Mackenzie Blue (6 page)

“
O
kay!” Mr. P got everyone's attention. “Let's warm up.” He pointed to Zee, Jasper, and Landon. “You three—stay right there and form a group. I'll get you started.”

Next, Mr. P pointed to Kathi, Chloe, Jen, and Marcus. “You four—set up near the piano. You'll work on scales.”

All the students took their places, and Mr. P moved between groups. As she played, Zee peeked over at Chloe's group. Jen had set up next to Marcus. Kathi's high violin notes and Chloe's deep cello notes climbed the scales together perfectly. Kathi had been the lower school's star musician. In the talent show, Kathi's amazing solo was always the final performance—the best was saved for last. Now Chloe would definitely be competition. Kathi knew it.

But Zee could see Kathi had a bigger problem. She couldn't decide what to be more upset about—the fact that Chloe was an awesome cello player or the fact that Zee was grouped with Landon. Zee could feel the heat of Kathi's glare across the room.

It was all too much for Kathi. She lost her place and started missing notes. Marcus's piano and Jen's marimba couldn't keep the students together. Before long, no one in their group was playing the same scale.

“All right, everyone,” Mr. P said. “Nice job.”

O-kay,
Zee thought.
I'd hate to hear what a terrible job sounds like.
She wondered if Mr. P's clone was in the classroom while the actual teacher had taken a coffee break somewhere else.

“Next, we're going to sight-read,” he said, passing out sheet music. It was a Coldplay song, and Mr. P had arranged the music for the instruments in the group.

“Cool,” Jasper said. He slid his left hand around his bass strings and strummed with his right hand. Zee joined in.

“Oh, great,” Kathi groaned, “rock-and-roll oldies.” She flicked her hair behind her shoulder and tucked her violin under her chin. “I guess we're lucky it's not Bob Dylan.”

Mr. P laughed nervously. “I thought the class would like to play something by someone who isn't dead,” he said.

“Then why did you pick Coldplay?” Kathi mumbled too low for Mr. P to hear. “They were dead on arrival.”

“Why don't we just get started?” Mr. P said.

Zee suspected the teacher quickly regretted that decision. With such bad timing and so many missed notes, the class sounded horrible. And Zee was a big part of the problem. She felt terrible about what had appeared on the chalkboard and couldn't concentrate. Who had her diary?

The violin typically led the musicians, but hoping to ruin Mr. P's idea, Kathi was suddenly struck with an inability to play well, which made it hard for the others to keep up with their parts.

Luckily Marcus played the melody on the piano, so it wasn't completely a lost cause. Still, Mr. P kept interrupting the group, offering advice, then saying, “Let's try it one more time.” Which was actually
fifteen
more times. Finally the teacher stopped conducting. “I think this is a good place to end,” he said, practically panting. He looked like he'd run a marathon. Sweaty clumps of hair stuck to his forehead. “We still have some time left before the end of the period, so…hang out.”

Finally,
Zee thought. Now was her chance to do what she'd been dying to do the entire class—plan her strategy.
Zee stopped writing. It was no use. Someone already had her diary, so the list couldn't help her now. She sighed and looked up from her paper. Kathi was rushing to the front of the room.

“I have a few suggestions for making the group sound better,” she told Mr. P.

“You do?” Mr. P asked, but he didn't sound surprised at all.

Kathi launched into her recommendations. As Zee focused on solving her diary problem, she overheard only bits of what Kathi said. “Students' choice.” “Better music.” “Mrs. Bradley's way.” “All percussion warm up with the strings.”
And Zee's personal favorite—“No guitars.” It was enough to distract Zee from her troubles and listen.

“Kathi, it's only the second day,” Mr. P said. “You can't expect the group to sound like the New York Philharmonic.”

Way to go, Mr. P!
Zee thought.

“We never will sound like them if we keep playing bad rock music,” Kathi told him.

Mr. P sighed and leaned against his desk. His hand landed on top of a folder that slipped out from under him and slid to the floor. Lots of postcards spilled out.

Kathi huffed, then bent down to help clean up the scattered cards. But instead of just handing over the stack she collected, she stuck one inside her music folder.

Mr. P stood up with his own pile of cards. “Sorry, Kathi,” he apologized, scratching his head. “What were you saying?”

The bell rang over their heads. “Never mind,” Kathi said, turning to leave.

 

Zee and Chloe huddled near their gym lockers. “I don't understand why gym hasn't been banned as cruel and unusual punishment,” Zee said, holding up her school-issued gym uniform—a light blue T-shirt and dark blue shorts. “I mean, who looks good in
this
?” She shuddered.

Chloe laughed. “Yeah, I guess whoever designed it was more concerned about fitness than fashion.”

“Why?” Zee asked, baffled.

“Do you really hate gym that much?” Chloe bent over to tie her black running shoe.

“In a word? Yes.” Zee eyed the tall locker in front of her. “I wonder if getting stuck in a locker would be an excused absence. Maybe I could pay an eighth grader to shove me in.”

“You would rather spend the entire class in a dark locker than take gym?”

“Wouldn't everyone?”

“Not hardly. It's my favorite period,” Chloe said.

Zee patted her friend on the shoulder. “Good. You can catch all the balls that come at me. I just wish you could do my push-ups, too.”

“At least you still have your sense of humor. I thought you might be more upset about your diary,” Chloe said sympathetically.

“I am—a little—but I'm trying to think about my
Teen Sing
audition instead,” Zee said. “Mr. P is so awesome. He really helped me a lot this morning.”

“Yeah, he knows a lot about rock music,” Chloe said half-heartedly.

Zee was surprised when Kathi, already dressed for gym, slid on to the bench right next to her. Jen took the seat beside Chloe.
Ohmylanta!
Zee thought. How could Kathi make those horrible shorts and T-shirt look so good? It just wasn't fair.

“Are you guys talking about the message on Mr. P's board?” Kathi asked.

Oh, that's why she's here,
Zee thought.
To humiliate me more
.

“Jen told me what it said. You must be so upset. I mean, you don't have boobs, but who cares?”

Zee could feel the heat rise to her cheeks.

“Whatcha got there?” Chloe asked and pointed to the card between Kathi's perfectly manicured fingers. Zee was grateful to her friend for the distraction.

“Oh, just something
very interesting
I found out today in Mr. P's class.” Kathi slapped the card down on the bench next to Zee.

“‘The Crew,'” Chloe read out loud. “‘Live at the Brookdale Amphitheater.'”

Kathi pointed to a photo underneath—five men wearing T-shirts and blue jeans. “Recognize the guy in the middle?” Kathi asked.

Chloe half stood and bent over to get a closer look, but
Zee didn't need to. She recognized Mr. P from her seat. “Mr. P's in a band?” she said, looking from one girl to the next. “Why didn't he tell us?”

“He's probably afraid he's not cool enough,” Kathi said. “They're playing the first night of the Brookdale Fall Music Festival in three weeks. I think we should go.”

“Me, too,” Jen added. “I've never known a real rock musician.”

“I have,” Kathi said. “But I still think it would be cool to see him. Are you in?”

Zee was confused. She was sure Kathi would rather wear clothes from last season than go to a concert with her. But before Zee could figure out what Kathi was up to, Chloe said, “That could be really awesome. I'll go.”

“Great!” Kathi said. “What about you, Zee? I'm sure Mr. P would want his
favorite student
there.”

As Zee pulled on her retro gym socks—white knee-highs with two blue stripes at the top—something just didn't feel right. For the past two days, Kathi had
shown absolutely no interest in supporting their teacher. Why now?

“Do you even like Mr. P?” Zee asked.

Kathi's mouth dropped open. She looked shocked and wounded. “I never said I didn't like him,” she defended herself. “Maybe I'll understand his style better if I hear him play. My dad is a business manager for
a lot
of celebrities.” Chloe looked impressed, but Zee had heard Kathi brag about how important her father was a million times—now a million and one. “He always says you have to separate the music from the rest of the person's life.”

“That makes sense to me!” Chloe said.

Kathi ignored her and looked at Zee. “Will you come?”

Zee wasn't sure. Something seemed fishy, but she didn't want to abandon Chloe since she knew how nasty Kathi could be. Plus, it had been so cool to hear Mr. P sing her song. She'd love to watch him perform his own music.

“Okay,” Zee said. “I'll go.”

Kathi, Jen, and Chloe cheered. “Mr. P might get nervous if he knew we were coming,” Kathi said. “Let's keep it a secret and make it a big surprise.”

“Great idea!” Jen said.

“I can keep a secret,” Chloe agreed.

As a whistle screeched in the gymnasium, Zee felt uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if it was because her least favorite class was about to begin—or because Kathi was suddenly being so nice to her.

 

Ding-dong.

“I've got it!” Zee yelled, bounding down the stairs to answer her front door. Chloe stood on the other side, wearing a cool red hoodie over a white T-shirt with a pair of gray capri pants. She had a red bandana tied on top of her head. It was the first time that Zee had seen her friend in something besides her school uniform. Chloe's clothes were plainer than what Zee liked to wear, but Chloe's sporty style looked great on her. Zee still hadn't decided what she was going to wear to Marcus's.

“Crisis!” Zee said, grabbing Chloe's arm. She dragged her friend upstairs to her bedroom, where it looked like a dresser had exploded. About ten different outfits lay across the bed, chair, and desk. Zee picked one up. “What do you think?”

Chloe looked around at the room. Posters of Zee's favorite band—The Jonas Brothers—covered the peach walls. One of them was actually signed in bold black marker,

Chloe's jaw dropped. Before she could say anything, Zee said, “You're right—this outfit is all wrong.” Zee scooped shirts, skirts, pants, leggings, and dresses in her arms and
tossed them in a heap on the chair in the corner.

“The Jonas Brothers is my favorite band, too! I can't believe—” Chloe started to say, but Zee had already stepped into her closet and started all over again. She
had
to choose the perfect party outfit. Landon would be there.

Zee slid hangers across the closet rod, rejecting some clothes—too frilly, too plain, too
much
—and tossing others into the maybe pile on her bed. “Have you been to the mall yet?” she asked Chloe as she searched.

“No,” Chloe said. “My mom's crazy with a big case. As soon as she wins it—which she will since she always does—she's gonna take me.”

“You can go with my mom and me if you want. There is
the most
amazing store there. I practically live in it. I mean…not when it's closed…and actually I'm here now, so I'm not there all the time, but I really like it.” Zee exited the closet to dig through the top drawer of the dresser and look for her peach tank top. She knew she'd put it in there the day before. “My mom and I always get a Frappuccino before we come home.”

Chloe licked her lips. “Yum,” she said as Zee triumphantly pulled the shirt out of the drawer.

“You're going to love Brookdale,” Zee told her. “I do.” Zee zipped past the stack of clothes on her bed and over to her
closet. “Where did I put that dress?” she mumbled, then got down on her hands and knees to search the closet floor. “Am I talking a lot again?”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe said. “But I don't have any brothers or sisters, so I don't mind a
teeny
bit.”

Zee slowly got up with the dress she was looking for clutched in her hand. The ball of blue-green-and-purple-striped fabric slowly unrolled. “Awesome!” Chloe's face lit up as the dress fell to knee length, revealing thin blue straps at the top.

Zee quickly pulled on the tank top and dived into the dress. Her arms grabbed and flailed as the loose material wrapped around her and she searched for the hole to stick her head through.

“Is that a tattoo?” Chloe asked.

“What?” Zee asked.

“By your elbow. It looks like a heart.”

Zee's head popped out of the top of the dress. “It's my birthmark.”

“You were born with a heart-shaped birthmark? That is
so
awesome.”

“Yeah, I'm lucky it looks like a heart instead of a skull and crossbones.”

Chloe laughed. “Speaking of hearts,” she began slowly, “I think Jasper likes you.”

Zee tripped on a pair of pants that was lying on the floor, and she nearly fell on her face. “No way,” she protested. “We're just friends.”

“Okay. Whatever you say,” Chloe said skeptically and rushed to the sink in the bathroom connected to Zee's bedroom. Her eyes widened as she looked at the plastic bins lined up on the counter. “Wow! Do your parents buy you all this makeup?” she asked.

“No, that's stuff my dad gets for free at his office. He works at
Gala
.”

“The magazine?” Chloe asked. Zee nodded. “Do you get to meet lots of celebrities?”

“Sometimes—like at a movie premiere or something. Mostly I just get free stuff nobody else wants. The makeup's just for fun anyway. I'm not even allowed to wear it to school.”

Chloe picked up a tube of lipstick. “Can you wear it tonight?”

“According to my father, I can as long as I don't look like a clown,” Zee said.

“But that's such an awesome look,” Chloe joked. She popped the lid off the lipstick and twisted it so that the rose sunset tip peeked out. “Pucker up. I promise you won't look like a clown.”

Zee stuck out her lips so Chloe could apply the color. Then she studied herself in the mirror. “My mom said she'd do my makeup for the
Teen Sing
audition.”

“Your mom must be amazing. I don't think mine will
ever
let me wear makeup—except maybe on my wedding day.” Chloe snapped the cap back on the tube. “I'm not sure I really want to wear it anyway. Some companies use animals to test makeup.”

“But animals don't wear makeup!” Zee exclaimed. “Except maybe the ones on TV and in movies.”

Chloe laughed. “You're so funny, Zee.”

Zee giggled—even though she hadn't meant to make a joke. “Why do they test on animals anyway?” she asked.

“Some companies use animals to make sure their products won't hurt humans,” Chloe explained. “But other companies get the same information without using animals.”

“So why would you hurt animals if you don't have to?” asked Zee.

“That's exactly my point!” Chloe said, nodding enthusiastically. “Companies also put animal ingredients in makeup sometimes. Like, I bet this lipstick has cow parts in it.”

“Yuck!” Zee squealed, wiping her lips with the back of her hand and making a
pppppft pppppft
sound as she tried to get the lipstick off her lips.

“I know,” Chloe drawled, then quickly added, “Not all of them do it though.”

“Next time I go to my dad's office, I'll definitely bring you, too, so you can help me pick out the makeup that doesn't have weird stuff in it.”

“Wouldn't it be so cool if we made our own line of animal-friendly cosmetics?” Chloe said, searching through Zee's basket of eye shadow.

“Chlo-Zee's!” Zee suggested.

“Oh
my
gosh! That's so awesome,” Chloe agreed.

The doorbell rang. “Jasper!” the girls exclaimed and headed toward Zee's bedroom door. Mr. Carmichael was going to take the three of them over to Marcus's house.

“I'll get it!” Zee shouted down to the first floor.

“Incoming!” Zee's father yelled as she practically flew downstairs, with Chloe close behind.

“Hi, Dad!” Zee said, shooting past her father. “This is Chloe.”

“Hello, Mr. Carmichael,” Chloe said, stopping in front of him.

“It's nice to—” Zee grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her toward the door. “—errr…
was
nice to meet you,” Mr. Carmichael said.

Zee opened the door. Jasper stood there with an eager smile on his face. “I'm ready for my first American party.”

“Come on in,” Zee told Jasper. As usual, he was wearing a collared short-sleeve button-down shirt neatly tucked into his belted tan chino pants. “I'll give you ten dollars if you pull out the tail of your shirt.”

“No, thank you,” Jasper replied casually. “I like it this way. It's how I always dress for parties.”

“Yes, but when in Rome…,” Zee said.

“We're not in Rome,” Jasper pointed out. “We're in Brookdale.”

“Are you guys ready to go?” Mr. Carmichael asked.

Zee looked at him as though he had just grown a horn right in the middle of his forehead. “It's way too early.”

“But it's five o'clock. The party's starting now.”

“Right. We don't want to be the first ones. We can go in thirty minutes,” Zee told him.

“Okay, but I need to take you then. Believe it or not, I have my own life to live and I'd like to get on with it sometime tonight.”

Chloe giggled as Mr. Carmichael left the room. “Your dad is funny.”

Zee gave Chloe a sideways look. “Please don't ever tell him that. It'll only make him harder to live with.”

“I heard that!” Zee's dad called from the other room. “And thanks, Chloe.”

“My pleasure, Mr. Carmichael.”

“Let's go to the TV room,” Zee said, “before Chloe gets dragged farther over to the dark side.”

Chloe followed, walking stiffly with her arms out straight. “Errrrg. Arrrr.” She sounded like a zombie with a Southern accent.

“So have you guys decided what you're going to do for your science project?” Zee asked.

Chloe looked at Jasper. Jasper looked at Chloe. Neither one looked at Zee. Finally Chloe said, “We've decided not to tell anyone.”

“Oh,” Zee said, completely surprised. Her new friends had a secret—and they didn't want to tell her.

“It's just that we're still working on it and might change our minds,” Jasper explained. He nervously picked up the
remote control and pointed it at the television. “I need to check the football—uh…soccer—score,” he said, pushing buttons.