Chapter 7 - How I Got A Job As The San Urbano Times Coffee Maker

Art by VelaJune (junesketches)

Over the next several weeks, I started hanging out at Ellen's castle more and more. Even when Carmen didn't need me, I came anyways just to spend more time with Percy and Vanessa, who were beginning to feel like real friends as opposed to mere colleagues. Before long, the castle began to seem like a second home.

Percy was there every day, and we spent most of our time together playing video games. He always seemed to beat me, but that didn't matter. I still enjoyed playing with him, even if I was no good at any of the games that Percy liked.

Vanessa, on the other hand, didn't seem to be at the castle nearly as often as Percy was. I knew that she had a job, but that didn't explain why she was only at the castle a few nights per week. She came more often on the weekends, and although she spent much of that time training, she made sure to spend her Saturday nights hanging out with Percy and I.

As much as I enjoyed spending time with my newfound friends, however, I eventually became bored of the castle. "There's nothing to do around here," I complained to Percy one day as he demolished me at Super Smash Bros.

"Are you kidding?" Percy said. "The castle's full of things to do."

"Don't you get bored of playing the same video games over and over again sometimes?" I asked.

"Not really," Percy said. "Besides, I don't just play video games. I'm closer than ever to figuring out who Captain Fedora really is."

"I can't wait for you to finally figure it out," I said. "He's kind of a nuisance."

"Kind of a nuisance?" Percy said. "Are you listening to yourself, Jay? He's more than just a nuisance. Captain Fedora is my arch-enemy, and I will find a way to get rid of him."

"You haven't fought him since I arrived here," I pointed out.

"Fighting in real life isn't always the best strategy," Percy said. "I have a better tactic."

I didn't bother to ask him more - Percy had already made it clear that he wasn't going to tell me about his secret plans. "I still feel like this place is kind of boring," I said.

"You haven't explored the castle enough then," Percy said.

I took his advice, and the next day, I checked out all of the nooks and crannies in Ellen's castle. The training facility was pretty impressive, but I wasn't sure if Ellen would approve of me using it, and I didn't want to spend any more time in the lab than I had to. The break rooms were fun to hang out in, but I was running out of books to read and games to play. I needed something new to do.

That night, Vanessa showed up just in time for dinner. "I'm sorry I'm late," she told Ellen. "I got held up at work."

"It's fine, Vanessa," Ellen said.

I ate my dinner, and as usual, it was delicious. "Vanessa, what's your job like?" I asked her, mostly out of curiosity.

Vanessa shrugged and said, "It's not too exciting. I just write articles for the San Urbano Times."

"That sounds exciting though," I said.

"I promise you that it's not," Vanessa said. "The only reason that I work there is because it lets me keep an eye on current events."

"It still sounds kind of fun," I said. "What article are you working on now?"

"I'm just doing a story on the baseball field renovations at Carrie A. Nation High School," Vanessa said.

"That's my high school," I said.

"I'm glad I didn't go there," Percy said. "Ellen did a better job teaching Vanessa, Terry, and I than Carrie A. Nation High School could have ever done."

"Thanks, Percy," Ellen said. "I tried to give my apprentices the best education that I could."

"Anyways, there's not much new at work," Vanessa said. "We are looking for an intern though. Maybe Percy would like to apply."

Percy rolled his eyes and said, "I'm not interested."

"I might apply," I said. "At the very least, it would help me keep track of everything that's going on in San Urbano."

"That would be nice, but aren't you a little bit young for the position?" Vanessa said. "At least I know that Percy's eighteen."

"I just turned seventeen," I said.

Vanessa gave me a surprised look and then said, "You look a little younger than that, but I believe you. I can help you with your application if you'd like."

"That would be great," I said.

Over the next few days, Vanessa helped me apply for my first real job. It was a rather tedious process, but it was all worth it when I got the opportunity to interview with the editor of the San Urbano Times. The interview went well, and before I knew it, I was hired as an intern at the city's largest news outlet.

My first day at work was unusual, to say the least. I had to explain my job to my dad, and although he was definitely supportive, he had to give me a ride to the San Urbano Times building. He wished me luck as he pulled up in front of the massive building that housed the San Urbano Times. I nervously stepped out of the car, waved to Dad, and then headed inside.

At first, I was lost, but I quickly found Vanessa. "Just follow me," she said. I followed her into the newsroom, which at first seemed to be complete chaos. There were all sorts of people crowded around desks and typing furiously into their computers, and I had no idea what to do. I followed Vanessa to her desk, where she sat down and began to work. "I'm sure Gwen will come over here eventually," she said.

I looked around the room searching for the editor, but instead, a tall man with green eyes and dirty blond hair who was only a few years older than I was brushed past me. He adjusted his glasses and then snuck up behind Vanessa. "Hey sweetheart," he said.

Vanessa turned around and then smiled. "Declan!" she exclaimed.

"Listen, I just finished the layout for your last story," Declan said. "Would you like to see it?"

Vanessa immediately rushed to Declan's desk, and because I didn't have anything better to do, I followed the two of them. They quickly became involved in a conversation that I couldn't quite follow. It had something to do with Vanessa's story, but there was so much journalistic jargon that I had no idea what was going on.

When we finally got to Declan's desk, Vanessa formally introduced Declan to me. "This is Declan McAllister," she said. "He's my boyfriend."

"It's nice to meet you, Jay," Declan said. "So you're the new intern here, right?"

"That's right," I said.

"Would you mind getting me a cappuccino?" he said.

I nodded, even though I wasn't even sure where the coffee maker was. I wandered around the building for a while until I ran into the editor. "Hi there, Jay," Gwen said. "Are you looking for something?"

"Do you happen to know where the coffee maker is?" I asked. "Declan asked for a cappuccino."

"Follow me," Gwen said. She led me to the coffee maker and instructed me on how to use it. A few minutes later, I brought Declan his cappuccino.

"Thanks," he said as he grabbed his coffee and took a sip. "Now Vanessa, I really think that this graph works just fine for the story about the city's superheroes..."

"There is no way that Captain Fedora is the most popular hero in San Urbano," Vanessa argued. "He's only been around for a year or so, and he's not all that powerful."

"Maybe people can relate better to a hero who's not all-powerful," Declan said.

"Where did you get these statistics anyways?" Vanessa asked.

"I called random people in San Urbano, just like Gwen asked me to," Declan said. "I just think that Captain Fedora's getting a popularity boost after his defeat of the Dastardly Demon." For a moment, Declan glanced back at me, making me wonder if he somehow knew that I was the Dastardly Demon. Of course, that was ridiculous. I had just met him, so how would he know one of my deepest secrets?

"Fine," Vanessa said. "I'll use the graphic, but only because I love you."

As it turned out, most of my job at the San Urbano Times was mostly fetching coffee for everyone else who worked there. Occasionally, someone would ask me to do some other equally mundane task like making copies or helping one of the other employees reorganize the filing system, but Vanessa was sort of right. It wasn't the most interesting job in the world, but it was more exciting than hanging around the castle all day.

Just as Vanessa was getting ready to return to Ellen's castle, the whole building began to shake. Everyone immediately hid under their desks, and thankfully, there was enough room under Vanessa's desk for me to get under it. "Is this the earthquake that Ellen was talking about?" I tried to ask Vanessa, but she interrupted me mid-sentence.

"Yes," she said. The floor seemed to shift back and forth, and I held onto Vanessa's desk, hoping that it would be over soon. I imagined Ellen back in her castle, carefully controlling the tremors that we were experiencing. Somehow, that made me feel a little bit better. Ellen wouldn't let us die in this earthquake. I looked around for a few moments, and I spotted Gwen, but Declan was strangely absent. Perhaps I just don't see him, I thought.

All of a sudden, the shaking stopped. I crawled out from under Vanessa's desk and searched around the room again. A few small items had toppled over, but nobody was hurt. Declan ran over to Vanessa and kissed her, while Gwen announced that everyone could take the rest of the day off. "I think there's been enough excitement around here for one day," she said.

Vanessa drove me back to the castle after work that day. As soon as we were both in the car, she plugged in her phone, and a Coldplay song began to play. "I knew that earthquake was coming, but it was still scary," she said as she drove out of San Urbano and towards the castle in Skystead.

"I know," I said. I replayed the whole scene one more time, and a strange idea popped into my brain. I wanted to ask Vanessa about it, but something told me that I couldn't. She would just get mad at me for even suggesting it.

"I'm just so glad that Declan was there for me," Vanessa said. "I wish there were more men like him in the world. He's just so...normal, and it's amazing."

Maybe my idea was silly. I had no proof anyways. I remained silent for the rest of the ride, while Vanessa sang along to her music. When we arrived at the castle, Vanessa and I ate dinner with Ellen and Percy, and then settled in for a night of discussing the state of the world and Percy crushing Vanessa and I at Super Smash Bros.

When I returned home late that night, I felt satisfied, despite all of the mishaps at work. Finally, I had found a cure for my boredom, and I was sure that I could succeed at my new job. The incident with Terry had become a blessing in disguise in some ways, but a new job and new friends still couldn't erase my feelings of guilt. Carmen would still have to find a way for me to give Terry his soul back, and I could only hope that she would discover a way soon.