Its Always You (Book Two)

Part 11

It’s the last day of the week and Anna simply wanted to finish reading "Iliad" by Homer for her coursework. She has always been fascinated by world literature, especially Greek culture. Her Psychology class was a bust because Tylor didn't show up, not that she kept waiting for him.

After the English lecture, she didn't expect the professor to request to speak to her. Their Linguistic professor, Mr Mose, was also the in-charge of journalism head which made things easy for her.

As soon as her two-hour lecture was done, she noticed the students filtering out of the class. Mr Mose stayed back, sitting on his seat and arranging their papers. It was the perfect opportunity for her to talk with him instead of walking to his office.

Anna stood up, walking towards Mr Mose with uncertainty on her face. She had no idea why he was suddenly interested in talking with her. Was it because of her pending article?

“Anna?” His voice broke her thoughts.

“Good morning, Mr Mose.”

“Morning” He nodded his head.

“Do you know what day it is today?”

The twenty-year-old scrunched her nose at that, quickly peeking at the paper in hopes of getting his point. But it was a futile attempt.

“Umm...Friday?”

"Yes. The end of the week. You were supposed to show me the outline of your latest article” He folded his hands together, resting them on the desk.

Anna knew this was coming. She was about to be scolded for not submitting the outline. The next edition will be out in two weeks, and she was barely prepared. In her defence, Anna was still new to the journalist team, but she's proven to be the most dedicated. Her delinquent behaviour will surely add a dent to that reputation. And all because she couldn’t stop thinking about certain someone.

“Umm...I’m so sorry, Mr Mose” She quietly mumbled, her head bent down. The colour of her Professors desk seemed more interesting than meeting his eyes. Anna awkwardly fumbled with her bag, “Lately I’ve been busy with certain things, but I assure you I’ll start the headline right away. I was heading to the library after class.”

It was a lie, of course. She was more invested in going to the football ground than anywhere else. Only because Violet was all alone in the bleachers, her date with Michael went well, and they were also on for the next date.

“Wait, Anna” Mr Mose’s voice made her halt mid-step. She turned around, gripping her bag tightly and folding her lips together. Did he catch on her lies?

“Yes?”

“Hold on,” Mr Mose cleared his throat. "I don’t want you to write the headline."

Anna’s face fell. She slumped, pulling a confused look. Will he fire her? Anna loved writing articles; it’s been the only thing which distracted her from the cruel joke of her life. Most of the days it’s her reason to get out of the bed and go to university.

"Why not Mr Mose?” She croaked, hoping her Linguistic professor wasn't second-guessing her ability to be on the team. Anna was a good journalist, striving to keep the paper interesting for all the students to read. No matter how much they preferred bulletin board instead,

The professor took a deep breath, tilting his head to meet her eyes. “I want you to be free for these two weeks. Don’t make any plans that may distract you because I am going to give you a task.”

Anna was interested, straining her ear to catch the end of his sentence.

“I think I found out why no one reads the campus newspaper."

Anna twisted her lips, "I thought we all know already, the student council committee and their stupid decision of bulletin board ruined it for us. The journalism team is practically screwed."

Mr Mose laughed, throwing his head back. What was so amusing about it? Anna was only telling the truth. He furrowed his eyebrows, “Every single one of my journalism team says the same thing but its not that. It's because of what we write about."

"So," Anna started, a coy smile playing on her lips. "You're telling me the students don't like to read the highly informative long paragraphs about festivals and rainfall?”

Mr Mose quirked his brow, “I am afraid not. I should have realised it earlier and made some changes myself. Sorry to put down your extravagant article but I think we need to write about things the students will be interested in."

“Umm...parties?”

Mr Mose laughed, “No. Football, Anna!”

“The students love football so much they are seen more in the field than in their classes.”

Anna hummed. She noticed that, as well. Most of the students are always hanging out, gawking at the players while practising. They did do articles about football in the past, but they were mundane descriptions of the matches students have already seen. It was a good attempt but sadly didn’t workouts

"Football," Anna repeated. “It didn’t work out last time though.”

"Because we were writing about the pointers of the match and boring stuff like that. We won’t make the same mistake again. I have seen the last football match and the hype, the excitement, the cheering, it was amazing! The long-awaited football season is coming up, so this will attract more readers.”

“So here” Mr Mose handed her a piece of paper. Anna stared at the name, her blood turning cold as those letters stared back at her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, “Ty-”

"Tylor Russo. He’s the new forward of our football team. I heard he is a beast on the field. That’s his email address.”

She felt her heart stop. Anna was aware of where it was heading, but still, she couldn’t believe it. Of all people on the team why him? It felt like some joke.

"What do you want me to do with this, Mr Mose” She clutched the paper tightly in between her fingers.

Mr Mose sighed, “It’s simple, really. You are going to interview him for our latest edition. I'm making it the football headline."

“But I have never interviewed anyone before,” Anna lamely said.

Tylor despised her, and she didn’t want to give him more reasons for that. Being near him was torture, breathing the same air as him and pretending that his every stare wasn’t affecting her? Ridiculous.

"Exactly why I'm asking you to write it. Each member of the team is interviewing a player, but I want you to start with Tylor. I am sure by the end of two weeks he’s going to be more popular than ever.”

She felt her lips part. Not only was she writing about something she did not know about, but Anna also had to be close to Tylor for two weeks. Just her damn luck!

“You don’t have to worry about anything, Anna. The article will be only published in our college newspaper.”

She wanted to say no. Mr Mose was happy, especially at the prospect of attracting more readers for their newspaper. Anna didn’t want to kill that excitement. So she did one thing she would regret later.

“Okay, Mr Mose. I can do it.”

His face broke out in a wide grin, "Great! I've talked to Russo kid already, and he agreed that he would be free to chat with you after his practice. Please adjust your schedule according to his timetable so you can get everything in two weeks. And since this is your first interview, get to know him before anything else."

Right. Anna thought to herself.

She twisted her lips, “Do I have to meet daily? I mean I thought interviews are short and candid. One day would suffice.”

“That’s not necessarily true. I mean you can do it in a day, but there won’t be that kind of magic in your words. I want you to get to know him before you start with the article. Alright?”

Anna sighed, “Alright.”

***

Violet was sitting cross-legged in front of her, listening to Anna complain about her professor. They were back in their apartment.

"How about just not having a newspaper? We are in the 21st century for crying out loud! No one reads." Violet threw her hands in the air.

“No one reads except for you,” Violet added.

Anna rolled her eyes, “You are just saying that because you are a film major.”

Violet shrugged, not even bothering to deny it.

“I have to write about Tylor.”

“Our Tylor?” Violet shrieked.

Anna crossed her arms, trying not to wince at the ‘our’ part of the sentence. He has not been hers since a very long time.

“How many Tylors do you know?” Anna questioned her friend, raising her brow in amusement.

Violet made a face, turning towards Anna. “Fair point but that guy doesn’t even want to talk to you. How are you going to write a full headline about him?”

Anna sighed, “I don’t know, but I have to find a way to talk to him.”

***

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