Drew finally is all packed and very eager to take his trip to the USA. His head full of what he believes the USA is all about. Some of his conceptions had changed last summer when he and his sister had two Americans stay with them in the student exchange program.

Still, Drew had many ideas and concepts of what spending a summer in the USA would be like. How surprised he was going to be as reality invaded his dreamed up ideas. Juliet, his sister whom almost everyone calls Jules would be going as well. The group (Gang) Drew hung with was lucky as almost all of them are taking part and would be going as well.

Ms Angel O'Hare sat at her desk in front of her new computer, a top of the line model with all the bells and whistles a writer could ever want. She could not believe how she had gotten here. Just a month ago, she had graduated tops at her college in her major, journalism. It was soon after that, a Mr. Johnston approached her with a job offer. He is the head of the sports desk for the Sentinel, a very popular daily section in most major newspapers and a monthly sports magazine. The pay was fantastic and for a newcomer to land a job with the Sentinel was a very rare happening.

Angel's Mother was very proud of her daughter. Julia was worried at first about her daughter's choice of professions, with all the trouble in the world these days. The number of journalists killed covering these trouble spots mounted every month. Angel, hired as a sports reporter and writer made her feel much better.

Angel knew from the start that she would need a specialty to stand out from the other wannabee reporters. She decided to learn and know all there was about mainstream sports popular in other countries. Sports, that were not very popular here in the USA. She studied the Olympic events and concentrated on a few of those that had professional ties. While Angel was still in college Lance Armstrong made cycling something to report about and the popularity in America for cycling shot up like a rocket. Her mind was made up at that moment; she would concentrate on world cycling events.

That is why Mr. Johnston approached her. He wanted a women's perspective on the new star rising in women's cycling a Jenny Bond. He had a great reporter covering Jenny already. The twist was that Jenny had a youngster following in her footsteps. There was a bit of confusion surrounding this very young rising star. The reports he was getting made him smile, this story promised to be a big one! He needed a newbie, an unknown to investigate and break the story so the other publications wouldn't guess what he was up to.

In America, spring had sprung and the capitalist nation was awakening to new styles and the ever present, advertising to the yearly spring "SHAPE UP AMERICA" campaign. Attached to each get fit sport was a popular star in that particular sport. Advertising linked to sports figures is a very popular moneymaking tool in the USA. Sports publication subscriptions shot up in the spring and all of them had their specialty. The Sentinel being very popular and wide ranging covered most if not all the sports and their stars. One difference was the section entitled 'Who Too Watch', which covered the rising amateurs sure to turn professionals.

Promotion is a big thing in America. Companies used popular sports figures to promote their products. They sponsored sporting events in a big way and always had a big star to help in the promotions. Jenny Bond had caught the eyes of a few big companies when she was a guest cyclist in the USA. Her team had shown the American team a thing or two and the women and young girl spectators seemed to flock to her. She had a charisma and charm that welcomed this attention, that and she spoke English. The big guns of these companies were hard at work trying to outdo each other to sign Jenny to an advertising contract.

Now, this is where Angel fits in with Mr. Johnston's plans. Through Alex, (Alexandra) his reporter covering Jenny, he had learned of Jenny Bond's thirteen year old son Drew. He has shown a lot of promise, also Jenny's confusing relationship with a Gaby or Dee, a thirteen-year-old girl rising in fame as a cyclist as well all at the same time.

Angel, he assigned to cover Drew and sort out the relationship with this Gaby or Dee. He had this inkling of a hidden story in this one and Angel was the perfect person to cover and investigate this. You see, Mr. Johnston knew Angel had been born a male and if his hunch paid off, Drew, Dee, or Gaby would be much more inclined to talk with Angel, more so than to any other reporter. When he first had seen Angel, he could not believe she had once been a boy. She was a very pretty young woman. It was then he had investigated her past personally. Now he knew just about all there was to know about her and would use this knowledge to his advantage.

Angel O'Hare 09.05.04 © 2004

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