Free Year of Mistaken Discoveries by Eileen Cook Page A

project good.” My stomach tightened just thinking about it. Somewhere in North Carolina there was an admissions counselor with the ability to give me my life back or hurl me under a bus.
    “Why do you want them if they don’t want you? If you ask me, they’re a waste of your energy.”
    His comment threw me and for a beat I didn’t answer. “They’re the best. I need to go there. It’s not an option.”
    Brody didn’t look convinced. “Whatever.”
    The bell rang, and classroom doors flew open and people thundered out. Brody stood and pulled me up onto my feet. He took my empty milk carton from me and dumped it in the trash.
    I saw Lydia and Shannon making a beeline for me so they could resume their security patrol. “We don’t need to pick a topic now,” I said. “I’ll call you.”
    Brody listed off his number while I put it in my cell. “I’ll wait to hear from you.” He held out his fist and gave me an ironic smile. “Until then: Strength, Power, Courage.” He musthave seen my confusion. “Justice League motto, also not bad for surviving high school.”
    I fist-bumped him back. “Strength, Power, Courage.”
    I watched him disappear into the crowd of people.
    “What did he want?” Shannon asked when she reached my side.
    “Bradshaw partnered us up for the senior project.”
    Shannon and Lydia exchanged a look. “Maybe we can see if you can join us. There are a few other groups of three.”
    As much as I like my two best friends, the idea of working on their project gave me hives. Part of it was their topic—Fat: Friend or Foe—on the difference between healthy and unhealthy fats. Spending months making a presentation that showed smiling avocados and salmon and evil greasy-looking bags of chips seemed like a punishment. Not to mention I didn’t think knowing the exact fat count of a single Wheat Thin was going to convince Duke they needed to sign me up. Then there was the fact that there was something about Brody that made me feel relaxed. I wanted to do the project with him.
    “You know how Bradshaw is.” I shook my head like I couldn’t get over how annoying he could be. “I’m pretty much stuck with Brody.”
    “What are you guys going to do for a project?”
    “I don’t know.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the idea came to me, and I jolted like I’d been poked with a live wire. It was perfect.

chapter eleven
    I didn’t tell Brody my idea right away, although I wanted to. The idea was like this expanding balloon inside of me that was swelling every second, and soon I wouldn’t be able to contain it. I practically was bouncing off the walls by the time school was over and I could get home. Lydia and Shannon wanted me to go out with them, but I begged off, telling them I was still pretty wiped from everything. As soon as I got home, I pounded up the stairs and shut my bedroom door behind me, even though I was home alone and the chance of anyone busting in on me was pretty much impossible.
    I pulled open the desk drawer and carefully slid out Nora’s notebook as if it might bite. The paper cover was so worn that it felt soft, almost like fabric. My fingers traced the words on the front: Field Guide to Finding Your Family . I suddenly hadan image that the inside of the notebook would be blank, the words I’d seen earlier at the party gone, like she’d written the entire thing in disappearing ink. I opened the cover and almost dropped it when I saw my name. I had a hard time focusing at first, but then I realized it was because my hands were shaking, making it hard to read.
Hi Avery,
Remember in sixth grade when we had to read “The Diary of Anne Frank” in English class and we decided we wanted to have our own diaries? Both of us quit after a few weeks because it turned out we really didn’t have much happening in our lives worth writing down. I couldn’t imagine that generations of readers would be riveted to know what we had for dinner, or that I was pretty