My Senior Year of Awesome Read Online Free PDF Page A

the center of town. The entire third floor belongs to Jana because her mother’s bad knee can’t take two flights of stairs. As the oldest child, she also outranks Colette, their baby brother Joey (still in middle school), and Mr. Rodriguez, the guy who technically owns the place.
    Jana’s abundance of personal space is the reason we spend most of our free time hanging out at her house. Décor-wise, it’s not the hippest spot for two high school seniors. The walls are such a vibrant pink, I’d swear a flock of flamingos exploded and spewed beta-carotene-enhanced bird parts everywhere. Frilly blankets and glitzy pillows cover her bed, but we usually push everything to the floor when we watch our favorite shows.
    Friday night, we turn on a movie, but rather than zone out over a silly rom-com, we stare longingly at the empty spot on her wall where the Austin Mahone poster once hung. Jana’s simultaneously packing for college and hiding stuff from her sometimes-klepto little sister. I wish I could find the desire to sort through life and move on. But, leaving my mom alone in the only apartment I’ve ever known feels too sad. I sense we’re both avoiding the inevitable, as she hasn’t pestered me about my college search since the end of winter break.
    “Did you check the drama club’s bulletin board lately? I think play auditions are next week,” Jana says.
    “Not a play. In the spring, drama club puts on a musical.”
    “A musical? You mean with singing? And dancing?” Jana springs up from the bed like her backside has caught fire. “We’re screwed.”
    “Stop worrying. Anyone can do a box step. It’s not like the glee club kids are so supremely talented,” I insist.
    “How do we prepare? Do we need to sign up ahead of time?” Jana paces the room, her long sweater flapping against the sides of her legs.
    “No idea. I figured they would make a homeroom announcement or something.”
    Jana comes to a fast stop and folds her arms across her chest. “I’ll find out, then. You’re so not into this. Is it for obvious reasons?”
    “Like what?” Obviously, my reasons aren’t obvious to me.
    “Lack of cute guys in the performing arts program?”
    “Didn’t Greg Spinner play the lead in Footloose two years ago? He’s gorg.”
    “He only tried out to get publicity for his band,” Jana says, plopping down in her desk chair and lifting the screen on her laptop. “He had a lot of free time after he was tossed from the baseball team for skipping practice to meet with booking agents.”
    “Ohhh. Is that why all those freshman girls joined the chorus?”
    “Of course! They all thought they had a chance with him. Why didn’t we think of that?” Jana slaps herself on the forehead, two years too late.
    “Like I said, dancing and singing in front of an audience was never high on my list of things to accomplish.” Not even for an amazing guitarist-athlete like Greg Spinner. I roll onto my side and peer at Jana’s computer screen. “You know what, I’ve never even seen one of the school musicals. Why are we bothering with this?”
    “Because we wanted to try new and amazing things, remember? Our list?” Jana holds up our still blank paper, which was sitting next to her laptop. I wonder if she checks it every night before bed.
    “Try new things, yes. Look like an imbecile, no,” I say. “Do you think we have a shot at a decent part?”
    “Depends on the musical. I’m not the best singer. Okay, let me see, how do you get to drama club’s page … oh, wait, Out of Tune is up. Well, lookee-here. Your friend Andy made the front page.”
    I scoot closer, squinting to read the minimized print. Lately, any sentence containing the word Andy includes my name too. The thought of headlining the school paper stops my heart mid-beat.
    “Oooh, I know why Melinda was so interested in him,” Jana says, pointing to the byline of the Andy article.
    Most Likely to Succeed or Most Likely to Get Married? Cindy Min and