OMPET

AN

. Because this time I was on a callback. A callback! And that meant I had earned my plac

en I did, it was good news for a change. I put the phone on speaker so that Violet could hear it when I got the

on the other end of the line told me, "Melanie wishes to meet wit

pinched my arm excitedly and mimed clap

replied, catching myself before I started

er myself a little, and Violet and I high-fived before she started sc

, it felt like I would have gone spinning off the rails without her. She was about the only friend I had fr

I was going to move in with her and like it. I wasn't going to argue with so

ly willing to stand there and make my life a little easier. Friends like her, I had discovered, were hard to come by. Plus, she had all the a

h Melanie for the second time. I had made sure to get there a few minutes early, and

approachable, and that was the last thing I needed right then. I wanted to be the very picture of light, bright, and brillian

ann

smile on my face. I felt a little hyper and did my best to calm that side of my head. T

u again," I told her. "Thanks

in for the first interview. I felt a little wobbly on my feet as I followed her, but that might have been

lap. Then in front of me again. Again, I tried to calm myself down and picked u

ably never get a chance to meet them. Though maybe one day, my name would be embossed on a pen like this, announ

d as she tucked her phone away

me to just be myself and that they would be looking less for some specific experience than the promise of a strong per

dle. That was what Jarrod had often told me, particularly when I had made one joke

interrupted by the sound of that thing angrily ringing in her pocket. She apologized the first couple of times and ignored the

" she told them, sounding irritated that she was ev

ld hear a man's voice and assumed it had to be one of the people applying for thi