Free In the Spotlight by Liz Botts, Elaina Lee Page B

peeked through the window. “Ooo, he’s hot,” she said, impressed. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”
    “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, rolling my eyes at Madison.
    “He’s the male lead in the musical.”
    “Well, yum,” Madison said as I pulled on my mittens.
    Josh held the door open for me and we stepped out into the dim February light. The day had grown overcast and it was starting to snow as we headed toward the university campus.
    “Listen, I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said shoving my mittened hands deep into my pockets.
    Josh chuckled. “That’s actually what I was going to say.”
    “Why would you apologize? You didn’t do anything wrong.” We turned down the path that led to the theater building.
    “Let’s just say, I don’t think I behaved in a way that would’ve made my mom proud,” he replied. “Anyway, apology accepted.”
    We kept walking. The falling snow gave everything a hushed, peaceful quality that put me at ease. I wondered what it would be like to walk in the snow with my boyfriend, should I ever manage to get one. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t wondering about Kyle either.
    “I’ve always wanted to go to school here,” I sighed contentedly.
    Josh nodded. “I can understand that. It’s a great school. I sort of want to go here.”
    “Really?” I asked surprised.
    “What’s so shocking about that?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems that a guy like you would want to go away to school.”
    “A guy like me?” There was that tense disappointment again.

    “Yeah, a guy with so much talent. I’m sure you’ll be scouted by some pretty big schools.”
    Josh smiled a small smile. “This is a pretty big school.”
    “I guess I don’t think of it that way since I sort of grew up here,” I laughed.
    “Your mom is a professor right?” Josh asked.
    “Yeah, how’d you know that?” I asked.
    “My mom’s a professor in the political science department,”
    Josh explained. “She and your mom have collaborated on some projects this year.”
    “I didn’t know that.” The snow was really coming down now. “I really need to get back. My break is almost over.”
    “So, thanks for coming out with me,” Josh said. “Are we good? Friends?”
    “Yeah,” I said with a small grin. “Friends.”
    As we headed back to Jimmy’s Red Hots, I almost believed that being friends with Josh would be enough.

Chapter Nine
    I stared out the window at the gray day. The clouds hung low and heavy, threatening yet more snow. Ms. Bard had stepped out to make copies or something like that, leaving us to our own devices more or less. People were mainly just talking quietly, which made us a really good class of kids. But then again it wasn’t like there was anything exciting to do in five minutes. I should have been doing my reading for English since we had to be through all of The Grapes of Wrath by Friday, but instead I was just staring out the window mindlessly.
    “Hey, what if we all practice the opening number?”
    Kevin, a slightly geeky, massively overenthusiastic, freshman was standing next to his desk looking around the room hopefully. You had to admire the kid for wanting to use his time productively, but everyone else just looked at him lazily. Why would we stage a rehearsal when Ms. Bard was just going to torture us through a perfectly blocked number later? Getting no response beyond the blank stares of our classmates, Kevin sat down dejectedly.
    And we went back to nothingness. My contemplation of the clouds was going to put me to sleep if I wasn’t careful. That would be massively embarrassing. I mean, what if I drooled or something?
    So, I turned my attention back to the classroom. Kaylee was across the room doing just what I had been worried about. Except when Kaylee slept, she never looked gross or snored or slept with her mouth open or her face in a puddle of drool. Kaylee looked like she was practicing the role of