Singing in Seattle (9 page)

Aly threw the fish to AJ, who was standing a few feet away. She caught it, staggering a little under the weight.

Shane looked at Aly and grinned. “You are the prettiest fish thrower we've ever had here.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Aly laughed.

Monica, the photographer, had been setting up her camera while they practiced. Now she nodded to Sasho.

“Ready,” she said.

“Great,” Sasho replied. “Okay, girls. We want the shots to look really candid.”

He directed the girls a little bit, telling them where to stand and how to face the camera. When they were in place, he yelled, “Throw that fish!”

This time, AJ tossed the fish to Aly. It soared through the air, then landed with a thud in Aly's arms. She took a few steps backward, laughing.

“Perfect!” Monica said from behind the camera. “This is great stuff.”

They played catch with the fish a few more times until Monica had enough shots to work with. Then they took off the big orange overalls and cleaned up. Sasho and Monica set up a few more shots, this time in front of a stall of fresh flowers.

“Those overalls were definitely a fashion no-no,” Aly said after the shoot was over.

“I don't know; they looked really good on Shane,” AJ teased as Shane approached them. AJ poked Aly in the side and made a little coughing sound. Aly ignored her.

“It was really nice meeting you,” he said.

“Yeah, you too,” Aly answered. “Thanks for the fish-throwing tips!”

“Anytime,” Shane said. “I hope I get to see you again before you leave town.”

“That would be great,” Aly said.

“I've got to get back to work,” he said. “Bye.”

The girls said good-bye and Aly had to put up with some more teasing from AJ before Carrie appeared.

“Why don't you two grab some lunch?” she suggested. “I'm going to do some shopping. I haven't been here in ages!”

There were tons of places to choose from to eat. Aly and AJ walked around and finally decided on a little café that featured European sandwiches, soups, and salads. It was a beautiful, sunny day so the girls decided to eat on a bench outside. They split a roasted pepper and mozzarella sandwich on focaccia bread.

“Yummy,” Aly said as she bit into the sandwich. “I think all that fish chucking made me hungry!”

They munched contentedly in the sun until AJ gave a little gasp.

“Look!” she said, pointing. “It's Josh.”

It was Josh all right. His blond hair was a little messy-looking today. He had on a T-shirt and stood behind the counter of a take-out pizza restaurant. A young woman walked up to the counter. She had spiky brown hair and looked very familiar. When she turned slightly, Aly and AJ got a better look at her face. It was Heather!

They watched as Heather said something to Josh. He looked around before handing her a slice of pizza. Heather walked off with the pizza—without paying for it.

“What is that all about?” Aly asked AJ.

AJ frowned. “I didn't think Josh and Heather were such great friends that he'd risk losing his job just to give her free pizza,” she said.

“We wanted to talk to him,” Aly reminded her. “Here's our chance.”

They finished the sandwich and walked up to the counter.

“Josh, hi,” Aly said in a friendly way. “I didn't know you worked here.”

Josh shrugged. “I don't like it too much, to tell you the truth. That's why I'm hoping to win the contest. It could start me on a new career and get me out of this place.”

“Listen, Josh,” AJ said. “We saw you being interviewed on the news last night. And we saw what looked like Claire's notebook in your jacket pocket.”

“You must have seen my cell phone; it's blue,” he said calmly. “Maybe it looked purple under the camera lights.”

“So you didn't take her notebook?” Aly asked point-blank.

“No way,” he said as he looked them right in the eye. “I keep telling everyone, she probably just misplaced it.”

“We saw Heather over here, getting some pizza,” AJ said. “And it looked like she didn't pay for it. I didn't know you two were such good friends.”

A red blush began to creep up Josh's face. “Well, you know, ah, we've known each other a long time,” he stammered. “Look, don't say anything about that, please. I could lose my job. Anyway, I've got to get back to work. I'll see you tonight at the competition.”

He turned away from them and Aly and AJ walked away from the pizza stand.

“He seemed to be telling the truth about the notebook,” Aly said. “But he got nervous when you asked about Heather. Could he have a crush on her?”

“On Heather? I don't think so. It didn't seem like that kind of nervous,” AJ replied.

Aly sighed. “We need to go back to the hotel and get ready for the final round of judging. I hope we can get to the bottom of this before we pick a winner!”

After a quick shower at the hotel to get rid of any lingering fish odors, Aly and AJ changed clothes and headed back to the theater. Their mom and Jim had come along to watch the final round of the songwriting competition.

Lily, the contest coordinator, led the girls, Carrie, and Jim to seats in the front row. Friends and family members of the contestants were also in attendance to see who would win. Aly and AJ spotted Henry and Bree sitting together, and Amber sitting a few rows behind them.

“I know you don't have an easy decision,” Lily said. “But hopefully you'll be able to decide on a clear winner after this final round.”

Aly and AJ wished it were that easy. Worrying about possibly giving the prize to a thief made everything so much harder.

Josh took the stage first. He must have changed and showered, too, because his hair was once again slicked back with gel. Instead of the T-shirt they had seen him in earlier, he was wearing a white button-up shirt tucked into a pair of pressed jeans. Over the shirt he wore a tuxedo-striped vest. As always, Josh looked very put together. But had he managed to get it together with his lyrics, too?

The music began to play. As always, Aly and AJ were impressed with the melody. Josh stepped up to the microphone, closed his eyes, and began to sing. He sang about feeling like he was on the outside of everything, always looking in.

“
Can you see me,

Fading into the purple mist of morning.
”

The words were touching and surprisingly heartfelt. Aly and AJ exchanged surprised glances.

“Wow,” Aly whispered. “I dig this song.”

It was Claire's turn next. Instead of shuffling and staring at her feet, like she had in the first round, she walked with her head up and smiled shyly at the audience. Her red hair was loose, spilling in waves down her back. She wore a really cute plaid shift dress with a ruffled collar, black tights, and boots.

Amber let out a yell. “Go, Claire!” she screamed.

She stood in front of the microphone and swung her guitar strap over her shoulder.

“I'll be singing ‘Prom Queen,'” Claire said. She began strumming her guitar and sang a song about a shy girl who nobody seemed to notice and who dreamed about becoming prom queen. Once again, Aly and AJ were impressed.

“I love it,” AJ whispered to Aly.

Claire left the stage and the audience waited for the final contestant, Austin. A minute or so went by and still the stage was empty. Muffled shouting seemed to be coming from backstage. Lily quickly disappeared behind the curtains to see what was going on. Aly and AJ got up and followed her.

The sisters poked their heads backstage. Josh and Claire were standing next to Austin, who was fuming.

“What happened?” Lily asked him as Aly and AJ walked into the room.

“My guitar is totally out of tune!” Austin yelled. “I was getting ready to go onstage and luckily I strummed my guitar first. It sounded horrible so I went to tune it. But someone has loosened the screws on the back of the headstock.” Austin flipped his guitar over to show them.

“Can't you just tune it now?” Lily asked.

Austin shook his head. Aly took the guitar from him and examined it. “You're right. The screws are loose. You need a screwdriver to fix it before you can retune it,” she said.

“This was no accident.” Austin was mad. “The only way for this to happen is if someone took a screwdriver and loosened the screws.”

“He's right,” AJ said. “Someone must have done this on purpose. He's lucky he found out before he went onstage.”

Claire held her guitar out to Austin. “Use mine,” she said. “I just finished playing it and I know it's in tune.”

“Is everything okay?” Jim asked as he walked into the room.

“Not really,” Aly said. They grabbed Jim by the arm and led him to a quiet corner, explaining what had happened.

“Can you look around and see if Heather is here anywhere?” Aly asked. “She's been seen sneaking around here before. She might have had something to do with Austin's guitar being sabotaged.”

“I'm going to add super-spy to my resume when we're done in Seattle,” Jim joked. “I'll take a look around.”

Austin seemed to be calming down and was getting the feel of Claire's guitar, so Aly and AJ headed back to their seats. The audience had grown restless, and a lot of people were talking to one another, wondering what was going on.

“Is this proof that Austin is innocent?” Aly asked AJ as they walked.

AJ shrugged her shoulders. “This is the most confusing mystery yet. The notebook is stolen. Then someone puts it back. Heather is sneaking around and getting free pizza from Josh. Now someone has messed with Austin's guitar. I don't know what to think!”

“Maybe Austin is some kind of evil genius,” Aly suggested. “He might have sabotaged his own guitar to make us think that he is innocent.”

AJ sank into the red velvet theater seat and sighed. “I'm totally perplexed.”

They filled Carrie in on what was happening backstage. She shook her head.

“That's a shame,” she said. “These kids have real talent. They don't need to stoop to cheating.”

The audience quieted down as Austin finally took the stage. Looking at him, no one would guess that he'd been so upset a few minutes ago. He looked cool, calm, and confident—not to mention handsome. His long brown bangs were styled to the side and he had on an olive ribbed sweater with a half-zipper at the collar. Underneath he wore a black T-shirt and a pair of really nice faded jeans.

He held Claire's guitar and began to play while he sang. Aly and AJ loved the cute song he had written, an upbeat number about him and his friends driving around town on a Saturday night. Once again, his showmanship was the best. He worked the stage and the crowd, getting loud applause from the audience when his number was over.

“This is not going to be easy,” AJ said.

Aly nodded in agreement. “They were all fantastic tonight,” she said.

“But one of them could be a cheater,” AJ added.

Aly groaned. “What are we going to do?” she asked.

Lily took the stage.

“Aly and AJ have a big decision to make,” she announced. “We're going to take a fifteen-minute intermission so they can choose a winner.”

Then Lily led the sisters to a small office inside the theater. “I'll give you guys some privacy,” she said, closing the door.

Aly shook her head. “I can't believe we have to pick just one winner!” she said. “This is going to be tough.”