Rock 'n' Roll Rebel (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I
'm so excited!” Tig's mom said. “Your first performance! Oh, I hope I don't mess up the timing. Everything has to go perfectly. Kate is going to
flip
! She's going to love your band playing for her.” Mom was in charge of getting Kate to the surprise party on time. She was supposed to lure her shopping and make her stay away from her house until five p.m. Tig thought that shouldn't be too hard. Tig's mom and Aunt Kate went shopping together all the time.

The Pandora's Box girls met at Tig's aunt and uncle's house to practice after Olivia's tennis game.
They ran through “Sweet Home” a few times, making sure the mic levels and amps were set up correctly. Pandora's Box was to be the opening act, the first song that began playing when Kate came home to find her surprise party.

Tig's aunt and uncle's house had a big backyard, and her uncle had set it up with tiki torches and strings of clear lights on the gazebo. There was plenty of pulled-pork barbeque, coleslaw, chips, and banana pudding, and canned drinks in galvanized tubs full of ice. A banner said,
HAPPY TWENTY-NINTH, KATE
!

“I thought you said she was forty?” Tig asked.

“You're too young to understand,” Uncle Paul replied.

As people began arriving, Tig stared to feel a little nervous. What if this had been a terrible idea? What if they choked? But one look at Robbie made her fears dissipate. Robbie didn't know what the word
nervous
even meant. She had kicked back in the oversize chair in the den, reading Uncle Paul's copy of some advertising journal. Her right leg was over one armrest, her back against the other. She didn't even sit in chairs like other people. With Robbie on guitar, what could possibly go wrong?

Uncle Paul made an announcement. “They'll be here in five minutes! Everybody, get ready!”

The fifty or so partygoers filed into the backyard and got quiet. Tig sat down behind the drums and gripped the sticks. Olivia perched herself behind the keyboard, Kyra and Robbie strapped on their bass and guitar. Claire, a death grip on the microphone, turned and looked worriedly at Tig. Tig gave her a thumbs-up. They heard a car door slam.

“Can't we do that in a minute?” Kate's voice said.

“No, come around here and show me that new climbing rose bush,” Tig's mom said. “I'm dying to see how it looks.”

When Aunt Kate and Tig's mom got to the backyard, Kate's mouth dropped open.

“Surprise!” everyone yelled.

“Happy birthday, baby!” Uncle Paul said, hugging his wife.

Then Robbie began that familiar riff, and soon Tig joined in. Claire's voice didn't shake a bit. It all felt so natural. Before Tig knew it, the song was over, and the crowd was cheering.

Uncle Paul took the mic from Claire. “For the first time ever, ladies and gentlemen, Pandora's Box!” More cheers. The girls took bows, then moved out of the way so the real band could take over.

“Sweet pea!” Aunt Kate said, hugging Tig. “I didn't know you had a band! I'm so proud of you! That was just precious!”

When Kate let Tig out of the hug and went back to her friends, Robbie said, “Precious? Did she really just call us precious? Gag.”

“Oh, come on,” Tig said. “She's an aunt. They have to say stuff like that. Besides, you're just as cute as a button! Yes, you are!” Tig said it in an old lady voice and pinched Robbie's cheek.

Robbie swatted Tig's hand away, but she couldn't help laughing. “Okay, okay. I guess we are pretty precious, aren't we?”

“The preciousest!” Tig said.

Claire, Kyra, and Olivia came over to Tig and Robbie, and they all hugged. “That was so fun!” Claire said. “I wasn't even nervous! Well, after we got started.”

“We rocked!” Olivia said.

“Who's the coolest all-girl band in town? We are!” Kyra said. The girls exchanged high fives.

The rest of the night was a blur of congratulations from the adults at the party. Even though it was just a bunch of her aunt and uncle's middle-aged friends, the praise felt good.

I could get used to this
, Tig thought.

Chapter Twenty-Three

T
he glow of Aunt Kate's party had faded by Monday, when Tig had to return to the cold realities of middle school.

Haley's counterattack—if you could consider Tig's kicking her out of the band an attack—was quite brilliant. Even Tig had to admit it.

Mrs. Baker had gotten some sort of a grant to do an anti-bullying campaign in social studies, and they'd been doing worksheets and skits for two weeks about how to stand up to bullies. Now it was time for the culmination of the unit: student essays and presentations about how bullying had personally affected their lives.

Tig did hers on how she'd once witnessed a fight at school and how it was never okay to hit anyone. Kyra's was about a rumor from last year about how she'd had a crush on a guy in their class. She left out the part about how she'd been the one who started the rumor because she had thought it would make him ask her out. It didn't. Robbie's was more of a persuasive essay about how nobody is important enough to make you feel bad about yourself. Mrs. Baker gave her kudos for dressing outrageously to prove her point—even though no one else had dared say a word about the hideous dress Robbie had worn with combat boots to fulfill the dare.

When Haley got up to present her paper, Tig expected a generic, phoned-in essay.

But what she got was a total oh-no-she-didn't moment.

“The Psychology of Bullies,” Haley read, “by Haley Thornton.” She cleared her throat and continued.

“Bullies pick on people because they feel bad about themselves. They know they are nothing special, so they find people who are special and try to bring them down to their pathetic level.

“Sadly, I became the victim of a vicious bully this year, so I know firsthand how it feels to be treated like dirt by a peer. I won't say her name because I've decided to be the bigger person, but this girl did everything she could to make me feel terrible about myself. She is jealous of me because I'm much prettier than she is and I have lots of friends, while she is ugly and a loser. Yet because I felt sorry for her since no one likes her, I did her a favor and tried to help her with an extracurricular project. I thought maybe I could try to be her friend. But I soon found out there was a reason no one likes her. She rejected my help and yelled a lot of mean things to me in the gym one morning, in front of everyone, just to hurt my feelings. I was so upset to think that anyone could be so horrible, especially after I'd been nothing but nice to her.

“However, I've learned that this unnamed person's issues are her problem, not mine. I refuse to be dragged down to her level by participating in her pettiness. I realize I am special, and no one has the right to make me feel otherwise!”

Haley capped off her speech with a giant smile and a bow.

The class clapped and cheered.

Except, of course, for Tig, Kyra, Robbie, and Will, who sat there stunned.

Mrs. Baker seemed skeptical. “Okay, Haley,” she said. “That was interesting. Thank you.”

While Mrs. Baker was making a note in her grade book, Haley looked directly at Tig, leaving no doubt in the class's mind about the subject of her essay. Then Haley took her seat.

Will passed Tig a note on a tiny scrap of paper.
She's kidding, right
?

Tig couldn't even look up from her desk. She knew her face was red, and she was afraid she might cry. She was so angry and frustrated. She shook her head. Will grabbed the paper and wrote something else, then tossed it back onto Tig's desk.
Don't let her get to you. She's a fake, and everybody knows it.

If everybody knew it, though, why did they clap and cheer?

Chapter Twenty-Four

C
laire had social studies a different period than the rest of the band, so she hadn't witnessed the theatrical production Haley had put on to destroy Tig.

Lunch was like a funeral visitation, Haley receiving visitors in the line and then at her table. The news of Haley's victimization had spread throughout the entire seventh grade, and girls eagerly awaited their turn to console the poor, persecuted martyr . . . all the while glaring at Tig. It wasn't that anyone actually believed Haley's story—they all knew what Haley was capable of and many of them had been on the receiving end of it at some point—but they played along because it was a chance to join in the drama while sucking up to the Bots.

“I think I'm going to throw up,” Tig announced as she, Robbie, Olivia, Kyra, and Will watched the scene.

“Even the non-Bots want a piece of the action,” Robbie said.

“Their grudges go viral fast,” said Olivia.

“Yeah, hating Tig is about to become the cool new thing to do,” Kyra said. “We've got trouble.”

“So, thanks to Haley's ‘anti-bullying' essay, everybody's going to start bullying Tig. Ironic, isn't it?” Will asked.

“Yes, but nobody will think of that,” Tig said. “Man, this is ridiculous.”

Just then Claire arrived at the lunch table. “What's going on over there?” she asked, taking her seat. “Did Haley have a death in her family or something? Is everything okay?”

“Haven't you heard?” Will said. “Tig murders puppies.”

“What?” Claire looked confused.

“Haley's tragedy,” Will continued. “It's all Tig's fault. Tig, you should be ashamed for being such a big, bad bully.”

“Yeah,” Robbie said. “Poor Haley will probably never recover. Oh, I feel so sorry for her. I know all this attention she's getting right now is tough on her, seeing as how she's so shy and all and doesn't enjoy people fawning over her.”

“Tig,” Claire asked, “what is all this about?”

Tig sighed. “Here's the deal . . . ,” she began. “Haley used to be the lead singer for our band.”

“For about five whole seconds,” Robbie added. “Five screechy, horrible seconds.”

“She wasn't a good singer; that's true,” Tig replied. “But it wasn't just that. She was bossy and hard to work with. We ended up having to part ways.”

“It wasn't Tig's fault,” Olivia said. “She never asked her to be in the band in the first place. Kyra asked her.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Kyra said. “How was I supposed to know what would happen?”

“Okay,” Claire said. “So why is it all of a sudden a big deal now? How long ago was this?”

“A couple of weeks ago,” Tig said. “I thought it was water under the bridge. Guess not.”

Will chimed in. “Today in social studies, Haley read an essay about how Tig had bullied her and hurt her feelings. Now Haley's got the sympathy vote and Tig's the bad guy.”

“Were you mean to her?” Claire asked.

Tig looked down at her lunch bag. “Not at first,” she said. “I mean, I tried not to be, but it sort of . . . escalated.” It occurred to Tig that everything Haley and Regan had said to her that day in the gym had been said quietly. Tig was the one who'd raised her voice. To everyone else in the gym, it had probably looked like Tig was the crazy, mean one, and the Bots had done nothing to provoke her. Tig had to hand it to them: they were good at what they did.

“It was all Haley's fault,” Robbie said. “Tig tried to be nice. But Haley was a real diva. She didn't leave Tig much choice. Heck, my grandma probably would've said worse to her than what Tig said.”

“This is awkward,” Claire said. “I mean, you guys are my friends, but Haley's my friend, too. I haven't told her about singing in the band. What if she feels like I've betrayed her?”

“Claire, don't you think it's a little strange that Haley never even knew you were alive until you started sitting at our lunch table?” said Robbie. “She's been plotting a way to get even with Tig—with all of us, really—since the day we kicked her out of the band.”

“How can you be so sure?” Claire asked.

“Because that's how the Bots operate,” Robbie said.

“I can't believe anyone would do something like that.”

“No offense, Claire,” Robbie said, “but you haven't been here very long. You haven't seen these girls in action.”

“You're on our side, aren't you?” Olivia asked.

“I'm not on anyone's side,” Claire replied. “I don't think it's right for me to take sides about an issue I wasn't involved in, when I don't really know what happened.”

“You're not going to ditch us, are you?” Tig asked. “Although if you did, I guess I could understand. My name is going to be mud around here for a while until this dies down. You might not want to be associated with us.”

“I'm not ditching anybody,” said Claire. “I'll talk to Haley today in study hall. Who knows? Maybe this has all just been a big misunderstanding. Maybe I can negotiate a truce.”

“And maybe this ridiculous dress I'm wearing will become a new fashion craze,” Robbie said. “Good luck with that.”

“But just in case,” Claire said, “I may hold off on mentioning my involvement with the band.”

“She's ditching us,” Robbie said.

“I'm not!” Claire said. “But it seems imprudent to throw petrol on the fire at this point, don't you agree?”

“I agree,” said Tig. “You do what you have to do, Claire. Thanks for not jumping to conclusions like”—Tig gestured toward the crowd surrounding
Haley—“everyone else.”

“Glad you're not jumping ship,” Robbie said.

“Thanks for sticking with me, everybody,” Tig said to her friends.

“Where else would I go, dressed like this?” Robbie said with a grin.

Tig tried not to let Claire's fair-mindedness feel like a betrayal. It wasn't. Her rational side told her that Claire was just being a good person, better than Tig would've been if the situation were reversed.

But her gut told her to get ready for losing the band's lead singer, and her cool new friend.

For the rest of the day, just navigating the hallways was a challenge for Tig. The Bots had missed their calling as military strategists. Their ability to flank Tig on every side while simultaneously running sneak attacks and setting up unbreachable lines was indeed impressive. Luckily, Robbie was with her when a minor Bot, a girl from the basketball team, ran right into Tig and knocked her backward.

“Hey!” Tig shouted. She was so taken by surprise, that was the best she could do.

“Hey what?” the basketball girl said. “You want to start something?”

“No,” Tig said. “I was just—”

“You want to start something?” the basketball girl said again, backing Tig against the lockers.

Before Tig could respond, Robbie pushed Tig aside and stepped between her and the basketball girl. “
She
doesn't,” Robbie said. “But maybe I do.”

The basketball girl towered over Robbie, but Robbie didn't look the least bit scared. Tig marveled at her bravery. A small crowd had started to gather.

The basketball girl huffed. “What, do you know karate, you chink?” Someone called out, “Hey, not cool!”

“Call me a chink one more time and you'll find out.” Robbie stared up at the girl without flinching. She looked so tough, so intimidating, even Tig shuddered.

The girl laughed, but Tig could tell it was forced. She was afraid. “
You're
going to fight
me
?”

“Here's what's going to happen,” Robbie said. “You're going to walk away. Right now.”

The girl just stood there. Robbie didn't flinch. “I said
now
.”

“Whatever,” the girl said. “I don't have time for this.” She walked away.

When the crowd scattered, Tig stared in awe at Robbie.

“What?” Robbie asked.

“She's enormous!” Tig said, once she found her voice again. “And you weren't even scared. Not even a little bit! Would you really have fought her? And, hey, I'm sorry about the name-calling.”

“Ripley, it's all about attitude. A good bluff is worth a multitude of punches. Act like you can kick their butts, and they'll think you just might be able to. And you know there are jerks everywhere. Come on. Let's get to class.”

As they walked together, Tig wondered if anyone else on the planet could ever be as cool as Robbie Chan.