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“See you, Lennon,” is all he says before disappearing into the boys’ one.
After I’ve changed back into my usual jeans and sweatshirt, I head to the newsroom for our meeting. I’m anxious about it. This is the first paper meeting since I handed in the draft for my article about Caleb to Andrew. I didn’t want to write it in the first place, but the stakes have risen exponentially since I received the assignment. In a way I definitely didn’t expect.
“Hey,” Julie greets when I take a seat at my desk next to her.
“Hey,” I reply, glancing around the newsroom. “No Andrew yet?”
“Nope,” she replies. “Joe said he was here earlier. Was muttering something about you and then left.”
“Oh.Great.”
My anxiety increases.
I have almost every sentence of the article memorized. I run through the words I spent hours agonizing over, trying to figure out what might have caused Andrew to be late for a meeting for the first time ever.
The newsroom door flies open a couple minutes later, announcing our editor’s presence.
“You’re late,” Joe calls out to Andrew.
“I know,” Andrew replies. He looks almost…giddy. Julie and I exchange a quick glance, trying to figure out what’s going on. She shrugs. Maybe this isn’t about me?
“Well?” Joe prompts.
“I had to talk to the printer,” Andrew says. “And up our order for the next issue to two thousand copies.”
Julie’s mouth literally drops open. That’s a hundred times our normal order. A quarter of Landry’s population. More copies than students who attend Landry High.
“What? Why?” I ask, unable to keep my mouth shut. No one else is saying anything.
Andrew grins. “Funny you should be the one to ask, Lennon. I read your article in study hall earlier. One of the best things I’ve ever read, and I’m not going to be the only one who thinks so. Everyone else, pay close attention to my notes on your articles. This will be the issue people read. Make sure it’s your best work.”
He pulls a packet of papers out from under his arm and starts distributing them around the room. He drops Julie’s article draft down in front of her, dotted with red ink. Mine falls next. Without a single mark. That’s never happened.
Andrew continues moving around the room, dropping off articles and sharing feedback. I remain seated, in a state of shock.
“Can I read your article?” Julie asks.
“Uh, yeah. Sure.” I slide the papers over toward her.
My pen taps against the surface of the desk, trying to reconcile the last few minutes with the berating I was bracing for.
Twothousandcopies? I should be flattered, and a part of me is. But I also know the more people who read the article, the more attention the student body will pay to me and Caleb. I’ve spent the last three and a half years being defined by my so-called hatred of Caleb Winters. Now I’ll be known as the girl who wrote the article about him. It’s an upgrade from being judged for my parents’ mistakes, but it still has nothing to do withme.
“Wow. This is really good,” Julie comments.
“You sound surprised.”
“No, I’m not,” Julie insists. “I just…based on how you reacted to getting it assigned, I thought…”
She trails off, but she doesn’t need to finish her thought. I already know what she is trying to say.
“Yeah, well, if I decide to do something I don’t see any point in half-assing it,” I respond.
Julie laughs. “Clearly. But I hope you know this is going to seriously boost his reputation.” I must look confused, because she laughs again. “I mean it.Ilike him more after reading this. The fact that you wrote it? People are going to give it way more credence.”
I replay her words for the rest of the meeting and the walk home. Caleb can already do no wrong in the eyes of Landry. Why would one semi-complementary article change that? That implies people care about what I think or say, which is not an impression I’ve ever gotten.
The paper meeting ran longer than usual, and I have a pile of Calculus problems waiting for me, so I rush through the evening chores.
