Secret Admirer by R.L. Stine, Sammy Yuen Jr. Page A

right thing,” Katy replied. “Getting out of this play will be good for you. It will take your mind off Jake.”
    â€œI know,” Selena agreed. “If only Mr. Riordan had let me tell him tonight.”
    â€œTell him what?” a voice demanded.
    Selena turned to see Danny standing behind her. Instead of his usual smirk, he wore a concerned expression.
    â€œWow. Danny,” Selena said. “I didn’t know you were there.”
    â€œI saw you two talking, so I thought I’d join you,” he said. “You were excellent tonight, Selena.”
    â€œDanny, please—” Selena started.
    â€œNo. I mean it,” he insisted. “I thought you were really brave to go on. I mean, after what happened to Jake.”
    â€œYeah, right,” Selena muttered.
    â€œWhat were you going to tell Mr. Riordan?” Danny demanded.
    â€œIt’s nothing.” Selena lowered her eyes to the floor.
    â€œTell him, Selena,” Katy urged. “He’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”
    â€œI guess so,” Selena agreed. She took a deep breath. “I’m quitting the play,” she announced.
    Danny’s mouth dropped open in surprise. He narrowed his eyes at Selena. “This is a joke, right?” he asked.
    â€œNo,” Selena assured him. “I’m serious. I think it’s what Jake would have wanted.”
    â€œAre you totally nuts?” Danny exclaimed. “You’re going to quit the play because of an accident?”
    Selena nodded but didn’t reply. To her surprise, her announcement made Danny angry.
    â€˜Oh, I get it,” he said unpleasantly. “You just can’t stand it, can you, Selena? You can’t stand not being the center of attention. Since Jake’s accident, everyone is talking about him, not you. So you have to do something to get the attention back to you.”
    Selena gasped. She felt as if he’d slapped her. “What a gross thing to say! You are the crudest, most obnoxious—”
    â€œIt’s the truth!” Danny insisted bitterly.
    â€œLeave her alone, Danny!” Katy cried.
    â€œWhy should I?” he exploded. “This is so typical! Selena is the star. We can’t have the play without Selena. Selena is upset. Selena is frightened,” Danny ranted. “Well, you know what, Selena? Everyone’s getting a little sick of your selfishness. If you quit, you’ll hurt a lot of people.”
    Selena stared at him, tears in her eyes. She had never expected him to attack her this way. She hadn’t even thought about what would happen if she quit.
    â€œBut you don’t care about the rest of us, do you?” he went on. “All you care about is yourself. What makes
you
comfortable. What’s important to
you
. You’ve really changed—”
    â€œI said leave her alone!” Katy yelled. She tugged at Danny’s jacket.
    But he paid no attention to her. He glared at Selena. “Do you know what will happen if you drop out of the play? It will be cancelled, that’s what! Nobody else can play Juliet but Alison, and she’s still in a neck brace! All of the work the rest of us did will be wasted. All because of you.”
    â€œStop it!” Katy yelled. “Can’t you see how badSelena feels? She wants to quit! It’s not her fault there’s no other Juliet!”
    â€œWhat about the other seniors in the play?” Danny continued. “For some of us, it’s the last chance ever to be on stage, Selena. We’re not all going off to acting school, you know.”
    Selena’s head spun. She hadn’t thought about anything except how much she missed Jake.
    She turned to Katy, who stood in front of her like a protective bulldog. “He’s right,” Selena said softly. “I can’t quit the play now. It would hurt too many people. I wasn’t thinking.”
    â€œBut—” Katy