News Flash by Liz Botts

that’s fine, but you haven’t given me any reason to do that yet. So this is your first on camera story. Honestly, Allison, I don’t know why you’re complaining. This is a great little piece. Now run along and get ready.”
    I knew when I had been dismissed, and I turned away from the cubicle, deflated. She was right, or course. I didn’t really have a leg to stand on. I was lucky to have gotten the on camera spot, and I didn’t want to blow it before I got a chance to start.
    â€œHey, Beautiful, ready for your big debut?” Rory popped up beside me. When my response lacked gusto, he said, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
    I shook my head. “I don’t know. Stuff at school. Nothing. Listen I can’t go out with you tomorrow night.”
    Now it was Rory’s turn to frown. “What do you mean? I’ve got the whole night planned. It’s going to be awesome.”
    â€œYeah, well, awesome or not, I have to go to prom tomorrow night.”
    â€œWhat? You’re ditching me, and a great date, for prom?” Rory’s frown deepened, his forehead crinkling as he leaned back against my desk.
    He looked so cute that I had to smile. “It’s for one of my classes. I have to go because if I don’t I might not pass the class, and I need to pass this stupid class to graduate. Look, I’m really sorry. You know I wanted to go, and—“
    â€œI’ll go with you.”
    â€œWhat?” I stared at Rory in disbelief.
    He nodded. “I’m serious. I’ll go with you. Who knows, it could be fun, right?”
    â€œUm, maybe? You don’t have to do this, Rory. Seriously.”
    â€œI want to. Listen. Good luck today. You’ll be great, but you need to hurry. Your cameraman is waiting for you.” Rory patted my hand, which was all the PDA we felt comfortable risking at work. I sure didn’t need a human resource complaint form going into my file.
    No one had advised me on what I needed to take with me. Rory assured me that the two man crew going with me would have the equipment, and all I needed to do was have some killer questions. Considering that I’d had no time to prepare, my nerves were at an all-time high. On the elevator ride down to the ground floor, I rifled through the file that Marika had left on my desk. There wasn’t much information in it minus the pertinent details.
    When we got out of the building, I looked at Steve, the cameraman. “So, um, how do we get there? I mean, do we get to take the news van or something?”
    Steve laughed, but not in a mean way. “We could. It’s pretty nice out, though, so why don’t we walk? I checked the address, and it’s only a few blocks away. That way if you decide that you want to interview anyone along the way, it’ll be easier to set up.”
    Appreciation washed over me. Rory had been right. My crew wasn’t going to let me down. I could do this. I repeated my mantra to myself as we started toward our destination. Steve had been right; the day was nice for early April. A warm breeze blew in from the southwest, bringing with it the slightly fishy smell from the river. Since it was still early afternoon, the sidewalks downtown weren’t crowded, and because my piece wasn’t essential news, we had no rush.
    When we got to the bakery where we were shooting the spot, I took a minute to review the hastily scrawled notes I had made. I could barely read my own handwriting. Still there was enough there that I wasn’t going in blind. Mr. Fisher always insisted that a journalist had to be prepared. Going into any story without some information made the reporter look bad, besides it was disrespectful.
    â€œReady to do this, kiddo?” Steve asked as he held the door open for me.
    I nodded, my heart suddenly hammering in my throat. The inside of the bakery was warm with delicious sweet, yeasty smells filling the air. My stomach