“Would all pageant participants please come forward?” Mr. Murphy said. “No need to be nervous. We’re going to ask each of you a practice question, just to get the ball rolling.”
Logan and Opal followed the crowd backstage behind a heavy blue curtain. It reminded her of the houseboat. She couldn’t wait to get back. What figment would she create next? And Godzilla had left afootprint. What did that mean?
“I can’t believe I volunteered for this,” Logan muttered as they shuffled into the line.
“Why did you?” Opal asked. Logan hated public speaking. He hurried through school presentations so fast you could barely understand him. And he never signed up for anything except sports.
“I don’t know,” Logan grumbled miserably.
“There’s still time to get away. You could sneak out through the drama room.”
Logan locked eyes with her. “Would you come with me?”
Opal looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “I can’t. My mom would chase me down. There’s no way out for me.” She’d tried to sound funny and dramatic, but Logan didn’t laugh. The line began moving as other kids gave short, awkward answers to Mr. Murphy’s questions.
Logan’s jaw firmed. “Then I’m staying, too.”
Opal wanted to ask why, but Logan spoke again, his words tumbling out. “I don’t get you. We hung out together all summer, and I thought you had fun. But then this thing with Nico happened, and now you’re totally avoiding me. Why?”
Opal tried to collect her thoughts. Had Logan entered the pageant because of her? That was insanity.
“If he’d let me buy him a new drone, I would,” Logan went on. “But Nico wouldn’t take it. He’s too stubborn, just like his dad.”
“You shouldn’t have ruined his first one.” And Opal remembered how scared she’d been after Nico fell. Logan didn’t know the half of it.
Logan shifted uncomfortably. “I thought he’d find it.”
“In Still Cove? Well, he didn’t.”
There were only two kids left in front of them. The stage lights made it so Opal couldn’t see out into the auditorium, but she knew her mother was watching. “What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Timbers?” Mr. Murphy asked Megan Cook.
“Those owls?” Megan answered, her voice unsure. “Making them go away?”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Logan whispered, “but Nico is still a loser. Why are you following him around? What are you guys doing? You’re never home, and your mom didn’t know anything about your ‘emerging radish dance.’ ” He used air quotes.
Opal said nothing. Megan finished answering.
Logan narrowed his eyes. “Where do you go every day, Opal?”
Opal pushed past the next person in line and marched out to center stage.
Mr. Murphy regarded her coolly from behind his bifocals. “State your name, please.”
“Opal Walsh.”
“Opal, in your opinion, what is Timbers’ greatest strength?”
A long pause. Opal was thinking about everything but the question.
Finally, Mr. Murphy cleared his throat.
“The people,” Opal answered, speaking from a place she couldn’t name. “Everyone cares about each other. That’s important.”
Opal stepped away and continued across the stage. She didn’t look back at Logan, but it washisquestion that echoed inside her head.
Where do you go every day, Opal?
She worried Logan was determined to find out.
