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Six 􀂌 72  \nChapter Seven 􀂌 82  \nChapter Eight 􀂌 99  \nChapter Nine 􀂌 110  \nChapter Ten 􀂌 121  \nChapter Eleven 􀂌 136  \nChapter Twelve 􀂌 148  \nChapter Thirteen 􀂌 159  \nChapter Fourteen 􀂌 172  \nChapter Fifteen 􀂌 183  \nChapter Sixteen 􀂌 190  \nChapter Seventeen 􀂌 195  \nKelley Armstrong Beginnings 3  \nChapter One  \nElena  \n“Your hours will be four to eight Tuesdays, nine to five Saturdays and the occasional Sunday afternoon.” Ms. Milken looked up at me, watery blue eyes swimming behind her thick glasses.“I trust that won’t be a problem.”  \n“Twelve hours?” I said. “I thought— But when you interviewed me you said a minimum of twenty hours a week.”  \n“Business needs change, Elena,” she said, enunciating slowly as if I might be too dim to understand this complex concept.“And I believe I said a possibility of twenty hours a week.”  \n“No, you—”  \nI clamped the tip of my tongue between my teeth. I knew she’d said twenty hours. A minimum of twenty hours. And damn it, I needed every one of them.  \nI pushed my chair back, hitting one of the two-foot drifts of paper that blanketed the floor. Didn’t look like business was slow. And how the hell could her “business needs” have changed so much since she interviewed me two weeks ago?  \nAs I composed myself, I glanced around the office. Blown-up copies of news articles covered the walls, struggling to convince the visitor that this was a real newspaper, instead of a weekly classified ad rag that scattered a few amateurish features among the advertisements.  \nWhen I saw those articles, so proudly displayed, I knew what had happened. I’d walked in for that interview two weeks ago, a third-year journalism student applying for a minimum wage  \nKelley Armstrong Beginnings 4  \njob, and Ms. Milken had seen her chance to hire a “semi-pro” reporter at a bargain-basement rate. I needed a job that offered twenty to thirty hours a week? Well, what a coincidence, that’s just what they had in mind, Ms. Milken said. She’d lied. Flat out lied. And I desperately wanted to call her on it. But I didn’t dare. I needed this job . . . any job.  \nSo I forced a shrug and a half-smile and said,“Maybe I misheard. But if you ever need someone to work extra hours, I can always use the money. I’ll leave you a copy of my schedule. I’m free any time I don’t have classes. Even at the last minute. Just give me a call.”  \nMs. Milken pursed her lips, then reached over to a stack of paper and plucked a single sheet from the middle. Without even a glance to see that she had the right one, she handed it to me.  \n“Tips for winterizing gardens,” she said. “Turn it into an article. Ten inches. For this week’s edition.”  \nI took the sheet. A list of gardening tips. I smiled my keenest cub reporter smile. “Ten inches? You got it. I’ll drop it off first thing in the morning.”  \n“This week’s edition goes to bed in two hours.”  \n“Two—?” My smile collapsed. “I’d love to do it, but I have a class at three.”  \nShe didn’t take the sheet back, only met my gaze. “Is this going to be a problem, Elena? I’ve hired students before, and I was reluctant to do so again. I need to know that your priorities are here. Not with boys or parties or bar-hopping or sororities.”  \n“I have my priorities straight,” I said, slowly and—I hoped—calmly. “My job is second only to my classes.”  \n“That won’t do.”  \nMy fingernails bit into my palms, but I kept my voice even. “Maybe, after today, I can skip the occasional class, if it’s for something critical.” Something other than a gardening-tip fluff  \nKelley Armstrong Beginnings 5  \npiece. “But this is the first week of classes, and this is my first time in this particular class, so I really can’t miss it.” I met her gaze, and knew from her frown that she was already mentally thumbing through her list of rejected applicants. “But . . . well, maybe I could give it a shot. I still have an hour.”  \n“There’s a d","cbCaiqJosYignyhs","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqJosYignyhs","pdf",622016,202,"English","# Chapter One\n## Elena","[{\"question\":\"Why does Elena feel her job offer terms changed after the interview?\",\"answer\":\"Ms. Milken initially discussed a minimum of twenty hours per week, but later assigns fewer hours, and Elena believes she was lied to.\"},{\"question\":\"What assignment does Elena receive for the newspaper’s next edition?\",\"answer\":\"Ms. Milken hands Elena a sheet titled “Tips for winterizing gardens,” directing her to turn it into an article with a ten-inch limit for the edition.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the timekeeping system affect Elena’s pay and her next steps?\",\"answer\":\"Elena worked fifty-five minutes, but the accounting office records time in fifteen-minute increments, so she is paid for forty-five and must rush to avoid being late for class.\"}]","Kelley Armstrong Beginnings - Chapter One - Elena | PDF",1789963873,311]