rechecked last night and again this morning. I’m terrified I’ve forgotten my antiperspirant. No way do I want to sweat peaches on stage again. Hurry up , she adds.
I glance at my watch. We’re leaving at eleven. I still have five minutes. Relax , I text back . Roskinski’s not on board yet anyway . I see him down the hall, standing outside the office talking to Ms. Vastag.
Hunter saved you a seat. :)
In that case…I zip up my bag, slam my locker shut and head down the hall. As I pass the office, Ms. Vastag looks over and smiles. Whoa. I almost stumble. Last time she smiled, I was in grade eight. “Good luck, Paige.”
Paige? Now she’s calling me Paige ?
“We’re all rooting for you.”
It’s the nicest thing Vastag has ever said to me. It’s also the scariest. Because it tells me how much is riding on my win.
Outside, a light drizzle is falling—the misty, barely there kind that does a real number on my hair. I tuck as much of it as I can under my raincoat and hurry down the sidewalk to the yellow bus waiting at the end of the drop-off zone. I’m not even to the back of the bus when the cheering starts. “Larsson, Larsson…”
My face flames. Oh God, kill me now.
When I reach the side of the bus, I see it: a six-foot-long paper banner taped to the side windows. Huge red letters say Comedy star Paige Larsson goes for the win. And ITCF rules!
Comedy star? Seriously? It’s not enough that I’m about to potentially humiliate myself onstage in front of hundreds of strangers, but I have to humiliate myself for three hours on I-5 getting there?
Smiling, the driver takes my bag and stows it with the other luggage. I take a deep breath and step onto the bus. The claps and whistles start. I spot Annalise and Liam. More buddies from drama. Hunter and Carly. Everybody’s smiling. My throat tightens. These guys are my friends. And they’re totally, 100 percent behind me. I’m lucky. I grin. “Gimp coming through.”
“Larsson, Larsson!” The cheers keep coming.
How embarrassing. “Shut up, guys, you’re violating the noise bylaws.” I make my way down the aisle. “They’re already getting calls in the office.” Clearly nobody believes me, because the cheers keep coming. I slide into the empty seat beside Hunter. An open bag of potato chips sits on his knees.
Across the aisle, Carly is grinning like a crazy fool. “Oh my god, Paige, I can’t believe this day has finally come!” She fist-pumps the air.
“Yeah. It’s amazing how Friday comes after Thursday.” I start to pull my jacket off. “I can hardly believe it myself.”
Carly rolls her eyes. Hunter sets aside his chips to help me with my sleeve. There’s a chip crumb on his lower lip. I wonder what it would be like to kiss it away. Or have the guts to tell him how I feel. The thought makes me hot.
“Sleep much?” he teases.
“As much as possible.”
He laughs. “At least you’re relaxed about everything.”
“I’m so relaxed, I can barely keep my eyes open.” I open my mouth to fake a yawn, and a real yawn takes over.
Carly leans over and sticks her phone under my nose. “I told you you’d hit that ten-thousand mark.”
I stare down at the screen. It takes me a second to make sense of what I’m seeing. My YouTube channel has ten thousand subscribers. Before I was shortlisted for the ITCF , I had five thousand. “Wow.” My mouth is suddenly dry. “This whole thing has been totally worth it.” All the practicing, all the stressing.
“Of course it’s been worth it,” Hunter says.
“And it’s only the beginning,” Carly says. “Because you’re going to win, and you’ll go to New York, and you’ll be a star.”
Annalise leans over from the seat ahead of us. “And the drama department will get ten grand out of the deal too!” she says.
My heart lurches. “I know. It’s gonna be great!” As long as I win. If I lose, I let everybody down.
A few minutes later, Mr. Roskinski boards the bus and the
I glance at my watch. We’re leaving at eleven. I still have five minutes. Relax , I text back . Roskinski’s not on board yet anyway . I see him down the hall, standing outside the office talking to Ms. Vastag.
Hunter saved you a seat. :)
In that case…I zip up my bag, slam my locker shut and head down the hall. As I pass the office, Ms. Vastag looks over and smiles. Whoa. I almost stumble. Last time she smiled, I was in grade eight. “Good luck, Paige.”
Paige? Now she’s calling me Paige ?
“We’re all rooting for you.”
It’s the nicest thing Vastag has ever said to me. It’s also the scariest. Because it tells me how much is riding on my win.
Outside, a light drizzle is falling—the misty, barely there kind that does a real number on my hair. I tuck as much of it as I can under my raincoat and hurry down the sidewalk to the yellow bus waiting at the end of the drop-off zone. I’m not even to the back of the bus when the cheering starts. “Larsson, Larsson…”
My face flames. Oh God, kill me now.
When I reach the side of the bus, I see it: a six-foot-long paper banner taped to the side windows. Huge red letters say Comedy star Paige Larsson goes for the win. And ITCF rules!
Comedy star? Seriously? It’s not enough that I’m about to potentially humiliate myself onstage in front of hundreds of strangers, but I have to humiliate myself for three hours on I-5 getting there?
Smiling, the driver takes my bag and stows it with the other luggage. I take a deep breath and step onto the bus. The claps and whistles start. I spot Annalise and Liam. More buddies from drama. Hunter and Carly. Everybody’s smiling. My throat tightens. These guys are my friends. And they’re totally, 100 percent behind me. I’m lucky. I grin. “Gimp coming through.”
“Larsson, Larsson!” The cheers keep coming.
How embarrassing. “Shut up, guys, you’re violating the noise bylaws.” I make my way down the aisle. “They’re already getting calls in the office.” Clearly nobody believes me, because the cheers keep coming. I slide into the empty seat beside Hunter. An open bag of potato chips sits on his knees.
Across the aisle, Carly is grinning like a crazy fool. “Oh my god, Paige, I can’t believe this day has finally come!” She fist-pumps the air.
“Yeah. It’s amazing how Friday comes after Thursday.” I start to pull my jacket off. “I can hardly believe it myself.”
Carly rolls her eyes. Hunter sets aside his chips to help me with my sleeve. There’s a chip crumb on his lower lip. I wonder what it would be like to kiss it away. Or have the guts to tell him how I feel. The thought makes me hot.
“Sleep much?” he teases.
“As much as possible.”
He laughs. “At least you’re relaxed about everything.”
“I’m so relaxed, I can barely keep my eyes open.” I open my mouth to fake a yawn, and a real yawn takes over.
Carly leans over and sticks her phone under my nose. “I told you you’d hit that ten-thousand mark.”
I stare down at the screen. It takes me a second to make sense of what I’m seeing. My YouTube channel has ten thousand subscribers. Before I was shortlisted for the ITCF , I had five thousand. “Wow.” My mouth is suddenly dry. “This whole thing has been totally worth it.” All the practicing, all the stressing.
“Of course it’s been worth it,” Hunter says.
“And it’s only the beginning,” Carly says. “Because you’re going to win, and you’ll go to New York, and you’ll be a star.”
Annalise leans over from the seat ahead of us. “And the drama department will get ten grand out of the deal too!” she says.
My heart lurches. “I know. It’s gonna be great!” As long as I win. If I lose, I let everybody down.
A few minutes later, Mr. Roskinski boards the bus and the
Similar Books
