More to the Story by Hena Khan

Author:Hena Khan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

23

Hello? You there?”

Travis is standing over my seat. I’ve been staring at the cover of my notebook and didn’t notice him.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“I’m checking in with everyone about their sections. We need to send to print soon, so everything has to be in by tomorrow. You good?”

“Yeah.”

“You edit your submission from Callie yet?”

“Which one?” I don’t remember anything about a submission from her.

“The library profile.”

“That’s in my section?”

“Yes. We talked about it. Remember?”

“I thought it was going to be in editorial. A debate about starting fines for overdue books.” I remember wanting to groan but being proud of myself for holding it in.

“We decided in the end to feature Ms. Hirschhorn. You were there. Weren’t you listening?”

“Yes, I was listening. And it was the other way around.”

Travis chews on the back of his pen and doesn’t say anything for a second. The stubble on his upper lip has grown in more since our last meeting. It’s like a tiny mustache, but I glance away so he doesn’t think I’m admiring it, because I’m not.

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.” Travis finally speaks.

“I was featuring Ali, remember? Why would we feature two people?”

“A teacher and a student. It works.” I know Travis just thought of that, and he seems pleased with himself.

“Yeah, but that isn’t what we decided. And if I’m the features editor, don’t I get to choose what goes in my section?” As soon as I say the last few words, I regret them and can guess what Travis will say next.

“I’m the editor in chief. So I make the final decisions.” There it is. Travis crushes the notion that I have any real say over my section, or that he’s changed. His long hair and new laid-back look are nothing more than appearances. He’s the same uptight, bossy person he was last year. Except this year he thinks he has the right to be, since he’s the one in charge.

I can’t deal with him right now.

“So let’s do both profiles, okay?” Travis smiles at me, but there’s no warmth behind it.

“You’re the boss. Whatever you say.”

I expect Travis to go on to check in with the next person, but instead he sits down on the desk next to mine and crosses his legs.

“And what about your story?”

“What about it?”

“How’s it going?”

“It’s going.” I don’t know where yet, now that Ali ditched me, but I figure it’s going somewhere. Travis waits for me to say something else, and when I don’t, he finally stands up to leave. I exhale slowly. I managed not to fight with him, but it took a lot of effort. Maybe Mama’s right. I am angry right now, and it probably has something to do with being frustrated, scared, and stressed all at once.

“Are you into this, Jameela?” Travis turns back to me.

“What?”

“You have a different attitude about newspaper this year. Is it because you don’t like that I’m editor? Because Ms. Levy said that you—”

“Are you kidding me?” I try to keep my voice down, but it’s shrill.

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