Chapter 8
The door slammed and Michelle came through the door. Stephanie looked up from the table, where she was doing her homework.
"Hey, Michelle. How'd you like the presentation that Melanie and I did today?" Michelle grinned. "It was awesome! I learned so much. Teddy and Denise thought it was cool, too." Stephanie beamed. "Thanks Michelle!"
The next day in school, Stephanie was at her locker when she heard someone calling her name. "Steph! Stephanie! Oh my god you'll never guess what I'm soooo happy about!" Melanie ran toward her, losing her balance as her foot scuffed the floor. Stephanie caught her just as she was about to hit the floor, and helped her regain her balance.
"There. Now will you tell me before I die of curiosity?" Stephanie said. Melanie's eyes sparkled. "OK, here goes. I am going to be in the Neighborhood Heroes section of Newsday!" Stephanie gasped. Neighborhood Heroes was a weekly column in Newsday where people were featured for their community service. "Mel, that's great!" Melanie grinned. "Yeah, I know! And here's something that'll make you even happier! You're going to be in it too!"
Stephanie nearly fell over. "Seriously!" Melanie nodded excitedly. "The editor for the column is the father of one of the kids that saw our presentation! He says we'd be perfect for the column." Melanie wore a far-off look in her eyes as she imagined the possibilities. "Think of what this could bring for us…."
The next few weeks were a blur of Neighborhood Hero-related things. Stephanie and Melanie went to a photo shoot, where a professional photographer took their picture for the article. Then, one Sunday about two weeks later, Stephanie opened her newspaper to see a full page article in the Neighborhood Hero column-with a color photo of her and Melanie with their arms around each other. Stephanie shrieked.
"Dad, Uncle Jesse, Aunt Becky, Joey, everybody! The article's in the paper!" Stephanie's whole family crowded around to see it. They all commented on how nice it was. Then, Stephanie got to school to see Melanie standing at her locker. They both started talking at once. "Did you see it? Oh my god that was so COOL!" A teacher passing by glared at them but neither of them cared. Stephanie grinned so hard her face hurt. She couldn't think of anything nicer or cooler then being in the paper with your best friend.
A/N: Oh my god I am sooo sorry for not updating for so long! Its just school….does anyone else think 8th grade is the pits? Anyway, Neighborhood Heroes is based on the column in Newsday called Everyday Hero. And yes, I was an Everyday Hero a couple months ago for my website. Seriously, its sooo cool being in the paper. Anyway I probably won't have as much time to update what with school and everything-also I'm writing a Star Trek fanfic and also a story on FictionPress. So, yeah. I'm a busy girl. Please review!