Perfect fit

When she heard her name called, linked to the words “2006 Lilac Queen,” Zanie McMillan did what every modern-day winner does. She reached for her cell phone.

One of the calls went to her dad, Kirby McMillan, who lives outside San Diego.

“He’s been following this every step of the way,” said McMillan, a North Central High School senior.

But her proud papa wasn’t always a part of McMillan’s world. She can count on one hand how many times she’s seen him since she was 4 years old.

Life with Mom wasn’t as neat and tidy as a 1960s sitcom, either.

McMillan, the 61st Lilac Queen in a civic event that dates back to 1938, has had at least eight addresses in her 17 years, from her grandmother’s in Spokane, to a youth crisis center, before she found a stable home with her Aunt Tracie and Uncle Dean Scott of Spokane.

But despite the challenging path, remarkably, McMillan has not taken a wrong step.

“I’m amazing,” McMillan said in a playful tone that prevented her from sounding like a braggart. “I’m probably the most rambunctious, but at the same time, I’m capable of humbling myself and telling it like it is.

“I’m not afraid to voice my opinion, but I am sensitive to what other people think as well.”

McMillan carries a 3.5 grade-point average. She played varsity sports, was a cheerleader at NC, and also performed in plays.

Outside school, McMillan is active at Faith Bible Church and works part time at a supermarket.

She added Lilac Queen to her achievements, winning the crown at last month’s coronation after a day of interviewing with the Lilac board and working in this year’s theme, “Kids are the key.”

Jeri Giachetti, McMillan’s advance-placement English teacher, encouraged her to go for the title.

“I told her, ‘I really think you have what it takes to be Lilac Queen.’ She has brains, beauty and personality,” Giachetti said.

Nine other NC students interviewed, and McMillan was selected as the school’s representative. McMillan is the second African American queen, following 1993 queen Jessica (Lotze) Hieronymus of Ferris.

She also is the fifth North Central queen, the most recent being Amanda (Cartledge) Herb, crowned in 1991.

McMillan received $1,500 in scholarship money in addition to the $1,250 awarded to all seven finalists. She’s been accepted into Seattle Pacific University and plans to major in biotechnology with the goal of becoming a pediatric heart specialist.

“The heart is probably the most important organ in your body, and it’s not just physically, but spiritually,” McMillan said. “If I could just help one family to bless them with their children, I’m totally willing to do it.”

McMillan will be the first person in her family to go to college.

She was born in San Diego. Her parents named her Zantea, which McMillan said means “God’s precious gift” in Hebrew.

Parenthood proved too much for the McMillans, as young Zanie and her brothers were moved to Spokane and raised by their maternal grandmother. The arrangement didn’t work out.

“We told her exactly how we felt, that we did not agree with a lot of the ways she was treating us,” McMillan said. “She decided she wasn’t going to take that from teenagers, so we were kicked out of the house.”

While her brother went looking for their mom, who “was unfound at that point in time,” 11-year-old McMillan was sent to the Crisis Residential Center, a short-term placement center.

“As I stayed at CRC, I totally felt out of place because it is a place for more juvenile-type kids,” McMillan said. “I totally was not one of those kids at all, so I felt really out of place and felt imprisoned by the building.”

Shortly after, her aunt and uncle opened their home.

Today, McMillan is in contact with both parents. She said she and her mother, who lives in Spokane, are “at a plateau.”

“We’re not going anywhere, but we’re not backtracking,” she added. “Things are good.

“I’m at a mature enough level that I’m not angry with her anymore.”

Her father, who is remarried, resurfaced about two years ago. Their most recent, and third, meeting was on a whitewater rafting trip near Las Vegas.

Her brothers’ lives also have been troubled. Her 23-year-old brother is in an Oregon prison. Her 20-year-old brother lives with their mom and, in McMillan’s words, is “doing nothing.”

For McMillan, winning the Lilac Queen competition was meant to be.

“I’ve always been one of those competitors who need to know everything there is to know so I can better myself,” she said.

“I totally understood what it would take to be a queen. That was totally my goal.”