Hailey's POV
It had officially been 2 weeks since I told my dad about me and Jess. And with the holidays just ending my dad even let Jess come over for Christmas. It was the first holiday I truly spent with him and I couldn't be happier. We told my dad that we hadn't told the town or Rory or mom about our relationship and he promised to keep it to himself and Sherrie, which I didn't mind.
The snow had begun to melt away and we were a third of the way through the second semester of school. I was officially assigned onto the Franklin as the school photographer. At the end of each term I would receive a credit for my time on the newspaper and credited for the photography club.
Today, Paris had called an emergency meeting for all who work on the school newspaper. Apparently, nothing was good enough for the front page, especially since this edition of the Franklin was being entered into a contest.
"No! No...No...No...No...No" Paris exclaimed as she went through the pages of writing.
"Paris!" Rory snapped.
"I'm not done." Paris continued. "NO! Why am I the only who cares?"
"Your not the only one who cares Paris" Rory says to her.
"No. I know you and your sister care, but I need everyone in this room to care because I can't be the only one... besides you two."
"It's just a contest -- It's not like you get a car or a lifetime supply of rice-a-roni." Louise chimes in
"The Oppenheimer award for excellence in school journalism is not a contest, it's a statement. It says you're the best. The best writers, best reporters, best editors. It says that you crushed all others who have dared to take you on. It says that every other school in the United States of America is feeling nothing but shame an defeat and pain because of the people who won the Oppenheimer plaque. I wanna be those people. I wanna cause that pain." Paris defends
"Paris, I love you but our paper is already good." I try to calm her down.
"Not good enough." She fights back.
"Girl, last week's issue.." She cuts me off.
"Was a fine effort by a bunch of kids."
"We are a bunch of kids." Madeline ads on.
"Not when we're in this room. Lessure Prep Gazette, Broadmouth Banner, Richmon Heights Chronicle -- these publications are not our competition." Paris continued on through our groans. "The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post -- these publications are our competition. We need to raise the bar. We need to be better, think harder, dig deeper. I don't want to just submit a good issue. I want to submit a great issue, THE BEST ISSUE."
"And when's the deadline?" Rory tries to calmly ask.
"One week from today." Paris replies
"Okay, so then we'd better get brainstorming. Does anyone have an idea for a theme?" Rory takes the floor.
"Yes! The one that wins!" Paris snarks.
"Paris, your being a big help here. Alright, everyone, we should get working here." I dismiss the group into private works as Paris sits down next to me and Rory.
"You're going to give yourself a stroke one of these days, you know that?" Rory says to Paris.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shortly after Paris' rant I left the meeting and took my car straight to work. I was able to knock out most of my homework for the night, so I took the extra time I had that night to walk over to Luke's to see if I could say hi to Jess for a moment.
YOU ARE READING
Chosen Girl ~~ Jess Mariano
RomanceIn a Hospital on October 8th, 1984 at 4:03 am, Lorelai (Rory) Leigh Gilmore was born. Exactly 14 minutes later, Hailey Hope Gilmore-Hayden was born. Just 5 weeks after their birth their mother, Lorelai, realized that she could not take care of 2 bab...
