“Absolutely. It’s fascinating work—travel, meeting people, seeing how the world fits together. And get this: he’s donating computers to the school, so the younger kids will finally have decent ones to learn on. Like something out of a movie.”
Katie watched Mason as he looked up, almost boyishly hopeful. “Does that really happen?” she asked. “Sure it does. Good people do good things,” he said simply.
All through her shift, Katie thought about what Mason had said and found herself agreeing. She scrubbed the floors at the center, set up the hall for rehearsals, hauled heavy props into storage, and finally collected her monthly pay from the administrator.
When she got home, she tried to hand the money to her mother, but Susan shook her head. “Keep it for flowers and your hair. I can’t add anything for that.”
The next day, Katie picked up the fabric and delivered it to Mrs. Olsen. The thought of prom—of wearing a beautiful dress, of graduating, of leaving for the city and getting away from Frank—warmed her from the inside out. Mason’s excitement had rubbed off on her, and she decided to go back to book club. Anything that mattered to him interested her too.
“Well, look who’s here,” Brittany drawled, sprawled across two seats in the front row. “Been a while. We figured maybe you got food poisoning from all those cafeteria leftovers.” Her friends laughed on cue while Katie walked past without a word and took her usual seat by the window.
But Brittany, clearly in the mood, kept going. “So who’s your prom date? The guy from the boiler room?” “None of your business,” Katie muttered, pulling out her notebook.
“The boiler guy with the beer breath!” Brittany sang out, laughing at her own joke. “See? Book club’s paying off. I’m practically writing poetry now.”
The teacher walked in and sharply told Brittany to settle down. She straightened up at once, eyes fixed on Mason as he came in behind him. Mason walked right past the seat Brittany had obviously saved for him and sat down beside Katie.
Brittany stared at Katie with open fury. Katie, for her part, couldn’t help smiling. “Class, today we have a special guest,” the teacher announced. “He was named Journalist of the Year by Word & World magazine, has traveled all over the globe, and has agreed to share some of what he’s learned with us—Mr. Leonard Greene.”
An older, round-faced man in glasses entered the room at an unhurried pace. Katie suddenly realized she had seen him on television before, usually while Frank grumbled at the screen. The guest looked over the room carefully and greeted the students.
Then he asked who among them was interested in journalism. Mason’s hand shot up immediately, and Brittany’s followed right after. “Young man,” the journalist said, turning to Mason, “tell me what you know about the work and what draws you to it.”
