Page 95 of Best Frenemies

She offers me two thumbs up. “It’s going to be great, Katy.”

“Ms. Dayton?” someone calls from behind me, and I turn around to find Principal Dana standing stage right.

I excuse myself from Brooke and Noah and head over to her.

“You think you’re ready to get this show on the road?” she asks, glancing at the watch on her wrist pointedly. “All the kids are here, and any minute, they’re going to start getting antsy. We can only make them listen to theFrozensoundtrack over the speakers so many times, you know?”

“Yep. Yep. Yep.” I nod and dart my eyes around the room in search of Mack. His speaker is the only speaker I haven’t talked to yet. “I just need to find Mr. Houston, and we should be all set.”

As if I conjured him to existence myself, I spot him walking in through the back auditorium doors.

“Looks like he’s here,” I announce and don’t even bother saying anything else. Instead, I haul ass down the stairs and close the distance between us.

“Hey, where’s your speaker?” I forgo a greeting and get right to the nuts and bolts of the matter.

“He’s running just a few minutes late,” he says, and when my eyes go wide, he quickly rests both hands on my shoulders. “It’s all good,” he reassures. “Your two speakers can start, and once he’s here, I’ll get him up on the stage without interruption.”

“But is he prepared?” I ask, and Mack squeezes my shoulders.

“It’s going to be fine, Katy. Promise. Thatcher Kelly knows how to work a crowd.”

I can’t refute that the man he’s referring to is a larger-than-life kind of guy. He’s the father of one of my students, Gunnar Kelly, and every time I’ve had a conversation with him, I’ve always walked away laughing or smiling.

“Okay,” I agree, and my feet are already heading back toward the stage. Once I walk up the steps, I look toward Brooke and Noah.

“Looks like we’re about to start. You guys ready?”

They both nod their agreement, and I step behind the stage to switch off theFrozenmusic and switch on the microphone.

A moment later, I’m standing at the podium and grabbing the attention of our students. “Good afternoon, everyone!”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Dayton,” a lot of them respond back.

“Today, we have three amazing speakers who have taken time out of their busy schedules to come in and talk to you about their careers,” I explain and feel like most of the kids are paying attention. “I expect that you’ll all be quiet and well-behaved while they’re speaking. And when it’s time to take some questions, you need to raise your hand to be called on, okay?”

Most of the kids nod, and I move along to introducing our first speaker.

“I’d like to introduce you to Brooke Baker,” I continue and look onto the stage where Brooke sits with her dog, Benji. “Brooke is a number oneNew York Timesbest-selling author. She is loved by many readers, and Netflix recently made a series based on her books. Please give her a round of applause as she comes up here.”

The students clap their hands, and Brooke makes her way to the podium. I note that Benji follows her very closely, and once she’s settled behind the podium, he lies right at her feet again.

“Good morning, students,” Brooke greets into the microphone. Her voice is a little shaky, but her smile is downright lovable. “I am so excited to be here with you guys today.”

“That’s my aunt Brooke!” a child’s voice yells from the crowd, and I look over to see that it’s Seth Brown, and he’s now standing up on his chair. “She’s awesome!”

“Thanks, Seth,” Brooke says into the microphone on a laugh.

“Seth Brown, you need to sit down,” Principal Dana whisper-yells, already slowly moving toward him, but Seth just keeps talking.

“She writes books that have s-e-x in them! My mom says I can’t read them, but I’ve heard my mom talking about them!”

“Oh God,” Brooke mutters, but it’s right into the microphone, and her words echo throughout the entire auditorium.

“I don’t know much about s-e-x, but my aunt Brooke does because that’s how you get a baby in your belly!”

“Seth Brown! Sit down!” Principal Dana is practically climbing over kids to reach him at this point.

“I think I need a minute,” Brooke Baker announces into the mic, and when I look back at her, I see she’s as pale as a ghost. Her dog Benji is on his feet, nudging her legs persistently with his snout, and Dr. Noah is already moving toward her with concern on his face.

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