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took a lot of the pictures for the paper and a few other people I didn’t know yet. Jack talked to the crowd of us all at once.
    “Any other ideas?”
    “Move the paper delivery back to Thursday,” the year twelve reporter said, “instead of Tuesday when everyone is focused on the school week. Thursday they’ll be thinking about the weekend, and we can report on a few more social ideas, which should get everyone involved. Right now, there’s really no compelling reason to read the paper. It’s dull.”
    “Good idea, that’s good,” Jack said. “I don’t remember why we moved it to Tuesday. Julia always had it on Thursday, and I think that was successful.”
    Hazelle smiled broadly and looked over the crowd like she was the Queen about to do a royal wave.
    “Who is Julia?” I whispered to Melissa.
    “Hazelle’s older sister. She graduated and went on to journalism at university. Extremely clever. Definitely has a brilliant future ahead of her.” Then she turned back to the group. “How about placing a few adverts?” Melissa offered. Some cheered and others groaned.
    “Do we want to go all commercial? This isn’t exactly News of the World ,” one of the layout girls complained.
    “Better commercial than extinct,” Melissa pointed out. I noticed she didn’t lose her cool when crossed. “And we could find a few really tasteful ads.”
    “Who’s going to sell the adverts?” the other girl pressed.
    “All of us,” Jack said. “From time to time. We’ve got to give it a go.”
    After a few more comments he wrapped up the meeting. “Savvy, are you able to deliver the paper on Thursday mornings?”
    Sure, I thought. I have no life anyway. But all I said was, “Of course.”

    Thursday morning came and I got to school early. I could feel the hope in the newspaper room. The faculty adviser, Mr. Abrams, had brought cakes and tea for everyone.
    I had to admit, being from Seattle, I was a natural coffee drinker. Most of the people I knew who drank tea back home were either old or sick. But it helped take the edge off of the London fog. I liked it now too—milky, with a bit of sugar.
    Jack helped load the papers into my swanky Au Revoir bag. He lifted them in gently, like he was placing infants in a baby carrier. The whole staff focused on me—for once!
    “Don’t worry,” I said glancing at my watch. “I’ll get them all out.” I hoped.

Chapter 16

    After school I checked the paper holders around campus. It was true that a few more papers were gone . . . but there were still plenty of unread ones remaining. I packed the leftovers in my Au Revoir.
    Hey, I was a reporter, even if no one recognized me as one. Maybe I’d ask a few questions. I casually walked up to a group of guys standing by one of the newspaper stands.
    “Hello,” I said. “I’m on the newspaper staff, and we were wondering: do you read the paper?”
    One of them snorted. “Are you daft? Not much in there now, is there?”
    “There are some articles on academics and a few features of some of the students. A couple of commentaries about helping to apply to university.”
    “Not interested,” a guy with a flirtatious smile said as he winked at me. “In the paper, that is.”
    Really! Yeah, right! It was nice to be noticed. But things weren’t looking good for the Wexburg Academy Times .
    I walked to another paper stand and saw . . . almost none of them had been taken.
    “Excuse me.” I approached a group of girls standing nearby. It’s amazing how brave I was as a reporter—I never would have approached them just to say hi or to try to make friends. “Can I ask you a few questions about the school newspaper?”
    One of the most fashionably dressed girls turned toward me, and I recognized her immediately as one of the Aristocats. But Penny was nowhere in sight. “That rubbish? It’s not good for anything except training a puppy to piddle outside.”
    The group of hangers-on twittered behind their hands and started