Page 28 of The Sound of Us

“Microwave.” She gestured to the kitchen. “I thought about cooking it but then the place would burn down, and I don’t have insurance.”

I grabbed my phone and checked my notifications. Three missed calls from the station and a message from Noah asking me to call him right away. My hand went to my mouth, and I tried to push down the hope that swelled in my chest.

“What is it?” Iz froze in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

“Noah called.” I was shaking, trembling, trying to keep myself together as a tidal wave of emotion crashed over me. Hope got bigger and bigger and wouldn’t go away. “Would he call three times to tell me I didn’t get the position?”

Her hands found her hips. “Was he a dick?”

“No. He was a really nice guy.”

“Then he’s not calling with bad news. You need to call him back.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I want it so bad, Iz, I don’t think I can handle finding out for real that I didn’t get it.”

“I knew all that crap about wanting to go back to Denver was bullshit.” She held out her hand for the phone. “If you don’t call him, I will.”

“I’m not ready.” My finger hovered over Noah’s number.

“You can never be ready for the big moments,” Isla said. “That’s why you just have to dive in.”

“Welcome to WJPK!”

Siobhan stood on a chair and introduced herself to the new crop of volunteers and interns gathered in the station’s lounge on Friday morning, only two days after I’d received the call from Noah. We’d been treated to muffins and coffee as we mingled with the more experienced volunteers and show hosts. I still hadn’t been able to get my head around the fact that Noah had picked me. I was staying at Havencrest. I hadn’t failed.

After running through the basic rules of the station, Siobhan introduced us to the paid employees, who, along with Noah, reported directly to an elected board of directors. “They run station, but you are its heart,” she said. “You’ll be involved in everything from promotions to sound engineering and from research to production under the supervision of the senior volunteers: me, Nick,”—she gestured to a tall, lanky dude with a thatch of dark hair—“and…” Siobhan trailed off when Dante walked in, sending a wave of whispers through the room. “… Dante. Fresh from his coffin. Thanks for joining us.” Her voice dripped sarcasm. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up until the sun set.”

Dante didn’t miss a beat. “I smelled fresh blood.”

One of the female volunteers giggled and he rewarded her with a grin.

“Nick does all our jazz and blues shows,” Siobhan continued. “I handle all our news programming, and Dante does our highest-rated show,Dante’s Darkness. He’s never been around the station during the day. I personally think he might be a vampire, but Nick spotted him once in an economics class in full daylight and he wasn’t going up in smoke. I’m still not sure about the fangs, but I’m sure by the end of the year, at least four or five of you will be able to enlighten us.”

Ouch. There was some bad blood between Siobhan and Dante, but if it affected him, he had the best damn poker face I’d ever seen.

“We have two new interns this year, Skye and Chad.” She waved a vague hand in my direction and then pointed out a tall blond dude dressed in a rugby shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. “They’ll be with us until the end of the year.”

Siobhan’s little speech reminded me that my internship was a reprieve and not a permanent solution. Between the scholarship and my job at Buttercup, I would have just enough money to make it to the end of the year, but I would need a kick-ass summer job and some serious financial assistance to fund my junior year. Rinse and repeat for senior year.

“Dante is our internship mentor this year.” Her gaze cut to Dante, who was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his delectable chest. “If you are interested in our next round of internships, he’s the man to ask.”

“Internship mentor?” Dante’s head jerked up. “I thought you handled the interns?”

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Her tone was nothing short of vicious. “I thought Noah would have told you since you guys are so close. Jade just handed in her notice so I’m handling programming as well as the volunteers until he hires a new programming director. You’re handling the interns, making sure they meet their internship criteria, finding things for them to do, liaising with the journalism department…”

“I’m going to talk to Noah.” Dante brushed past me and stormed out of the room.

Nick stepped in to tell us stories about on-air disasters, production nightmares, and past volunteers. He was laid-back and easygoing with a wicked sense of humor and he quickly eased the tension in the room. I had a feeling we were going to get along well.

After Siobhan had given us a quick tour, I went to see Noah to sign the scholarship paperwork, but as I approached his office, I heard angry voices coming through the open door.

“I’m not a babysitter,” Dante grumbled. “Find someone else to look after them.”

“We talked about this. I don’t have anyone else,” Noah said, his voice strained. “You spent two years working full time with me before you decided to get your finance degree. You know how I like things done. Siobhan is already putting in way more than her ten hours a week. I can’t ask her to take on more.”

“What about Nick?”

Noah’s voice dropped to a low murmur and Dante sighed. “I’ll take the guy but not Skye.”

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