In the Spotlight Read Online Free PDF Page A

a final squeeze, pushing my skirt up a bit as he did. “Another time,” he promised.
    I watched him saunter off to the gym, and my mind ticked in confusion. Why hadn’t I paid better attention to what he was saying? Was this my chance with Kyle? Was I missing it? Still…as his hand rose ever higher on my leg, I’d started to feel a little icky.
    Was that normal in a situation like this? I didn’t have a ton of experience with guys, so maybe this was all to be expected.
    Before I had any more time to ponder out my predicament, Claudia found me and dragged me back into the roar of the gym.
    And my thoughts melted into a puddle. Besides, with auditions to focus on, why worry about anything else?

    ****
    When auditions finally arrived, everyone around me was smirking as Josh Larson got up on stage to take his turn. He had the audacity to be auditioning for Chad, the lead male role. The entire drama club had basically already decided that the role of Chad should go to Kyle, since, you know, he was a senior and he had written the musical, for goodness sake.
    Josh gave an average reading. He could clearly act, but he was meant for a supporting role, not some big, out in front, lead role. Just because he was the sports star of the school, that didn’t mean that he was meant to be the star of everything, especially when you considered the fact that he’d only transferred to our school at the beginning of the year.
    Then Josh opened his mouth to sing. Everyone shut up and silence blanketed the auditorium. No one even blinked until Josh was done.
    Kaylee leaned over and whispered, “He sounds just like a Disney character.”
    I wanted to laugh at that. You know, make some crack about how he sounded like Le Fou from Beauty and the Beast or Pumba from The Lion King , but I couldn’t because Josh Larson didn’t sound like either of those characters. And if anyone but Kaylee had said that to me, I would have thought they were crazy. But that’s the thing. I totally understood what Kaylee meant. Josh sounded like a prince in a Disney movie, the lead guy who’s swoon-‐-worthy even if he is a cartoon.
    When he finished the audition song, Josh stood at the center of the stage while the auditorium remained completely silent. He looked so uncomfortable, and for a minute, I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized that no one was clapping. I’m pretty sure everyone had been stunned into silence by the awesomeness of his voice. Still, I forced my hands together, not wanting to break the spell, but not wanting him to look like that either.
    Kaylee started clapping next, and pretty soon the whole auditorium had erupted in thunderous applause. Josh got an “aw-‐-
    shucks” look on his face and had the decency to blush. He was cute when he blushed. No! I reprimanded myself firmly. Josh Larson certainly was an attractive male, but I was not going to become one of his legions of fans. He had enough girls fawning over him to start a fan club, or a harem. I was not going to join that group.
    Ms. Bard rushed onto the stage, applauding like her arms were from a wind-‐-up toy. “Oh, Joshua! That was spectacular!
    Phenomenal! I can’t make you any promises, but if I have my way, you’re my Chad!”

    I stopped clapping. My hands literally fell flat into my lap. I scanned the room for Kyle, who was sitting in the front row looking smug. Relief coursed through me. Kyle wasn’t worried or threatened by Josh. Why should he be? I mean, Kyle wrote the freaking play. He was still a shoo-‐-in for Chad.
    Ms. Bard seriously looked like she was going to faint or swoon or something. Josh had already taken his seat back on the far side of the auditorium, close enough to look a part of the group, but far enough away to denote the difference between us and him. Ms.
    Bard continued to fan herself, and at one point, she began muttering to herself and glancing around absently.
    Finally, she said, “Oh my, we should get back to these auditions.