Chapter 10
After grabbing mar transcripts, everyone exchanged those awkward “keep in touch” promises before scattering like dandelion seeds in the wind,
Mom called just as I was heading out. “Liana, you finished yet?”
I was following my homeroom teacher toward the audio, my stomach doing little nervous flips about the interview.
“Not yet. I’ve got something I need to da
“Your aunt and I found this amazing sale at Nordstrom. I have Rosalia come get you, okay?”
I hesitated, not wasting Rosalia to burst in during my moment, but I also didn’t want to explain. Tm in the auditorium.”
The interview was surprisingly qark–just twenty minutes of me trying not to send like a complete robot while talking about my “study technique And “academic journey.” All those practiced answers Id rehearsed in the bus yesterday tumbled out smoothly enough
Just as the reporter was wrapping up, Rosalia appeared in the doorway
She scanned the room with that slightly confused look people get when they walk into a movie halfway through. “Liana? What’s going on in 1
The WCCO reporter was packing up her notebook when she spotted Rosalia. Her eyes lit up with that journalists instinct for a new angle. “Is this your friend?
“No,” I shook my head. “This is my sister.”
The reporter smiled warmly. “You’re both absolutely gorgeous- -these genes in your family!”
I said, “Thanks,” feeling that weird mix of pride and embarrassment that comes with compliments.
Rosalia stepped closer, her eyes focusing on the WCCO lanyard hanging around the reporter’s neck
“Wait, you’re with Channel 47′′
The reporter nodded.
Rosalia’s expression shifted from confusion to suspicion
Something was clearly clicking in her brain. “Why are you guys here at our school?
Another crew member was dismantling the camera setup.
My homeroom teacher hustled in with three water bottles, looking way more excited about the whole thing than I was
I watched Rosalia’s face silently, my heart rate picking up despite my outward calm.
The reporter answered casually. “Interviewing the Minnesota state champion SAT scorer in humanities
In that moment, Rosalia’s face did something I’d never seen before it completely emptied of expression, like someone had wiped a wherboard dem.
She stood there frozen, her eyes unfocused as though she was recalibrating h
her entire reality.
Her gaze swept over me, lingered for a millisecond, then dried back to the reporter.
She whispered, almost to herself “What did you just say?”
The reporter glanced at me with slight confusion, then repeated, “We’re interviewing Minesota’s highest SATourer in humanities”
Rosalia scanned the room again, more deliberately this time, taking inventory of everyone present. Her eyes landed one, the only student in the room. Her face went from blank to ghost white as the bit her lip and asked, “So…where is this top scurer?”
The reporter looked genuinely baffled.
could practurally read her thoughts: How could my own sister not know show the biggest academic achievement of my life?
aking I’m Sharing Golden as a Queen
Chapter 10
For a split second, I considered downplaying it. Making soove joke to let Rosalin save face. That’s what I’d always done nambie myself to keep
peace.
But something was different now. Maybe it was seeing my score. Maybe it was the applause from my classmates arber, or maybe) being invisible.
I stood up calmly, feeling strangely light, and answered simply. “It’s me.”
