Out of Bounds Page 11

  “What is your name…little…Miss?” she asked Charlotte.

  Good, thought Charlotte. I’m not the only one who can’t figure out what to call people.

  “My name is Charlotte.”

  “I love that name,” the woman said enthusiastically. “It’s very elegant.”

  “What’s your name?” Charlotte politely asked in return.

  “Razzberry Pink.”

  “Excuse me?” Charlotte thought she must have misheard.

  The young woman smiled. “Yes, you heard correctly. My name is Razzberry Pink. That’s Razzberry with two Zs. I named myself that when I was eighteen. I was walking along the Charles River and it was springtime. Gardeners were planting hundreds of pink flowers along the river bank. The vision of all that glorious pink made me so happy that right then and there, I decided to change my name.

  “I vowed that I would devote my life forever to the color pink. I mean, you could do worse things in life. Pink makes people, especially girls, very happy. And really, could you see me in an office?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “They are far too drab. And if I had to sit at a desk and look at a computer all day, I would turn into a prune. No, it had to be a pink store. There was no other choice.”

  Charlotte couldn’t resist asking, “What was your name when you were born?”

  “It’s a secret,” she whispered, a definite twinkle in her eye.

  Since they had been talking, the sky had clouded over. And it looked like it was going to rain, and probably soon. Ms. Razzberry Pink looked at her watch and tugged at her dog’s leash.

  “La Fanny, come along. We don’t want any nasty old rain to ruin your beautiful pink fur now, do we?…besides, Ms. Strawberry will want her break now.”

  “Ms. Strawberry?” Charlotte said quizzically. Charlotte thought there couldn’t possibly be more of them.

  Razzberry laughed. “Everyone who works in the store takes on a pink name for the day…you know, like Ms. Rose, Ms. Fuchsia. People love it. It’s very good for business.”

  Charlotte got it. Ms. Pink might look a little flaky, but she was really a smart businesswoman. Because all Charlotte now wanted to do was race back and tell everyone she knew about Ms. Pink’s store.

  Suddenly, Charlotte felt a drop of pink…oops…a drop of rain on her nose and heard a big cheer from the crowd. Yikes, she had forgotten about the game.

  “Marty and I have to run; my friends will be looking for me!”

  Charlotte tugged on Marty’s leash, but the little guy planted his feet firmly in the ground. No way, no how, was he leaving without La Fanny.

  Charlotte bent down to pick him up.

  “Sorry, little guy, gotta go.”

  Before Charlotte could grab Marty, La Fanny left her adoring fan with another delicate slurp on the nose. Overcome, Marty flipped in the air for La Fanny. It actually didn’t turn out so well, as he fell on his back. But, La Fanny seemed not to notice anyway.

  “Here is my card, Charlotte. Please, bring your friends to my store sometime. It’s a total pink fest. I even have pink dog biscuits. Everybody loves the place. It’s so silly, and that seems to make my customers really happy. Once the Mayor of Boston came in to buy his wife a pink sweater. Valentine’s Day is my biggest day, of course.”

  As Razzberry walked away, Charlotte looked down at her card.

  “Would you like to come to a magic show at the Abigail Adams school?” Charlotte called after her.

  Ms. Razzberry Pink turned her head. “I’d love to…I went to Abigail Adams when I was little.” Charlotte watched her walk away, waving to people who beeped their horns as she passed by. It’s not every day you get to see someone like Ms. Razzberry Pink.

  “Marty,” Charlotte said to her little buddy, who was looking very bummed out at being torn from his new crush. “Nobody is ever going to believe this one!”

  Avery thought Megan was doing really well in this game, even with it starting to rain and her mother yelling…at least her mom hadn’t come on the field this time. And the game was really almost over. Avery had her fingers crossed that they wouldn’t call it for bad weather…just ten more minutes.

  As Charlotte raced up the bleachers with Marty, Maeve asked, “Where have you been, Charlotte? You were gone forever.”

  “You are not going to believe this story.”

  Suddenly, a cheering round of applause erupted from the Twisters’ bench. Megan’s mom looked as proud as if she herself had been voted MVP…Megan had scored her third goal—the game was now tied. It was mayhem on the bench and in the stands.

  When Marty heard the applause, he began running from person to person to get treats, assuming that the applause was for him. The girls scrambled after him, managing to capture him before he and Megan’s mom had another confrontation. Nobody wanted to go through that again. The BSG agreed that they would have to talk to Avery about Marty’s training. There must be another way to train him that didn’t involve treats. Besides, Marty was starting to look a little pudgy. And they needed him in top form for the talent show.

  All of a sudden, they heard it—thunder overhead. The coach waved his arm and pointed at Avery to blow her whistle. The Twisters and Tornadoes would have to meet again.

  After they left the field, the girls headed over to Charlotte’s to work on the scenery. Along the way, Charlotte told them all about Ms. Pink and her store. Katani was beside herself with excitement. She had never been there…all the girls couldn’t wait to go there. None of them had ever seen a store entirely devoted to pink. Avery, of course, couldn’t wait to meet Marty’s girlfriend. Although she was a little concerned that Marty would be so taken with a pink poodle. She wondered if Marty might be a tad superficial. The sentiment was so Avery that the BSG just rolled their eyes.

  TEAM EFFORT

  The girls decided that they were all going to help Isabel paint. They could see that the whole Kiki extravaganza had overwhelmed her. Katani told Isabel that she could just tell them where to paint and what color to use and it would all be fine. And if it wasn’t perfect, nobody would notice because they were on stage and smoke would be blowing around.

  Isabel had laid out an amazing set design. She painted large silver stars to represent the constellations Orion, Capricorn, and Sagittarius. She had even mapped out the Dog Star, Sirius, for Marty. In the center of the stars she had placed plastic glow-in-the-dark stars.

  “I think we should do the constellations as a backdrop, too,” Isabel suggested. “As sort of a camouflage thing.”

  “I absolutely love this,” said Charlotte.

  “The stars as camouflage will be awesome. It will distract everyone,” Katani said.

  Maeve was excited because when you turned out the lights, the effect was dramatic! She could imagine that she was on a Broadway stage. Avery fantasized how Marty would be so famous after the show that maybe Kiki’s father might use him in one of his videos. “It could happen,” she protested when the girls rolled their eyes at her hopefulness.

  If they had been planning to talk to Isabel about how overbooked and tired she was, everyone forgot. Today Isabel seemed so happy. She had slept all night and had woken up feeling fine. And she kept talking about how her father was coming out for a visit. He had already gotten his tickets, she’d said. He had told Elena Maria that he was coming. But they had decided to surprise their mother. He hadn’t been here since he helped move them in with Aunt Lourdes, almost three months before.

  On Monday, Isabel didn’t leave school with the rest of the girls. She had a rehearsal at four p.m., and it was already three thirty, so she decided to stay.

  “Maeve, do you think you could stay for a minute and help me with something?” Isabel asked.

  “Sure,” Maeve said, motioning for the other girls to go ahead.

  “It’s my harmony…for the song. I’ve got a rehearsal now, and I’m having a lot of trouble with it.” Isabel looked worried.

  “That’s a tough song to harmonize to,” Maeve said, as she unf
olded her umbrella.

  “I thought it was just me,” Isabel said, relieved.

  “Sing it for me,” Maeve said.

  Isabel looked embarrassed at the thought of singing alone, so Maeve sang the melody softly while Isabel sang the harmony she was supposed to be learning.

  Isabel was right; she was having trouble with it. “Let’s do it again,” Maeve said, “only this time you sing the melody and I’ll try to pick up the harmony.”

  Isabel sang the song softly, afraid that people on the street would hear her. Maeve, unconcerned about anyone listening, sang a few bars of harmony, and then stopped again. “I know what the problem is,” Maeve said.

  “What?”

  “You should be singing the melody,” Maeve said. “Isabel, you have a really nice voice.”

  Isabel blushed. “No way,” she said.

  “I mean it,” Maeve said. “I’ve taken a lot of singing lessons, and your voice is better for the melody. You should try to get them to switch it around.”

  Even if Isabel had wanted to sing the lead, which she didn’t, there was no way it was going to happen. “Kiki is singing the melody,” Isabel said.

  “That figures,” Maeve said.

  They worked for half an hour, until Isabel was getting more confident that she had learned her part.

  “Thank you so much,” Isabel said.

  “Anytime,” Maeve answered.

  Maeve left before the rest of the Hip-Hop Honeys arrived. She didn’t want to run into Kiki. She walked down the street toward the movie theater.

  Maeve made it inside just as the big storm hit. The rain began pelting down on Harvard Street, and thunder and lightning lit up the sky.

  CHAPTER 12

  Rain, Rain, Go Away

  It rained for the rest of the day. And it rained all the next day. The streets of Brookline were flooded.

  Kristy B. reported a cold front coming in, which would explain the intermittent thunderstorms. Katani had counted three different storms so far, none of them knocking the lights out, but strong enough so that her mother told her to unplug her computer.

  “I’m scared,” Kelley said. For someone who said she was scared, Kelley seemed brave enough. Every flash of lightning made her eyes go wide, but every peal of thunder made her giggle. Katani couldn’t tell if Kelley was really scared and it was nervous laughter, or whether her sister was enjoying the drama of the storm.

  “Here, let’s count,” Katani said at the next flash of lightning.

  They counted together, “One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one thousand…”

  They got to six before the thunder caught up. “I think that means that the storm is six miles away,” Katani said. It was something everyone did—the counting—although she didn’t know how scientific it was.

  “It’s six thousand miles away,” Kelley said vehemently. There was no arguing with Kelley once she set her mind to something. Katani’s mom said it was part of Kelley’s autism. She could get pretty rigid about things.

  Katani didn’t want to argue the logic with her sister, especially since she didn’t even know if her own logic was correct to begin with. “Anyway,” Katani said. “The thunderstorm is far enough away, so we don’t have to be scared of it.”

  “I’m not scared of a thunderstorm,” Kelley said out the window. “I’m not scared of a silly old thunder-stupid-storm that’s six stupid thousand miles away. Ha!”

  Katani had to laugh. Sometimes Kelley was the funniest person. As much as she wanted her own room, she knew she might miss the comfort of having her sister nearby…especially at times like these.

  “Kelley,” whispered Katani.

  “What?” Kelley whispered back.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, Miss Bossy,” and then for good measure Kelley added a big “Ha!”

  CHAPTER 13

  Rained Out

  When they got to school on Wednesday morning, there were fire trucks outside Abigail Adams Junior High. Of course, Henry Yurt and the Trentini twins were all over the scene. They were excited to see the firefighters—rugged uniforms, exciting equipment, anything to give them a break from school—their least favorite activity.

  “Those dudes are so awesome, I think I want to be a firefighter when I’m older,” said Billy Trentini earnestly. He was particularly impressed with state-of-the-art ladder truck.

  “Dude, we’re in trouble if you’re with the fire department,” the Yurtmeister responded with a big grin.

  Billy grabbed Henry playfully by the neck and gave him a Trentini special—a super noogie with a Three Stooges flick to the head. Ms. R had to break them up.

  Charlotte, Avery, Isabel, and Maeve stood to the side watching the action.

  Maeve looked worried. “I hope it’s not really a fire. I wouldn’t want the school to burn down…especially…” she said.

  Katani, who had just appeared, rushed to assure her. “No, it’s not a fire. My grandmother said it was just a big leak that had gotten out of control.”

  This was serious. No one was allowed inside the building. The leak they had seen outside a couple of mornings ago had turned into a small lake, one that extended all the way into the auditorium.

  “That’s what the smell was,” Charlotte said. “It was mildew from the water.”

  When the building had been thoroughly checked, the classrooms were finally opened. But the wing that housed the auditorium was off limits.

  By the time they got to class, it was already second period. They had missed math, for which Isabel was grateful. The truth was, she hadn’t entirely finished her homework. On Sunday night, Kiki had called Isabel at home with yet another in the long list of Kiki requests. She liked the film of herself, she said, but there were a number of details she wanted changed.

  Isabel had done all the math problems, but there hadn’t been any time to check them. And Isabel always found mistakes when she checked her work. She hated doing it, but it always seemed to pay off in the end. Isabel had never received less than a B in math. She wasn’t an A student, but her father said B meant that you understood most of what the teachers were presenting.

  At lunchtime, Mrs. Fields came into the cafeteria to make an announcement. “I’m very sorry, but I have some bad news,” Mrs. Fields said.

  “I hope they’re sending us all home for the day,” Henry Yurt speculated. He wouldn’t consider that bad news at all.

  “The leak in the auditorium roof is quite extensive,” Mrs. Fields said. “So extensive, in fact, that I’m afraid we’re going to have to cancel the talent show.”

  The students were shocked. There was a collective groan and a chorus of “OH NOs!” Not having the talent show would be a huge disappointment, especially since Henry Yurt had finally agreed to dress up as a cheerleader. The student body of Abigail Adams was expecting an evening of hilarity, magic, and dancing. This just couldn’t be happening.

  “You mean postpone it,” someone said.

  “I’m afraid I mean cancel,” Mrs. Fields said. “Even if we could get the roof repaired in time for the show, I’m afraid that leak has been going on for a while. I am told that we will have to close down that whole wing of the school until further notice.”

  The Beacon Street Girls stared at each other. They were completely shocked.

  Betsy Fitzgerald actually put her head down on the table. She had just found her mini brass band.

  Anna and Joline looked stricken, and Kiki looked outraged.

  The Beacon Street Girls turned in unison to Maeve. If they were upset about the show, how much worse was Maeve going to feel? And what would happen to the theater?

  “Oh, Maeve,” Charlotte said.

  “The show is cancelled?” Maeve asked, as if she were just starting to understand the implications. “Totally?”

  “I’m…I’m so sorry, students. Things don’t always go as planned. It’s one of life’s hardest lessons.” Mrs. Fields said the words to the whole class, bu
t she was looking directly at Maeve.

  Part Two

  Taking Charge

  CHAPTER 14

  Dream Denied

  On Sunday afternoon, the scene in the Tower was not a happy one. Katani sat in the Lime Swivel, tapping her toes and spinning slowly as she looked at the ceiling. Isabel was near tears because she was afraid that her dad wouldn’t come once he learned that the show was cancelled. Maeve chewed on her fingernails. Thoughts of losing the theater loomed large and heavy. And Charlotte stared out the window toward the Charles River, wishing she was sailing on one of the boats bobbing up and down on the water. Their disappointment over the show’s cancellation had set them all on edge. But the one who seemed the most upset was Avery. It had to do with Marty.

  Somehow, Avery had become completely convinced that Marty had been a circus performer in his past life. It had been a fun game they’d played when they first brought Marty to the Tower. Every girl put together a story about Marty’s history. And each story was more fanciful than the last. But when the girls started the magic show, Avery really started to believe that her story about Marty was the correct one. Marty had an unmistakable talent for show business. He loved to be in the limelight and enjoyed practicing tricks for treats.

  Ever since the show got cancelled, Avery swore that Marty was depressed. “His self-esteem just isn’t what it used to be,” Avery complained to Charlotte.

  Charlotte told Avery that she thought Marty’s moping had more to do with the fact that he hadn’t seen his new crush, La Fanny, the pink poodle they had met in the park, in a long time.

  “He’s a dog. Dogs don’t get crushes, Charlotte.”

  “You didn’t see him, Ave. I did, and I am telling you he was in love.”