Style | Dallas Winston

Chapter Nine

Her classes that day were especially boring, so when lunch finally rolled around, she excitedly got up and headed to the cafeteria, glad for the break.

She sat down with her lunch tray at her usual table, noticing that Ponyboy and Johnny were sitting with them today. She looked around for Dally and Two-bit, but didn't find them. She figured they left early, deciding not to stick around for the rest of the school day.

She hurriedly scarfed down her food, trying to eat as fast as possible so she had extra time before her next class.

"You hungry?" Johnny asked, seeming a little concerned.

"Yeah, but I also want to make sure I have time to stop by Mr. Attwood's office before my next class. I want to know whether or not I got in," she replied.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will," said Evie, giving her a supportive smile.

"I hope so. I thought maybe he would come talk to me sometime, but I guess not."

After she'd finished her food with time to spare, everyone wished her luck and gave her their vote of confidence, although it didn't do much to soothe her nerves.

She got up and headed down the hallway in the direction of Mr. Atwood's class. The walk to his office seemed too short, and she hesitated for a moment before knocking.

"Come in!" Mr. Atwood's voice called from inside.

As she walked in, his face dropped slightly.

"Oh, it's you. I figured you would be back. Take a seat," he instructed.

She was slightly offended by his blatant rudeness, but shook it off nonetheless.

"I was wondering if maybe you had gotten to look at my work, and—uhm—maybe consider letting me join the paper?" She asked nervously. Maybe she should've practiced her speech more.

He let out a sigh. "Yes, I looked over your work, and I have to say...It's not bad. Also, we really need another writer, and we don't really have anyone better so, it looks like you're our new writer."

Maeve didn't know what to say, she just stared at him in shock for a couple seconds.

"Thank you Mr. Attwood, I won't let you down," she said, desperately trying to contain her excitement.

"Uh huh. Well, we have meetings every other Thursday, but people are in here quite often printing and discussing things. You'll also want to run everything by Simon—he's the editor."

"Ok, got it," she confirmed.

"Remember, 3:00 next Thursday—don't be late."

Maeve stood up from the chair, getting ready to leave.

"I promise I won't be late," she reassured him.

"Alright then, welcome to the team," he said, not seeming too enthusiastic about it. Normally, Maeve would be bothered by this, but she was too happy to let it get to her.

"Thank you again sir," she said, smiling before walking out of his office and back out into the hallway. She took a moment to pause, after not seeing anyone nearby she quietly began giggling and jumping up and down with happiness and excitement.

"Oh my god I did it," she said to herself, laughing. This was it. She was finally on the road to success. With some persistence and determination, this was going to kickstart her dreams—and it was just the beginning.

Although Maeve was a little frightened at the thought of how long of a journey was ahead of her, she was finally getting somewhere—and right now, that was enough for her.