Turn It Up

by Melanie Spring

  “Girlfriend?” Adam repeated, raising his eyebrows.

  Kate blushed furiously. “I meant to say ‘friend.’ ”

  “Actually, I kinda liked ‘girlfriend’ better,” Adam said.

  Kate stared at him. He stared back.

  “Okay, I really want to kiss you now,” Adam whispered, leaning in.

  This time, she let him.

  CHAPTER 13

  Chloe took a deep breath. Every cell of her being was focused on the tumbling pass she was about to perform. Ready, set, go! She sprinted across the mat, paused to get into position, then executed a round-off, handspring, tuck. Yes!

  “Way to nail it, Davis,” Coach Steele said, clapping from the sidelines. “You might want to try to get your feet together faster in your round-off for some more speed. Otherwise, that was terrific.”

  “Thanks, Coach!” Chloe trotted back to the corner of the gym to join the other cheerleaders.

  “You looked so good!” Kalyn Min told her.

  “Agreed. With your mad tumbling skills, you’re practically ready for the Olympics!” Jenn Hoffheimer added.

  Chloe grinned, pumped from all the praise. “Thanks, guys! Your passes were awesome, too!” she said.

  Chloe wiped her brow with the back of her T-shirt and stretched her arms. The extra practices these past few weeks had been tough on everyone’s schedules, but she could tell that they were paying off. Everyone’s tumbling had improved since the holidays, and so had the rest of the Nationals routine.

  Which was a good thing, since the competition was just over two weeks away. And once they were in Orlando, they wouldn’t have a gym for practicing. At Nationals, teams usually practiced on the grassy areas outside their hotels or the ESPN competition venue. There were only so many gyms in the city that had availability for all the visiting teams, and those spaces tended to get booked months in advance.

  Devin went next, performing the same pass as Chloe but substituting a layout for the back tuck. Chloe knew that Devin had been working on that extremely difficult maneuver all season. Devin stuck the tricky landing cleanly, without a single extraneous movement, and finished with her arms in a triumphant V and a wide grin on her face. Then she lowered her arms quickly, probably remembering that the V was a gymnast thing, not a cheerleader thing.

  Everyone in the gym broke out in whistles and claps, including a few of the JV basketball players who were practicing on the other side of the room. Chloe noticed Mateo Torres among them, whistling and clapping a little louder than the others. He’s definitely cute, she thought. No wonder Devin’s got a crush on him.

  Not that Devin seemed like the type of girl who fell for guys just because of their looks. Still, she wondered what Devin planned to do about her Josh-Mateo dilemma. Last night at Emily’s, she’d been going on and on about how smart and nice Mateo was. But this morning during homeroom, Devin had said the same about Josh. What was going on?

  Gemma went next. After she’d completed her pass, she got in line behind Devin.

  Chloe gave Gemma a thumbs-up sign. “That was awesome,” Chloe complimented her. “Your landing was really clean!”

  Gemma frowned and turned away.

  “What’s wrong with Gemma?” Devin whispered to Chloe.

  “I don’t know,” Chloe whispered back. But of course, she did know.

  She had to talk to Coach Steele ASAP about Gemma and her family. After all, the fashion show was this Saturday.

  “What did you want to discuss, Davis?” Coach Steele asked.

  Practice was over. As Chloe sat across from the coach’s desk, she tried to remember the speech she’d rehearsed over and over in her mind—about meeting Daniel at Hearts Heal and learning about the Moore family’s dilemma. It wasn’t easy pitching a particular charity to Coach Steele, since there were so many worthy charities in Sunny Valley. Chloe had to convince Coach Steele that the squad should devote half their fashion show earnings to help the Moores save their home—even though Gemma didn’t want their help.

  Chloe glanced around the coach’s cramped office. Her desk was piled high with papers, files, and rule books. Trophies dating back two decades lined the bookshelves. Motivational posters covered the walls with sayings like MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO OUTDO YOURSELF, NOT OTHERS and BE A LEADER THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS and DREAM BIG!

  “Well?” Coach Steele prompted her. “You and Devin aren’t having problems again, are you? I thought the two of you had worked things out last semester.”

  “No, no, it’s not that at all!” Chloe took a deep breath. “It’s about the fashion show. I have an idea for the charity.”

  “That’s fantastic! What’s your idea?”

  “I’ve been doing volunteer work at Hearts Heal on Saturday afternoons,” Chloe began. “Gemma Moore’s brother volunteers there, too. His name is Daniel, and he’s a sophomore at Sunny Valley Performing Arts. Anyway, he happened to tell me that their dad got laid off from his job a while back. Money’s tight and they may have to sell their house.”

  Coach Steele raised her eyebrows. “Really? That’s awful! I had no idea.”

  “So I was thinking… what if we give them half the proceeds from the fashion show?” Chloe went on.

  Coach Steele nodded slowly, as though she were mulling it over. Chloe chewed on her thumbnail as she waited for the coach’s answer.

  “I think it’s a fine idea, as long as the Moores are interested,” the coach said finally. “I’ll call them as soon as we’re done here and run it by them. I know that you want to help out a teammate, which is great. But we also have to respect their privacy.”

  Chloe sat up straight. “Well, that’s the thing—” She hesitated.

  “What is it?”

  “I mentioned the idea to Daniel when I saw him at Hearts Heal on Saturday. He was very excited and grateful. I guess he mentioned it to Gemma, too. Gemma’s not excited or grateful at all. In fact, she sent me an instant message that night and told me to stay out of her family’s business. She seems pretty mad at me,” Chloe confessed.

  Coach Steele smiled sympathetically. “You know, it’s not easy having the world know that your family is experiencing problems. Especially when those problems have to do with money. Gemma is probably embarrassed about her family’s situation,” she guessed.

  “That makes sense,” Chloe agreed.

  “Let me talk to Mr. and Mrs. Moore. If they say yes, I think it would be a good idea to keep their names anonymous at the fashion show, to respect their privacy.” Coach Steele folded her hands on the desk and leaned forward with a smile. The coach hadn’t smiled much lately, so it felt special somehow. “I must say, Chloe—I have to commend you for coming up with the idea to help the Moores. And also for volunteering at Hearts Heal on your own time. You’re acting like a true leader.”

  Chloe beamed. It was the second time today the coach had complimented her. And this compliment, which had nothing to do with her athletic skill, felt a hundred times more wonderful and amazing.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Where are the bidding paddles? Has anyone seen the bidding paddles? And omigosh, what are all those empty hangers doing over there?” Emily shouted. “I need everyone to get things in order, like, immediately. The fashion show is starting in thirty-five, no, thirty-four minutes!”

  Chloe strolled over to Emily and put a hand on her shoulder. “Stressed much?” she asked sympathetically.

  Emily rubbed her temples with her fingers. “A bit. It’s just that so much is riding on this fund-raiser. Our early ticket sales were way short. Which means we need a lot more people to show up last-minute.”

  Chloe looked thoughtful, then pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Let me send another tweet out to the NHS community. That might get more people here. I’ll ask my mom to do the same with her real estate connections. My dad could e-mail an invite to his coworkers at his law firm.”

  “Yes! Good idea!”

  “Where do I put these cupcakes?” cheerleader Wren Pexa asked, balancing
a massive tray on her arms. “My mom and I baked, like, four dozen of them!”

  “Thanks, Wren! The concession table’s over there,” Emily replied, pointing.

  “How does my dress look?” Lexi came running up to Emily and twirled around. Lexi was petite and looked particularly adorable in the white lace sundress. “It seems like it’s too big around the waist. What do you think?”

  Emily gave Lexi’s dress a careful once-over. “You just need a pin to take in the side seams a little. Phoebe’s got some. Phoeeebeee!”

  Kate walked by just then, carrying a large metal cash box and several rolls of tickets. “Phoebe’s one of your models, remember? She’s in the girls’ locker room getting dressed,” she told Emily.

  “Oh, yeah. Kate, can you find Lexi some safety pins, then? I’ve gotta double-check my list and make sure everything and everyone are where they’re supposed to be,” Emily pleaded.

  “No problem.” Kate set the lockbox and tickets on a folding table and rushed off.

  Emily pulled her clipboard from under her arm and scanned the list quickly. The catwalk stage, curtains, and lights from Mr. Viscardi’s entertainment-equipment rental company. Check. Mr. Viscardi himself. Check. Five hundred folding chairs arranged in a U shape around the stage. Check. The sound system and crew. Check.

  No, uncheck. Two of the Hashtag guys, Alex and Kyle, stood across the gym, running a sound check with their laptop. But Travis was missing. She pulled her cell out of her pocket and called his number. It went straight to voice mail.

  “Alex! Kyle! Where’s Travis?” she shouted, shoving her phone back in her pocket.

  But the guys had put on their headphones and couldn’t hear her. Emily stifled a yell and returned her attention to the clipboard. She could kill Travis later, if and when he bothered to show.

  She continued down the list. At least the outfits were all here. Emily had recruited her brothers to drive around to the boutiques on Thursday and pick them up so that she, Chloe, Kate, and Devin could smooth out wrinkles with a steam iron.

  Ten cheerleaders would act as models—Devin, Leila, Kalyn, Jenn, Lexi, Carley, Arianna, Luisa Kessler, Maya Leone, and Phoebe Carter—splitting the thirty outfits between them, with some modeling four or five outfits and others modeling only one or two. It all depended on which dresses best suited which girls. The rest of the squad—Chloe, Kate, Marcy, Gemma, Wren, Aisha Jones, and Sarah Kim—had other tasks, including ticket sales, concessions, backstage, hair and makeup, and bid-spotting. Emily herself would be running the fashion show and trying to persuade people to bid as much money as possible for the outfits.

  If only Emily had managed to get a celebrity to work the event! She’d failed on that front, though it hadn’t been for lack of trying. She’d spent the last five days frantically making phone calls, leaving messages at every entertainment agency in Hollywood, pleading for just one of their famous clients to donate a few hours of time to the fashion show.

  The result had been depressing. Apparently, the top agents of the top stars didn’t return phone calls or e-mails from random high school girls. Emily wondered: Was this what Hollywood was really like? Not so much fancy swag bags and hanging out with record producers, but being ignored if you were a nobody? And if so, did she really want to be part of that world? She still hadn’t given Travis an answer about pursuing Jacinta Cruz’s offer.

  “Emily!”

  Travis strolled into the gym just then, a tall, gorgeous blond girl following closely behind.

  Emily’s jaw dropped as she stared at the pair. Was that why Travis was late—he’d been picking up his date for the fashion show? She took a deep breath and counted to ten. She wasn’t sure if she was mad at Travis for being tardy… or jealous because he was with a beautiful girl… or a little of both.

  “Nice of you to show up,” Emily snapped as Travis walked over to her. “Can you please—”

  Then Emily stopped. And stared. The girl looked incredibly familiar.

  “Oh. My. Gawd,” Emily gasped. “You’re Serena Davenport, aren’t you?”

  “Yup, that’s me!” Serena replied in a friendly voice. “You must be Emily Arellano. It’s so nice to meet a fellow cheerleader! Travis has told me so much about you and the great work y’all are doing here tonight.”

  “He—he has?” Emily stammered.

  “He has! So where’s the dressing room? I’m ready to model some clothes!”

  “You… are?”

  Serena had once been a cheerleader for the University of Alabama. These days, though, she was better known as one of the hottest figures on the country-rock scene. She’d won American Idol three years earlier; since then she’d released two albums and scored a Grammy for her single “I Just Want to Be Your Star.”

  Emily glanced at Travis. He grinned and winked at her. So that’s why he’d shown up late. Emily had a million questions for him, starting with… how did he know Serena Davenport? How had he persuaded her to come to the fashion show?

  But the questions could wait. Emily took Serena’s arm and said, “Thank you so much for being here. As Travis may have told you, half of the money we raise tonight will go toward the team’s Nationals costs, and the other half will be donated to help a local family keep their home. Let me show you to the dressing rooms. There’s a turquoise dress back there that’s going to look amazing on you.…”

  Three hours later, Emily, Chloe, Kate, and Devin sat on the bleachers, counting the proceeds from the evening. Nearby, a bunch of JV basketball players broke down the catwalk stage. Other students helped to put away folding chairs.

  The event had been a huge success. Thanks to Chloe’s last-minute social networking efforts, including several tweets about Serena Davenport’s appearance, the gym had been filled to standing room only with students, parents, and other people from the Sunny Valley community.

  “I can’t believe it. We made triple what we expected,” Emily announced as she leafed through the last of the cash and checks.

  “Having Serena Davenport here was huge,” Devin spoke up.

  Kate nodded. “Definitely! Leila’s parents bid four hundred dollars for that purple dress Serena modeled. And Jenn’s parents bid another five for the turquoise one.”

  Emily closed the cash box with a satisfied smile. “This means we’ll be able to cover our remaining expenses for Nationals. And help the Moores, too,” she declared. Chloe had told Emily, Devin, and Kate confidentially that the anonymous family in need was Gemma’s.

  Coach Steele walked over to the girls. Gemma was with her, along with a tall young guy and an older couple.

  “Girls? Gemma’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Moore, really wanted to meet you,” the coach explained. “Doug, Gillian, and Daniel—this is Emily Arellano, Devin Isle, Chloe Davis, and Kate MacDonald. These four girls were the main organizers of this fashion show tonight, especially Emily here. And Chloe gets the prize for coming up with the idea to make your family our beneficiary.”

  Mrs. Moore clasped them all in a fierce group hug. “I can’t thank you girls enough for what you did tonight,” she said tearfully.

  Daniel came up to Chloe and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you,” he told her in a low voice. “Actually, ‘thank you’ doesn’t quite cut it. If I ever compose a violin concerto, I’m dedicating it to you.”

  “Hey, I’m counting on it,” Chloe replied with a grin.

  As Emily eavesdropped on Daniel and Chloe’s private little convo, she noticed how incredibly cute he was. And nice. Chloe hadn’t had a boy in her life since her disastrous non-relationship with her eighth-grade crush, Greg Marina. Hmmm, Daniel might be a good candidate, Emily thought, the matchmaking wheels spinning in her brain.

  “My turn, Danny,” Gemma told her brother, then turned to face Chloe. “I was such a jerk to you before. Will you ever forgive me?”

  “Are you serious? Yes!” Chloe said eagerly. “I’m sorry if I put you on the spot. I know I can be kind of pushy sometimes.”

  “
Yeah, I can totally vouch for that,” Emily said, raising her hand.

  “No one’s asking you,” Chloe joked. “Anyway, I’m just glad that you’ll be staying in Sunny Valley. Our team needs you!” she told Gemma.

  Gemma smiled and hugged Chloe. “Thanks! Now I’m ready to focus on Nationals.”

  Emily pumped her fist in the air. “Timber! Timber! Timber—”

  “WOLVES!” Chloe, Kate, Devin, and Gemma finished.

  All’s well that ends well, Emily thought happily. It was a line Kate quoted a lot, from some famous play.

  While everyone else continued talking about the fashion show and Nationals, Emily locked the cash box and handed it to the coach. Then she excused herself and headed in the direction of the locker rooms. She wanted to make sure that all the outfits had been picked up or packed up.

  Opening the double doors that led to the main hallway, she spotted a familiar figure in the dimly lit corridor. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor and talking on his phone.

  Travis.

  He turned and saw her, too. He ended his call and tucked his cell into his pocket.

  “Hi!” Emily said, rushing up to him. “I’ve been looking for you all night!”

  Travis stood up and brushed his hands against his skinny jeans. “No, you haven’t, Ems. You’ve been slammed since I got here, bossing around models and raising millions for charity,” he teased her.

  Emily grabbed his arm. “I just want to know. How on earth did you manage to get Serena Davenport here?” She glanced around. “And where did she go, anyway?”

  “She had to leave for another fund-raiser in LA. And as for how I got her here, it was a piece of cake. You told me you wanted a celebrity model for the event. I called Jacinta Cruz to explain the situation, and she stepped up. Serena’s one of their recording artists,” Travis explained.

  “Just like that?” Emily said in amazement.

  “Just like that. It’s nice to have friends in high places, isn’t it?”