I Heart Band by Michelle Schusterman Page B

it.”
    We laughed. “You can’t blame her for all the candy, though,” Victoria added. “You should see the food situation at her house.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked, and Gabby’s eyes widened.
    â€œMy mom is
insane
,” she said emphatically. “There is, like, zero sugar in our kitchen. And, oh my God, the stuff I have to eat for dinner. You would
die.
”
    I giggled. “It can’t be
that
bad.” But she and Victoria both shook their heads.
    â€œHolly, you know what my mom made for dinner last night?” Gabby paused, wrinkling her nose. “Tofu lentil casserole and beet salad.”
    Leah and I looked at each other. “Okay, that sounds pretty gross,” Leah admitted.
    â€œAnd I have to drink carrot juice with wheatgrass every morning before school.” Gabby pointed her cinnamon stick at each of us in turn. “Any of you ever tasted wheatgrass?” We shook our heads. “Pick a bunch of grass from your front yard and stick it in a blender with some carrots.
That’s
what it tastes like.”
    I made a disgusted face. Suddenly Gabby’s Red Hots obsession was making a lot of sense.
    â€œHey, there’s Natasha!” Leah said suddenly.
    I glanced up, heart pounding. Natasha was standing alone at the entrance, apparently oblivious to Leah’s frantic waving. Squinting, I realized her dress was a lot like mine. Too much like mine. It was pink instead of blue, and the little belt was brown instead of black, but other than that they were almost identical. Ugh, she was even wearing boots kind of like mine.
    â€œGonna spit on those boots, too?”
    Alarmed, I stared at Victoria, but she was laughing. “What? No!” I cried, the stomach knots back in full force.
    â€œOh, leave her alone, Victoria,” Leah said, smiling at me. “Holly wouldn’t do that on purpose! That was an accident, right?”
    â€œRight.” I smiled back shakily. Gabby gave me a sideways look, cramming an entire cinnamon stick into her mouth. As soon as Leah and Victoria started talking to a few guys getting sodas, Gabby leaned closer to me.
    â€œOkay, so what’s up with you and Natasha? Seriously.”
    â€œOh, just . . . nothing.”
    Choosing another cinnamon stick, Gabby rolled her eyes. “Holly.
Seriously
.”
    I sighed, exasperated. “Look, have you ever talked to her? I mean,
really
talked to her? She’s, like, the most stuck-up person on the planet!”
    Now Gabby looked totally mystified. “Really? We sit next to each other in computer lab. I thought she seemed pretty cool.”
    She couldn’t be serious. For a moment, I was too shocked to say anything. It was one thing that this girl had Julia fooled. They shared a cabin at band camp; they kind of
had
to become friends. But I thought it had to be pretty obvious to everyone else that Natasha was a mega-phony.
    â€œLook how she is in band,” I said when I finally found my voice. “She’s such a know-it-all! Always talking about how easy everything is—she even said “Labyrinthine Dances” was easy, remember?”
    Gabby shrugged. “I don’t know; I guess I never noticed.” She dragged the last cinnamon stick across her plate, scraping up all the frosting. “Holly—and don’t take this the wrong way—but are you maybe just mad that she got first chair instead of you?”
    I crossed my arms. “Well, technically I
did
play the chair test better.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I cringed. Did that sound obnoxious? It was true, but still.
    But Gabby just looked thoughtful. “You sounded great, definitely. But, I mean, so did Natasha.”
    Sighing, I glanced over at the booth where Mr. Dante was sitting. “But, Gabby, I played it
perfectly
. I’m not saying Natasha isn’t good, but she didn’t play it exactly right like I did. I