Page 11 of Witch You Would
And what was that casual dropping of the theory of compositional conformity? He’d played it off, but I wasn’t sure I boughthis act.
There had to be more to Leandro Presto than it seemed. Sort of like how pro wrestling was fake, but the moves were real. Notthat I’d ever find out, so why did I care?
To distract myself from my own bad brain, I called my sister. She should be driving to work now, too, and Atlanta trafficwas almost as bad as Miami. Worse, according to her.
Emelia answered on the third ring. “What’s up, Penelup?”
“The sky, Emeli,” I replied. “On my way to the thing.”
“On a scale of capybara to chihuahua in a thunderstorm, how nervous are you right now?”
“Three chihuahuas, and they all have to pee.”
“Well, don’t do that on camera. Unless you think it will help you win.”
“Bold strat, but I’ll pass. How are you?”
“Dealing with work stuff, as usual. Don’t get me started. We are all about you right now, and how you’re awesome.”
Was I awesome? I didn’t feel that way. Not after yesterday, and especially last night.
“Do I hate fun?” I blurted out.
Emelia paused. “Did someone tell you that? Give me a name and I’ll call Javi.”
Our cousin Javi was nine feet tall, with hands as big as stop signs. The thought of him picking up Leandro Presto by his weirdshirt and growling in his face was kinda funny, but also not nice. He wasn’t even the person who’d said it.
“No Javi. No bullying people for telling the truth.”
“It’s not the truth. But...”
“But?”
Emelia snickered. “You said ‘butt.’”
“You said it first!”
“You can be fun,” Emelia said. “Sometimes you’re just a little... reply guy.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Like, you hate it when people are wrong on the internet.”
“Okay, but—”
“You said ‘butt’ again!”
“—I don’t go around telling people they’re wrong.” Except for that time I literally emailed Gil to correct him—oh my GOD. Isighed and banged my forehead on the steering wheel. It gave a tiny surprised beep.
“You get salty. It’s not healthy, that’s all I’m saying.”
“You’re right. I know you’re right.”
“I’m always right. So listen to your extremely right big sister: Stop stressing about this. Stop overthinking. Normal amountsof thinking only for the next two weeks. Okay?”
“I’ll try.”
“They picked you for this show because they liked what they saw in auditions. Be that person and you’ll be fine.”
