Meow or Never by Jazz Taylor

Author:Jazz Taylor [Taylor, Jazz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2021-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

I hesitate outside Nic’s door. I ran all the way here in a panic, but now I’m nervous. I already texted Dad and told him I’d be at Nic’s though, so I can’t chicken out. Still, I’m sweaty again, and Andrew calling Nic my girlfriend won’t leave my head.

Okay, Avery. Be cool. You can do this. I try to breathe deeply, but my lungs aren’t cooperating. I settle for a half breath and ring Nic’s doorbell.

Noodle immediately starts barking. There’s some cursing, and then Nic’s mom answers the door, holding Noodle’s collar. She’s visibly shocked to see me. “Oh, Avery! What’re you—”

“Is that Avery?” Nic thunders down the stairs and appears behind her mom. She grins at me. “Hey! Sorry, Mom, forgot to tell you Avery was coming over. Come in!”

Nic’s mom moves to the side so I can get in. She looks exasperated. “Nic, I told you to let me know when you have friends over. The house is a wreck—”

“We’ll be in my room!” Nic tugs at my hand and pulls me inside.

I nod weakly to Nic’s mom and let Nic rush me upstairs. Noodle follows at our heels, panting.

“Where were you?” Nic asks when we’re safely in her room. She closes her door, muffling the sound of heavy bass coming from the next room. “It’s five o’clock!”

“I hang out after school sometimes,” I say. I almost tell her about Phantom, but I hold it in. Harper asked me not to tell, and I won’t. Though I’m dying to tell Nic. She’d love something like this.

Nic accepts my explanation with a nod. “Okay, let’s get to work! Did you bring your script?”

We run through our lines in act 2 and 3. I’m comfortable with them now, I think. They’re familiar at least. Maybe I could read out loud in class finally?

“That was really good!” Nic says as we finish reading. “Now, I know we’ve been just saying the song lyrics, but maybe we should sing them.”

I shake my head, panic clawing up my throat. “I … I can’t.”

“Not even with Noodle?”

I look at Noodle, who’s been chewing on a plastic bone. She looks at me, licking her whiskers. “I don’t think so.”

“Hmm.” Nic taps her finger on the back of her script. “How’d you sing in front of Mrs. Thompson?”

“She let me close my eyes.”

“That’s not gonna work. You can’t do the whole play with your eyes closed.”

My lungs are getting that can’t-breathe feeling. She’s right, I can’t do this with my eyes closed. I can’t sing in front of an audience. I’ll pass out. I’ll die. Dad will be so disappointed.

“Avery?” Nic leans closer, her expression anxious. “You okay? You don’t look so good.”

“I’m okay,” I gasp. My lungs are closing up. I close my eyes and focus on breathing and the exercise Nurse Biles makes me do. I can’t do sight right now. Three things I can touch it is.

“Noodle,” I mutter, running my hands through her fur. “My jeans. Carpet.”

The panic subsides enough so I can breathe again.

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