Page 72 of Just Trouble

“The Empire Chronicle.”

“Never heard of it.” The newspaper in town was called The Standard when I was a kid, but it must have stopped publishing. There are no newspaper boxes on the corners anymore.

“Your mistake,” Noah informs me. “You’ll see all the news in this town and even this county first at The Chronicle. I have a website and all the socials so you can follow the news in real time.”

“There’s that much news here?”

He straightens importantly. “News is where you look for it. There’s always something happening, always a story that can be told.”

I have to cede that.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?” I check my watch. It’s only two.

“Professional development day,” he informs me. “It’s for teachers but there’s nothing saying I can’t work on my own future today.”

The fact is that I could use someone telling this story. I could blow off this kid and look for someone with more influence and more followers. But I like his initiative and I like that he’s local. I’m thinking that if we help out each other, we could both be stronger forces for change—and that can’t be a bad deal.

“The new bistro will be called The Carpe Diem Café,” I say and he shoves his phone at me.

“Speak loud and clear,” I’m instructed by the youngest reporter ever. “I’ll upload the audio to the site.”

“You need my permission to do that.”

“You give it automatically by granting the interview,” he says, waving off my objections.

Is one of his parents a lawyer? If so, they can’t be working in Empire.

“How big is your audience?”

“Those are proprietary numbers.”

“But your reach is going to influence how long I talk to you and how much I tell you.”

He eyes me, considering how much to confess. I win the stare-down because he blinks first. “I just started. Traffic on the site is slow. I need a good story to launch properly. Something that can go viral, even. I don’t suppose you have any secrets to share or celebrity gossip?”

“No, but I’ll talk to you about the diner.” I’m all for entrepreneurship and initiative, after all.

I invite him in, pull out my phone and check out his website. It’s crisp and clean, well designed, loads quickly, but is lacking content.

“I want to start a podcast too,” Noah confides, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “But I need a newer phone.”

“Who’s paying for your domain?”

“Me. Allowance money.” He gives me a pitying look, probably because I’m too old to know anything useful. “You have to own your domain to look professional,” he confides. “And pay for the level of hosting that turns off the spammy ads.”

I nod agreement.

I offer him the chair at the desk and I sit on the edge of the bed. “Okay. The restaurant is a new venture that I’m supporting. I think you and I can make a deal that benefits both of us. I’ll give you the inside scoop, and you’ll help us build awareness for opening night.”

“An exclusive,” he says again and I have to give him credit for persistence.

“First look,” I counter. “And I’ll get the other players to talk to you.”

“Exclusively?”

“First.”

“When’s opening night?”

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