Audition & Subtraction by Amy Fellner Dominy Page A

it up to me. So”—I shrugged—“thanks and all. But I’ll see you there.”
    He twisted back toward the desk. “Sure. Whatever.” Then he reached for the tray. “I’ll take this up.” A second later, he brushed by me, his eyes on the tray as he carried it to the front of the room.
    I watched his stiff back and felt like I’d said something wrong. I just wasn’t sure what.

Chapter 11
    I loved Lori’s room.
    With orange walls, a pink comforter on her white poster bed, and yellow pillows, it felt like I’d landed in a tub of rainbow sherbet. Best of all, there were two big cushy green chair pillows—the kind you could lean back on—set up in the corner.
    Lori wasn’t a star geek like me, but she’d let me stick a glow-in-the-dark galaxy on her ceiling anyway. Next to her bed, she had a calendar with pictures of the two of us on every month. I’d made it for her birthday. April’s picture showed us in midair jumping off the Van Sants’ diving board. We were holding hands and laughing.
    I dropped into a chair and sighed. “Today took forever.” I popped open a can of Diet Cherry Coke. Between the two chairs, Lori had set down a plastic bowl ofmicrowave popcorn—the low-fat, air-popped kind. I missed the old days when we’d have had a bowl of grapes and a pack of Ding Dongs each. We’d finish the Ding Dongs, wad up the foil wrappers, and play marbles with them. The last time we did that was just after Thanksgiving. It made me sad now that I thought about it. No one warns you when you’re doing something for the last time.
    I munched a handful of tasteless popcorn while Lori grabbed a bowl of beads and the necklace she’d been working on. She’d made me an anklet last week as nice as the ones you buy at the mall. “Did you know that if you don’t get enough salt in your diet, you can develop a goiter?” I said.
    She blinked at me. “A goiter?”
    â€œYou know, a bulge on your neck. We learned it in science.”
    â€œThat’s disgusting.”
    â€œTrue. It’s one of the things I love most about science. The disgusting factor.” I wiggled my fingers around another handful of popcorn. “Speaking of necks, you should see Andrew’s beard.”
    â€œStill growing?”
    â€œI’d say like a weed except weeds are natural, and this thing definitely isn’t.”
    She laughed as she worked a blue bead onto the wire. “Is the baseball team still winning?”
    â€œYeah, but today’s game will be the big test.”
    She paused and rolled a yellow bead between her fingers. “Did you want to go?”
    â€œYou kidding?” I said. “I’d rather hang out with you.”
    She set the beads back in the bowl. “I’m so glad you came over. I still feel bad about not practicing with you yesterday.”
    I almost shrugged off the apology, but I stopped myself. Aaron was right—it hadn’t been cool. “Yeah, me, too.”
    â€œMichael really needed the help.”
    I fiddled with a kernel of popcorn. “Funny how he needed it right when we were supposed to be practicing.”
    â€œAre we back to that again?” I heard the edge of annoyance in her voice, but I was annoyed, too.
    â€œI just think it’s suspicious. Why does he always seem to call when we’re practicing, unless he’s trying to sabotage me?”
    â€œSabotage?” She rolled her eyes.
    â€œI’m serious. If he screws up our practices, then I won’t be as sharp at auditions, and he has a better chance of making it.”
    Her jaw dropped. “You think he’s just going out with me to mess you up?”
    Hearing it back like that … I winced. Maybe it hadn’t come out right. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
    â€œThen exactly how did you mean it?”
    â€œI know he likes you,” I said carefully.