Again, But Better

25. Twice as Hard, Half as Liked
Re: Pictures of published piece!!
________________________________________________
Sal Primaveri
4/13/11
to Shane
Shane,
I don’t know what you think one article is going to lead to. You’ve
betrayed our trust, and there will be consequences. Don’t expect to
come home and for all to be forgotten. You crossed a line when you
flippantly misled us for months on end. We love you, but we cannot
support this kind of behavior. I hope you can understand. You live
under my roof, on my dime, and while that is the case, you will follow
my rules.
Love,
Dad
I gulp another swig of my drink and set it down on the bar in
front of me.
“Babe, that’s amazing!” I exclaim. Babe’s cowokers just
connected her with the Disney college program in Florida that
she’s been itching to get involved with. Last time, I didn’t get
to celebrate with her when it happened.
“Thanks! I can’t believe it! Ahh!” She throws her hands up
near her face. “How’s your job hunt going?”
I sigh. “I haven’t heard back from any of the places I’ve
applied to.”

---

“There’s still time!” she insists.
“Not really, we’re done in a little over a week. If I don’t
find a job—” I stop short and take a breath. “If I don’t find a
job, things are going to be really bad when I get back to New
York, and then I don’t know what’s going to happen with
school,” I ramble. If I don’t get a job, and that button doesn’t
work, I don’t know what comes next for me.
“Shane, stop working yourself up!” Babe interrupts.
“You’re going to figure this out! Come on, we should be
celebrating. You have a published article in a real-life,
physical, you-can-frame-it-and-hold-it magazine that people
read all the time! That’s huge!” She whips it out of her purse
and waves around the copy I gave her.
“That’s still in your purse?” I shoot her a small smile.
“Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t found a job.”
“A magical Harry Potter book spoke to you, Shane—” she
chides, grinning over her glass of Guinness.
“I regret telling you about that—”
“Don’t give up now!” She punches her fist to the sky with
a laugh.
“I still haven’t found anyone to go to Edinburgh with this
weekend.” Babe can’t come because she’s got a Disney DVD
release party thing to go to with her coworkers.
“Well, you should go anyway,” she says.
I shoot her an exasperated look.
“I’m serious! I think you should go yourself. It’ll be a
journey of self-discovery. Do a tour or something. It’s good to
travel alone. I’ve always wanted to do it. Heck, I’m going to
after this!”
I snort at the déjà vu. “Go by myself?”
“Yeah.”
“Travel alone in a foreign country?”

---

“Why not?” She grins.
I chuckle sardonically. “Because if I’m alone with my
thoughts for too long, I’m going to end up dwelling on Pilot
drama.”
“Maybe you should.” She shrugs. “It’s part of the moving-
on process. You have to deal with your feelings. What do you
think I was doing all that time after Paris with the Disney
movies in our room? 
Dealing with feelings
.”
I drop my gaze to the table thoughtfully before yanking out
Horcrux Ten. “Okay, but if I’m doing this, I’m uploading a
pre-travel post to the blog so people know to call the
authorities if I never return.”
Babe giggles. “Feel free to use my computer!”

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