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"Yes, Mr Rorbach?"

"This is the ABC affiliate, for gosh sakes We don't hire high school kids"

"But you have interns"

"Froes Our interns know their way around a TV station Most of them have already worked on their campus broadcasts I'm sorry, but you're just not ready"

"Oh"

They stared at each other

"I've been at this job a long time, Ms Hart, and I've rarely seen anyone as full of aain "I'll tell you what, you keep sendingI'll keep an eye out for you"

"So when I'hed "You just send e, okay? Then we'll see"

Tully felt energized again "I'll send you an update once a month You'll hire me someday, Mr Rorbach You'll see"

"I wouldn't bet against you, Ms Hart"

They talked for a few more moments, and then Mr Rorbach showed her out of his office On the way to the stairs, he stopped at the trophy case, where dozens of Eht

"I'll win an Eertips She refused to let herself be wounded by this setback, and that was all it was: a setback

"You knohat, Tallulah Hart, I believe you Now go off to high school and enjoy your senior year Real life coh"

Outside, it looked like a postcard of Seattle; the kind of blue-skied, cloudless, picture-perfect day that lured out-of-towners into selling their ho here If only they kne rare these days were Like a rocket blaster, suht in this part of the world and went out with equal speed

Holding her grandfather's thick black briefcase against her chest, she walked up the street toward the bus stop On an elevated track above her head, the round quake

All the way home, she told herself it was really an opportunity; now she'd be able to prove her worth in college and get an even better job

But nofailed wouldn't release its hold When she got hohted down

She unlocked the front door and went inside, tossing the briefcase on the kitchen table

Gran was in the living rooed feet on the crushed velvet ottoman and an unfinished sahtly

At the sight of her grandmother, Tully had to force a s roorandmother's knobby hand She sat down beside her

Gran calasses, her confused gaze cleared "How did it go?"

"The assistant news director thought I was too qualified, can you believe it? He said the position was a dead end for someone with my skills"

Gran squeezed her hand "You're too young, huh?"

The tears she'd been holding back stung her eyes Embarrassed, she brushed theet into college You'll see I'll ave her the poor-Tully look "I'm already proud It's Dorothy's attention you want"

Tully leaned against her gran's slim shoulder and let herself be held In a few ain; like a sunburn, it would heal itself and leave her slightly ot you, Gran, so she doesn't hed tiredly "Why don't you call your friend Katie now? But don't stay on too long It's expensive"

Just the thought of that, talking to Kate, lifted Tully's spirits With the long-distance charges what they were, they rarely got to call each other "Thanks, Gran I will"

The next week Tully got a job at the Queen Anne Bee, her neighborhood weekly newspaper Her duties pretty e they paid her, but she didn't care She was in the business She spent al hour of the su up every bit of knowledge she could When she wasn't bird-dogging the reporters or in ruht, like clockwork, she wrote to Kate and shared the minute details of her week

Now she sat at her little-girl's desk in her bedrooned it Best Friends Forever, Tully , and carefully folded it into thirds

On her desk was the most recent postcard fro trip Kate called it Hell Week with Bugs, but Tully was jealous of each perfect-sounding o on the vacation with the down the invitation had been one of the s she'd done But between her all-i health, she'd had no real choice

She glanced down at her friend's note, rereading the words she'd alreadylake

She forced herself to look away It didn't do any good in life to pine for what you couldn't have Cloud had certainly taught her that lesson

She put her own letter in an envelope, addressed it, then went downstairs to check on Gran, as already asleep

Alone, Tully watched her favorite Sunday night television programs--All in the Family, Alice, and Kojak--and then closed up the house and went to bed Her last thought as she drifted lazily toward sleep was to wonder what the Mularkeys were doing

The nextshe woke at her usual time, six o'clock, and dressed for work Soh at the office, one of the reporters would let her help with the day's stories

She hurried down the hall and tapped on the last door Though she hated to wake her grandoodbye "Gran?"