Question

analyzing development of a theme, part 1 — instruction —
as analiz and stefanie entered the gymnasium, analiz looped her arm through julia’s while stefanie playfully pushed her knee into the back of julia’s leg.
“hey!” julia swatted at but missed stefanie’s arm.
“yeah, be careful, stefanie. julia’s legs are valuable,” said analiz with a smile. then she added, “isn’t this fair kind of a waste of time, since we’re all going to lincoln?”
stefanie nodded in agre hard, trying to ignore the un stomach.
casual
angry
thrilled
julia swallowed
developing in her
might as well walk
, but she was
“well, we’re here,” said j around.” she tried to sound excited to see a representative from the metropolitan performing arts high school. julia let her friends walk ahead of her, and then she headed to the arts school table.

Explanation:

Julia is hiding her true nervous/excited feelings about seeing the arts school representative, so she tries to act in a relaxed, unconcerned way. The word "casual" fits this context perfectly, as it means relaxed and unconcerned, matching her attempt to sound unbothered despite her internal feelings.

Answer:

casual