Out of Bounds Read online

  Charlotte and Avery wanted to watch Isabel dance from the audience. They left Marty snoring next to Katani and tied to a post. Maeve was still backstage, and so was Katani.

  There were no seats in the front, so the girls walked to the back of the theater and stood with the other SROs. There was one empty seat.

  “Do you think it belongs to someone?” Charlotte said, motioning Avery to it.

  It was off by itself, half obstructed by a pole.

  “Not anymore,” Avery said. She could see someone heading toward the door. “Sit,” she said to Charlotte.

  Because the seat was off by itself, Avery was able to balance on the chair arm. They couldn’t wait to see Isabel’s number.

  The curtain opened to reveal Isabel’s set. The audience clapped just for that. Isabel hadn’t had time to do what she wanted, so she took her teacher’s suggestion of splashing huge splotches of colors on big canvas frames. On top of it, her art teacher had helped Isabel paint words big enough for the audience to read. Words like, “Oh, yeah,” “Just do it,” “Hippity hip-hop,” “Kitty cat rock,” and “Purr.” Isabel also added Anna, Joline, and Kiki’s names on there with a cartoon of each girl’s face. It was really cute.

  Joline looked over to Anna, who refused to look back. Joline wished she was anywhere but waiting to see what was on that videotape.

  Kiki entered stage, followed by Isabel.

  Charmed by the girls’ bright smiles, the audience applauded warmly.

  SHOWDOWN

  Backstage, the applause had awakened Marty. He opened one eye, then both. He looked around for his Beacon Street Girls, but they weren’t there. Katani was on the other side of the stage, holding her clipboard, and Maeve was helping Dillon run the lights.

  The music started as a ballad, with Kiki singing melody and Isabel the harmony. It started slowly, when suddenly, Kiki turned around and yelled “Hit it!” Dillon turned on the tape, the cue for Anna and Joline to enter, but they were nowhere to be found. Kiki and Isabel started their hip-hop dance as planned.

  But something was terribly wrong.

  Instead of being awestruck, the audience was giggling. Then laughing. Then wildly applauding.

  Kiki turned slightly to see what everybody was looking at. The twirling, dancing Kikis had been replaced by Fantasia’s dancing hippos!

  “It’s the hippo hip-hop!” someone yelled from the audience.

  Certain that it was planned, the audience applauded again.

  If Kiki was fuming, Marty was delighted. The combination of laughter and applause was just too much for him. As far as Marty was concerned, any applause was for him. Show business was in his blood. He just had to get to the audience to get his treats.

  Marty pulled on his leash as hard as he could. It might have been his superdoggie strength, more likely it was because he was tied loosely, because after a few seconds, Marty broke free and ran across the stage, dragging his leash behind him. He took a flying leap and jumped into the audience as if it were a giant mosh pit. He landed on the lap of the elderly lady in the first row. Of course, the audience howled. Marty was part of the act, they thought. With the same aplomb she had shown when Henry’s wig had fallen in her lap, the lady held Marty and gave him a few tastes of her popcorn.

  Kiki was livid. “Pull that tape out of there, you idiot!” she yelled at Dillon, who reached down to get it. But he wasn’t fast enough for Kiki, who had broken character and was marching across the stage, her face as red as the dress she was wearing.

  Kiki was so angry that when she saw Anna smirking at her she ran offstage toward her. She was about to grab her when Ms. Ciara caught her arm.

  “No you don’t, young lady.”

  Actually, it was too quiet. At first, the audience had thought this was all part of the act, but with the extended silence, they didn’t know what to make of it.

  And poor Isabel stood frozen in place. She couldn’t move. It was her worst nightmare. She looked out at her parents, her eyes screaming, “Help me.”

  “Sing,” Maeve whispered loudly to Isabel.

  But nothing happened. Isabel couldn’t move.

  “Do something,” Katani said to Maeve.

  Maeve looked around and spotted Riley’s acoustic guitar. She took it and headed on stage.

  Maeve handed Isabel the guitar. Then she started to sing “De Colores,” a Spanish song she had practiced with Isabel one day. Only this time Maeve was singing the harmony.

  Harmony without melody was a strange sound. If you didn’t know what Maeve was doing, which the audience obviously did not, she might seem like a bad singer. Having heard her previous number, this change totally confused the audience.

  Isabel had no choice. She had to join in. If Maeve wasn’t afraid to make a fool of herself, then Isabel couldn’t be either. Isabel played a few chords on the guitar. Then slowly, softly, she started to sing.

  Together, their voices were a perfect blend.

  The audience went silent and listened to every word. “De Colores” was unfamiliar to the audience, which made it all the more unique. Luckily, the words were in English, or Maeve would have been in deep trouble.

  This time Kelley didn’t have to start the standing ovation. The whole audience was on its feet before the song was even finished. And Isabel’s father was clapping harder than anyone.

  CHAPTER 27

  Out of Bounds

  Sunday was sunny and bright, the perfect day for the final game of the girls’ soccer championship.

  Everyone was there to watch the Twisters and the Tornadoes.

  It was a perfect day to celebrate. Despite the Kiki/ Queens of Mean fiasco, the talent show had been a huge success. The sold-out performance paid for itself and alleviated some of the tax burden on the theater.

  Kiki’s father approached Maeve and her parents to suggest that Maeve record a few songs at his studio. He thought she had potential. But Maeve’s parents said she was way too young. She was disappointed, but didn’t make too big a deal of it because in her heart, Maeve kind of knew her parents were right. She wasn’t ready for the big time…just yet.

  The Beacon Street Girls sat together watching Avery ref the last big match between the Twisters and the Tornadoes. Maeve’s dad was sitting with Mr. Martinez. They were deep in conversation. Mr. Martinez had so many wonderful ideas for Mr. Taylor on how to convert the Movie House to a viable nonprofit, and Mr. Taylor asked him to be his accountant. Taking on the Movie House as a client meant that Mr. Martinez would have to come east more often, which made the entire Martinez family happy.

  Who knows, Isabel thought. If things went well, maybe her dad would open a branch office here. Or relocate altogether…it could happen.

  Everyone was doing their part to help the Movie House. Already Avery’s mother had been talking about doing another fund-raiser for them. Fund-raisers were her thing. And the Movie House would be more fun than most of the charitable causes Mrs. Madden took up.

  There were two minutes to go in the game. The Tornadoes were ahead. Megan’s mom was yelling from the stands. She was so loud that all of the other parents were turning around to look at her. None of the parents could seem to believe she was acting that way again. The girls just looked at each other. Katani mouthed “out of bounds.”

  “It’s only a game, for goodness sake,” Mrs. Martinez said loudly, but the comment was lost on Megan’s mother, who was yelling so hard she couldn’t hear it.

  It was getting tough to take. The opposing team was floundering, which was just the way Megan’s mom wanted things. But Megan wasn’t doing any better. What had started as the best game Megan had ever played was descending into chaos and missed shots.

  Everybody in the stands knew there was only one person to blame.

  “Out of bounds!” Megan’s mother yelled. It was her favorite call.

  Katani turned to Charlotte and Isabel, “I told you so.”

  “I guess some people never learn,” Isabel shrugged.

  Suddenly, u
nable to stand it another minute, Avery blew her whistle.

  The game stopped. Everyone looked around, trying to figure out the call. There was no such thing as out of bounds, which is what Megan’s mom kept yelling. But they all watched in amazement as Avery stood there staring up into the bleachers. She didn’t speak or move. She just kept looking directly at Megan’s mom.

  Everyone held their breath to see what Megan’s mother was going to do. Marty stood at attention, ready to leap in and protect Avery at a moment’s notice.

  Megan’s mother stood up and stared back at Avery.

  Katani counted, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four…”

  Megan’s mother sat down.

  Avery blew her whistle.

  The Twisters won the game in double overtime. And with the help of her teammates, Megan was able to score the winning goal of the season.

  As they walked off the field, Mr. Taylor approached Avery and Charlotte. “I forgot to give you this,” he said, handing them an old leather-bound book. “The cleaning people found it this morning in the lobby. I saw your names in it, and figured, in all the excitement, you must have forgotten where you left it.”

  Charlotte recognized the Houdini book immediately. “She came!” Charlotte said to Avery, who still didn’t quite understand what was going on.

  Charlotte flipped open the front cover and discovered the book plate. This book belongs to: Charlotte Ramsey and Avery Madden. Below the book plate was a simple inscription: Thank you for a magical evening.

  “Miss Pierce,” Avery said, finally getting it.

  “I can’t believe she came,” Charlotte said.

  At least for that one magical evening, Miss Pierce must have decided that it was okay for her to be out of bounds.

  Avery and Charlotte were hurrying to catch up with the rest of the Beacon Street Girls and tell them all what had happened when, out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw something…could it be? It was.

  Suddenly, Avery, Charlotte, and Marty were off and running…chasing a vision in pink.

  Epilogue

  Because of her performance, Keisha, the baton twirler, made a lot of new friends, most of them boys who were totally in awe of her baton fire power. Billy Trentini in particular thought Keisha was a great athlete and couldn’t stop talking about her. “Did you see that baton go flaming in the air? It totally rocks,” he kept saying…over and over. Keisha was beginning to get a little annoyed.

  Anna and Joline were assigned twenty-five hours of community service, which included helping Mr. Taylor clean up after Saturday matinees and reading to elderly people at a retirement home around the corner from the theater. Mrs. Fields made them write an apology to everyone who was in the talent show. The parents and teachers were really upset about their bad behavior, but most of the seventh grade at Abigail Adams just shrugged it off. After all, it was the Anna and Joline show. No surprises there.

  Mrs. Fields made Kiki go help out in the kindergarten after-school program for a week. She hoped Kiki would learn how to be patient and to share.

  Henry Yurt and the other cheerleaders were asked to perform at the high school cheerleaders’ annual fall banquet. They received a standing ovation.

  Isabel was asked to help design sets for the eighth-grade play. She said okay, as long as she had help painting.

  Kiki’s father asked if he could use Marty for a TV commercial. Avery thought that would be just “too cool.”

  To be continued…

  Out of Bounds

  BOOK EXTRAS

  Book Club Buzz

  Charlotte’s Word Nerd Dictionary

  Trivialicious Trivia

  5 QUESTIONS FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS TO CHAT ABOUT

  Which characters in Out of Bounds go way out of bounds with their behavior?

  Do you think Avery did a good job of dealing with Megan’s mom? What would you have done if you were Avery?

  How do all of the different talents of the BSG come alive during the talent show?

  Why are the Beacon Street Girls so worried when Isabel starts working with the Empress and Queens of Mean?

  What makes dancing in the talent show so special for Isabel?

  more out of bounds Book Club Buzz at beaconstreetgirls.com

  Charlotte’s Word Nerd Dictionary

  BSG Words

  Cutified: adjective—completely cute; dressed for cuteness; as cute as can be.

  Charmball: noun—someone who makes other people happy…or not!

  Snurp: noun—a combination of a snort and a burp.

  Panache: (pa-NASH) noun—having lots of style and flair. Sleight of hand: (SLITE-of-hand) noun—magic tricks that require you to move your hands fast enough to trick the eye.

  Trompe l'oeil: (TRUMP-LOY) noun—French, a kind of painting that means "trick of the eye." The subject looks very real.

  Ineptitude: (in-EP-ti-tood) noun—inability to perform a task.

  Vaudeville: (VOD-vil) noun—a form of theater pre World War II that consisted of a series of live entertainment acts.

  Diaphanous: (di-AF-a-nuss) adjective—almost see-through, filmy.

  Mortgage: (MORE-gaj) noun—money you borrow from a bank when you want to buy a house.

  Triptych: (TRIP-tik) noun—three pieces of artwork fitted together.

  Symbiotic: (SIM-by-ah-tik) adjective—two things that are different that benefit from living or working together.

  Pensive: (PEN-siv) adjective—dreamy and thoughtful. Intermittent: (IN-ter-MIT-tent) adjective—stopping and starting.

  Entourage: (On-too-raj) noun—a group of people who help you or entertain you—rock stars usually have entourages.

  more on the web at beaconstreetgirls.com

  freaked out trivialicious trivia

  What is the name of Avery’s famous noise? A. Burp

  B. Slurp

  C. Yurp

  D. Snurp

  Whose mom is out of bounds at the Twisters vs. Tornadoes game? A. Jen’s mom

  B. Megan’s mom

  C. Molly’s mom

  D. Ashley’s mom

  What song does Henry Yurt sing in Ms. Ciara’s music class? A. “The Star-Spangled Banner”

  B. “Sweet Home Alabama”

  C. “Happy Birthday”

  D. “Who Let the Dogs Out”

  What is Kiki’s father’s job? A. Freelance writer

  B. Dentist

  C. Music video producer

  D. Actor

  Whose name does Katani put on her Save the Movie House proposal? A. Kelley’s

  B. Maeve’s

  C. Charlotte’s

  D. Isabel’s

  ANSWERS: 1. D. Snurp 2. B. Megan’s mom 3. C. “Happy Birthday” 4. C. Music video producer 5. C. Charlotte’s

  more out of bounds Trivialicious Trivia at beaconstreetgirls.com