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“Someone really should’ve warned you. Those things are a health code violation.” Karyn sighed and shook her head. Then she straightened her shoulders and glanced at her computer screen. “Anyway, let’s get started. You’re one of four interns here this semester. They’ve already had their intro sessions, so you’re the last one we need to onboard.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not hard work. Just a little time consuming. But it’s nothing you can’t handle,” she went on. “I’ve got a copy of your class schedule here, and I see you have Tuesdays and Fridays totally free.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Great. I’d love it if you could come in for five hours every Tuesday. Does that suit you?”
“Sure. What do you need me to do?”
“Honestly, it’s mostly boring office stuff. Collating documents, printing stuff, sorting through files… not exactly fun. But it’s still important so you can get the lay of the land around here.”
“Of course.”
“Don’t worry, though.” Karyn smiled again. “We give one fun assignment to each intern.”
“Oh?”
“Seeing as you’re the last one in, you don’t get a choice about yours, unfortunately. But I’m pretty sure it’ll be perfect for you. You’re a hockey fan, right?”
My stomach lurched. “Er… not really. I was only at that game because my friend loves it.”
Karyn waved a hand. “Well, that doesn’t matter too much. I’m sure you’ll do fine. Let me just explain the assignment,” she said. “So, I’m sure you’re aware that the Blades are a fairly new team?”
“Yes. My friend told me this is their second season.”
“That’s right. Last year, the higher-ups noticed that they had a ton of brand new fans turn up for the first few games, but attendance started to drop off around mid-season,” she said. “They have an advertising team and a social media presence, but the Worthington president asked us to step in and help too.”
“How so?” I asked.
“He wants us to boost interest amongst the student body, along with their friends and family, by printing a few features about the Blades every so often,” she explained. “Basically, it’s about fostering college community pride.”
“Oh, okay.” I tilted my chin. “So how exactly will we do that? Write about the games?”
Karyn waved a hand. “No, we already have a guy for sports reporting. So he’ll be writing all the nitty-gritty details about the games. You know, points and assists and all that sort of stuff for the hardcore hockey fans,” she said. “What we’d want from you is occasional coverage of social stuff that would appeal to the average reader. So like, puff pieces about the team. Fun interviews. Posts on our blog about cool stuff they get up to.”
“Ah, okay.”
“It won’t take up too much time. A few hours each week, maybe, on top of the office stuff. And you won’t be expected to go to any of the away games. Just the home ones. Also, because you’re technically press, you’ll get awesome seats for free.” Karyn winked. “Do you think that’s something you could hack?”
Fuck. It was like Paxton was haunting me. As much as I tried to forget about his presence here at Worthington, he kept popping up in the strangest, most inconvenient ways.
Karyn noticed the reluctance on my face and leaned forward. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” she said. Her voice had soured slightly. “But I have to say, it wouldn’t be a good look to turn down the assignment. There are a lot of students out there who’d kill for an internship at the Observer.”
I sighed inwardly. I didn’t want to screw up this internship on the very first day by saying no to the very first assignment offered to me. At the same time, I didn’t want to see Paxton or any of his games.
Then again, maybe it could be like exposure therapy for me. The more I saw him, the less he’d affect me. I’d also have Tate by my side for protection, because he’d never miss a game. On top of that, if I ever had to interview Paxton, I could just call in sick that day and get someone else to cover it. He was basically the campus golden god, from what I’d heard, so anyone else would probably jump at the chance to interview him.
“Sorry,” I said, forcing a smile. “I am interested. I was just kind of worried because I don’t really know anything about hockey.”
Karyn’s face brightened. “Oh, it’s fine!” she replied. “Like I said, this is more about the social scene surrounding the team. We’re hoping it’ll draw in more public interest in the Blades. From people just like you, actually. People who don’t know or care much about sports but still want to support their college teams. Community pride, remember?”
“Right.” I kept the fake smile plastered on my face. “I think I can handle it. What would my first task be?”
“Well, the NCAA season doesn’t start for another couple of weeks, so there’s not much for you to do right now beyond the boring admin stuff,” Karyn said. “But I’d like a short post for the blog about the exhibition game by the end of the day.”
“That’s the game I ran out of, right?”
