Getting Even Read online

  “That must come in handy,” Dan said.

  “As a matter of fact, it was exactly the opposite,” Annie declared. She didn’t even care about who might be listening. “Now I’m supposed to be a professional editor, and I’m no longer able to work on my school newspaper!”

  “Really?” Dan asked. “That seems a little shortsighted of them. I would assume you’d be an asset to your paper, having had all that experience.”

  Annie’s mind raced to what Make Your Anger Work for You had said about revenge. Something about how you shouldn’t cheapen yourself with it, no matter how pleasurable it might be. “When I first found out that I couldn’t work on the paper, I was irritated,” she admitted, choosing her words carefully. “But now I can understand their point of view. If nothing else, it allows other, equally competent people a chance that I’ve already had.”

  “That’s a very generous attitude,” Dan declared.

  Annie smiled. It felt good being generous on television. Now she wished everyone she knew was watching—and feeling sufficiently guilty.

  “Let’s get back to Image,” Dan said. “When you weren’t running around carrying cups of coffee, what did you do?”

  “It was a dream summer, really. Image planned lots for us to do. They got us tickets for Broadway shows, and baseball games, and boat trips around Manhattan. We went to a screening of the new Dan Keller movie …”

  “Time Tomorrow,” Dan said. “What did you think of it?”

  Annie laughed. “It’s hard to say,” she replied. “The four of us ended up walking out on the movie and sitting on the ladies’ room floor instead.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a glowing review,” Dan declared.

  “It wasn’t the movie’s fault,” Annie said. “Although I must admit what I did see of it was pretty dull.”

  “That’s what I’ve been hearing,” Dan replied. “So Image arranged a full summer of activities for you girls. Were you carefully supervised?”

  “Endlessly,” Annie declared. “We had very strict curfews, which we lived in terror of breaking. Of course they had to be careful with us. The oldest of us was just seventeen, and we were living in a hotel without our parents around.”

  “The Plaza Hotel?” Dan asked. “Someplace glamorous like that?”

  “The Abigail Adams Hotel for Women,” Annie said. “Someplace safe and respectable and all female like that.”

  Dan laughed. “Did they manage to keep four pretty young girls from dating?” he asked.

  “We didn’t date each other, if that’s what you mean,” Annie said, risking a joke. The risk paid off, as Dan laughed. “We did date boys we met that summer, though. I dated a rock musician named Harvey Horrible. He’s lead singer with the band Infanticide.”

  “He sounds charming,” Dan declared.

  “He was nicer than he sounds,” Annie replied, smiling at the memory. “He’s a premed student at NYU.”

  “Great,” Dan said. “Someday I’ll have my appendix removed by kindly Dr. Horrible. It’s a comforting thought.”

  Annie didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t try.

  “Annie, why do you think you were picked for an internship?” Dan asked, obviously deciding that Harvey Horrible wasn’t a great topic. “Did they ever discuss the actual reasons?”

  “I think they wanted a mix,” Annie said. “I’m from the Boston area, so I guess I was their urban sophisticate.” She laughed. “And to be perfectly honest they didn’t quite know what I looked like when they selected me.”

  “That sounds intriguing,” Dan said. “We’ll find out more about who they thought you were when we come back from this commercial break.”

  Annie breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re doing very well,” Dan whispered to her as the commercial rolled on the monitors. “Harvey Horrible was a nice touch.”

  “He certainly was,” Annie whispered back, and was rewarded by a shocked laugh from Dan. This was fun, she decided. No wonder Dr. Weinstock enjoyed it so.

  “We’re back with Annie Powell, a local girl who enjoyed the honor of being one of four summer interns picked from seven thousand applicants for Image magazine,” Dan declared after he’d been cued. “Annie, you were about to tell us who Image magazine thought you were, when they accepted you for their program.”

  “They thought I was someone who weighed fifteen pounds less!” Annie replied. “Image asked us to submit photographs, and as it happens, I’d had mine taken when I was at my absolute thinnest weight. I hate to admit this on TV. They thought I was svelte and gorgeous. Only between the time I had the picture taken and the start of summer, I’d regained all that weight, and maybe even put on a couple of extra pounds. They were not pleased.”

  “What did they do about it?” Dan asked. “Weight gain, you should know, is one of my personal nightmares.”

  “They made me lose the weight,” Annie replied. “As fast as was safe to do it. They put me on one of the diets they were testing, and took all sorts of before and after pictures of me. I lost fifteen pounds, and got svelte and gorgeous again, in time for my makeover.”

  “That’s great,” Dan said.

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Annie declared. “You didn’t spend the summer in the food capital of the universe, watching everybody else eat while you had to limit yourself to celery and diet soda.” She felt a twinge of disloyalty to Image and then realized that no one from the magazine would be watching a Boston show.

  “True enough,” Dan said. “Let’s talk about the makeover. I suppose we all have fantasies about somebody taking us in hand and turning us into something better-looking. Was it gratifying actually having that happen?”

  “It was stressful,” Annie replied. “The makeover was the most important day of the summer for us. When they’d finished with us, they took the photographs for the intern issue, and we knew one of those pictures would be used for the cover. Naturally we all wanted to be on the cover.”

  “That’s understandable,” Dan declared. “Were you very disappointed when your roommate was picked for the cover instead of you?”

  “Torey was the most beautiful girl,” Annie said. “Not that I’m beautiful. But Torey really is. And she’s a very special person, so she deserved the honor.”

  “I can tell you’re a very special person too,” Dan said. “Now Annie, stay with us, while I introduce our next guest. Today we are celebrating a couple of local high school students who are outstanding young people. Dick Weatherbee is quarterback for the Southerland Jets at Southerland High. He’s the most highly touted high school player this area has seen in years, and colleges from all over the States have been recruiting him. Dick, come on out.”

  Annie wondered if she was supposed to get up to greet him, but then decided she didn’t have to. Instead she smiled up at Dick as he took the seat on Dan’s opposite side.

  Annie’s school had a dreadful football team, and Annie had never paid much attention to it. But Dick Weatherbee looked like Doug Flutie, which was how she thought all quarterbacks ought to look, so she smiled at him. He didn’t smile back, but she wasn’t offended.

  “I played a little football myself,” Dan declared. “Tight end in college.”

  “Uh,” Dick said.

  “You have a great arm, Dick,” Dan declared. “What’s the longest pass you ever threw?”

  “Fifty-five yards,” Dick replied.

  “That’s impressive,” Dan said. “Were there any scouts in the stands that day?”

  “I dunno,” Dick replied.

  Annie tried not to grin. Dick Weatherbee might look like Doug Flutie, but he sure didn’t know how to give interviews like Doug Flutie. Dan wasn’t going to get anywhere with this jock.

  “It must be flattering to be recruited by so many different colleges,” Dan declared. “Tell us, Dick, have you made up your mind about where you’ll be going?”

  “Not yet,” Dick said.

  “Are there any leading contenders?” Dan asked.

>   “Can’t say,” Dick replied. “My coach won’t let me.”

  “That’s interesting,” Dan said. “Why won’t your coach let you?”

  “I dunno,” Dick said.

  “How does recruiting work?” Annie asked. Somebody had better be conversational around there. “Do they give you things, Dick, like cars?”

  “No,” Dick said. “They’re not allowed to.”

  “So what do they do?” Annie asked. “Being recruited sounds so wonderful.”

  “They just write letters and stuff,” Dick said. “And they invite you down to the campuses, so you can see what the football program looks like. You get to talk with the coaches, and the other guys on the team.”

  “Do they make a big fuss over you?” Annie continued. “I love it when people make a big fuss over me.”

  “Big enough,” Dick declared. “Dinner at the coach’s house, or even at a restaurant. And they talk to your parents a lot, about all the advantages their school has to offer. They make it sound like their school is the best, so that’s the one I’ll choose.”

  “That’s great,” Annie said. “Nobody’s recruiting me like that.”

  “You’re a girl,” Dick said. “Girls don’t get recruited like guys do.”

  “Not all guys get recruited either,” Annie said. “Just quarterbacks, I guess.”

  Dick smiled modestly. “Quarterbacks get it the most,” he said. “A great quarterback can make a championship team. A lousy quarterback and you’re nowhere.”

  “We’ll be nowhere too unless we break for this commercial,” Dan declared, and sure enough, a commercial appeared magically on the monitor. “You’re doing fine, Dick,” he whispered. “Just tell us a little bit more about what your future looks like, and we’ll all be happy.”

  “Okay,” Dick said.

  They sat together quietly until the signal was given. “I’m talking with Dick Weatherbee, star quarterback for the Southerland Jets, and with Annie Powell, summer intern at Image magazine. Dick, are there any disadvantages with your stardom at Southerland?”

  “I don’t get it,” Dick said.

  “Do the teachers treat you differently because of who you are?” Dick asked.

  Dick stared at him.

  “That’s not a fair question, Dan, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Annie said. “What’s Dick supposed to say? Yes, they do? He has to go back and live with them.”

  “Maybe they don’t treat him differently,” Dan said.

  “All right,” Dick declared. “They don’t treat me differently.”

  For the first time, Annie found that she liked Dick. She smiled to show him so, and he smiled back.

  “Do you have any idols?” Dan asked Dick. “Any football stars you’d most like to emulate?”

  “What’s emulate?” Dick asked.

  “Be like,” Annie told him.

  “Oh, sure,” Dick said.

  “Who?” Dan asked.

  “I like Doug Flutie,” Dick replied.

  “You look a little like him,” Dan declared. “Is that why he’s your idol?”

  “He isn’t my idol,” Dick said. “I’d just like to earn money like he does.”

  “So would I,” Annie said.

  “So would we all,” Dan said with a sigh. “We’ve been talking today with two outstanding local teenagers, Annie Powell and Dick Weatherbee. I’d like to thank both of you for appearing with us today.”

  “Thank you, Dan,” Annie said.

  “Thanks, Dan,” Dick said, and a commercial appeared on the monitor.

  Dan shook both their hands and thanked them again. Annie got off the stage and went to get her jacket and books. She still had a full school day ahead of her.

  “Annie, you were terrific,” Stacy told her, as Annie started to leave.

  “Oh, thanks,” Annie said.

  “You were a livesaver up there,” Stacy continued. “I know that look Dan gets in his eyes when an interview is turning sour. If you hadn’t gotten Dick to open up, Dan would probably be slitting his throat right now.”

  “It was fun,” Annie said. “Dick seems like a nice guy.”

  “Dick seems like a dolt,” Stacy said. “You were the one who brought out the nice guy in him.”

  “I enjoyed it,” Annie said.

  “We owe you two,” Stacy said. “One for being such a good sport about the postponement, and two for saving Dan’s life up there. Let me know if there’s any way I can repay you.”

  “Sure,” Annie said, shaking Stacy’s hand. “And thanks for having me on.”

  “It was our pleasure,” Stacy said. “Keep in touch. It’ll be interesting to see what you do with your life.”

  “I’ll send you my autobiography,” Annie promised, and began walking out again. She felt so wonderful she would have liked to try flying. The interview had gone perfectly, and she’d be able to go back to school feeling like a heroine, all noble and brilliant.

  Chapter 8

  “There are a couple of messages for you,” Annie’s mother informed her as Annie walked in Saturday afternoon, after having put in a full day’s work at Murray Levine Associates. “Chris called, and Robin.”

  “Chris and Robin,” Annie muttered, collapsing onto the livingroom sofa. “Mom, I’m exhausted.”

  “Is the job too much?” her mother asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Annie replied. “It wasn’t when I took Dr. Weinstock to the radio show. But today all I did was file and type and answer the phone, and it was so boring I have absolutely no energy left.”

  “Boring jobs are the most tiring,” her mother declared. “They’re high-stress, because there’s no gratification to them. That’s why people go to college, and grad school, and specialize in things, so they can get jobs that call for them to think.” She gave Annie a smile, which Annie tried to return.

  “I sure don’t want to be a secretary, I’ll tell you that,” Annie replied.

  “You don’t have to be one this year either,” her mother said. “There’s no law saying you have to keep this job.”

  “I know,” Annie said. “But in spite of everything, I like working. It makes me feel more important.”

  “You are important,” her mother said. “At least to your father and me, as well as to Chris and Robin.”

  “All right,” Annie grumbled. “I’ll make those phone calls.”

  “Good,” her mother said. “An unanswered message always drives me crazy. Especially if I’m the one who took down the message in the first place.”

  It was a struggle, but Annie managed to get up and walk to her bedroom to make the calls. Chris first, she decided, so she dialed his dorm number and asked for him.

  He got on the phone in a matter of moments. “I’ve been waiting for your call,” he said.

  Annie smiled. “That’s nice to hear,” she told him. “I thought about you a lot today.”

  “I forgot you’d be at work,” Chris said. “You up for a movie tonight?”

  All Annie wanted to do was go to sleep, even though being with Chris would be great. “Sure,” she said. “What and when?”

  “The new Woody Allen,” he suggested. “Nine o’clock showing? We could grab a pizza first, and have some time to talk.”

  “I’d like that,” Annie replied, fighting a yawn. “What time do you want to pick me up?”

  “How about 7:30?” Chris asked. “We won’t be too rushed.”

  “Okay,” Annie said, figuring that that gave her an hour to rest, followed by a shower, which should revive her. “I’ll see you then.”

  “Great,” Chris said. “See you then.”

  “Right,” Annie said, and they both hung up. She couldn’t get over the idea that Chris liked her. He was a Harvard man, and every girl at her high school dreamed of dating a Harvard man.

  In addition, Chris was funny and good-looking, and didn’t have a girlfriend back home. He simply seemed to like her, just the way Annie had always fantasized that a college boy would.
/>   It had to be Image, she thought to herself. Maybe the work she’d done at Image didn’t require brains or personality. But playing the part of an Image intern had taught her poise and self-assurance. She might have regained most of the weight, and her hair no longer behaved itself, but she hadn’t lost the poise yet. It would probably wear off eventually, but in the meantime Annie was glad to have it. Although at that particular moment she would have swapped a cupful of poise for an hour’s sleep.

  Annie stared lustfully at her pillow and blankets, and thought about how wonderful a simple nap would feel. It didn’t seem fair somehow that she had to call Robin, when all she really wanted to do was sleep. But Robin had called, and for all she knew, it was something important. The least she could do was call back and find out.

  She dialed Robin’s number, and when Robin’s mother answered the phone, she managed the kind of small talk an aunt expected from a niece. Finally Robin got on the line.

  “Hi,” Robin said, sounding far too cheerful for Annie’s exhausted ears. “Your mother said you have a job. What’s up?”

  “It’s just part time,” Annie replied. “But I put in my first full day at the office today, and I’m exhausted.”

  “I bet,” Robin said. “I remember our first day at Image. I thought I’d die. Are you working at a magazine?”

  “It’s a public relations firm,” Annie said. “Just a small one, but that’s good, because I can learn about the field that way. I really like it. What’s new with you?”

  “Not much,” Robin said. “I’m still bored and lonely. Have you heard from anyone else lately?”

  “No,” Annie said. “I’ve been incredibly busy. There’s this job, and school, of course, and I met a guy.”

  “You did?” Robin asked. “Jeez, Annie, I don’t believe you. Ten days ago, you sounded like Night of the Living Dead, and now you’re telling me your entire life has changed. Who’s the guy? How did you meet? Is it serious?”

  “His name is Chris and he’s a freshman at Harvard, and we met at a bookstore, and it’s much too soon to say if it’s serious,” Annie replied. “We’re going to the movies tonight, and it’s really only our second date. We’ve talked on the phone and I like him a lot. I’m almost afraid to say this, Robin, but I think he likes me a lot too. He’s really good-looking, and he’s very bright, and sensitive. Rich too, I think.”