“Okay,” she says, nodding slowly. “This is good, right? You’ve said before that he has a lot of pull on the scholarship committee.”

“Yeah, he does. We actually had a great conversation on Friday,” I say, grinning as I remember how I impressed him when I talked about myself. “I think he’s interested in getting to know me better before I apply.”

“Perfect,” Dad says. “If he gets to spend time with you, he’ll figure out pretty quick that there’s nobody else they could possibly give the scholarship to.”

As I look at my parents’ faces, any last doubts I have evaporate. Lex really was overreacting. If Mom and Dad don’t think this is weird, it definitely isn’t.

Mom’s expression is thoughtful. “This isn’t exactly the plan, but . . .” She shakes her head. “It’s too good an opportunity to pass up. You think you’ll be able to balance that with all the other stuff you have going on?”

“I’ll be fine,” I say. “Besides, I can’t exactly say no after Mr. B specifically asked me to audition.”

“He would understand,” Dad says confidently.

But what if he doesn’t? Then I’m just fucked. “Seriously, I’ll be fine. I’m not playing terraball right now, so I have plenty of time.”

“You’ll have to cut down on how much you’re working at Pilar’s,” Mom says.

“I know.”

“Okay,” she says. “Well, good luck at the audition.”

“They say ‘break a leg’ in the theater, honey,” Dad interjects. He puts a fancy accent on the word theater.

I kind of wish I would break my leg. Then I would have a good excuse not to do this show. If I’m being honest, I don’t want to be in a musical. Acting is pretty excruciating. But when I look at my parents, I’m reminded why I’m doing this. They’ve put so much work into me preparing to get this scholarship. This is the first step toward the life they want for me.

Maybe the American Magical Way didn’t exactly work for them—they haven’t gotten the perfect, American Dream lifestyle that it promises—but they’ve put everything they have into making sure it will work for me. I can’t let them down now, even if it means doing something I don’t want to do.

Chapter 7

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