Chapter One to look at her Why don’t they Have a theater program I mean I don’t know Becky shrugged They have one at the high school True but that meant I wouldn’t get to do a play until I got to Chappaqua Central High and that was two years away The thought of having to wait until I was a freshman in high school to do anything theatrical was pretty depressing Let’s go get pizza or something I suggested when we reached the front of the school Can’t said Becky I’ve got swim practice and then a diving lesson and after that I’m meeting my brother for golf I smiled This was pretty much a typical Becky Mezan daily schedule I’d forgotten she’d joined the town’s summer swim team and I felt a twinge of sadness because I knew that all the swim practicing and competing would take up a lot of her summer vacation time We said our good-byes promised to Skype later and she went to meet her mother in the parking lot while I headed to the side entrance of the school to await the late bus Ugh Late Bus Honestly are there two more horrendous words in the entire English language A handful of kids were already assembled there some of the soccer hopefuls who’d witnessed my embarrassment 5
Stagestruck Curtain Up Kevin something-or-other who spent pretty much every afternoon in detention and a few student council members who’d stayed late to decorate the gym for tomorrow night’s eighth-grade semiformal dance And Austin Weatherly was there That was weird Austin was in my grade We didn’t know each other well but I did know that he lived only one block from school That was the weird part because why would he be waiting for the late bus when he could just walk home I got my answer when I saw that Mrs Warde was the Late Bus Duty Teacher today Mrs Warde was head of the English Department and pretty much everyone’s favorite teacher And since everyone knew that Austin Weatherly was the best writer in the sixth grade maybe even the whole school it made perfect sense to me that he was there to discuss something with the most creative teacher on the faculty Austin was the sort of guy a lot of girls would overlook but I’d always kind of noticed him I didn’t have a lot of experience with boys the overlookable overlookable type or otherwise but it seemed to me a smart quiet guy would be much easier to be yourself around than one of those high-profile guys who thinks a varsity jacket actually passes for a personality I agree with you completely Austin Mrs Warde was 6
Chapter One saying And I think your idea to form a drama club for next year is brilliant Really I do She paused to stop Kevin what’s his-name from pickpocketing one of the student council kids Talk about timing Maybe this was what was known as kismet Or karma Or maybe just dumb luck Whatever it was my heart did a happy little somersault in my chest I had just been wishing for a drama club and now Austin was getting the school to start one But then Mrs Warde turned back to Austin I’m so sorry Austin I presented your idea to Principal Morris but unfortunately there’s just no room in the student budget at this time Austin looked utterly defeated I would love to provide you with an outlet for the musical you’re writing the teacher continued but there’s just nothing I can do She gave him a warm smile the kind that made kids like one teacher better than all the others Tell you what though If you make any headway on your play over the summer shoot it to me in an e-mail I’d be more than happy to read it and tell you what I think Austin thanked her but he still seemed pretty bummed I on the other hand was kind of amazed Austin Weatherly Weatherly was writing a musical That was pretty ambitious for a sixth grader 7
Stagestruck Curtain Up I thought about telling him so but that was when the late bus pulled up and Mrs Warde had to get down to business business herding us into a single-file line and making sure Kevin whatever-his-name-was sat somewhere up front where the bus driver could keep an eye on him As I flopped onto my own seat I watched Austin through the window skulking off across the parking lot I knew exactly how he felt In the next moment I heard myself cry out Stop the bus please The driver hit the brakes and the big yellow vehicle squealed to a halt I popped up from my seat bolted up the aisle and thanked the driver when he opened the door and let me out onto the sidewalk Then barely able to believe I was doing it I turned and ran off after Austin Weatherly I had a proposition for him I caught up to Austin just before he turned the corner onto his street Austin I called Wait up He stopped walking to glance over his shoulder and 8
