Screenshot by Donna Cooner

Author:Donna Cooner [Cooner, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-06-15T04:00:00+00:00

The next day, I spend an hour before school, my whole lunch period, and then another hour after school getting everything set up perfectly for the job fair. The rest of the student council helps, but I call the shots. Tables and chairs are all placed and labeled around the gym according to my design. I even put bouquets of fresh gladiolas and sunflowers on the tables for luck. Now I just hope everyone shows up and the event goes off without a hitch. After all, this is my biggest project to date as vice president. I can’t afford any hiccups.

For the event, or for my own interview.

There is one more thing I have to do—get my interview outfit from home. After one more glance around the gym, I drive to my house with a pit in my stomach.

When I pull into my driveway, Luke is sitting on my porch in his green fleece jacket. He’s wearing black sweatpants and a bright red stocking cap pulled low over his blond curls.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, walking up the porch steps. “I thought you had a soccer team meeting.”

He holds out a plastic container and smiles. “I brought you some good-luck cookies. Not that you need luck.”

You bet I do.

“Thanks,” I say, opening the door for him to follow me inside. “I have a few minutes before I have to go back for the interview.”

Once inside, we greet Cassidy, who barks happily. Luke and I peel off our jackets.

“You want something to drink?” I ask, my mind on the stupid pink dress waiting upstairs.

Luke shakes his head and settles in on the couch. He looks at me with his familiar lopsided smile and my heart hurts. He has no idea what I’m about to go back to school and do.

I have never rocked the boat, never done the unexpected. Now I have to do this one thing for myself and no one is going to make this choice for me—not Luke, Emma, or Asha. The blackmailer drew a huge mark in the sand of my life. I have to decide. Do nothing, or take a giant step over the line.

“You okay?” Luke asks. He reaches down to rub Cassidy’s ears just where she likes it most.

“Yeah, why?” I ask, sitting down at the other end of the couch.

“I don’t know.” Luke props his long legs up on the ottoman. “You seem like something’s bothering you lately.”

“I have a lot on my mind,” I say.

Trust him. Tell him about the blackmailer.

“So spill it.”

Maybe I won’t tell him everything, but some of it. I screw up my face, trying to figure out where to start. I’ve never talked to Luke about how I feel about myself. It’s totally out of my comfort zone.

“I don’t want to let people down.” Even as I’m saying the words, they sound pathetic. “So I work really hard not to disappoint anyone. Not at school. Not at work.”

Luke laughs. Not what I expected.

“Don’t be silly,” he says.

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