[Veritas]

The second I got home, I booted on the family PC and entered the site printed on the card. I scrolled down the menu until I hit Employment and clicked onto that. An e-application appeared. I clcked on Reply and filled it out.

Name: Terrell, Jane Marie
Address: 4808 Abigail, Boren, ST. 43256
Phone: 564-324-8970
E-Mail: filmbuff.com
DOB: 3-16-90
Position Applied For: Anything I can do.
Full or Part Time: Part
Hours Available: Evenings and weekends.
Are you currently going to school?: Yes.
Do you have any disabilities which would prevent you from certain types of work?: No.
Are you in the military?: No
Marital Status: Single.
Education: Boren High School, Boren, ST. Still attending.
Work Experience: Here I just listed the families I babysat for, and the dishwasher job I had last summer.
Hobbies, Special Interests: Movies, books, creative writing.
Special Skills: I am good with words, and I am a quick learner. I work hard.
In case of emergency, please contact: Louise Terrell, mother, at 564-324-8970
Under penalty of perjury, I affirm that the above information is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Signed: Jane Terrell. Date: 4-12-20--.

I hit Send, and it was on its way. I was supremely confident that I would get the job. What job it would be never occured to me.



I got the call in May. I would be interviewed that Saturday afternoon. I almost did backflips when I heard the news! I was going to work at the Magic Castle! Wow! I rushed over to my mom and dad, who were sitting at the dining room table, going over the bills.

"Mom! Dad! Guess what?" I cried out excitedly. "I got a job at the Magic Castle!"

"The where?" Mom said, puzzled.

"The Magic Castle! You know, where the haunted house was every year?"

"You're working in a haunted house?" Dad asked, confused.

"No, no, no! The Magic Castle is a magic club run by Criss Angel. It's gonna open in June."

"Who's Criss Angel?" Mom wanted to know.

"He's a magician, and he bought the old castle and is turning it into a magic club. And I'm going to be working there! I got the interview this Saturday! I won't let it interfere with school, I promise."

"Well, I'm glad you're going to be working, honey," Mom said a bit hesitantly, "but I'd like to know more about this Angel guy, and what he does."

"I just told you, he is a magician. And I met him, he's a really nice guy. You'd like him. I mean, I'm not going to date him or anything, just be working for him. You've got nothing to worry about. I'll be fine."

"What will you be doing at that club, anyway?" Dad wanted to know.

I hesitated. "Well, I don't know yet. Maybe serving drinks or something."

"You know you can't serve alcohol until you're eighteen," Dad reminded me. "It's the law."

"Okay, maybe not serving, but I'll be doing something there. It beats babysitting, anyway. It's a real job."

"At least when you're babysitting, I know the people you're working for." Mom said.

"Mom, I'm seventeen now! I can take care of myself." I argued. "Please stop being so overprotective!"

"Honey, you know I worry about you--"

"Stop worrying! I'll be fine! This is the greatest opportunity of my life, and you're trying to stop me? I don't want to be working for the same people all the time! I want to work at the Magic Castle! It's going to work out, you'll see. I got to go out in the world sometime in my life. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in Boren with the same people I grew up with. I'd like to meet some new faces, and go to places I'd never been before. I want to be alive!"

"We want you to be alive, too, dear," Mom said. "We want you to be safe wherever you are working. You will be working for strangers there. We don't know who this person is, and you only met him just once. I just don't want my baby to get hurt, that's all."

"I'm not a baby anymore!" I stormed. "I'm practically an adult now. I'll be graduating next year, and I'll be going to college and study filmmaking! I have to leave home sometime!"

"I know you'll be graduating, but not until next year," Dad said. "And you are not yet a legal adult, and your welfare is still our concern. We want you to be safe."

"You just don't understand. You don't understand at all!"

I stormed out of the dining room and up to my bedroom. Geez! Seventeen years old and they still treated me like a kid! Well, I was going to prove to them that I could live my own life. I was going to that interview Saturday, and I was going to get that job!



To make a long story short, I did go to the interview, and I did get that job. I would be hostessing the guests, escorting them to their tables. I had to dress really nice and wear comfortable shoes, as I would be standing almost the entire shift. My hours would be from seven PM to twelve midnight, three nights a week, and Saturdays from six PM until midnight. I worked longer hours babysitting, sometimes not getting home until two or three in the morning, so it worked for me. I would begin the first Saturday in June, opening night.

I chose a long black skirt I used to wear in Junior Chorus (thank God it still fit!), and a silky white blouse. I pinned up my mousy hair as attractivly as I could. I wanted to look older, but not frumpy. I had wanted to color my hair for so long, but Mom always nixed it. She said it looked fine as it was. Told you she was boring.

Now that I had my license, I could borrow the car to drive to work, so long as I paid for gas and came home straight after my shift.
I agreed. I'd be too tired to go out partying, anyway, I thought.

There was a front-page feature in the Boren Observer about the Magic Club, with a large photo of a mysterious looking Criss Angel on it. Illusionist Criss Angel brings magic and mystery to Boren. read the headline. There were photos of the castle and what was inside.

The kids at school, especially the girls, couldn't get enough of Criss. They passed around that newspaper like a stolen love note.

"Wow! He's so hot!"

"I think he looks weird."

"Weird? I think he's sexy!"

"Look at all those necklaces he's got! And he's wearing earrings! I never saw a guy wearing earrings before."

"You think he's gay?"

"Hope not."

"Criss Angel? What kind of a name is that?"

"Probably a stage name."

"Yeah. Magicians do that, so they can be more mysterious."

"You gonna go there?"

"Hell, yeah! It's time something exciting happened here in Boring."

"Me, too."

"Hey, Janie?" Sondra Brisen hailed me. "You read about the Magic Castle? And this guy, Criss Angel?" Sondra was one of those people whose every statement was like a question.

"Not only do I know about it," I bragged, "but I'm going to be hostess there on opening night!"

"Shut up!!" Andrea Woods squealed. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

"God's truth," I told them. "I got the job last week. In fact, I met him before."

"When?" said Andrea, almost accusingly.

I told them the story of how I was meandering around the castle when I saw Criss close the deal on it, and our conversation during spring break, and the rest was history. I tried not to brag too much, keeping it as matter of fact as I could, so as not to alienate my friends, but I confess a little conceit crept in unnoticed.

"So, do you think he's gay?" Jasmine Tyre blurted out, in her typical bluntness. She never engaged the clutch in her brain before putting her mouth in gear.

"No, he's not gay," I retorted. "He's different, that's all. But he's a really nice guy, and he is so talented. He could handle a deck of cards like you wouldn't believe!"

"You think we can get in for free? Since you'll be working there?" Sondra asked.

"Hey, there's no cover, and only kids under fourteen have to have a parent with them. But since it's opening night, you'll definatly want to make a reservation." I informed them. I gave them the number of the Magic Club. "Just call ahead. Way ahead."

The bell rang for afternoon classes. We said our goodbyes and headed for our lockers. Saturday was opening night. And I was as nervous as a bride.