“And in closing,” I started. “I believe my experience working in libraries of all shapes and sizes would make me an excellent fit here at Rising Shards." 

I held a firm smile despite the silence that followed from my interviewers, who had been talkative so far. 

After Evy told me about the job at Rising Shards, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I applied almost immediately, and my anxiety about getting the job got worse after Zeta got into a fight at school. I hated being so far away from her, even if she was just a suburb away. I already braced Zeta for moving away from Litus Empirica, the only home she’d known, and she was receptive to that and to me working at Rising Shards. Now it was just up to me to actually get the job. I had agonized a lot about the interview leading up to it, but the actual thing wasn’t so bad. 

It was kind of weird being interviewed by two celebrities, namely Principal Penteldtam Kilander and his brother/co-principal Berin, who starred on a reality show about their family. They were on the much, much lower end of ‘important’ Kilanders and didn’t get much airtime on the show, but still. I guess it was weird enough the two ended up running a school, but the Kilanders had strong ties to Rising Shards. Penteldtam was very strange (pouring runny eggs into his coffee cup as I walked into the interview room strange) and probably grossly unqualified for the job, which he showed in the interview by asking me pointless and weird questions. Berin was more normal (which was probably why he wasn’t featured on the reality show much), and asked more normal job interview questions.

“Well, Miss Faleur, I’m very impressed!” Penteltdam said. “In fact, I’d say you’re pretty nifty! I’ll definitely take your suggestion on what substance would be best to clean a highway on ramp, good thing I asked that one, right?”

“It was great speaking with you.” Berin said. “We have a few more interviews scheduled, but we’ll be in touch.”

“Great!” I said.

Honestly, I felt like I crushed the interview. Which wasn’t the most terrific feeling, because sometimes when I thought I completely aced it I ended up not getting the job. There was one acting gig I wanted so bad that I was so sure I nailed the interview and audition for, then heard afterwards that my performance trying out for a bubbly character was “a bit stuck-up-bitchy in and out of character” which required a long weekend of wine and crying. But I was optimistic here. I was more than qualified for this, and had been in so many interviews for library jobs that I didn’t freak out during them like I usually do.

After the interview, I headed to the girls’ dorms on campus. I did a quick scan of the girls’ dorm’s library where I’d also be working if I got the job in addition to the main one. After that, I headed to Zeta’s room. I had a few reasons for stopping there before I left.

“You don’t look mad, or sad,” Zeta said after opening the door. “I’ve seen you leave some interviews pretty sad or mad, so that’s a good sign, right?”

“I hope so!” I said. “Now can you let me in?”

“Oh, right!” Zeta said, getting out of my way.

I went into Zeta’s dorm bathroom, grabbing the garment bag hanging on the door. I wanted to look incredibly professional and fit to be a librarian going in, so I wore one of my suit jackets, a button down shirt, and a skirt that looked great but was uncomfortably constricting on my waist. Once the door was shut and locked, I changed out of my interview clothes and got into the comfier set I’d brought along.

“Remember, no judging the state of the bathroom,” Zeta called from outside. “You promised, remember?”

“I know, cuz I couldn’t blame it on just you if the three of you messed it up in here,” I said. I still had to look though. I kind of expected a complete disaster from Zeta without me to nag her into cleaning, but the bathroom wasn’t in a state of disarray. “It doesn’t look too bad though.”

“That’s kinda judging, Stella,” Zeta said.

“Good judging!” I said. I put my fancy clothes away in the garment bag and left the bathroom. I paused, realizing I hadn’t noticed Zeta’s roommates and best friends, Oka and Kalei, were there as well. After chatting them up a bit, I noticed Zeta staring out the window. The weather forecast said heavy snow that day, and that heavy snow was beginning to really fall. “Hey, Stella…this storm’s looking bad.”

In addition to being a big yelper, Zeta’s a big worrier. Snow especially got her anxious, which I assumed came from one of her shows that had some kind of tragic snow accident or something. I tried to limit how much I was out and about during snowstorms just to keep her calmer.

“I’ll be alright,” I said.

“Are you going to drive home in this?” Zeta asked.

“Your sister’s an adult, she can handle it,” Kalei said. “Like, if it’s really bad, she can just walk!”

“I’m not going to walk.” I said. I didn’t want to make Zeta worry any more, so I tried to not let it show that I didn’t like the look of the snowstorm outside. Pippi always kept track of weather and would always warn me how bad blizzards were going to be even if I didn’t want to hear it, but my focus was on the interview, not weather.

“You know…” Zeta said. “You could spend the night here with us! You could sleep on the floor!”

“I’m…good.” I said.

“How about sleeping at the library?” Oka suggested. “You’d give off the impression of a real go getter.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d get thrown out.” I said. “And I took a Stuba here, so I was just gonna take one back.”

A howling wind answered me, slamming snow against the window. Zeta pouted at me like the snow had somehow spoken to her that I was blatantly lying about how bad this storm was.

“Zeta, if it’s really bad, I’ll just get a hotel for the night.” I said. “And no, your room would not be the same thing as a hotel. I won’t have to sleep on the floor at a hotel.”

“It could be like a mock Safe Silver though…” Zeta said. “It is the first big blizzard this season, doesn’t it make you feel all festive?”

“A bit, but not festive enough to spend the night sleeping on your floor.” I said. “I should really go, though.”

Zeta gave me her anxious hug, the kind that was a bit tighter than normal because her mind was probably going through all kinds of doom filled scenarios. I wished I could help her through this particular doom thought train more, but I figured getting home safe as soon as I could would be the easiest.

“I’ll text you when I’m wherever I’m gonna be for the night.” I said, gently rubbing my little sister’s back. “Fair?”

“Fair…” Zeta said.

“Alright, love you, thanks for letting me change here and keeping my clothes safely guarded.”

“Yeah…” Zeta said, still clinging to the hug. She mumbled a “Love you too…” before retreating back to her bed.

“Bye, Stella!” Oka said. “I hope to see you working next time! Or, working here next time. I hope you get the job, I mean!”

"Later." Kalei said.

I waved as I left. I decided that for doing well in the interview, I deserved a coffee. And fortunately for me, the cafeteria at Rising Shards had a nice little café (well, less nice little café and more a mini in school version of a major coffee chain). Since it was close to the holidays, they had some seasonal stuff already, so I went with a gingerbread latte. I walked over to the wall of windows in the cafeteria, where I sipped my latte and watched the snow.

Do I really want to call a cab to get home in this? What else could I do?

“What a mess,” a familiar voice said near me. I looked over to see Dr. Diast also staring out at the blizzard. She didn’t notice me yet; she was just talking to herself.

If I wanted to play it safe, I could sneak away. I’d probably say something dumb right away. Maybe Evy was pissed about the snow and would get more pissed if I talked to her and said something dumb. But the caffeine and the good vibes of the job interview had me more less inclined to think the worst of a situation. So I decided to say hello.