Me and Miranda Mullaly by Jake Gerhardt Read Free Book Online Page A

avoid teachers and students. I can actually hear the roar of the crowd.
    So I’m kind of shocked when Sam Dolan grabs my arm as I’m “dribbling” by the main bulletin board. I still have the roar of the crowd in my head, so I don’t hear what Sam is saying. But I follow his finger and he’s pointing to where they’ve posted the results of the play tryouts. I can’t believe it. I’ve been so busy I forgot all about the tryouts for the play, and that was only three days ago. Boy, time sure flies when you’re having fun.
    My name is at the bottom of the list as Second Helper.
    â€œWhat the heck is the Second Helper?” I ask Sam. His name is on top of mine as First Helper.
    â€œI don’t know what it means,” Sam says with a big smile, “but if it’s on the board, it’s gotta be good.”
    Sam is right. It’s really great that I made the play, especially since the whole lab partner thing with Miranda has kind of not worked out. She’s one of these workaholic types, so when we’re together, it’s just work, work, work. But I get it, because whenever I’m practicing football or baseball or basketball, I’m in a zone. That’s the way Miranda is with science.
    Miranda comes along to see where her name is. It’s not on top, which I figure is not a good thing. Sharon Dolan’s name is on top. And I think Miranda is upset her name isn’t on top. A huge part of me wants to go over to Miranda and tell her it will be okay, but we’re just not at that point yet.
    Then Miranda goes over to Sharon Dolan and congratulates Sharon for having her name on the top of the list, sort of like shaking hands after a football game. It’s all really confusing, this play stuff, but I’m learning.
    â€œWhy do you want to be in the play anyway?” Sam asks.
    I forget Sam is still standing next to me.
    It’s weird that Sam wants to know why I want to be in the play. But he’s been acting weird lately. I see him at the library almost all the time, which is odd because I always thought Sam was like me and didn’t know where the library was.
    â€œA guy can’t be too one-dimensional,” I tell Sam, dribbling my imaginary ball to science class.

SAM
    This morning Sharon is in a rotten mood because she ripped one of her contact lenses and has to wear her glasses.
    â€œFour eyes are better than two,” I say, trying to cheer her up.
    Sharon holds up a spoon and waves it at me in a threatening manner. “Don’t push my buttons. Don’t.”
    I look at Dad and he just goes on eating his toast. And Mom acts like nothing happened.
    â€œWould you like some orange juice, dear?” she asks Sharon, as if she had
not
just threatened me.
    So much for trying to lighten the mood.
    But you see, this isn’t just this morning. When I really think about it, this type of thing happens almost every day before we even get a chance to rub the sleep out of our eyes. The day before, Sharon and Maureen were both mad at Mom because she said something about them not eating enough breakfast.
    So now I’m not going to talk to Miranda in the morning, and I’m thinking about avoiding all females before noon.
    At school, the day gets a little bit better because for the first time in a while Lichtensteiner doesn’t accost mein the hallway. I have to say, who needs bullies when you’ve got a big lunk like him roaming the halls?
    But I’m not letting Lichtensteiner and the toilet paper get me down. And I’m not letting my sisters’ erratic behavior in the morning get me down. I’m not letting anything get me down, because I have a play to star in.
    Well, I’m not exactly a star, but my name is on the list, second to the bottom, and it says I’m First Helper. Believe it or not, Chollie Muller has got a part, too. When Chollie walks past me, I show him his name. I immediately wish I