Whitney looked at the others. “Why don’t we stick with what we know? What’s wrong with singing ‘Turn Up the Music’?”
Sydney thought for a moment. “Nothing, actually. The guys would never try to steal that one.”
“Donna, why don’t you kick us off,” Whitney suggested. “Your voice is the perfect lead-in with Pearl’s beatboxing.”
“Me?” Donna asked nervously. “You mean Ms. Heel, right?”
Julianna watched as Sydney and Whitney looked at each other. They were actually communicating.
“We think you can do it without her, but it’s up to you,” Sydney said. “Your voice is even better than Ms. Heel’s.” She winked.
“Let’s figure out an arrangement together,” Whitney said. “One more time as a free-for-all, then we can start breaking it down. Sound good?” Sydney nodded.
Sydney pulled out her pitch pipe and blew into it. Julianna and the others followed the note and the sound of their voices filled the pool deck.
Then it was time to sing a second note. Gabby squeezed Julianna’s hand and she got through the note too. Then she sang a third and a fourth and soon all the notes came together into a song.
Julianna breathed a sigh of relief. Looking around at the other girls, she had the funniest feeling the Nightingales were finally getting back in the a cappella groove.
I made the dance competition team!
Lidia stared at the phone message she had just typed and contemplated whether to hit send.
As soon as Lidia got the call from Miss Pattie Ann that she had made the team, she’d started screaming and running around the house. Grandma Evie figured out what was happening and she started cheering and banging pots and pans. Then she suggested a karaoke medley to celebrate. They called Lidia’s mom, who was still in her office, and she sang on the phone, as did Lidia’s dad. Dougie grabbed his guitar and played along with Lidia and Grandma. When the song was over, Lidia realized that the person she wanted to share her news with the most was Sydney. Then she remembered they hadn’t spoken in a month.
Do I send the text or not? Not, she decided, and she slowly and sadly deleted the words. She texted Jack instead.
JACK: This calls for THREE POUNDS of nonpareils to celebrate! Come early to Kyle’s before class tomorrow and I’ll buy. IF you share some with me, okay?
Lidia smiled. She’d see Jack tomorrow. This week kept getting better. Except for the not-being-able-to-tell-Sydney part. She typed the message to Sydney again. And deleted it again. Finally, she threw her phone on her bed in frustration, then plopped down on the mattress herself and stared at the water stain on her bedroom ceiling.
I miss Syd. Yes, she was upset that Sydney hadn’t come clean about what happened with Griffin, but she missed talking to Sydney about ten thousand other things best friends always talked about, like the wedding disasters show they were obsessed with, or how annoying their parents could be about doing homework assignments days before they were due. She missed sending Sydney pictures of glittery sneakers she wanted to buy that Sydney would always talk her out of (“You’re not twelve!”) and the videos Sydney would take of herself singing audition songs months before she actually auditioned for something. She even missed working with Sydney on their pirate cruise tours. They hadn’t had one together at Salty Sam’s since the end of the summer. She could still hear Sydney trying to perfect a pirate “aye!”
But the thing that still caused Lidia the most “missing you” pangs was singing alone. She and Syd always sang together. They’d break out in song in line at Pinocchio’s, at the supermarket, in the car, in line at the cafeteria, or in the airport security check line. She couldn’t think of a place where they hadn’t sung, actually. Singing with Grandma Evie and her family had its moments, but singing with Sydney was the best. When they sang together in the Nightingales, there was no feeling that could top it.
And she was giving all that up for dance.
Lidia sat straight up. Was she making the right choice?
This was the kind of decision she would have labored over with Sydney, agonizing over all the angles, and writing out plus and minus charts. This time she had made the decision alone. She thought of Jack’s question again. Which do you like more? Dance or a cappella?
She threw herself back on the bed again. She wished she knew where Sydney was so she could talk about it with her.
Lidia looked at the clock. She actually knew where Sydney was. Nightingales practice was going on right now.
Lidia jumped up, pulled on some shoes, and ran out of the house, sprinting across campus. She didn’t stop till she hit the theater doors and pulled them open. She didn’t give herself time to worry about whether the Kingfishers were there too or what she would do if she saw Griffin. Somehow, she didn’t even care. The only thing she did care about was seeing Sydney and figuring out a way to talk through all their drama. She bet Sydney was hurting too. Sydney would hate the idea of co-captaining with Whitney. They probably spent their whole practices fighting.
But as soon as Lidia pulled open the doors, she realized she’d been wrong.
The Nightingales were huddled together onstage wearing pink wigs and light-up sunglasses, and Sydney and Whitney were standing close together talking. Not yelling. Talking. Like they were getting along. She watched Sydney blow into her pitch pipe before the girls started singing a familiar song called “Turn Up the Music.” They didn’t sound pitchy or disjointed. They sounded really good. Lidia watched as the group got tighter and tighter, forming a small circle, as they sang in harmony. When they were done with the song, they actually cheered.
Lidia couldn’t have been more wrong about things. Sydney and the Nightingales looked and sounded happy.
Lidia quietly backed out of the auditorium without being seen. It was clear the group had moved on without her.
No matter how much Sydney appealed to the a cappella gods, Friday still came and with it the Bradley Academy Open House.
Like most private schools, Bradley pulled out all the stops when it came to opening its doors to prospective new students. All morning tour groups had been walking around the quad, which was decorated with welcome banners and navy and gold balloons. She’d been stopped several times by kids who had lost their group, and she had gotten stuck behind slow-moving parents carrying brochures and marveling at the school’s new turf football field. Sydney had to duck and weave around them all morning to get to class on time. Not that she could keep her mind on schoolwork.
This would be her Nightingales’ first performance as a group in public. While she and Whitney were playing nice, they disagreed on just about everything and the girls were still arguing over individual parts. What if Mercedes didn’t remember to rein in her loud voice like Sydney and she had been practicing? What if Julianna got stage fright again? What if the whole school made fun of Donna, who wouldn’t part with her Sharpie-designed Ms. Heel?
At least the song they’d been practicing sounded decent. After daily practices during lunch hour and after school, Whitney and Sydney had come up with an arrangement of the song that worked. It turned out Pearl was their hidden talent. Her beatboxing took the song to a whole new level. Now Sydney just prayed they could pull it off.
Sydney waited by the fountain outside the theater for the other girls to arrive. They were going to walk together over to the courtyard where Bradley had put up an outdoor stage. She pulled herself up on the fountain bench and swung her legs anxiously. She was a wreck, and when she felt like this only one person could calm her down.
She pulled out her phone to text Lidia and stopped herself. She still needed that reminder sometimes: You and Lidia aren’t talking. The truth was, no matter how bad Lidia had messed things up by bailing on the Nightingales, Sydney still missed her other half terribly.
She heard talking and looked up.
“Move it out, people!” Whitney said. “We’re on in twenty and I want to be ready to walk out onstage early.”
“Hi, guys!” Sydne
y faked enthusiasm. “Ready to wow Bradley?” Julianna looked three different shades of green. Uh-oh. Do I say something or will that make her more nervous?
“Ms. Heel is so nervous, she could throw up,” Donna said.
Sydney wasn’t sure what the appropriate response was to that. “I’m sure she’ll be fine!” She might need to borrow Ms. Heel’s imaginary barf bag and throw up in it herself.
“I still can’t remember—do we spin right or left after the first chorus?” Gabby asked.
“LEFT!” said Mercedes as Pearl said, “Right!”
Micayla sneezed. “Does anyone have a tissue? I feel like I’m getting a cold.”
“Do we have an actual answer on the spinning?” Viola pressed. “Right or left?”
Gabby burst out laughing and the other girls looked at her. “Sorry. I’m just thinking about the Kingfishers and the surprise they’ll find in their performance jackets this morning.”
Sydney paled. “Oh, Gabs, you didn’t do something, did you? Performance days are off-limits just like audition days.”
“But they went after us on audition day,” Gabby pointed out.
“Because we went after their pizzas.” Micayla sounded nasally.
Sydney was afraid to even ask. “What did you do?”
Gabby gave her a sly smile. “I might have left a carton of red ants near where they hang those gold coats they wear for performances.”
Everyone gasped.
“Gabs, you didn’t!” Viola said. “Those ants burn. They’ll know it was us.”
Gabby shrugged. “They can’t prove it.”
“Let’s just get over to the stage.” Whitney herded everyone along.
Micayla sneezed again. “Does anyone have cold medicine? I feel nauseous and I’m not nervous. I never get nervous.”
“You just need air,” Donna told her.
“We’re outside! I’m already getting air,” Micayla snapped.
Sydney snuck a glance at Julianna, who walked quietly beside her. Her normally sun-kissed skin had a definite green hue. “How are you doing?”
Julianna exhaled. “I’m fine. I think. I’ve been focusing on my breathing like you suggested. And I’m standing next to Gabby onstage and she offered to hold my hand. That seems to calm me down. I think I’ll be okay. At least I hope so.” Julianna stopped short when she saw the crowd gathered around the stage. “Wow. There’s a lot of people here.”
“Forget the people,” Sydney said, hoping she could get through to her. “Just focus on your team. We know you can do this.” Julianna swallowed hard. “If I were putting together a new team today, I’d still pick you. I want you to know that.”
Julianna managed a small smile. “Thanks.”
The noise volume increased as they reached the courtyard. There were so many students and parents packed into the area, Sydney could barely see the stage. Sydney had the lineup from Mr. Wickey so she knew the dance troupe had gone on first, then the band and then the orchestra. The choral groups were always last. Sydney stood on her tippy toes and saw the general chorus taking the stage. She wondered if Lidia was performing with them. She’d heard she’d joined, but she didn’t see her. A few seconds later, they started a decent cover of a song from The Phantom of the Opera. The Kingfishers would go on when the chorus was done.
“Come on,” Whitney said, pushing her way through the crowd with the Nightingales in tow.
Sydney followed, scanning the crowd as they walked. She knew it was silly, but part of her thought Lidia might watch their performance.
“Syd!” She turned around. “Wait up!” Griffin was waving frantically from across the crowd.
Sydney blushed, thinking of how close she’d come to kissing him at Cliff Notes. She didn’t want to be distracted before her performance. She waved and kept walking. “Ready, captain?” Sydney asked Whitney.
“Ready!” Whitney narrowed her eyes at the group. “Don’t screw this up.”
Sydney cleared her throat.
“I mean, do great out there and—ACHOO!” Whitney glared at Micayla. “Great! I’m getting your cold.” She sneezed three more times in a row.
“Have fun and sing it loud,” Sydney told the Nightingales. “Wait!” she panicked. “Where’s—oh, there’s Julianna.” Julianna didn’t look happy, but she was still there. Sydney smiled at her. “You guys have got this.”
The Kingfishers filed onto the stage from the opposite staircase. Sydney was grateful she didn’t have to see Griffin and the others close up. They’d probably try to get into the Nightingales’ heads before they took the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, our next act needs no introduction,” Headmistress Sato said. “The Kingfishers have taken home more trophies than any a cappella group in this school’s history.”
The Nightingales collectively rolled their eyes.
“They tell me they’re ready to rack up more this year,” Headmistress Sato added. “Let’s hear it for the Bradley Academy Kingfishers!”
The crowd went wild. The guys walked to the edge of the stage to shake hands with students. Griffin was still trying to motion to Sydney. What was wrong with him? When onstage, “Fake it till you make it” was her motto.
“Let’s hear it for the best a cappella group on campus!” Dave shouted into the mic.
“I can’t stand them,” Whitney said through gritted teeth. Then she sneezed again.
“Guys, I don’t feel so great,” Micayla said.
“Look! They’re not wearing their gold jackets,” Gabby said with glee. “Those are their good luck charms. Let’s see how they perform without them!” She laughed. “Ooh, Dave is giving me such a look. What, Dave? Prove it!’ ” Gabby yelled at the stage.
“Please let Dave’s pitch pipe break. Please let Dave’s pitch pipe break,” Donna repeated under her breath.
“Guys, does anyone else feel dizzy?” Whitney clutched her stomach. She probably had a case of nerves too. It happened sometimes.
Dave blew into his pitch pipe and the Kingfishers kicked things off with the official Bradley Academy pledge, which they had turned into a unique rap. The crowd went wild for that one. Then they dove into a short skit about a cappella (were they acting now too?) and high-fived prospective students. Finally, they started to sing.
It took Sydney a moment to register what she was hearing. She heard the song. She knew the song. But it took her a minute to realize why it sounded so familiar.
“Wait a minute,” Gabby said, slowly realizing it too. “They’re singing our song!”
Sydney watched in horror as the guys sang and danced their way around the stage to “Turn Up the Music.” Her mouth gaped when Dave turned and winked at her.
“Our practices have been compromised!” Viola said, holding Gabby back from rushing the stage. “They stole our number!”
“How? We haven’t practiced in the theater all week,” Pearl cried.
Sydney glanced at the stage again. Griffin. There could be no other explanation. He must have come to practice to talk to her one afternoon and heard their song. But he wouldn’t have told the Kingfishers, would he?
Her heart beat wildly as she watched the guys crisscross the small stage. She had no idea how quickly they had had to throw the number together, but they were still in sync. Even their solos were stellar and included rap breakouts!
“Of all the down-and-dirty a cappella tricks!” Gabby seethed. “They’re trying to make us look like fools!”
“Which is ridiculous, because we could have done that on our own!” Pearl declared. The others nodded.
Whitney moaned. “Does anyone else feel like the ground is moving?”
Micayla weakly raised her hand. “I do.”
Sydney was too stunned to speak. Could anything else possibly go wrong right now?
“Hi, guys!” said Lidia, showing up on the side of the stage with a big pink poster board that said GO NIGHTINGALES! in block letters. “I came to cheer you on. Are you ready?”
“Go away, Li
dia,” Sydney moaned.
“But I just wanted to—” Lidia started to say.
“Not now!” the other girls shouted and Lidia shrank back.
When the Kingfishers’ rendition of “Turn Up the Music” ended, the crowd went wild. Sydney felt sick. The Nightingales couldn’t get up on that stage and perform the same song as the guys. It was too humiliating.
“Ready, girls?” Headmistress Sato asked.
“What do we do? What do we do?” Donna repeated over and over.
“We have to sing a different song,” Gabby said. “We can’t sing the same one.”
“I feel sick,” Whitney said.
“Me too,” Micayla moaned.
“I know, but it’s the only song we know! It’s the one we’ve been practicing!” Donna said, her Ms. Heel hand flailing around.
“Quick! What song do we all know?” Sydney asked.
“Do you guys know the new Katy Perry?” Viola ventured.
“Not Katy Perry!” they all moaned.
“Guys? I seriously feel like the ground is moving.” Whitney was starting to look as green as Julianna.
“And now a group that needs no introduction, but will get one from me anyway,” Headmistress Sato said. “My beloved Nightingales, which many of you know I was a part of, are back and better than ever.” She consulted her cue card. “And they’re here this afternoon to sing … oh, how funny! They’re going to sing the same song the Kingfishers did. I can’t wait to hear their arrangement. Let’s give them a warm welcome.”
Sydney’s head was spinning. She adjusted her microphone on her headset as the others did the same. Whitney looked out of it, so she couldn’t rely on her co-captain for help. She needed to think of a simple song. Any song. Something classic they all knew. Her mind went to show tunes, but not everyone was a theater geek like her. They needed a classic. They needed … Britney Spears.
“Baby One More Time,” Sydney blurted out. The girls looked at her. “Do you guys know it?”