Page 33 of Until We Burn
Andrea Whitney and I have been disagreeing with each other since first year. She wrangles every opportunity she can to pit herself against me. Last April was the boiling point. During the Howler’s editor-in-chief vote, she was so convinced she would win that she packed the office with her things. She hated me even more when my name was called out instead, and my things replaced hers in the office. Since then, the tensions between us have only gotten worse.
“Well, actually, I wouldn’t write them off so easily,” I counter. “Journalists, regardless of the standards they’re responsible for upholding, are still flawed humans whose motives can be influenced and corrupted. We should be finding ways to help journalists rein in their egotism and remember why they’re here.”
Andrea rolls her eyes. “I don’t think we should be excusing journalists to chase sensationalism just because they’re human.”
“I’m not excusing it. I’m simply acknowledging it happens even to the most renowned reporters,” I reason. “Thereareways we can help prevent it from happening, though. In the newsrooms, ask your reporters why they chased this story. It makes them confront their rationale and their motives. As an editor, you can see it in their response if they’re chasing a story out of necessity, passion, or vanity.”
“Interesting take,” Adrian muses. “Anything you want to add, Andrea?”
Andrea’s nostrils flare. She rips her attention off me and crosses her arms. “No, I don’t.”
Her anger doesn’t relent. Not even when we’re walking out of class.
“Hey!”
I sigh, halting in my steps.
Andrea’s eyes narrow. “What was that dig you made at me in class?”
“I wasn’t digging,” I insist. “We were having a conversation.”
“It just seemed like you were attacking me about my take on sensationalism.”
“Idisagreedwith you. I wasn’t attacking you.”
“I seriously doubt that. After all, why wouldn’t you when you have all the clout and backup in the world?”
That was another reason why she hated me. I had the privilege of coming from a family of journalists. That gives you resources others from humble backgrounds don’t have, and Andrea never lets me forget the shiny spoon in my mouth, no matter how much I acknowledge it. But she’s just as talented and well-off. Before she cheated on him, she and Kai were the star couple in first year, and she won the Governor General’s Award for freshman reporting. She can go as far as she wants if she stops giving in to the insistent need to have the best new phone, the best new purse, the best new boy.
I groan. “Andrea, it’s been a long day. If you have complaints about my style of communicating, feel free to drop them in the mailbox in my office. I’m sure you’re familiar with where it is?”
Her mouth parts, cheeks flushing red. I take that opportunity to walk away and veer towards the orange tunnels. The closer I get to those bright doors, the more my conversation with Andrea fades into the back of my head. My heart flutters under my chest, knowing Kai is waiting for me behind those doors.
Kai. The boy I’ve been daydreaming about for the last three years.
He’s there waiting for me.
But the giddiness dies the moment my hands brace around the handles. There’s a reason why we’re walking down here in the first place. It’s because of who I am and what bàba would do if he saw me with Kai. I’m not going to let anything happen to him. Kai has worked too hard to keep his place on the Griffins, and I’m not going to come in between that no matter how he makes me feel. Even without bàba’s interference, the idea of us is impossible.
As irritating as she is, Kai belongs with blonde bombshells like Andrea.
Not you.
You will never be his and he will never be yours.
I open the door. The AC vanishes under the hot tunnel air that sinks into my skin as I walk in. The lamp sconces glow with orange light. They flicker and pulse against the walls, illuminating Kai, who leans against it with his backpack slung over his shoulder. There’s a playful flicker in his eyes when he looks at me. So boyish, so at ease compared to the ruthless player tearing through the ice earlier.
“You were pretty clear about being punctual, princess,” he drawls. “Now look who’s the late one.”
I roll my eyes playfully. “And? Are you going to punish me for being tardy?”
“You brought me coffee and a cookie today, so I guess I’ll let it slide.”
Even in the dank heat, I still smell the fresh pinewood drifting from Kai’s jacket. I gulp, all of me instinctively wanting to lean in closer.
Kai frowns, unhitching from the wall. “You okay?”
“Yeah!” I gulp. “I-I am.”
