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Watson.” I smiled. “I’d love to be part of the Get Happy family! I sing, and dance, and act, and twirl batons at Evanston High School. And I volunteer at Children’s Hospital, the animal shelter, and a homeless center.”
    Joy put one hand over her heart, completely buying it. “That is so sweet.”
    Fin snorted back a laugh, but I kept smiling and staring at Joy.
    “And what about you?” She turned to Fin.
    “I’m Finnegan O’Connor.” There was that flirty voice again. “I go to EHS with Minerva. I do lots of shows and I love to sing — ”
    “His voice is amazing,” I offered.
    He smiled, and then he took a big breath like he was excited to be alive, and started gushing. “I love entertaining. I love being in the spotlight and I really know how to work a crowd. I think birthdays should be full of vigor and vim, and I think Get Happy is such a great idea for a company.”
    I was biting my bottom lip so hard I thought it was going to bleed.
    “Thank you,” Joy said. “Yes, birthdays should be fun. I love your enthusiasm.” Joy turned to Hayes next, who threw us an amused look.
    “My name is Hayes Martinelli. To be honest, I heard about this today and thought I’d check it out.” He shrugged.
    “Hobbies?” Joy asked.
    “I play the double bass and lately I’ve been recording original stuff. Jazz.”
    “I love jazz,” Cassie said.
    “Wonderful, Hayes!” Joy exclaimed. “Isn’t thatrewarding?” You could tell she didn’t give a flying fig about jazz. “Well, it looks like we have some real Get Happy material here.” Joy pulled scripts out of a file cabinet. Fin got pirate, Hayes got cowboy, Cassie got princess, and I got mermaid.
    Fin shrieked when he saw mine, and started quoting our favorite
Little Mermaid
lines because I had a childhood obsession with Ariel.
    Joy spoke up. “These are generic characters because of the whole copyright issue. You’ll see in your scripts. Let’s just go around the circle and each read the first page. Just try to get into character.”
    We all took turns reading. I tried to think like a half fish, half girl and didn’t do too terribly. Hayes looked clueless when it was his turn, but helpful Cassie squeezed his arm and told him to relax, to which Joy said, “Isn’t that nice? And so true. Nobody here will bite you!”
    Singing next. Fin sang first, and he belted it out without a shred of self-consciousness. He just doesn’t care what anybody else thinks, which makes him very lovable, in my opinion. Then Cassie sang, and she was completely intimidating. She’s got The Voice.
    I had to go on after that. My voice came out mousy,which is what happens when I’m nervous. I got mad at myself because I could do better and now I really wanted the job and I was afraid I wasn’t going to get it. Even Hayes was more confident. Finally, the whole ordeal was over, and the four of us left.
    “Well, that was a hoot and a half,” Fin said. “Full of vigor and vim.”
    Cassie laughed and put her arm around him. “You guys are hilarious. Thanks so much for telling me about this, Fin.”
    I stopped.
    Fin gave me a guilty smile. “Cassie was in that hip-hop workshop I took at Soul to Sole over winter break,” he explained.
    I could’ve strangled him. I turned and gave him a private
thanks for inviting the competition
glare.
    “All you guys did great,” she said, giving Hayes’s shoulders a squeeze. “I’m sure you’ll make it.”
    Obviously regretting the fact that he had set me up for failure, Fin put his arm in mine and said: “It’s Minerva’s birthday. We have to sing!” Cassie and Hayes joined in, singing on the elevator ride down.
    As we got out, Hayes said, “Wait. You need apresent.” He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a dime, a ticket stub, and a small flat stone, the kind you find at the lake. He put the stone into the palm of my hand. “Happy birthday.”
    I smiled. “Gosh, you shouldn’t have.”
    Cassie laughed.
    We all