All I want to do is be supportive. Lay a hand on her shoulder and tell her she’s got this in the bag because I’m certain she does. But that’s not what she needs right now. Mallory needs a distraction.
I swipe a curl from her eyes and chuckle. “You’re going to puke when you hear my name called, and not yours.”
Mallory gasps and throws her foot at me, hitting the knot in my calf. My yelp of pain stops Dr. Martin’s lecture, and he grins at our table and shakes his head.
“I see some of you are getting antsy, so let’s do this.” He pulls a sheet of paper from his bag, and orange highlighter bleeds through the white. “Over two hundred applications were submitted, and only twenty-five made it to the next round. I’m pleased to say four of you are moving forward. Mason Gowing. Alondra Thurman.” His finger slides down the paper. “Mallory Edwards and Kenneth Gray.”
Mallory rounds on me with her hand raised and a wild look in her eyes. She can’t possibly be bold enough to smack me across the face in a room full of witnesses. When I flinch, she wiggles her fingers impatiently.
A high-five. Duh. Our hands collide with an accomplished clap.
“Class dismissed. I’ll see you all after spring break. Enjoy your week off! Can you four stay back for a moment?” I nod and sink back onto my seat.
As the room empties, Mallory slumps against the desk, as if she’sexhausted by the good news. “I guess we’re stuck together for just a little while longer,” she says.
The sarcastic tinge I was expecting to hear is missing. That’s been happening a lot recently. We talk like people who don’t hate each other. Like people who could one day be more than rivals.
“Congrats, you four,” Dr. Martin beams, handing out a new set of instructions. I scan the sheets of paper for the next list of tasks. One personal statement, a cover letter for our dream job, and three letters of recommendation: two professional and one peer. And I have until the beginning of May to make it good enough to beat twenty-four other students.
“Do you have any advice on how to stand out?” Mallory asks, pulling me back into the conversation.
“Be yourself. The judges only glimpse into you as a person is through your personal statement. Tell them why you’re the best person for this internship.” Spreading his arms wide, he wiggles his fingers. “Give them everything they need to see that you’re going to make a difference in the world.”
While Mallory races over to congratulate Mason and Alondra, I let the news wash over me and bask in what feels like pride. It’s been so long since I felt this kind of hope. Like I have a chance to chase my own dream.
“Hey,” I say when Mallory returns for her bag. “Want to go by Claude’s? We could work on our personal statements.”
Her lips pucker. “What month is it?”
My eyebrow quirks. “March. Why?”
“What sport do you play?”
“Swimming. The 1650-yard freestyle.”
“What’s your favorite vegetable?”
“Jicama. What are you doing?” I ask.
She reaches up and thumps my forehead. “Just making sure your brain hasn’t been taken over by aliens.”
“That’s a possibility,” I chuckle, because here I am asking Mallory to hang out with me. School-related celebration or not, it’s new. Maybe it is aliens. “Is that a yes?”
She heaves her bag over her shoulder. “I’m not hungry, but thanks for the offer.”
Betrayed by her own body, her stomach growls its displeasure in her lie.
“Sounds like a cinnamon roll would be nice. Another hot chocolate too. My treat.”
Mallory steps around me and heads for the door. “That’s nice of you, Gray, but you probably have places to go and people to see.”
Finally. An opportunity to set things straight. I’m sure Mallory couldn’t have cared less that I was at dinner with a woman, but I don’t want her to think I have a girlfriend.
Just in case.
“Nope. My sister is in town, and she knows I’m busy today. You met her last night.”
“Karla…” Mallory’s mouth gapes. “Karla is your sister?”
