Audition & Subtraction by Amy Fellner Dominy Page B

“I’m just saying the timing was suspicious.”
    â€œIt wasn’t suspicious,” she shot back. “Michael tried to get a room later in the day, but Mr. Wayne didn’t have any other openings.”
    â€œOkay, sorry, I didn’t know.” I tapped her foot with mine. “Forget I said anything.”
    She looked away a second, her fingers gripping the armrests. Then she sighed and turned back. “I’m sorry, too. But this means a lot to Michael.”
    â€œI know—it means a lot to me.”
    â€œBut it’s not just District Honor Band.” Lori pulled her hair into a pony and twirled it around a hand. I could sense her sudden nervousness, feel it thrum through me as if we were connected. “Michael really wants to impress Dr. Hallady.”
    â€œSo do I.”
    â€œBut you don’t,” Lori said. “You hate Dr. Hallady.”
    â€œI don’t hate him.” I curved my arms around the fuzzy sides of the chair. “I hate that he’s scary, and he makes kids cry during practices.”
    â€œWhich is why it’s good that you’ll be in concert band with Mr. Gibbs—he’s supposed to be really cool.”
    The thrumming inside me grew with my own nervousness. “Maybe I don’t want to be in concert band. Mr. Wayne thinks I have a chance to make Wind Ensemble.”
    Surprise flashed in her eyes. “He said that?”
    â€œIf I do a solo and nail it, yeah.”
    â€œBut you’re not doing a solo.” She stared at me as if she’d never seen me before. “What’s going on with you, anyway? You never said anything about Wind Ensemble before this.”
    â€œBecause I never thought I could make it. But I’ve been getting better—even you said so. And Mr. Wayne noticed, too.”
    Since the day I talked with Mr. Wayne, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Wind Ensemble. It was as if he had lit this tiny flame inside the pit of my stomach … the beginning of a fire that hadn’t quite caught hold yet. I’d been wrapping my arms around it all week, fighting my own worry to keep it alive.
    Mr. Wayne believes.
The flame glowed brighter, warmer, with the thought. But it wasn’t enough on its own. I needed Lori to believe it, too, because if she did, then it would be real. I licked my lips, thinking that now I could tell her, make her understand. Now—
    Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony blared from the pocket of Lori’s backpack. “Sorry,” she said, crawling past me and reaching for her cell phone. “Hang on.”
    She looked at the screen and smiled. “Michael,” she said, as she started typing. “He’s getting his hair cut. I told him not too short.”
    She hit Send, then sat back down, reaching for her soda. “So what were we talking about?”
    Me. Wind Ensemble. District Honor Band …
    Before I could say a word, she waved a hand in the air. “Oh right. Michael and Wind Ensemble.” She sighed. “I’m so glad I can talk to you about this and you understand.”
    I crumbled a kernel of popcorn in my fingers. “Understand what?”
    She reached for my wrist and squeezed. “That you’re my best friend, and that’s not going to change no matter what.”
    â€œOh-kay,” I said, wondering why that made me more worried than relieved. “Is something going on?”
    â€œSort of, but nothing to freak out about.”
    I pulled my wrist free as my heart yo-yoed into my throat. “Why would I freak out?”
    â€œJust promise me you won’t.”
    I was now officially past freaked and hovering near panic. “Lori, what?”
    â€œIt’s not going to change anything,” she said, staring straight into my eyes. “Really. You and I are still on track with our duet.” She took a breath. “But Michael asked me to do a duet with him for the audition, too. I