News Flash (12 page)

A new cameraman and sound guy met me in the building's lobby. Neither man was chatty, so we went to the news van silently. The sound guy drove, while the cameraman rode shotgun. I buckled myself in back, and stared out the window as we drove toward the Abbey. Given the fact that I had spent less than five minutes on this story, I had no idea how to connect with the subject matter. My mind drifted from Chloe to Rory and back again. Then my thoughts drifted to Jake and school. I had such bigger problems than planning that stupid prom, I thought bitterly.

By the time we'd pulled up to the Abbey, I had worked myself into quite a snit. Being professional would be a big stretch for me this time, I knew, but I would do my best. I peered out the window at the orange-y red brick façade decorated with various saints and scenes from the life of Christ. The place looked a lot like my church, well, when I went anyway. Somehow that made me feel the tiniest bit better, even though I still felt like I'd be punished for being a lapsed Catholic.

“So, you ready?” The cameraman hoisted his equipment bag up onto his shoulder as he talked to me. He and the sound guy still hadn't introduced themselves, and I felt oddly shy around them. Like a kid. Maybe it was their demeanor. My last crew had been so warm and welcoming; it had put me at ease. Everything about this assignment made me nervous.

“Ready as I'll ever be,” I said, gripping the file folder tighter in my hand.

We entered the cool, dark lobby of what looked like an office building. I tried to tamp down my surprise, but my jaw did drop a bit. The starkness was something I would definitely associate with the religious life—what I knew of it anyway from my brief visits to church and from movies—but the sterileness of it seemed more appropriate for a hospital. As we left the lobby, the harsh glow of fluorescent lights blinded me temporarily.

A young woman in a pink pant suit greeted us from a desk. She had her hair back in a bun, which made her look officious at the very least.

“You must be from Channel Eight? The Sisters are expecting you. I'll show you the way.” She spoke in a lilting voice that seemed to fit nicely with the environment.

Still, I giggled a bit, perhaps from nerves or perhaps because I found her funny. At the time I wasn't sure. “The Sisters. It sounds like a rock group.” The young woman shot me a puzzled look, and I saw the cameraman exchange a glance with the sound guy.

Three nuns sat around a long oak table in what I could only assume was a dining room. All three stood up when we entered the room. I took a deep breath, pulled up a smile, and introduced myself. If ever there was a time to “fake-it-till-I –made-it” it was now.

Jake had continued to avoid me, especially at school, where he made a point to hang out with Mary Beth every spare second. I couldn't figure out if he was mad at me or if he was uncomfortable with me because of the whole Rory situation.

His silence made Rory's silence feel all the more dramatic. Ever since I had called my boyfriend out on his bad behavior he had been avoiding me at work, and he hadn't called or texted since then either. The lack of attention from the men in my life made me feel like I had the plague or toe fungus or bad breath or something equally nasty.

Every day before Special Events Planning class I had to steel myself to seeing Jake with Mary Beth, but when I walked into class on Friday she wasn't there. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took my seat. Perhaps we'd get something done today without the incessant yelling about how bad we were at prom planning. I almost smiled because the feeling of glee that bubbled up in me was hard to contain. A day without Mary Beth was like Christmas coming early.

I sat down at my desk in the front corner of the room. Despite the fact that we didn't have assigned seats, I had made sure to sit in the same place every day so it had become my seat. In my mind, the fact that I could bolt out the door after class ended was a definite perk. The less time I had to spend watching Jake and Mary Beth fawn all over each other, the better. At the memory, a sour taste filled my mouth as the rest of my classmates entered the room. For a moment I considered changing things up and switching seats, but I felt too awkward to sit next to Jake.

As soon as the bell rang, Mr. Carson shut the door, and began to pace back and forth in front of the room. He kept rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head. A fine sweat had broken out on his brow, but he didn't seem to notice. I glanced around the room to see how everyone else was reacting. On the one hand I wanted to laugh because he looked ridiculous, like an oversized penguin waddling about the room. But on the other hand, I felt a kernel of unease lodge in my throat. Whatever had our teacher worked up like this must have been serious. From the faces of the others around me, I could tell that concern was overriding any humor in the situation.

“Okay, class, we have a problem. A big problem.” Mr. Carson stopped by his desk, and leaned back on the cold metal to support himself. More head shaking. “Mary Beth's mother called me right before class, and informed me that our fearless leader broke her ankle last night while she was figure skating. She's scheduled for surgery later today, and then she'll be out of school for several weeks while she recuperates.”

Mr. Carson paused, and even though I knew I should feel a sense of dread or foreboding or whatever he was trying to instill in us over the dramatic turn of events, all I felt was relief that bordered on elation. Several weeks without Mary Beth dictating how each of us did everything? Yes, please. And as an added bonus I wouldn't have to watch her with Jake. That probably made me a horrible person, but I didn't care. I was just so tired of them together, and I couldn't even say why.

“Alright, so where does that leave us?” When he turned toward the chalkboard I actually wondered if he was looking for the answer to be written there. He ran a hand along the top of his bald, sweaty head. “We need to move ahead with this prom planning. And that means…that means we are going to need another person to be in charge, even if it's only temporary. We need a leader. I'll open the floor for nominations.”

I could barely contain my disgust at the whole process. The same thought just kept recurring. Why couldn't Mr. Carson just take over? He was the teacher, but what was he teaching us? For a special events planning class, all I had really learned was that he was a wuss who needed to grow a backbone. As soon as the thought sprang into my head, though, guilt flooded me. The meanness of it was really ugly. For all I knew, Mr. Carson might be dealing with some kind of hard issue in his personal life. A little compassion might be nice, I snarked at myself.

“I nominate Allison.”

I spun in my seat to face Jake, whose face was a mask I couldn't read. He arched an eyebrow at me, but his jaw was set in a grimace so I wasn't sure if he was joking or serious or trying to stick it to me somehow. As all the thoughts raced through my head, I settled on the fact that he must still be irritated with me. There was no other reason he'd try to inflict something like being head of prom planning on me. Sometimes he could be such a jerk.

Mr. Carson looked visibly relieved. His face relaxed, and his body sagged against his desk. “Anyone else? No? Perfect. Allison, we look to you now to be our fearless leader.”

My jaw came unhinged, and I just stared at my teacher. When the reality of what he'd just said sank in, I shot a glare in Jake's direction. What could I say? My grade in this class would depend on my response. I needed this class to graduate. Ergo, I had no choice but to say yes.

“Um…okay,” I said. “Can I have a minute to think about what we should do first?”

“Of course, of course.” Mr. Carson waved his hand at me as he rummaged around in his desk. “Take a few minutes to get your thoughts together. Here, this should help.”

A three ring binder landed on my desk with an unceremonious thud. I flipped open the front cover, and was confronted with a sticky note from Mary Beth warning anyone reading it that they better not be a spy. For a moment I actually feared that the whole thing might be booby-trapped. My second thought was that the whole thing was absurd. I would never understand why she took this whole event so seriously.

“Well, just off the top of my head, I'd say the first thing we need to do is pick a theme. It seems awfully late not to have one. Doesn't a lot of our other planning require us to know our theme?” The words spilled from my mouth. I wasn't sure I cared but my fear of not graduating in May overrode any disdain I felt for prom planning.

Mr. Carson gave me an ear-to-ear smile. His mustache twitched as he said, “That sounds like a fine idea. Why don't you come up to the front of the class?”

I stepped off the bus, and instantly felt the nerves return. After our argument earlier, I wasn't sure Jake would want to see me, let alone go anywhere with me. Our best friend status had fallen so far that my whole world fell out of step. I wondered if we would ever be able to get back on track again. I flinched as the bus pulled away from the curb. Ever since I was mugged down town made me nervous.

Even though the stretch of sidewalk from the bus stop down to the river court was short and well lit, I checked, and then double checked that I had my phone in one pocket of my jeans and my money in the other. I also did a quick sweep of the area to make sure no one was around. Still, I hurried.