Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter is shorter than the last one, but I couldn't make it any longer without it beginning to be mostly filling. Sorry. Hope you guys can forgive me, since it's just this once. And I'm sorry that it's a little late in the night, but I was finishing reading the last book in the series for the Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead. It's truly amazing and I definitely recommend it. However, if you decided to read it, read Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead first. The Bloodlines series is a spin-off of the Vampire Academy series, so you have to read one before the other. Anyways, here's the next chapter! As always, Read and Review!

Clare's POV

"Hello?" I answered the phone. I had just gotten back to my dorm room from my class.

"Hi. I'm looking for Clare Edwards." A female voice spoke.

"This is she." I replied.

"Hello. My name is Ellie Nash. I am the Associate Editor at the Core. We would like to know if you are still interested, and if so, we'd like to ask you to come in for an interview?" She asked.

"Yeah. Yes. I'm interested. Umm. When would you like me to come in?" I asked.

"How about a week from today? Next Monday at nine?" She offered.

"At nine?" I hesitated. "I actually have class from nine to five on Mondays."

"Okay. No problem. We are open until eight. Can you possibly do six-thirty?" She asked.

"Yes. Definitely. I'll be there." I jumped at the opportunity.

"Great. We'll see you then." Ellie said.

"Definitely. Thank you." I smiled, before hanging up the phone.

That was a week ago. I was currently on the subway, heading to my interview. I haven't seen Katie much since the Friday before I got that call, after the band gig. I have been busy with my classes now that they are in full swing. Plus I have been writing a few articles for the university's newspaper. I wanted to try to become part of that if this whole job opportunity with the Core fell through.

"You'll be fine. Don't worry too much. Worst case is that you won't get the job and you work at the university's paper until you find a job. It's not the end of the line." Zig stated, walking over to me and sitting down next to me.

"Yeah. I just—" I cut off, rubbing my eyes. "I just don't want to go through all of this to end up not getting the job. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's too late. I mean this is New York City. It's a lot different than working at my school back in Toronto." I sighed.

"Toronto? I thought you were from Boston." Zig replied confused.

"What?" I asked shocked. I didn't mean to let that slip. Last thing I needed was someone to just look back at Toronto and find out my past. "Yeah. I am." I said.

"So why did you say Toronto?" He asked.

"Because I lived there before I moved to Boston last year." I sighed. If he found out any other way, even from Katie because she knew that I was from Toronto, then he might actually be suspicious and look me up.

"Oh okay." He nodded, rubbing my back with his hand before pulling me into his side.

"Thanks for coming with me." I sighed, leaning into him.

"That's what friends are for." He smiled down at me.

"Next stop, Penn Station." The conductor spoke over the intercom.

"That's you." Zig stated.

"You're not coming?" I asked nervously.

"You need to do this on your own. If I go, you'll be holding onto me." He stated.

"I—Okay." I muttered.

The train came to a halt, and I stood up and headed to the door. I stood with many other passengers, waiting for the doors to open. When they did, I was forced out into the station. I left the station heading down the street towards the direction I needed. When I made it to the building I needed, I went inside. I had to go up to the fifth floor, before arriving at the Core.

When I did, walk into the Core it was a complete rush. People were bustling and moving in different directions. Everyone seemed to know what to do. Phones were ringing off the hook, and people were calling to each other from across the room.

"Ellie Nash. Associate editor. You must be Clare." The lady said, walking up to me.

"Hi." I smiled, shaking her hand.

"Come on. Jesse is waiting for you." She stated, directing me towards an office with glass for walls.

"Jesse?" I asked confused.

"The Core's lead editor?" She explained.

"Oh. I thought you were." I replied.

"Almost. I'm Jesse's second in command." She laughed. She walked into the glass office where a guy was hunched over his desk looking through papers. "Jesse. Clare Edwards is here for her interview." Jesse looked up and met both of our gazes before he put his papers down.

"Thank you Ellie." He smiled. Ellie headed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. "Clare, why don't you take a seat." He said, gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the desk from him.

"Sure." I smiled kindly. "Thanks."

"So from your resume I see that you don't have any experience at an actual newspaper. But I did find that you worked in your newspaper back in Toronto. What happened to that?" He asked, looking through notes before looking up.

"How did you find that out? I didn't put that in my resume." I said confused.

"We are required to do background checks to make sure nothing surfaces into the press that we are unaware of." He answered. "So what happened to your position two years ago?" He repeated.

"I—I um, I moved. And I wanted to focus on school when I got to my new school so I didn't apply to that paper." I answered.

"I see." He exhales before crossing his arms on the desk in front of him. "Clare I know about Toronto. Everything that happened. I understand why you want that to be hidden from people, but you can't hide it in journalism. If you get a controversial story or a rogue writer out to get you, they'll delve into your past. They'll find out these things within minutes of searching your name."

"I just don't want it to affect me. I've moved on. It's in the past, and I want it to stay there." I replied.

"You can't keep secrets in a newspaper. You can keep it from outsiders, but not from your coworkers. Within these walls we have no secrets. We work together to get everything done efficiently and we all help each other out." He said.

"Okay." I exhaled.

"So what's the most important thing to you about a story?" He asked, looking back through his notes again.

I smiled as I thought about it, glad that we were back on safe topics. Eventually the interview was over, and he told me I could leave. Ellie was waiting for me afterwards.

"All set?" She asked.

"Yeah. Thanks." I replied smiling.

"Okay. Great. We will give you a call. If you haven't heard from us by next week, give us a call. Jesse can get a little sidetracked some times." She stated, as she showed me out.

"Great. Thanks." I smiled. Walking out of the office, I couldn't be more elated. Things were finally turning around for me.