Catch or Fall

Chapter Seven

Harper

Mrs. Williams is already waiting when I arrive at The Norton Local headquarters in Strathmere. I find it weird that their head office is located in another town and they only have a satellite office in Norton. Since Strathmere is a town for the rich, you can only go here by a car. Good thing Katrina is there to lend me her pink Honda. Guess I have to treat her and Judy for coffee when I get my first paycheck.

"Good morning, Miss Silva. It's our pleasure to have you here," Mrs. Williams greets me with so much energy.

"Good morning, Mrs. Williams. It's my honor to be here."

"Please have a seat."

I sit across her and wait for her to speak. I actually have no idea why I am here. During the interview, Mrs. Williams told me that I don't have to go to their office on a daily basis because it's far from Easton. Since my job is to edit their content for the website, I can work from home—or in my case, from my dorm.

"I asked you to come here, Miss Silva, because you have to sign a part-time employee contract. Other than that, I also want to ask if you're interested to write a column for Norton Local online. Mr. Bailey has this idea of having a column dedicated to college students. It will be like a blog where you answer questions submitted by college students. Since you're from Easton, we think you're a good fit for this."

Okay. First off, I am not a bad writer. I think I can handle blogging and answering queries. If this means additional income, I am open to do it.

"Will it be a weekly blog? Because I have classes which require papers and stuff. And what types of issues are we addressing?"

"It will be weekly, every Sundays, I suppose. We will accept questions about any kind of topic ranging from school to family problems, and even sexual concerns if there are any."

I gulp. Sexual concerns? Yes, I'm not a virgin but it doesn't mean I'm open to talk about sexual fantasies or anything related to sex in a blog. My friends and I discuss stuff like that, but that's because they're my friends.

"You can use a pen name if you want to hide your identity. Granted that this is another job, we will be paying you fifty dollars for every column, plus another fifty dollars for editing your own column."

So that's extra one hundred dollars a week? Okay then, I'm in. "I'm taking the offer. Where do I sign?"

Mrs. Williams fails to hide the surprise in her eyes. She's probably wondering why I need the money. For most students in Easton, a hundred dollars is nothing. They grew up believing life is easy because of money. They don't work or bleed for what they want. Just sign a check here or withdraw cash there, they can control what's around them. I was like them, too, until one day I realized that money isn't everything.

Mom has cancer and dad has been cheating on her with an intern. My little sister is rebelling against our parents to get their attention. Mom keeps saying we have the money, but when she's gone and dad marries his mistress, there won't be anything left for us.

That's why I decided to take matters into my own hands. I have to support myself and, in the future, my sister, too.

I say goodbye to Mrs. Williams after realizing that I'm already late for class. Shit! I've never been late to any class, especially Professor Riddel's. If I want to secure his recommendation for Harvard law school, I have to avoid pissing him off.

I'm already out in the avenue when I receive a message from Ashton.

Him: Harper, where are you? Riddel is getting ratty.