In the Spotlight by Liz Botts, Elaina Lee Page A

place.
    Still, I couldn’t help but admire the way Josh played basketball. Even with their winning season winding down and a guaranteed spot in the play-‐-offs, Josh played hard, like it was the most important game of the season. And even though he was clearly the team’s star, he played to make the other players shine.
    How can you not admire that?
    I actually enjoyed watching the game away from the drama and gossip of the band. When halftime rolled around, I felt like it was the first game I’d seen all season.

Chapter Six
    My after-‐-school job at Jimmy’s Red Hots could hardly be called taxing. Mainly I sat around in my polyester yellow and green uniform–which reminded me of Bert from Sesame Street–and did my homework. Jimmy, the owner, rarely even showed up until the
    “dinner rush” as he called it, so that left me and Madison to handle the massive onslaught of ravenous college students who descended on us every afternoon. Okay, that is such an exaggeration. We normally saw two or three regulars a day during my shift, and they were all nervous, slightly dorky college boys who stopped in between classes, mainly to stare at Madison.
    Madison was great most days. She was a junior at the university majoring in theater, so we had a lot in common. I was pretty sure Jimmy had hired her because of her looks, not her stellar line cook abilities. But no one ever complained if their hot dog was a little well done. And as long as no one got food poisoning, Jimmy was happy. Let me just say that I never touched the food at work, unless I made a fresh batch of French fries, which was all the cooking Jimmy let me do.
    “So, how did your audition go?” Madison asked, wiping her hands on her apron. She came out of the kitchen and leaned on the counter by me. One of the aforementioned geeky college boys sitting a few stools away from us began to openly gawk at Madison’s rather ample cleavage accentuated by a uniform that I suspected was at least two sizes too small. I blushed and tried to focus on my history homework. The way Madison didn’t care if the guys stared at her made me uncomfortable.
    “Earth to Hannah,” Madison said, poking me in the arm.
    I glanced up from my history book. Talking about the musical was much more enticing than reading about the economics of the Revolutionary War.
    “Oh, you know,” I said as casually as I could. “I sort of got the lead without even doing a callback.”

    Madison’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?” She squealed. “Oh, Hannah, congratulations! I’m so proud of you!”
    Before I knew what was happening, Madison had wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug that crushed my ribs and made it difficult to breathe. The guy who had been staring at Madison’s cleavage gave me an envious look, and if I’d been able to breathe, I seriously would have insisted that he take my place.
    When she let me go, I gasped for air. “Thanks. I’m pretty excited about it.”
    Madison sighed happily and leaned against the counter again. It struck me as weird that one of the things I’d admired about Madison in the beginning was her ability to switch emotions so quickly. Now I just found her overly dramatic.
    “So tell me,” she said, “how did this all happen. I thought you said that only seniors got lead roles at your school.”
    I shrugged. “That’s how it’s always been. This year we’re doing an original show written by one of the seniors as his senior project. So I guess Ms. Bard decided to change the rules.”
    Returning to my seat at the counter, I opened my history textbook again. My mind wandered to Ms. Bard’s final challenge to us in drama class earlier that day. Somehow I had to turn my life into a fairy tale, and write it up as a short play as our semester project. Although, to be fair, my life seemed a lot like a fairy tale lately. But which one?

    ****
    There was something unsatisfying about telling everyone before the official cast list went up. I resolved to tell