year. I’m going to write about his experience going away to school,”I said.
Candace nodded. “That sounds like an interesting angle. Have you done the interview?”
“It’s scheduled for this evening,”I said. Which was sort of true. Dex and I had a date to talk on Skype that night, so I could totally do the interview then.
“Good. I look forward to reading it,”Candace said. “Tabitha, how is your short story coming?”
Nora gave me a thumbs-up under the table. I exhaled deeply, relieved that the group’s attention was no longer on me.
After the meeting, Nora and I walked out together. I was giving her a ride home.
“Howdy,”a familiar voice called out.
I turned to see Finn walking down the hall toward us. He was looking jaunty in blue plaid shorts and a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan HIPPIES SMELL.
“How did you get that past the headmaster?”I asked, pointing at his T-shirt.
“Headmaster Hughes? He laughed when he saw it,”Finn said, joining us. “I think he agrees with the sentiment.”
“Typical. You get away with everything,”I said.
“Where’s Charlie been hiding? I’ve barely seen her in days,”Finn said.
“She’s been busy painting,”I said vaguely.
“Busy painting, huh? So you’ve decided to replace her with Nora
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