Dead!

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Hey Ivy, did you hear the news?" Maya asked me at breakfast on Wednesday. 

"What news?" I mumbled as I took another bite of my cereal. Knowing Maya, she would probably say some piece of news that nobody except for her cared about. Maybe My Chemical Whatever had gotten back together. No, she would be way more excited if that was the case.

"They finally decided who that new judge is going to be," Maya said.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Samantha!" Maya exclaimed.

"Really?" I said. "That's great. She must be so happy about that."

"I'm sure she is," Maya said. "I'm going to go comment on her blog to congratulate her...you know, after I update Forbidden Love. That's clearly more important."

"You really need to sort out your priorities," I said.

"Are you talking about the new judge?" Grandma asked as she entered the room.

"Yes," I said.

"I can't believe that the Celestial Bureaucracy picked her of all people," Grandma said. "She's nineteen! What were they thinking?"

"Samantha's perfectly competent," I said. "Both Maya and I met her in the waiting room. She knows what she's doing."

"Most of the judges have years of experience in law or criminal justice," Grandma argued. "That girl was in college for less than a year, and now they're letting her decide who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell. I don't care if they needed more liberals on the judging panel - they should have gotten someone with more experience."

"Grandma, Samantha will be fine," I said.

"If she puts Joe Trohman in Heaven instead of Hell, then she's already better than the people in the Youngblood Chronicles," Maya stated.

"Who's Joe Troham?" I asked. Maya started laughing hysterically, and I gave her a confused look. "What? That's his name, right?"

"Joe would be hot with ham for hands," Maya said before she roared with laughter again.

"I don't understand you," I said. I left the table, finished getting ready for work, and went out the door. Today was the day of the interview, and I was excited and nervous at the same time. Most of all, I desperately wanted to prove myself to Rosie.

I arrived at the Cedar Creek Celestial Post's office, and I found Rosie waiting for me in the lobby. "Hello Ivy," she said. "Are you ready for the big interview?"

"I sure am," I said. "Where are we going for it?"

"Well, the only time when Miss Murphy and Miss Harris are both free is after lunch, so they're coming into one of our conference rooms," Rosie explained. "It will be a fun first assignment for you, I'm sure."

"What are we doing before then?" I asked.

"I still have to prepare questions, so you can help me with that," Rosie said. I followed her into her cubicle, and I helped her come up with questions about the Black Afterlives Matter movement, as well as the rally and all of the related movements that she was also covering. At about eleven o'clock, Rosie and I left to meet our two interviewees.

Rosie found the two of them very quickly. They were sitting next to the window, talking to each other. I recognized one of them immediately. "SAMANTHA!" I shouted, giving her a hug.

"Ivy! It's so good to see you!" she said.

"Congratulations," I said. "I heard that the Council made you a judge."