Thirty Happens by Elizabeth Butts Page A

top in this business?”
    Sigh.
    Eye roll.
    “Preparation gives you the confidence to be spontaneous.”
    I couldn’t help but sound like a petulant three year old, reciting back instructions to its mother.
    “Always with the back talk, this one. So, anyway, I’ve gotten word from the powers that be that out of our pool of interns, we have the authorization to hire only six.”
    I mentally tried to calculate how many interns they had this year. More than twenty. Hell, maybe even more than fifty. I kinda sucked at figuring how many people were in a room just looking around.
    “If you think any harder on this, smoke will come out of your ears. Twenty five. That’s the number you’re trying to remember. So out of twenty five interns, six will be offered positions with the Beacon. I will, of course, be recommending you, but there is no guarantee. That being said, I should probably double check to make sure you are still interested in such a thing. Would you be interested in working for this old rag?”
    Seriously?
    “Uh, yeah , I mean, it’s only what I’ve wanted for as long as I’ve been able to write. Are you serious?”
    “Dead serious. I really think you have something special. I’d like to see it develop. I like the idea of being a part of that process.”
    He held his hand up to stop me from jumping up and down all over the place.
    “Again, this is not a guarantee that you will get it. There are a lot of interns, and I’ve been hearing some good things. The one thing we haven’t done is have you work on a story. I know you’ve been struggling with that, figuring out your first story for the Beacon. This is not normally something you would do at the intern level, but you’ve been here a few months now. You’ve had firsthand experience with the editing side of things. I would like to challenge you with writing that story on the side. I know that I have mentioned it to you several times already. It’s time to make this happen. Unfortunately, it would have to be in your own time, but if I could have it by next Monday, that would be great.”
    My excitement started to plummet a bit. I had my finals next week. I was supposed to be studying my ass off, pulling all-nighters so that I could ace those tests and get the top graduation spot that I’d been working so hard towards. Now, I had the pressure of writing my first article for a major paper?
    Yeah, no stress there.
    He raised an eyebrow at me as if daring me to turn this opportunity down.
    He knew me better than that.
    “I’ll do it. I won’t let you down.”
    His grin and the knowing look were my rewards.
    “I have no doubts. Any idea what you’re going after?”
    “Not really, but I will. Somewhere between studying and being prepared to end up at the top of my class, I will give you the best article I have ever written.”
    I spontaneously rushed him with a big hug. I could feel his hesitation before he gently patted me on the back and stepped back.
    “Thank you.”
    I grinned at him one last time before returning to my desk. I thought I caught him wiping his eyes as I turned to sit down.
    Huh.
    Nah, I must have imagined that. There was no way that the senior editor of the top newspaper in the best city in the country was getting misty eyed.
    I collapsed on my seat, kind of stunned by this. I mean, I had four articles today alone that I had to edit. A final paper due in two of my five classes, one due Wednesday and the other on Friday. I was mostly done with both but had to do a read through and edit.
    And now an article. Maybe the most important article of my life.
    I had this. I could do this.
    What the hell was I going to write about?

chapter thirteen.
     
     
    “ A n article?”
    Lynnie was bouncing up and down in her seat.
    “Yup.”
    I was less than enthusiastic, but that’s because while trying to finish my workload tonight, my anxiety level over the article grew higher and higher.
    “A real article? Like, one that might actually get