by Tracey West
“I didn’t notice anything,” Gigi said. “But we can look.”
They walked to the equipment room and checked the door handle. There were no marks on it at all.
“So whoever got into this door must have had a key,” AJ said slowly. “Do you know if there’s a security camera in the building? Or maybe a security guard?”
Gigi slapped her forehead. “We have both! There’s a guard stationed in the basement most times. He watches the camera on a monitor. Why didn’t I think of this before?”
She ran down the hall and entered the door to the basement. Aly and AJ followed her downstairs.
They found an elderly man sitting at a metal desk. Patches of white hair dotted his mostly bald head; he wore bottle-thick eyeglasses and a pale blue uniform.
“Hey, Mr. Willis, it’s Gigi, from the guitar school,” Gigi said.
The security guard smiled when he saw her. “Why, hello, Gigi. How are you?”
“Not so great,” Gigi answered. “Somebody stole a bunch of stuff from my equipment room. Do you know who was on duty Sunday night?”
Mr. Willis thumbed through a notebook on his desk. “Why, it was me. I remember now. You came to see me Sunday night. You lost the key to your equipment room, remember? So I let you in.”
Gigi’s pale skin turned even paler. “Mr. Willis, that wasn’t me. I didn’t lose my key. Are you sure that’s what happened?”
Mr. Willis peered at Gigi through his glasses. “Are you certain it wasn’t you? It sure looked like you.”
Aly gasped. “I know what happened!” she cried. “Gigi, someone impersonated you. That’s how they stole your equipment!”
CHAPTER SIX:
A STICKY CLUE
Gigi looked stunned. “You mean someone dressed up like me to get into the room? That’s so creepy!” She shuddered.
“Gigi, you said there was a camera in the hallway,” AJ said. “Is there a security tape we could look at? Maybe we can see who it is.”
Mr. Willis frowned. “There is a camera there. But you see—”
He was interrupted by Miles, who called down from the top of the stairs. “Gigi! Are you down there? The girls are starting to arrive.”
Gigi’s face was troubled. She turned to the security guard. “We’ll come back later. Thanks for your help.”
Aly and AJ followed Gigi back to the first floor. The hallway was crowded with excited looking girls and their parents. Gigi cheered up at the sight of her students.
“Hey,” she said. “Welcome to the Girls Rock Academy.”
“Oh, wow! It’s Aly and AJ!” someone in the crowd shouted.
The girls in the crowd began to squeal with excitement. Aly and AJ waved and smiled. Nothing made them happier than meeting their fans in person.
Gigi tried to control the excited crowd. “Please follow me into the main classroom. You’ll all get to meet Aly and AJ in a few minutes.”
The girls in the crowd smiled shyly and waved at Aly and AJ as they filed into the room. Aly and AJ waited in the hallway, peeking into the room to see what was in store.
Some of the girls looked as young as eight years old, and others were in their teens. A few of the girls looked like mini Gigis, with black clothes and spiky hair. But some girls wore pretty dresses; others were casual in jeans and T-shirts. A few had brought their own guitars with them. The girls might have looked different, but they all looked really excited to be there.
Gigi and Miles had set up the room just for the grand opening. Folding chairs faced the front of the room. Colorful cardboard guitars hung from the ceiling. A table in the corner held a cooler of cold sodas and water bottles, and platters of guitar-shaped cookies. A few reporters holding cameras stood against the back wall, waiting for Aly and AJ to appear.
Soon everyone was settled in. Gigi walked to the front of the room.
“Hey, everybody! It’s opening day at the Girls Rock Academy. Are you ready to rock?”
The room erupted in cheers and screams.
“Fantastic,” Gigi said. “In a minute, I’m going to tell you a little bit about what to expect from your classes here. But first, I have some very special guests to introduce. Let’s give a big Rock Academy welcome to Aly and AJ!”
Aly and AJ walked into the room. They high-fived some of the excited girls as they made their way to the front of the room. Flashbulbs lit up the room as the photographers began to take pictures.
“Hello, Girls Rock Academy!” Aly shouted. The girls let out another cheer. “I’m Aly.”
“And I’m AJ,” her sister said. “We’re really happy to be here today. Aly and I picked up guitars for the first time a few years ago. It was like love at first sight. We haven’t put them down since.”
“It’s so cool that you’re all learning how to play guitar,” Aly added. “We need more girl rockers in the world.”
“Play a song!” someone shouted.
Everyone started clapping, urging on Aly and AJ. The sisters looked at each other. They hadn’t been planning to sing—but why not?
Jim must have read their minds. He ran up, holding a guitar in each hand.
“I thought you might need Artemis and Jonah,” he said.
“Thanks, Jim!” the girls said. They strapped on their guitars, and gave a quick check to make sure they were in tune.
“How about ‘Do You Believe in Magic’?” AJ suggested. They had covered the sixties song on their first album, Into the Rush, and it had been a big hit.
Aly grinned. “Let’s do it!”
She strummed a chord on her guitar, and the girls launched into the song. Soon everyone in the Girls Rock Academy was rocking out.
They finished the song to applause and cheers.
“Thanks!” AJ called out. “Now let’s turn things back over to Gigi. It’s your turn to rip now!”
Aly and AJ grabbed a bottle of water each and hung out at the side of the room with Jim. Gigi and Miles got up and talked a little bit about the classes at the school. Then everyone began to mill around, talking excitedly and munching on guitar cookies.
“How much time do we have before rehearsal?” AJ asked Jim.
“A few hours,” Jim replied. “I promised your mom you’d have time for a proper dinner beforehand. She doesn’t want you girls to get run-down.”
“We’ll have time to eat,” AJ promised. “I want to meet some of the girls here first. And we still have to finish up some business with Gigi.”
“Okay,” Jim said. “Just don’t go far.”
The sisters were drawn to a corner of the classroom where the sound of an electric guitar wailing got their attention. The sound was coming from a girl who looked to be about ten years old. Her reddish hair hung over her face as she played. She wore boots, khaki pants, and a brown T-shirt with a Fender guitar on it.
Aly and AJ watched as the girl played a series of notes up and down the guitar’s long neck. She had plugged her electric guitar into a tiny amp. Her face wore a look of concentration. She didn’t play every note perfectly, but she still sounded good.
“She’s so cute,” Aly whispered.
“She can play, too,” AJ said.
A tall man with a red beard stood next to her, beaming. “That’s my Shannon!”
Shannon stopped playing and looked up. She blushed a little when she saw Aly and AJ.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “You guys are great. I hope I can play as good as you someday.”
“Thanks,” AJ replied. “You’re great already. Just keep practicing.”
Aly heard a small voice behind her. “I wish I could play like that.”
She looked behind her to see a girl about Shannon’s age with long, brown hair. She wore a pink skirt and a matching short-sleeved top.
“Hi,” Aly said. “What’s your name?”
“Hana,” the girl replied. “It means ‘flower’ in Japanese.”
“That’s a really pretty name,” Aly said. “How long have you been playing guitar?”
�
�I haven’t started yet,” Hana told her. “I’ve been playing piano since I was four. I like it, but I really want to play guitar. I begged my mom for lessons for the last seven years. Finally she let me.”
“You know, AJ and I started out playing piano, too,” Aly said. “Having a musical background really helped us learn guitar. You’re starting off from a really great place.”
Hana looked a little happier after hearing that. “I didn’t think of that. Thanks, Aly.”
Then Aly felt AJ tap her arm.
“I want to go back and see Mr. Willis,” she said. “I’m dying to see that security tape.”
“Good idea,” Aly said. “Bye, Hana. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be a great guitar player.”
Hana smiled. “Thanks!”
Aly and AJ headed back down to the basement. Mr. Willis was filling out a crossword puzzle.
“Excuse me, Mr. Willis,” AJ said. “We’re Gigi’s friends. Earlier we asked you about the security camera on the first floor hallway.”
Mr. Willis put down his pen. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you. There’s something wrong with that camera. I called the maintenance company, but they haven’t showed up yet.”
He pointed to the monitor on the left. The screen looked blank.
AJ leaned in for a closer look. The screen was dark in the center, but she saw what looked like a video image around the edges. It was kind of weird, unless…
“Come on upstairs,” she told Aly. “I think I know what happened.”
They located the camera high on the ceiling in a corner of the hallway. AJ got a chair from the classroom and brought it under the camera. She stood on top and looked at the lens.
“Just as I thought,” she said. “The lens is blocked. Somebody put chewing gum on it.”
“Let me see that,” Aly said. AJ climbed down, and Aly took her place. She peered down at the gum.
“It’s the new Lime Invasion flavor from Bubble Blast,” she said with certainty.
“How do you know that?” AJ asked. “Wait, what am I saying? Nobody knows candy better than you do.”
“It’s easy. It’s bright green with purple flecks,” Aly said, stepping down. “No other gum looks quite like that.”
“Then this is a clue,” AJ pointed out. “Whoever stole the equipment must chew Lime Invasion gum. Maybe we should collect it as evidence.”
“Great idea, but very gross,” Aly said. “Just write it down in your notebook. We can let Mr. Willis know that the camera’s not broken. And what are we supposed to do, visit every candy store in New York City and ask who’s been buying Lime Invasion gum?”
“I’m not sure,” AJ said. She smiled. “We’re musicians, not detectives, remember?”
CHAPTER SEVEN:
A SKETCHY SUSPECT
Jim found the girls in the hall and reminded them it was time to go. They said good-bye to Gigi and headed back to the hotel. They ate a delicious dinner with their mom in a tiny restaurant in Little Italy, a small neighborhood in Manhattan filled with Italian restaurants. Then Jim took them to the rehearsal studio in a cab.
The studio space was in an office building around the corner from Madison Square Garden. They could hear the sound of drums and guitars before they even opened the door.
Inside, the guys in the girls’ backup band were getting ready to rehearse. Tommy, a man with a braided goatee, sat behind the drums, lightly tapping the cymbals. Malcolm, the tall, thin bassist, warmed up by playing scales on his bass guitar. Brown-haired Matt tuned his electric guitar, and spiky-haired Jeffrey, who was also the musical director, was fixing a connection on his keyboard.
“Hey, guys, what’s up?” AJ cried.
Aly and AJ had worked with their band since recording Into the Rush. They’d survived one tour together, and the girls were glad the band had signed on for the Insomniatic tour. At this point, they felt more like a family than just a band.
Jeffrey picked up a big sheet of cardboard with song titles written on it in magic marker.
“I’ve been working on a set list, based on our last meeting,” he said. “We’ll start with ‘Potential Breakup Song.’”
Tommy nodded. “Good choice. I like that tune.”
Aly and AJ studied the list. “I’m glad we have ‘No One’ on the list,” Aly remarked. The song was one of their biggest hits. “It’s nice to mix in some of the old stuff.”
“We should practice that one,” AJ suggested. “I feel like I haven’t sung it in a long time.”
The girls strapped on their acoustic guitars and stepped in front of the microphones. After a quick sound check, they nodded to the band. The song began with Aly and AJ strumming chords on the acoustic. Then AJ began to sing.
“I am moving through the crowd
Trying to find myself.
Feel like a guitar that’s never played
Will someone strum away?”
Singing the song felt like visiting with an old friend. They finished the song, then went through the set list from beginning to end with the band. By the time rehearsal was done, the girls were feeling pretty tired.
“I’d better get you girls back to the hotel,” Jim said. “Your mom—”
“—wants us to get a good night’s sleep,” Aly and AJ finished for him. “We know.”
They said good night to the band and headed back to the hotel. They found their mom waiting in the room for them. She was hanging up a blouse in the closet.
“I was just taking a look at your wardrobe for your photo shoot tomorrow morning,” Carrie told them. “Alyson, you really should learn how to hang up your clothes.”
“I will, Mom,” Aly said, feeling like a little girl again. She gave her mom a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here on tour with us. You make every place feel just like home.”
Carrie gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Now you two should think about getting ready for bed. You’ve got a big photo shoot in the morning.”
“We promise, Mom,” AJ said.
The girls took their mom’s advice. They quickly showered and got into some comfy pj’s. Aly climbed into her bed first. She switched on the lamp next to the bed and picked up her sketchbook, which she kept on the nightstand. Aly loved to draw; she usually took her sketchbook with her everywhere, doodling people she’d met and interesting things she’d seen. The last two days had been so busy she hadn’t had time to pick it up.
“What are you drawing?” AJ asked, flopping down on her own bed.
“Gigi,” Aly answered. “I’ve been wondering how somebody might have been able to impersonate her.”
Aly roughly sketched Gigi’s face—her spiky hair, big, dark eyes, and friendly smile.
“Right now, Melanie seems like the most likely suspect,” AJ pointed out. “She definitely has a motive for wanting to ruin Gigi’s school. And to be honest, she doesn’t seem very nice, does she? Gigi said she got really angry and wouldn’t even listen to her explanation.”
“Just what I was thinking,” Aly said. She began to draw Melanie’s face next, with her thin hair and quirky eyeglasses. AJ sat on the bed next to her and watched her draw.
“That looks like Melanie,” AJ said.
“Now let’s see what happens when I do this.” Aly erased Melanie’s eyeglasses. She added thick black eyeliner around the eyes, like Gigi wore. Then she erased Melanie’s long hair and made it spiky on top instead.
AJ raised an eyebrow. “Wow,” she said. Melanie’s face was thinner than Gigi’s, and her nose was longer. But if she had changed her hair and makeup, she might have been able to pass as Gigi. “Mr. Willis has awfully thick glasses. I bet Melanie could have fooled him easily.”
Aly put down her pencil. “I think so, too. Maybe it’s time we talk to Melanie. But how are we supposed to find her?”
“I saved the flyer, remember?” AJ answered. “We can visit Melanie’s school after our photo shoot tomorrow.”
Aly grinned. “Sister, maybe you are becoming
a detective after all.”
CHAPTER EIGHT:
PICTURES IN THE PARK
“I can’t believe this beautiful park is in the middle of such a big city,” Aly remarked.
She, AJ, and their mom were walking down a path in Central Park, a large, rectangle-shaped oasis in the heart of Manhattan. It was only seven in the morning, but thanks to some Cokes, a breakfast of crunchy bacon and fresh fruit, and the crisp morning air, they felt wide-awake.
There wasn’t a single cloud in the bright blue sky overhead. The walking path was lined with trees showing off their first green leaves and showy yellow daffodils. In the distance, the tall buildings that bordered the park sparkled like silver in the sunshine.
“It’s a great place for a photo shoot,” AJ agreed.
“The editors at New York Weekend suggested it,” Carrie told them. “It’s so exciting that they want to do a cover shoot with you. The issue comes out on stands Friday morning, just in time for your show.”
AJ studied the small map of Central Park she carried. “We’re supposed to meet them at the West Drive entrance to the Sheep Meadow,” she said. “I think we’re getting close.”
Aly pointed. “I think we’re there.”
Jim stood on the path up ahead, waving at them. “Hey, guys! Over here!”
They caught up to Jim. He led them off the path onto an open, green field. Although it was early in the morning, the field was dotted with people sitting on blankets. Some were reading, others were doing yoga, but most were just enjoying the early morning sunshine.
Jim led them to a small group of people from the magazine: Parvati, the art director; Alex, the photographer; and a petite girl named Kristin who was there to do their hair and makeup.
Parvati wore a black tank top tucked into her jeans. Her long, brown hair was braided down her back, and silver hoops dangled from her ears. She eyed the girls as they were introduced.
“Great outfits,” she said.
Aly had on a worn-in vintage tee with a vest covered with funky buttons. A thick, tan leather belt looped around her jeans, and she wore a pair of tan boots to match. AJ had on her favorite pair of vintage jeans and the new black boots they’d found at the shoe store a few days ago. She’d layered a black tank top over a lilac one.