June
1PLAYLIST:end of an era
LAST YEAR THE YEARBOOKclub at my high school decided to add captions to everyone’s photos. You know the ones. That guy always sleeping during algebra is named Most Likely to Be Late to Class, and the popular girl with the always-fresh wardrobe is picked as Best Dressed.
Mom and Dad still talk about being voted Cutest Couple their senior year, so I know this sort of thing’s been around awhile. Kingfisher High just hadn’t done it before, I guess. I’m not sure why they decided to start, but I have to admit, most of them were pretty spot on.
Take my best friend, Kat. The caption below her picture says:
KAT BARLOWE
MOST LIKELY TO VISIT MARS
The guy Kat and I have crushed on forever got a good one too:
MYLES FORD
MOST LIKELY TO BE PRESIDENT
And me? Underneath my photo it reads:
AMELIA MADDEN
That’s it. I guess I’m not the best at or most likely to do anything.
Kat was furious on my behalf when she saw it. “What the hell? Why not Amelia Madden, ‘Best at Sleeping In’? Or ‘Most Likely to Save the Oceans’? This whole thing is stupid anyway. What does ‘Most Likely to Visit Mars’ even mean?”
“It means everyone at school knows that if you put your mind to something, you’ll do it,” I replied. “Even if you wake up one day and say, ‘I want to go to outer space,’ you won’t stop until it happens.”
She smiled for a split second, pleased with that assessment, but immediately frowned when she remembered she was mad. I was the only one in our entire sophomore class who’d been left out. I reminded her it could be worse. Poppy Adair had been named Most Likely to Sleep Through an Earthquake, which doesn’t really sound like a compliment. Plus they spelled her name wrong.
It was sweet that Kat was so defensive of me, but honestly I wasn’t that bothered. I’m not opposed to flying under the radar, and I’ve always figured keeping a low profile is in my best interest. That way no one notices when I’m late to first period, if I have ahuge zit on my forehead or get a questionable haircut (those bangs in eighth grade werenotmy best look), or the fact that I blush every time Myles Ford walks down the hall.
The girls people notice are also the ones they whisper about.
I’ll pass on that. I’d rather risk being ignored than judged. Not that I’ve done much to be judged for, but hey, there’s still time.
I flip through the yearbook now as I wait for Kat to get here. I’m settled near my open window, which is my favorite spot in my room. I have the perfect view of the ocean and can hear the rhythm of the waves as they meet the shore. The sheer curtains my mom put up last year flutter with the sea breeze, and I tuck one behind my back to keep it contained as I turn the page.
I land on the Athletics section, which takes up a good chunk, and see Myles in several pictures on the pages for the basketball and track teams. I pause to stare dreamily for a few long seconds.
I might even be blushing, but if no one’s around to see it, did it even happen?
Under the radar, my friends. Trust me on this.
Myles’s older brother is right in the center of a collage for the homecoming football game, smiling big as he’s crowned homecoming king. He might even be cuter than Myles, if such a thing is possible. He’s leaving next month for college all the way in California.
But even though Matt might be objectively the handsomer brother, there’s just something so charming about Myles. It’s not just his blue eyes and dimples. It’s the way he’s genuinely friendly and thoughtful, and ridiculously popular without being arrogant. When he learned that the school janitor’s car had broken down, hearranged a car wash to help raise money to fix it, and when Vice Principal O’Malley tripped and fell onstage during a school assembly, Myles was the first one to rush to her side to help her up. I have no doubt that Myles will succeed his brother as school royalty. He’s a year old than Kat and me, so he’ll be a senior this coming year.
Who will be his homecoming queen? Does it have to be someone who’s a senior, like him?
Probably.
I’m a junior, which in relation to the subject at hand is completely irrelevant, because even if I was a senior, it’s not like I’m cool or memorable enough to be thought of by someone like Myles Ford. Case in point: Sometimes when I see people from school, it takes them a minute to place me, but then they realize,Oh yeah, you’re Kat’s friend.
I just smile and nod, because:
1. It’s true—Kat’s like my other half and we’re rarely apart, and
