Andy Kosolowski discuss the most surprising Senior Superlative vote in years.
Cindy Min, senior at Harmony High, pulled off a huge upset a few weeks ago when she was named Most Likely to Succeed over Andy Kosolowski, who’s currently ranked first in the class. When I spoke with Cindy, she claimed to be just as surprised as everyone else at Harmony High. “Who knew Andy and Sadie were secretly in love? They must have tried to hide their relationship to guarantee him the Most Likely to Succeed Award. But what they say is true—love conquers all.”
I need to sit up before I choke on my own saliva. Jana reaches over to pat me on the back. We continue reading.
But this reporter investigated further. According to Andy, he is currently very much single and has never dated Sadie Matthews. “I’m just as confused as everyone,” he said. So, what really happened? Was the vote sabotaged? Or does someone else out there know the real truth behind the Andy and Sadie mystery? Anonymous tips can be directed to the Out of Tune inbox. We follow up on each and every message in a timely fashion.
“Oh. My. God.” I start to hiccup and taste the pizza Jana and I split for dinner.
“It’s okay, chica. Andy was trying to help you out.” Jana’s brow furrows. “At least, I think he was.”
“By bringing everything up again in the school newspaper? And what’s with Melinda—why does she care so much about Andy’s dating status?”
“Maybe she likes quirky guys?” Jana clicks the x on her browser to close out the page. “Okay, back to drama …”
“Right. Because my life needs more drama.”
“Pfft.” Jana waves her hand in front of my face. “No one reads the school paper. It’s only an extra-curricular for people thinking about their future career in journalism.” Jana flips down the top of her laptop and reaches for her phone. “Let’s call Leslie Cooke for scoop about auditions.”
Leslie has starred in every school play since our kindergarten talent show, where she sang a memorable solo version of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Thousands of dollars’ worth of voice lessons later, she belts out songs a la Kelly Clarkson, with the vocal range of Mariah Carey.
“Hi, y’all!” Leslie’s honey-coated voice drips through the speaker phone. She must be working on her southern accent.
We quickly fill her in on our desire to try out for the spring musical. Jana and I are ready to fight fair and audition well. We simply want to be recognized for our natural talent. Because we’re pretty sure at least one of us possesses some form of intense acting ability. We’re just waiting for some big movie producer to discover our talent on YouTube.
After Jana tells Leslie about our sudden interest in drama, she responds with an ugly, hyena laugh, blasting through the speaker phone. When she regains her power of speech, Leslie informs us that Ms. Cutler, Harmony High’s music teacher and spring musical director, will be staging The Little Shop of Horrors . Leslie plans on auditioning for the part of Audrey, but she suggests one of us would make a spectacular Audrey II. Jana assumes this means one of us will be Leslie’s understudy.
“If we’re the lead understudies, will that count as an awesome achievement?” Jana asks, after disconnecting the phone.
“Only if she eats too many cafeteria french fries before the show and comes down with a case of food poisoning. Then we can fill her part at the last minute,” I say, knowing full well we’d never seriously hope for something so bad to happen to a friend. Or even a casual acquaintance.
“Leslie doesn’t eat cafeteria food. She packs a healthy lunch. Seaweed leaves and no-salt pretzel sticks. That’s why she’s shaped like a toothpick,” Jana says. “I guess there’s a chance she may take that break a leg thing literally.”
“But we would never wish bad luck on her. This list should not turn us into mean girls.”
“Maybe we should rethink this
Jennifer Teege, Nikola Sellmair