The Legend List

Chapter Two

Top Five Things You Should Know About Seth Reynolds:

5. He is incredibly lactose intolerant- which seems irrelevant, but if you had been on the second grade field trip to the dairy farm to witness the incident that occurred after the big cheese tasting, you'd want to keep this one in mind.

4. He is a total cosplay nerd- and proud of it. He spends every Wednesday night locked in his room while he works on his latest project for whatever the next convention is.

3. He sucks at almost all sports. The only exception, if it even counts, is pinball. I've never seen anyone with that kind of thumb control and flinging precision.

2. He is secretly an 80-year-old-man living in an eighteen year old's body- he loves old music, has a designated pair of 'porch slippers', and refuses to use the calendar app on his phone because he has the old fashioned kind hanging on his bedroom wall.

1. He's never seen a single episode of Laurie's Life, which means he's probably the only person in Lincoln who doesn't care about my mom's personal life more than their own.

I take a deep breath. I was a Girl Scout for three years back in the day, so I should be a natural door-to-door salesman- but I had a feeling that 'any chance you want to help me complete an all-night scavenger hunt, oh and also we need you to drive' wasn't going to go over as easily as thin mints. I knock twice.

Seth pulls the door open and raises an eyebrow. "Hey."

I try to play it cool. "Hey, bud. What-- uh, what's up?"

He steps out onto the porch, letting the screen door slam shut behind him. "Okay, what did you do?"

Okay, so much for playing it cool. "Nothing... yet."

"Why is Gwen sweating so much? I told you, the whole 'I'd help you hide a body' thing was more metaphorical-"

"Actually, we need a ride."

"Um... okay. Where to?"

"The school." I smile.

His face scrunches up in concentration while he stares at me, trying to figure out what we're up to. "Harp, what is going on?"

"I need you to drive us to the school so that we can find the stupid list that was in the time capsule." Another smile. "Then we can go and complete everything on the list. Together. Tonight."

He laughs. Like, full on belly-laughs so hard he has to bend over and put his hands on his knees to stop himself from face planting onto the porch. It's time to break out the big guns. I tell him all about the yearbook and the superlative. "I can't be remembered forever as the TV star's daughter, okay?"

"But you're not just the TV star's daughter. People love you."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But the guy at the taco stand only gives me free tacos when my Mom is waiting in the car. Mr. Lahiri never even looked at me in art class until my mom signed his DVD copy of season three. Your mom even made you promise to drive me to school every day for the last four years because my Mom once took her to a celebrity yoga retreat. I've been living my whole life completely oblivious to the truth until Emmy Cruz decided to type it into the yearbook and rub it in my idiot face."

It feels like I had spent the last eighteen years in my happy little bubble, about to float away to bigger and better things in California and then Emmy Cruz had to come along and pop it with her pointy red fingernails. There was no putting the bubble back together now. The only way out of this mess was to build myself a newer, better bubble- to make myself a legend.

He sighs. "And this really means that much to you? This isn't just about getting back at Emmy for writing that crap in the yearbook?"

"I swear."