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She made her way across campus in record time It was easy This late in the quarter people were busy studying for finals At the door to KVTS, she paused, steeling herself as if for battle, and then went inside

She found Tully exactly where Mo the raw footage and interviews At Kate's entrance, she looked up

"Well, well," Tully said, standing up "If it isn't the head of the Moral Majority"

"I'm sorry," Kate said

Tully's face cru her breath in and suddenly let it go "You were a real bitch"

"I shouldn't have said all that It's justwe've never held back from each other"

"So that was our mistake" Tully sed, tried to smile Failed

"I wouldn't hurt you for the world You're my best friend I'uy will ever come between us"

"I swear" KateIf she had to staple her tongue down, she'd do it Their friendship was o; girlfriends were forever They knew that "Now it's your turn"

"What do you ain without talking These last three days really sucked"

"I swear it"

Tully wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but soraduated into a full-blown affair No pun intended Perhaps Kate had been right and it had begun as a kind of career er remembered All she kneas that in his arms she felt content, and that was a new emotion for her

And, of course, he was her s it would have taken her years to discover by herself

More i love was His bed had beco When she kissed hiinable intiot that she didn't believe in love Her first time, back in those dark Snohomish woods, faded from her memory a little er carried it around inside of her It would always be a part of her, a scar on her soul, but like all scars, it faded in ti red to a slim, silvery line that could only sometimes be seen

But even with all that, with all that he'd shown and given her, it was beginning not to be enough By fall se ied the face of broadcasting Out in the real world, things were happening, things that mattered John Lennon had been shot and killed outside his New York apartan in a pathetic attempt to impress Jodie Foster; Sandra Day O'Conner had become the first female Supreme Court justice; and Diana Spencer had married Prince Charles in a cereirl in As for the entire su so often and in such detail you'd think she'd been invited

All of it was headline news,Tully's life, and yet because she was in school, it was before her time Oh, sure, she wrote the articles for the school paper and soot to read a few sentences here and there on air, but it was all ame she wasn't yet allowed to play

She yearned to swirown even more tired of sorority dances and frat parties and that s Why all those sorority girls wanted to get engaged was beyond her Didn't they knoas going on in the world, didn't they see the possibilities?

She'd done everything UW had to offer, taken every broadcast and print journalism class that mattered, and learned what she could fro at the public affairs station It was ti world of TV news She wanted to surge into the crowd of reporters and elbow her way to the front

"You're not ready," Chad said, sighing It was the third ti," she said, leaning toward theone hties, you couldn't wear tooa hairdo "You've eJane Pauley bob Every suit I own is black and my shoes look like a suburban housewife's" She put the mascara brush back in the holder and slowly turned around, studying the Lee press-on nails she'd applied this"What more do I need?"

He sat up in bed From this distance he looked either saddened by their discussion or tired; she wasn't sure which "You know the answer to that question," he said softly

She dug through her purse for another color of lipstick "I'et into the real world"

"You're not ready, Tully A reporter needs to exhibit a perfect mix of objectivity and compassion You're too objective, too cold"

This was the one criticiss Now she was suddenly supposed to be both compassionate and objective at the same time Empathetic but professional She couldn't quite pull it off and she and Chad both knew it "I' about the networks yet It's just one interview for a part-tiraduation" She walked over to the bed In her black suit and white blouse, she was the picture of conservative chic She'd even ta it back into a banana clip Sitting on the edge of thelock of hair away froo out into the world"

He sighed, touched her jawline with his knuckle "It's true I prefer you in my bed to out of it"

"Adrown-up, but the vulnerable tremble in her voice betrayed her She needed his approval like she needed air or sunlight She'd go without it, of course, but less confidently, and today she needed every scrap of confidence she could find

"Ah, Tully," he said finally "You were born ready"

Srabbed her vinyl briefcase Inside it was a handful of résumés printed on heavy ivory stock; several business cards that read, Tallulah Hart, TV news reporter; and a videotape of a story she'd done on-air for KVTS

"Break a leg," Chad said

"I will" She caught the bus in front of the Kidd Valley hah she was a senior, she hadn't bothered with bringing her car to school Parking was expensive and hard to find Besides, the Mularkeys loved having her gran's old land yacht

All the way through the U District and into the city, she thought about what she knew about theto meet At twenty-six, he was already a well-respected for a Central A--none of the articles said what--had brought hied career tracks Noas a producer for the smaller office of one of the local stations She had practiced endlessly what she would say

It's nice to meet you, too, Mr Ryan

Yes, I have had an ie

I' a first-rate journalist and hope, no, expect to--

The bus ca stop on the corner of First and Broad

She hurried off the bus and down the steps As she stood beneath the bus stop sign, consulting her notes, it started to rain, not hard enough to require an uh to ruin her hair and poke her in the eyes She ducked her head to protect her makeup and ran up the block to her destination

The s with curtainless s sat in thelot beside it Inside, she consulted the tenant board and found what she was looking for: KCPO--SUITE 201