Thursday I drain my cup of weak, tepid staffroom coffee and reluctantly lift myself off of the battered old couch just as the bell rings, signalling the end of the lunch break. Thursday afternoon. Shit! Fourth period. Fuck! A Level English Literature. I can already feel the anxiety build. A group of twenty-five eager-to-learn eighteen-year-olds will be waiting for me in the classroom on the floor below. But that's not the...

I stepped in through the front door and gratefully kicked off my sneakers, dropping my backpack and folio case in the hall. My college assignment could wait for now. All I wanted this second was a cold drink from the fridge and a shower to get rid of the sweat of the day and the smell of oil paints and charcoal. I'm Louise, but most people call me Lou or Lulu. I'm twenty and currently studying for a degree in art. I bumme...

Papers were shuffled, and the gentleman on the other side of the desk clicked the lid onto his Montblanc pen. "Thank you very much, Miss Reeves; we'll be in touch very soon." I stood up to shake the interviewer's hand and gave him what I hoped was a winning smile. I took the lift back down to the lobby and ruminated on the interview. It felt like it had gone well. Good flow, no awkward pauses. no raised eyebrows. The chea...