Turn It Up

by Melanie Spring

  Chloe wished she could mention all this to Kate and Emily. But if Gemma didn’t want people to know about her family’s money problems, Chloe knew that she shouldn’t say anything to the girls.

  Chloe held up a pink wool sweater and inspected it. “So… how are things going with your boyfriend—I mean your boy-slash-friend—Adam? Is that Willow girl still bugging you?” she asked Kate.

  Kate frowned. “I get the feeling she and Adam used to go out. I wish I could ask him, but I don’t know how. I don’t want him to think I’m insecure.”

  “Why are you?” Chloe asked her friend bluntly.

  “Why am I what?”

  “Insecure. You’re crazy-smart, you’re pretty, you’re an awesome cheerleader, and you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. What do you have to be insecure about?”

  Kate smiled shyly. “Thanks. I wish I were as confident as you. The thing is… well… what if Adam ends up hurting me?” Her voice broke, and her eyes stung with tears. “I mean, look at my parents. My mom cheated on my dad, and they got divorced. Then she moved three thousand miles across the country to be with her dumb boyfriend. She used to be my mom twenty-four-seven. Now she sends me an e-mail, like, once a week. Sometimes not even. What’s that about?”

  Chloe reached over and hugged Kate. “I know. But just because your mom disappointed you doesn’t mean the rest of us are going to. And that includes Adam. I’ve seen the two of you together. He really, really likes you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. I think you can trust him.”

  “Oops! I’m sorry, am I interrupting a private convo?”

  Chloe glanced up. Daniel stood in the doorway. He looked cute in a dusky blue polo shirt that matched the color of his eyes.

  “Daniel! Hey! This is my friend Kate. She’s going to start volunteering for Hearts Heal, too,” Chloe explained.

  Kate waved to Daniel. “Hey. Nice to meet you. Chloe’s told me all about you.”

  “She has?” Daniel grinned at Chloe. “Did she tell you that I go through two bags of Cool Ranch Doritos a day? And that I had a major crush on Snow White when I was five?”

  Chloe laughed. “Um, no?”

  “Nah, just kidding. It’s just one bag a day. And it was Cinderella, not Snow White,” Daniel joked.

  This time, Kate joined in the laughter. “That’s okay. When I was in preschool, I had a crush on Peter Pan.”

  “Batman. Guilty,” Chloe said, raising her hand.

  The three of them worked together for the next hour, sorting through clothes and talking about high school. When it was almost time to go, Chloe called Daniel aside. “Can I speak to you for a sec?” she asked in a low voice.

  Kate jumped to her feet. “I’m going to go find a water fountain. Plus, I want to check out the rest of this place,” she said, and took off.

  Daniel turned to Chloe. “What’s up?”

  Chloe took a deep breath. “You know Kate and I are both cheerleaders, right? And that your sister’s on our squad?” she began.

  “Yeah, Gemma mentioned that.”

  “Okay. So next week—on Saturday night, to be exact—we’re having a fashion show fund-raiser,” Chloe continued. “Half of the money will go toward expenses for our Nationals competition in February. And the rest of the money gets designated to the charity of our choice.”

  Daniel nodded. “Awesome. How can I help?”

  “No, no! It’s the other way around. I was wondering… well… what if we give that money to you and your family for your house?” Chloe blurted out.

  Daniel’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. I mean, it’s just an idea, and I’d have to run it by Coach Steele. But I wanted to know what you thought first.”

  Daniel stared down at his hands. He didn’t speak for a long time.

  “Wow,” he said finally. “I’m kind of speechless right now. That’s really generous of you. You are a cool girl, Chloe.”

  Chloe blushed. “Thanks,” she said softly. “I know the money we raise probably won’t cover much, but I figured it might at least help your parents out.”

  “Are you sure this money shouldn’t go to another cause? There are a lot of people in Sunny Valley who could use it.”

  “You’re right, there are. So we’ll just have to keep throwing fund-raisers and raising more money,” Chloe told him. “I want to talk to Coach Steele as soon as possible this week. Can you talk to your parents, too? Make sure they’re okay with the idea?”

  “I can talk to them tonight,” Daniel told her. “Thank you, Chloe. This is, like, the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. For my family.” He added, “Does Gemma know about this?”

  Chloe shook her head. “I tried to talk to her about it, but she’s kind of been avoiding me. That’s why I was holding off on talking to Coach Steele.”

  “Yeah. Gemma’s had a really tough time ever since we found out about maybe losing our house,” Daniel said. “I think she’ll be happy to hear what you’re trying to do, though—whether it works out or not.”

  That night, Chloe sat at her desk trying to get a jump on her reading assignment for English: A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway. She was a really good student, and English was one of her best subjects. But she was having trouble making sense of the complicated narrative. She made a mental note to ask Kate some questions about it at practice tomorrow; knowing her friend, she’d probably read it in middle school. Coach had confirmed at the game last night that she was definitely keeping the extra Sunday sessions between now and Nationals.

  Chloe munched on an apple and glanced around her room. It was twice the size of the main room at Hearts Heal and had its own private bathroom with a walk-in shower. The decor was blue and gold, Northside’s colors. A plush indigo quilt covered her bed. Her teddy bear, Pom—who wore a blue-and-white cheerleader’s uniform and clutched tiny poms—sat on a bookshelf next to her All-Star medals and framed school portraits. Across the room, French doors opened up to a balcony that overlooked the backyard, a koi pond, and an infinity pool.

  There was no question about it—Chloe was lucky to have all this. The thought had never really occurred to her before she started volunteering at Hearts Heal, and before she met Daniel. She’d always known that her family was well off, but she was starting to realize that she shouldn’t take her home for granted.

  A ding sounded on her computer. There was an instant message from Emily:

  ShinyEmily: lined up 5 more boutiques for the fashion show!!!!!

  TimberChloeD: emmmmm, awesome. way 2 go

  ShinyEmily: getting down to the wire. it’s next sat.!!!!! eeeeeek!!!!!

  TimberChloeD: what can I do?

  ShinyEmily: just be at my house tomorrow at 5 ok? to help finish up posters and everything. Devin and Kate will be here.

  TimberChloeD: I’ll be there!!!!!

  Her computer dinged again. Another chat window opened up. For a second, Chloe didn’t recognize the name on it:

  GemmaDilemma: Hey Chloe?

  Chloe frowned. Then she grinned when she remembered that GemmaDilemma was Gemma Moore. Gemma almost never IM’d her.

  TimberChloeD: hi Gemma, what’s up?

  GemmaDilemma: My brother told me that u guys talked 2day at HH. He told me about ur idea.

  TimberChloeD: yes!!!! what do you think?

  For a long moment, there was no reply from Gemma. Then:

  GemmaDilemma: I think u should stay out of my family’s business. WE DONT NEED UR HELP. And don’t u dare tell ANYONE about our house or I will never speak 2 u again!!!!!

  CHAPTER 10

  Emily cleared a swath on her messy bed and watched as flyers, poster mock-ups, and other random stuff went falling to the floor. Flopping down on her frayed but familiar patchwork bedspread, she closed her eyes and stifled a scream of total exhaustion. She had never been more tired in her life. And her Sunday wasn’t over yet—not even close!

  She’d gotten up at seven AM to go to e
arly services at church with her family. Then she’d helped out with the weekly grocery shopping. Afterward, her father had driven her downtown so she could visit the last five boutiques on her list to solicit donations for next Saturday’s fashion show fund-raiser.

  At two o’clock she’d had cheer practice. More like cheer boot camp, really. Coach Steele had lost her temper at the squad not once, not twice, but three times. At one point, a few of the girls had actually burst into tears and stormed off to the locker rooms. With less than three weeks to go until Nationals and their routine still far from perfect, everyone seemed to be at a breaking point.

  And now… Devin, Chloe, and Kate were coming over at five so they could finish up the flyers and posters for the fashion show and also advertise the event on a bunch of social media sites.

  On top of which… Travis had been texting her all day, trying to persuade her to come to a Hashtag songwriting sesh after dinner. Emily still hadn’t made up her mind about whether to join the group for real. She realized that she couldn’t keep Travis and the other guys waiting much longer, and she was seriously feeling the pressure.

  “Emily?”

  Devin popped her head through the door. “Your dad let me in. I’m a little early.”

  “Great. Come on in,” Emily called out wearily.

  Devin frowned at the sight of Emily sprawled on her bed and at the mess on her floor. “Hey, are you okay? You aren’t sick again, are you? I mean, ‘sick’?” She made quote marks in the air with her fingers.

  “Ha-ha. No, I’m not sick. I’m just exhausted,” Emily complained.

  “I’m sorry. How’s everything going? Did you get the rest of your outfit donations?”

  Emily sighed, sat up, and propped herself against a bunch of pillows. Time to get back to work. She reached for her REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF notebook, which was buried under a bunch of art supplies, and flipped through the pages. When she got to the OUTFIT DONATIONS page, she quickly double-checked the total.

  “Yup. Thirty outfits total,” she said after a moment. “The woman at Teen Dream said she has to confirm with her boss, but she was ninety-nine percent sure they could give us this cute black dress.”

  Devin sank down on the bed next to her. “Awesome!”

  “I know! If we can get people to bid, like, twenty-five to fifty dollars each for the outfits, that’s seven hundred and fifty to fifteen hundred dollars—plus whatever we make on ticket sales,” Emily calculated.

  “My mom talked to her friend at the hospital. You know, the one whose husband owns the company that rents entertainment equipment? She said Mr. Viscardi would donate a catwalk stage and lights for the event,” Devin told her.

  Emily’s eyes lit up. “Great! Major score! Please give your mom a big hug of gratitude for me.”

  “Will do. What about the sound system, though? We don’t have one yet, right?”

  “The Hashtag guys said they’d set it up and run it for us during the event.”

  “Wow, that’s huge. Did you have to, like, promise to join the band in return?”

  “No. Although…”

  “What?”

  “Travis has been really patient about that. We—I mean, Hashtag—is supposed to record those new songs on February sixteenth.” Emily hesitated. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I haven’t told my parents. I haven’t told Chloe or Kate. I haven’t told anyone but you.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. I’m terrified that everyone will try to talk me out of it.”

  “That makes it sound like you’re leaning toward it.”

  “Welllll… I kind of am. I mean, what person in her right mind turns down a chance like this?”

  Devin shrugged. “Don’t say yes because you think you’re supposed to. Say yes because it’s what you really, really want.”

  “That’s the problem. I don’t know what I really, really want.”

  “What are you guys talking about?”

  Emily glanced up quickly. Chloe was standing in the doorway, staring at her with a curious expression. Kate was right behind her.

  “Oh… hey! Hi! We were just talking about the, uh, fashion show. I’m not sure what outfit I would want,” Emily improvised.

  Chloe and Kate walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to Emily and Devin.

  “Is it just me, or does it feel like we’ve all been keeping secrets from each other lately?” Chloe said slowly.

  Emily and Devin exchanged a glance. “Um… okay, guilty,” Emily confessed after a moment.

  Devin raised her hand. “Me too,” she admitted.

  “Me three,” Chloe added with a smile.

  “Me four, sort of,” Kate piped up. “I mean, I don’t have a secret, exactly. But there’s this girl, Willow, who’s been flirting with Adam. She’s a junior, too, and they’re like old childhood friends or something. It really bothers me, but I didn’t want you guys to think I was crazy-jealous.”

  “What? We can all be crazy-jealous sometimes. That’s perfectly normal,” Emily told her. “As for this Willow chick? Point her out to me tomorrow at school. I’ll have a little talk with her and make sure she never comes near your man again.”

  Kate giggled. Emily, Chloe, and Devin joined in. It was good to be able to talk and laugh together, especially after everything they’d all been going through lately.

  “Okay, so I’ll go next,” Devin volunteered. “There’s this guy named Mateo—do you know him? He’s on the JV basketball team. We’ve been working together on a project for our history class. The thing is, I think he kind of likes me. And I think I kind of like him.”

  “Does Josh know?” Kate asked.

  Devin shook her head vigorously. “No! And it’s not like I’ve done anything with Mateo. I’m not that girl. I don’t want to be that girl. Besides, I really like Josh. He and I have a history.”

  “How are things going between you and Josh?” Emily asked.

  Devin frowned. “I don’t know. We still Skype a few times a week. But it’s like my heart’s not really in it. And neither is his.” She added, “Things would be different if we lived in the same city and went to the same school, like we used to. Long-distance is so hard!”

  Kate reached over and gave Devin a hug. “Don’t feel bad about liking Mateo. You should be honest with Josh, though. Otherwise, he might wonder—just like I wonder about Adam and Willow.”

  “That’s not the same, Kate. There is zero going on between Adam and Willow. She’s just a big, attention-hungry flirt,” Chloe pointed out.

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Kate shrugged.

  “IMHO? Kate, you should ask Adam if he and Willow are just friends or what,” Emily declared firmly. “Devin, you should tell Josh you like Mateo. Everyone should be honest.”

  Devin raised her eyebrows at Emily. “Does that include you?”

  Chloe and Kate swiveled around to face Emily, too. “Come on, spill,” Chloe encouraged her friend. “Kate and I know you’ve been keeping something from us.”

  Emily sighed. She picked up her stuffed Timberwolves mascot—she’d actually inherited it from Chris, who’d inherited it from Eddie—and hugged it to her chest. It smelled familiar and comforting.

  Emily took a deep breath. Then she told her friends about everything that had happened over the past few weeks—including Travis’s big news, the meeting with Jacinta Cruz at Rampage Records, and lying about having the flu to skip practice.

  “I’m really, really, really sorry I lied to you guys,” she finished. “I didn’t know what to do. I was worried that you wouldn’t understand because… well, because… you’re more into cheering than anyone I’ve ever met, Chloe. And Kate, you’re pretty fanatical about it, too. I was worried that you guys would think I was crazy for even thinking about quitting to try to become a rock star or whatever.”

  Chloe squeezed Emily’s hand. “Hey, give Kate and me some credit. We both know there’s life beyond cheerleading. And you’re an awesomely talented singer. You deserve to be a
rock star.”

  “Awww, thanks!” Emily hugged Chloe. It was such a relief to be able to tell her friends the truth, finally.

  “So what’s your secret?” Kate asked Chloe. “You’re the only one who hasn’t spilled yet.

  Chloe looked away. She appeared really upset. Emily hadn’t seen her friend this shaken up in a long time.

  “It’s not my secret to tell,” Chloe said after a moment. “One of the families at Northside is about to lose their home. I thought we could help them out by giving them money from the charity fashion show.”

  “That is a great idea!” Devin said enthusiastically.

  “Which family is it?” Kate asked curiously.

  “I can’t say. Not just yet,” Chloe replied.

  Emily studied Chloe. “It’s someone on the squad, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

  Chloe didn’t answer.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Mom! I’m home!”

  Devin walked through the front door, shrugged off her NHS hoodie, and set her backpack down on the floor. She was mentally numb from the last two hours of poster-making. (STYLE WITH A CAUSE! BE GENEROUS AND BEST DRESSED!) Crafting wasn’t really her thing. It was an effort for her—just like cheerleading used to be, and just like making new friends used to be.

  Still, she’d had fun hanging out with the girls and talking about important girl stuff. She wondered, idly, if the family Chloe mentioned might be Gemma Moore’s. She’d noticed Gemma and Chloe engaged in a few tense-looking conversations lately. In any case, Devin totally understood about money problems; she sometimes overheard her mom on the phone with their landlord, explaining why the rent was going to be late again.

  It had been really nice for Devin tonight, sharing her own secrets about her growing distance from Josh as well as her tiny crush (there, she’d said it—crush!) on Mateo. Not that she was any closer to figuring out what to do. Part of her was tempted to break things off with Josh and be free to hang out with other boys. But another part of her wanted to try to work things out. Josh was a great guy. And when it came to relationships, she didn’t want to quit, like her parents had.