The wind was especially harsh as I made my way from my faculty to the dorms. I guess this was something one should expect by studying in a city that is, in fact, called the Windy City. Every step closer to my dorm was followed up by my hair being whipped in my face, stinging my skin, and attempting to keep my coat closely wrapped around my body. Once I caught sight of my dorm, I quickened my pace, dodging through the other bodies that were suddenly taking up the quad. Curse classes getting out at the same time, just let me get safely to my dorm. Pushing past the last group of people, I reached my dorm, quickly swiping my card to grant me access to the warmth of the building. Thank goodness Thanksgiving was coming up. Thanksgiving meant Arizona and Arizona meant heat. Pulling my scarf off, I made my way up the steps to my room, fortunately only on the second floor. Juggling my laptop case sliding off my shoulder, my scarf, and thermos, I managed to pull out my ring of keys and unlock the door.

"Hey, what's – whoa. Did you come out of a hurricane or something?" My head snapped up to find my roommate, Jess, at her desk, her mass of curly black hair pulled into a large bun at the top of her head.

"What ever you do, do not go outside," I told her, pointing to the trees bending in the powerful wind.

"Got that memo, thanks. Seriously though," she got up and moved towards me, plucking a leaf out of my hair, "you look like you walked out of a hurricane."

"One more day, that's all I'm saying. Then I'll be safe and sound in a calm, dry desert." I stripped off my coat, draping it on my bed and grabbed my brush, attempting to untangle the rat's nest of hair that I had.

"That does not sound appealing."

"Well, of course it's not appealing to you, you're from Alaska. You like calm, dry, and freezing."

"Why yes I do and it's wonderful." I made a face and Jess laughed.

"So am I taking you to the airport tomorrow still?"

"Yeah, if you're up for it." I gave up on untangling my hair and settled on putting it in a bun. I'd deal with that later.

She nodded her head, turning back to her computer. "We'll leave at five-thirty, okay?"

"Sounds great," I replied, pulling out my suitcase and began loading up my belongings so I wouldn't be stressing in the wee hours of the next morning to get all my things together and be panicking. A few days home sounded like bliss. Just me and my parents and even my brother and sister were coming in! They didn't even live in Arizona anymore when my sister found a job as an x-ray technician in New York and my brother got married to a girl from Florida and they thought it best that they move there.

"Oh Talia!" Jess squeaked and I looked up at her as if she was about to tell me urgent news. "Did you hear back from any of the internships?"

Those internships were going to kill me. As part of my English major program with the focus in Journalism, I had to actually have experience somewhere. However, I didn't want the cop out of the local magazines and newspapers circulating through Chicago, so I applied elsewhere, which my professors allowed. I had had three interviews for the six places I applied and I only needed one to give me the green light.

"No! Thank you for reminding me!" I got to my feet, grabbing my mail key off the dresser and made my way downstairs to the mailboxes.

There were three places in the entire university that were the sources of all gossip that circulated throughout campus. The student lounge was always the first as the majority of all faculties met there for coffee and "studying" and there were so many reasons I stayed away from that specific area. Number two was the laundromat. Apparently washing clothes resulted in all the talk of raging parties and hook ups. Probably because they found clothes that weren't their own and the beer and food stained. Lastly were the mailboxes. It wasn't like there were masses of people surrounding the mailboxes, it was just one person to the next until everyone had heard about it. The bulletin board was across from all the mailboxes which didn't help either. Even if you thought someone wasn't in on the conversation, they were in on it.

I reached the mailbox and quickly found the flimsy metal box with the flaked gold numbers 229 etched across it and unlocked it. My arm slid into the opening and I patted around until I grasped a single envelope. My heart nearly stopped as I pulled out the single envelope and looked at it expectantly. 'Have You Ordered Next Semester's Books?' it read and I glared at the envelope.

Dang it.

Spam.

I chucked the letter in the waste bin, shutting my box with a satisfying clang of metal against metal, and then locked it.

"Ope! Excuse me!" The voice came a second too late as I bumped into a large person. It wasn't too forceful, just enough to make me stumble a few steps back, but the other person dropped whatever they were holding and I heard a heavy thump as something else hit the ground.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention," I said, bending down to pick up the dropped items, which I now saw were envelopes. Looking up to see a large man dressed in a mailman's uniform. My breath caught in my throat. They hadn't delivered the mail yet for today.

"No harm done," the man said, reaching for the mail.

"Is one of those for me?" I asked, hopefully.

"Maybe, what's your name?"

"Talia. Talia Parker. Box 229." I watched him shuffle through the envelopes until his fingers stopped filing through as he read one of the fronts.

"Talia Parker, box 229, from a Close Up! Magazine." I actually felt my heart stop when he read who it was from. He handed me the envelope and it was, indeed, from Close Up, the most prestigious magazine for all things celebrity and fashion and living, with even sections on international affairs. It was one of the few magazines that covered everything. It was the one magazine I didn't expect to hear from, but so far it was the only one that replied to my application.

"Thank you," I said to the mailman, making a hasty escape to the second floor. "Jess! I got a letter back from Close Up!" I screamed, bursting through door and plopping down on my desk chair.

"Read it!"

"Shouldn't I wait until I go home?"

"No! You've been waiting for a month to hear back, just open it!"

"But –"

"Open it."

"What about –"

"No. Open it." I sighed and ripped the envelope open, pulling the letter out and, taking a deep breath, I began to read it carefully.

"Read it out loud!" Jess ordered, kicking the edge of my seat.

"Miss Talia Parker, we here at Close Up! Magazine are always on the look out for the new and upcoming workers to take their place alongside us as one of the leading magazines in the United States. Our team has reviewed your application and portfolio and we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as an intern for the spring semester..." I trailed off, not too worried about reading the rest. My eyes were large and I could barely breathe as I looked up at Jess whose smile was taking over her face.

"Tal!"

"I know!" The second Jess started squealing was the moment that the feeling truly set in and I snatched my pillow off my bed and started screaming. I didn't know what else to do. Dance around like a maniac? Go declare it at the top of my building? Tell my parents? My parents! I found my phone buried somewhere in the depths of my purse and quickly dialed the number, motioning for Jess to silence.

"Hey Tal!" I heard my dad's chipper voice on the other side and I could barely contain myself.

"DadIgottheinternship," I sped through the words and, by the silence, I knew he had no idea what I had just said.

"Are you speaking Spanish, Talia? I'm not Mom," he said and I shook my head.

"No, Dad. I said, I got the internship." There was silence on the other end and I was beginning to think my father was deaf.

"The... the internship? Where? Which one?" He asked and I breathed again.

"Close Up!" I squealed and, even though Jess turned back to her computer again, I could see her smiling.

"No way! Marisa!"

"What?" I heard my mom reply in the background in her thick Spanish accent.

"Talia got the internship at Close Up!" I heard something clatter in the background before rapid footsteps and then, "Talia! You got internship?"

"Sì, mama," I told her. "I'm very excited!"

"Where is the internship?" My mind went blank suddenly. I don't think I read that far in the letter.

"One second, mama." I went back to the letter, scanning it until I found the section. "New York!" I squeaked out.

"You can stay with Eva!"

"Would she want me there?"

"I don't know, we can talk about it tomorrow when you're here. But I am very proud, mi amor,"

"Thanks, mama. I have to pack now, but I'll see you tomorrow!" My mom said a quick goodbye and at this point I was bubbling over with excitement. Packing didn't even seem like a chore anymore, I was too excited to finally go somewhere and do something that would lead me towards my career.

Journalism. Something that's interested me since I was a kid. Maybe when I was young, I didn't realize that writing articles and such even existed, but I loved writing stories about anything. My siblings made fun of me for how often I would drift off into my own world to think up a story for some random object, but they didn't understand how interesting it could be. Playing "What Do They Do" was my favorite game as my grandma and I used to sit on a bench in the park and guess what people did for a living and what their backstory was. It was always the most interesting thing to do in Globe, Arizona, but the sad part of the matter is that we actually knew what a good fraction of the people did. However, moving onto college in Chicago was a great new game for me as I could play it almost everyday I went to work at a restaurant downtown.

This internship meant so many doors for me and the fact that it was at Close Up and, indeed, a paid internship, made life a million times better. I could only imagine actually working at Close Up and spending my days writing articles about anything and everything that fascinated me. Nothing could or would distract me from becoming the best in their offices. I knew how to be likable! I could do anything they asked, I was determined to make a name for myself there so once I was done that single semester of work, I could move on to bigger and better things.

This was my way out and nothing was going to stop me.

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Okay so here it is! The beginning of The Intern! I hope you're as excited as I am and I will truly be posting more in September because I'm going to be unreasonably busy this next month and a half. Mostly because I have to get my computer fixed and might not be able to post the next chapters I have written.

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Hope you are all having a splendid summer and stay classy,

- Kate

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