As the counselors scattered like ants, I felt my pocket vibrate. I pulled out my cell phone. The number was not one I recognized, but the area code—718—was Queens, that much I knew.
“Hello?”
“Hi! May I speak to Taylor Roberts, please?” a cheerful, female voice asked.
“This is she.”
“Hi, Taylor. My name’s Gabby Rodriguez, and I’m the director of Trinity Youth Services. I’m calling about your application for the job we posted online recently.”
“Oh!” I tried to compose myself and not sound so surprised. “Hi, of course. Thanks for calling.”
“The selection committee was very impressed by your resume, and we’d like to have you come in for an interview.”
An interview!“Sure! I’d be happy to. When were you thinking?”
“Are you free later this week? We have availability Thursday and Friday.”
Camp cleanup ends Thursday. “Friday would be great.”
“Terrific! Can you come by at noon?”
“That’s perfect. Is there anything I should bring?”
“Nope. We’ve got your resume, so I think we’re all set.”
“Okay. I look forward to meeting you.”
“Same here. We’ll see you then.”
I hung up the phone, surprised at the excitement I felt given the vortex of emotions I’d been coping with for the past 24 hours.
I had to go find Matt and tell him the news. I began walking up to the rec field, where I’d parked my car. With my phone still in hand, I was tempted to call my aunt or Jessica, but I didn’t want to end up stuck on a call once I found him. Too eager to wait, I dialed Matt’s number.
He picked up on the first ring. “Hey.”
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“I got an interview!”
“Really? That’s great! When? And for what? I didn’t realize you were even applying for jobs.”
“Yeah, I threw my resume out there a few weeks ago, since, you know, Pat’s not technically retiring until the end of the year.”
“Right. Makes sense. So, what’s the job?”
“It’s an after-school program. In Jamaica.”
He paused. “Queens? That’s kind of far, no?”
“It’s not so bad. Two hours. But, I mean, let’s see if I evengetthe job first, right?”
“Yeah. Plus, they say it’s great practice to just put yourself out there and interview for stuff, even if the job’s not perfect.”
“True.”
“Well, congrats. When did you say the interview is?”
