by Toni Runkle
Since TeenZone was going to carry the whole show live, there would be no retakes if she happened to win and flub up her speech. She wasn’t that worried about that part. She had always done well in speech class, and while she wasn’t much for reciting Shakespearean verse like Jules was, she had practiced her speech with Chelsea and her mom enough so that she’d be ready if her name were called.
Kat tossed on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and went downstairs for breakfast. She had slept late, and she wasn’t really hungry, so she just grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and left it at that. Her mom had gone to get her hair done on the off chance she’d be on camera during the show, so Kat was on her own again. She flopped on the sofa with her yogurt and watched a little TV while she ate.
Nothing that was on really sparked her interest that morning, and it was weird to think that in a few hours’ time, she was going to be the one on TV. She had been on TV only once before, a few years ago. It was on a local news show called Indiana’s Best Kids! when they did a spot on the neighborhood recycling program that she and Jules had started. Well, Jules had started it mostly. But Kat had helped out and they both got to be interviewed by one of the reporters from Channel 5.
It seemed like such a long time ago, but it was only when they were in the fifth grade. Kat had a theory about years when you are a kid. They were like dog years, with one year counting for maybe seven or eight. Then when you get to high school, the years slow waaaaaaay down some more, and it’s like a lifetime to get through those four years of school. Kat figured that when people got older, like thirty, things would speed up again. And by the time you get to be a senior citizen like Kat’s grandparents, you would just wander around the house and wonder where all the time had gone.
Speaking of the time, Kat checked the clock over the big-screen TV in the living room. It was already 10 a.m. That gave her plenty of time to get to the school, but she knew she had one more errand to run before she went anywhere. She looked to the kitchen table, where the enormous Shakespeare book was sitting. It was wrapped now in some special paper she had sold a few years ago as a fund-raiser when she had been in Girl Scouts. She only broke out that paper on special occasions these days, since there wasn’t much of it left and it was really expensive. But there was enough at least to cover the book, and she had made one of her homemade cards to go along with it.
When she bought the book, she had hoped it would help smooth the rough waters caused by the slumber party. Well, those rough waters had turned into an all-out hurricane. She wasn’t sure any book, even one with such beautiful binding and illustrations, could ever calm this kind of storm. Whether it would or not wasn’t the point. The point was, she wanted to give it to Jules for her birthday.
She had looked on the Internet for a Shakespeare quote that would say just how she felt, but none of them quite seemed to fit the bill. Instead, she simply wrote:
I hope you have a happy birthday. Let’s talk soon.
Kat
It wasn’t much, but it was the best she could come up with in the situation.
After she finished her yogurt, she tossed the spoon into the empty sink and grabbed the present from the table. She was hoping she could give it to Jules in person before she headed out to the Faire with her Shakespeare friends. In a way, though, she was kind of hoping she could just leave it on the steps and leave the ball in Jules’s court. With so much going on, Kat wasn’t sure if she was up for any more Jules drama this morning, good or bad.
As she moved toward the door, she could hear the familiar “bounce, bounce, swish” of Kyle out in the driveway working on his game. Great, thought Kat, Kyle. Another big bowl full of Awkward Flakes this early in the morning. Kat took a deep breath, wiped a few stray hairs out of her face, and then headed out the door and across the cul-de-sac.
Kyle saw her coming but didn’t stop shooting the ball. His free throw clanged noisily off the rim.
“Follow-through!” he said to himself angrily.
Kat didn’t quite know what to say. “Hey, Kyle,” was as good as anything else she could come up with, so that is just what she said.
“Oh, hey,” said Kyle, pretending to just notice her for the first time. “How’s it going?”
“Okay,” said Kat, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. “Is Jules around? I got this birthday present for her.”
“Oh uh, no. She and her friends have already gone over to Ms. Donovan’s place to get into costume and practice their song and stuff.”
“What about you? Are you going to the Faire?”
“Oh, we kinda had a family party here last night. Doublets and sonnets aren’t really my thing.”
“Yeah, mine either,” Kat said, grateful to have something they could agree on.
She took a deep breath. After all the weirdness at school the last time she saw him, she knew she just had to say something to Kyle. Something.
“I guess you heard Jules and I had a fight.”
Kyle paused for a moment before he took his next shot. “Yeah, maybe I did.” The ball flew awkwardly out of his hand and missed the basket altogether. Air ball. It bounced down the inclined driveway and stopped right at Kat’s feet. She picked up the ball and gave it her best girl throw back to him. It wasn’t much of a toss and Kyle had to lunge to his right to catch it. He shot the ball again.
“You know, I saw what you said about Jules on that video. She’s right to be mad at you. I’d be mad at you too.”
Kat was embarrassed but tried not to let it show. “I can’t believe she showed you that.”
“She didn’t have to. In fact, I’m sure she never would. But it’s all over the Internet now. It’s got like 30,000 hits already.”
Kat couldn’t believe it. So 30,000 people, 30,000 strangers had already watched what she had said on her porch a few nights ago? It was too unreal. Her head was spinning. For a fleeting instant, she wondered if it would hurt her chances to be chosen the next Glitter Girl. But then she thought about Jules and how positively mortified she would be if she knew people were watching her and laughing at what Kat had said about her.
“Look,” said Kyle, “I know Jules is different. She’s not like your other friends. But she’s a good kid. In fact, don’t tell her this, but she’s probably the best kid I know. And I think you know that too. And she would never give her friendship to someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you need to start deserving it again.”
Kat didn’t know what to say. She just stood with her arms folded around the massive book, watching Kyle shoot the ball. She breathed deeply.
“Well, anyway,” she said, “can you give this to Jules for me?”
She held out the book, but Kyle didn’t even look at her. “Just put it in the backseat of the Mustang. We’re all going out for dinner when they get back. I’ll give it to her then.”
“Okay,” she said, not knowing what else to say. She walked to the edge of the driveway, and opened the car door, laying the book on the empty seat. Kyle didn’t say anything more after she had done that, so Kat was left with nothing to do but make an awkward retreat back to her house. When she got to the bottom of the driveway, Kyle finally stopped shooting the ball for a moment.
“Hey, Kat,” he said.
Kat turned quickly.
“I hope you win today.”
“What?”
“The Glitter Girl thing. I hope you get it. I know it’s important to you.”
“Thanks,” said Kat. But as she turned to walk toward the house, she wondered if she really should have thanked Kyle. Was he really being sincere? Or was he taking a jab at her and her priorities? Suggesting that Glitter Girl was more important to her than her friendship with Jules. She turned back to look at Kyle, hoping something in his expression or the way he was shooting the ball would let her know if he
was being sarcastic. But he was gone.
What wasn’t gone was the bad feeling that was bubbling up inside Kat. Was it guilt? Insecurity? Shame? Ooooh. Darn that Kyle. She wished she’d never gone over to begin with. She stomped up the steps into her house and slammed the door.
Chapter 21
To Thine Own Self Be True
“OMG! This is the most sick, swaggiest, hardcore partay evah!” shouted Zoe, throwing out all the slang she could manage in one breath.
“Yeah, it’s like totally eviscerated!” agreed Darcy who had read that word in a book somewhere and thought it sounded cool. The fact that in reality it meant the act of removing the intestines of an animal was unimportant to her. Just as everything else was at that moment except the magnificently organized chaos around her.
“Kat, don’t you think this is totally off the chain?” Zoe asked rhetorically because she was sure Kat absolutely did think so. How could she not?
Truth was, standing there in the backstage area of the Glitter Girl launch party, Kat should have been waaaaay more excited than she was. After all, the junior high gym had been positively transformed. The job that had been half underway when they snuck into the gym on Thursday was now complete, and no expense had been spared. A comedian was on stage right now, warming up the crowd before the live show started on TeenZone in a few minutes.
Yep, Kat had every reason to be excited. But her encounter with Kyle in the driveway a few hours earlier kept nagging at her and left her seriously bummed out as she peeked out of a break in a huge black curtain that she and the other Alpha Girls were hidden behind. It didn’t help that all the other Alpha Girls seemed to be so into winning that nobody was speaking to each other.
Beyond the curtain, there were millions of sparkling lights, a shiny leopard-print floor, and a huge mirrored stage with a backdrop of thousands of bright pink bulbs that flashed the words “Glitter Girl” in ten-foot-high letters. As the comedian left the stage to the applause of the gathered throng, the house band tore into some earsplitting music. Its bass was turned up so loud that Kat could actually feel her internal organs vibrate to the rhythm.
A whole section in the middle of the gym floor was roped off to make room for a platform with a giant mixing board and the biggest video cameras Kat had ever laid eyes on. There was a crew of fifteen guys in black, wearing headsets and all running frantically around. One of them was operating a camera suspended on a big, black pole that could swing freely back and forth over the heads of the audience in front of the stage. In fact, Kat could see the images it was capturing on the ginormous hi-def monitors that hung on either side of the stage.
“OMG squared! That was Gomez Endicott!” Zoe jumped up and down as the celebrity blogger’s face flashed across the screen, pores and all. “I can’t believe Chelsea pulled off getting him here!”
Kat wasn’t surprised. After all, Chelsea reminded her a lot of those super wedding planners on TV, with her smartphones and Bluetooth and organizer and the nice way she seemed to order everyone around. Kat didn’t think there was a whole lot that Chelsea couldn’t pull off. Although she was surprised Chelsea had somehow managed to get rid of the cheesy, sweaty stench of B.O. that hit you whenever you walked into the gym. Kudos for that at least, Chelsea!
“Look at all those people!” shouted Kat’s mother, coming up behind her and giving her an air kiss on the side of her cheek to avoid messing up Kat’s makeup. Or maybe she was avoiding messing up hers. Kat couldn’t be sure. “And they’re all here to see you!”
“Not just me, Mom,” Kat said, pointing to the other forty-nine potential “Glitter Girls” who were anxiously milling around backstage. Like Kat, they were all sporting various Glitter Girl looks. And at least six of them were wearing that same stupid engineer’s cap she had on. Kat wasn’t going to wear it, but Chelsea insisted. In fact, she practically demanded it. It was almost as if she was trying to make some sort of point. Kat peeked out at the sea of girls crowding the gymnasium who’d come for the launch. Hundreds and hundreds of them. And they were dressed just like her too.
Or am I dressed like them? It was a troubling thought that led Kat to remember what Jules had said to her about selling out and losing her sense of herself. Which in turn led Kat to think about Jules and the birthday party Kat wasn’t at, and what Jules was doing at that very moment. And all that led inevitably to a sudden, guilty lurch in the pit of Kat’s stomach.
• • •
“Huzzah!”
The two o’clock joust had just ended and Sir Roderick, he of the black and gold colors, had come out the victor. Which was cool because Jules and her party of birthday revelers happened to be sitting in his section and therefore he was their knight to root for. Jules looked down the benches and could see the cheering faces of those who had come to celebrate the anniversary of her birth. And it was a darn good turnout. All her Shakespeare and Math Club friends were there, as was Ms. Donovan, who looked great in the Ophelia costume she’d gotten from the high school. Jules thought it was cool of her to come, considering that she was a teacher and already had given up most of the hours in her week to be with her students. She certainly wasn’t obligated to spend her Saturday with them too. Of course, she would have been at the Faire anyway, given that she volunteered every season, and Jules got the sense it was the highlight of her year.
Naturally Jules’s parents were there because, well, they were her parents and were obligated. Although her dad had actually gotten into the spirit of the day by putting on a colorful jester’s hat and talking in a weird accent that was more leprechaun than anything remotely British. But everyone in their group thought it was hysterically funny and kept egging him on. Normally, Jules would have thought it was funny too, but she simply wasn’t feeling too festive at the moment. Yeah, she was excited to turn fourteen. And yeah, she was celebrating with her friends and family in her absolute favorite place on Earth.
But she wasn’t exactly sure why she was having trouble laughing at her dad’s goofiness. Or why she couldn’t muster an appetite for the giant Tofurkey leg she’d bought at Ye Vegan Vestibule. She had been carrying the oversized hunk of protein around for the last half hour, despite the fact that she hadn’t yet had lunch. She convinced herself that her lack of appetite and enthusiasm had nothing to do with Kat not being there.
In fact, she had convinced herself it was better that Kat wasn’t there, because then she’d be worried the whole time whether Kat would be bored. And she’d feel obligated to stick by Kat’s side instead of enjoying her own self (which she wasn’t doing anyway). Yep. She’d convinced herself 100 percent absolutely that the reason she was feeling so bummed had nothing to do with Kat.
But then when she was over playing a ring-tossing game called quoits at one of the booths, her heart lurched because she could have sworn she saw Kat outside the Pendragon Costumes tent. But when the girl turned around, she was much too short and her hair had too many highlights to be Kat. Jules felt a wave of disappointment when she realized that yes, the fact that Kat chose Glitter Girl over her party was bothering her a load more than she was admitting to herself. It was stupid to even think for an instant that Kat would miraculously show up. That only happened in movies and books. Not in life.
Jules blinked back the tears as Audrey Turner from Math Club grabbed her by her Tofurkey-clutching hand and pulled her over to look at some pewter dragons on sale at one of the vendor booths. And as Audrey “oohed” and “ahhed” over the fine craftsmanship of the pieces, Jules pretended to care.
• • •
Don’t wanna study. Don’t wanna sleep.
Wanna party, party wild, party free and deep.
Platform shoes, designer clothes,
I’ma text and tweet tweet tweet
Cuz I’m livin’ large, I’m livin’ in charge,
I’m livin’ the teen dream! Sweet!
Jessica Aguirre sang to a screaming
audience of teen girls as she paraded in her metallic boots across the mirrored stage. She was wearing the teeniest belly shirt and the shortest short shorts allowed by law. Her hair was wild and her eyes were completely encircled in kohl-black makeup. And she was really good. Well, Kat assumed that she was good. Her voice was being filtered through an auto-tuner, and by the time it came out of the speakers, it sounded about as much like a human female voice as R2-D2 from Star Wars.
But the beat was infectious, and Kat couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment, clapping and dancing along with the crowd. And forgetting all about the sameness of everyone around her.
“All right, ladies, get ready. The big moment is at hand.”
It was Chelsea, who had been running around in cool control, shouting orders and double- and triple-checking absolutely everything.
“I want all fifty of my Glitter Girls lined up alphabetically by state like I showed you at rehearsal. As soon as Jessica finishes her number, you’ll walk out onstage and take your marks. Then I’ll be announcing the winner. Now, I know you all have excellent acceptance speeches because, well, I wrote them. But just remember if you get called, a Glitter Girl carries herself with poise and elegance above all others—er, I mean, else. Above all else.”
Kat felt a pang of nervousness and excitement because she could have sworn when Chelsea had said “the winner” she looked directly at Kat. Could it be possible? Or was it just her imagination?
“It’s you!” said Zoe, grabbing her arm hard and whispering in her ear. “You’re going to win! Did you see that? She looked right at you when she said ‘the winner’! OMG cubed! My BFF is going to be the Face of Glitter Girl! And to think you almost didn’t come! Good thing I got Jules out of the picture or you would have missed the most awesomest opportunity of your life.”