Take the Stage

by JoJo Siwa

  Grace blushed happily. “I’m glad.”

  “I’m heading over to the food area now. My snow cone stand doesn’t open until eleven thirty, but they might need me to sample the goods.” Jacob rubbed his palms together in excitement. “See you guys later.”

  The girls all chuckled, and Miley checked the time on her phone. “I promised my parents I’d meet up with them at eleven,” she said. “See you soon for our dance class, JoJo?”

  “You know it!” JoJo gave her best friend a thumbs-up.

  “Good luck with your portraits, Grace!” Miley called as she walked away.

  “I wonder where Kyra is,” Grace said, looking around. “Her face-painting stand is supposed to open at eleven, but it’s not even set up yet.”

  “Hopefully she’ll get here soon,” JoJo agreed.

  “I meant to tell you, I love your bow,” Grace said, pointing to the bow in JoJo’s hair.

  JoJo beamed. “Well, good, ’cause I wore it just for you!” she exclaimed. “It reminds me of a unicorn’s mane, and—”

  Just then, Kyra showed up. She was carrying a big box of supplies, and her face was flushed. JoJo thought Kyra looked really stressed out.

  “Hey, everything okay?” JoJo asked.

  “Yep, just setting my stand up,” Kyra replied. She dropped the box down on the chair and began pulling out her paints and setting them up on the small table.

  “Do you need help?” Grace asked kindly. “It’s almost eleven, and a few people were by earlier, saying they’d be back at eleven . . .”

  “I know what time it is, and I’m fine!” Kyra snapped.

  JoJo watched Grace’s expression and was relieved to see that she didn’t seem to be taking Kyra’s unfriendly tone to heart.

  “Well, I’m here all day if you decide you need help!” Grace said simply. Then she turned to JoJo. “So, you were telling me about your bow . . .”

  “Yes! Unicorn power!” JoJo laughed, twirling one of the glittery strands from her bow around her finger. “And speaking of which, I’m loving your unicorn headband!”

  “Thanks! My sister sent it to me,” Grace explained, a smile lighting up her face. “I’ve never felt more like a unicorn,” she said, reaching up the touch the pale purple satin horn attached to the headband. “I decided today was the perfect day to wear it, because I can use all the unicorn power I can get!” she finished, her gaze darting over to Kyra’s stand. “I was up all night worrying that no one would show up for a portrait,” she whispered to JoJo. “I’m excited, but, unlike you, I’m super nervous!”

  “Well, then, I’ve got a surprise for you!” JoJo crowed. Now was the perfect time to show Grace one of the flyers. “Check it out,” she said, pulling a flyer from her backpack.

  “Wait—what? You used my drawing?” Grace stared at the flyer JoJo was holding. “I can’t believe you used the picture I drew for your flyer! You really think it’s that good?”

  “I know it’s that good!” JoJo grinned. “People are going to be lining up to get their portraits done when they find out you drew this picture! The flyers are posted all over the place, on every block—everyone will see them!”

  “I can’t believe you used my drawing,” Grace repeated. Her eyes were shining with happiness and pride. “It looks so amazing!”

  “Excuse me, but why are you taking credit for the flyer that I designed?” Kyra demanded suddenly. She had been listening to JoJo and Grace’s conversation.

  “Because Grace drew the picture on the flyer,” JoJo replied.

  “I thought that was a professional drawing . . . ,” Kyra mumbled, her eyes narrowing.

  “Exactly!” JoJo said cheerfully. “I told you she was super talented!” Then she turned her attention back to Grace. “I’m going to go meet up with my family for a bit so we can walk around together before Miley’s dance class. Do you want to come?”

  “My parents are meeting me here at eleven with my little brother. I promised I’d go with him to the bouncy house.”

  “Ah, good luck with that. Think of Jacob, and make sure he hasn’t eaten a whole pizza beforehand!” JoJo joked. Then she turned serious for a moment. “But two things before I go: One, you got this! And two—unicorn power!”

  “Yeah, unicorn power!” Grace cheered as JoJo walked away.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Here you go. I think you guys earned these,” Jacob said, holding out two jumbo rainbow snow cones for JoJo and Miley. He was on his break from the snow cone stand and had watched the last few minutes of Miley and JoJo’s dance class. It had been the biggest hit of the block party so far—even bigger than the bouncy house! More than twenty people showed up to take the class, and twice as many as that had gathered to watch once they realized that JoJo was helping teach the class. The neighborhood was full of JoJo Siwa fans of all ages! After the class, people had asked JoJo to pose for pictures. BowBow, who never missed an opportunity to look adorable, posed for some too.

  “Miley, you did an amazing job of coming up with simplified versions of the routine for the beginners,” JoJo said as she tightened the laces on her Converse. She stood up and bounced on her toes, still buzzing with energy from the class. “And some of the more experienced dancers were really good—my performance is going to turn into the ultimate dance party!”

  “Yeah!” Miley crowed, high-fiving her best friend. “We were amazing!”

  JoJo was more excited than ever about her performance. Meeting kids and adults from her neighborhood who were fans of hers had felt wonderful, and knowing that so many people couldn’t wait for her performance had her feeling as if she might burst with excitement. Several kids had told her they considered themselves to be Siwanatorz, and that had made her day. JoJo loved meeting her fans! There was just one little detail she still needed to figure out: She needed to decide which song she was going to perform! Her fans had been pretty split down the middle, requesting “Kid in a Candy Store” and “Boomerang.” Miley had taught dance routines for both songs during the dance class earlier, so JoJo knew her fans were prepared for whichever song she chose. It was a hard decision!

  Just then, JoJo felt a gentle nudging at her ankles. She looked down and saw BowBow holding something purple in her mouth. “BowBow, why do you have Grace’s headband in your mouth?” JoJo wondered aloud as she bent over to retrieve it. “Oh, no!” she cried a moment later. The pretty satin horn on Grace’s headband was covered in sticky black paint.

  “Is that Grace’s headband?” Miley asked, recognizing it from earlier.

  “Yeah, I think it is. And it’s ruined.” JoJo frowned. “I’m going to go check on Grace and find out what happened. I’ll catch up with you guys in a little bit, okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. Text me if you need anything,” Miley said, a concerned look clouding her features. Jacob nodded.

  JoJo hurried over to the area where Grace’s and Kyra’s stands were. As she approached, she could see that Kyra wasn’t around, but Grace was sitting on the chair at her stand, her head in her hands. It looked as if she was crying.

  “Grace, are you okay?” JoJo ran the rest of the way to her friend. “BowBow brought me your headband. I’m so sorry it got ruined, but I bet we can fix it. My mom knows a bunch of cool tricks for getting stains out of my costumes, and—”

  “It’s not that,” Grace said miserably. “Kyra did it—on purpose!”

  “What?” JoJo exclaimed.

  Grace nodded. “A little while after you left, things got really hectic with the face painting. There were so many people in line, and I think Kyra got really overwhelmed . . .” Grace’s voice trailed off. “So anyway, people got tired of waiting in line and were leaving. A lot of them were coming over to my stand, asking when I was going to start doing portraits and asking if I could start early. It was making Kyra angry.” Grace stood up and took a deep breath before continuing.

  “Then, out of the blue, she asked me to come help her. I was really excited—I thought maybe she’d decided to give me a chance.
She asked to try on my headband, and when I gave it to her, she dropped it in a puddle of paint.”

  “Oh, Grace, I’m sorry . . . ,” JoJo began.

  “That’s not even the worst part,” Grace continued. “After she did it, she said now I wouldn’t have unicorn power because my special headband was ruined and maybe I shouldn’t do my portraits after all because I’d probably just mess them up.”

  “Listen to me,” JoJo said, placing her hands on Grace’s shoulders. “You are so talented, and your portrait of me and BowBow is the talk of the block party—people can’t wait for you to open! Don’t let Kyra get into your head.”

  Grace sighed. “Thanks, JoJo. It’s just . . . now I’m even more nervous about doing the portraits. What if I mess up?” She gestured to the plain blue T-shirt she had on. “I don’t have a unicorn anywhere on me—not even on my shirt. It feels weird. I don’t know if I can do this without my unicorn power.”

  JoJo snapped her fingers. “I have an idea!” she cried. She reached up and gently removed the pastel rainbow bow from her side ponytail. Then she held the bow out to Grace and said, “Unicorn power.”

  “I—I can’t take your bow!” Grace stammered.

  “Of course you can!” JoJo said. “I’m giving it to you!”

  “But you need a bow,” Grace exclaimed. “You always wear one when you perform!”

  “Yep, and I always pack a backup,” JoJo explained.

  “Thank you, JoJo,” Grace said. She was beaming, and JoJo could tell she was feeling better. She just hoped that Grace could tune Kyra out and believe in herself as much as JoJo believed in her.

  CHAPTER 10

  It was a quarter to three, and Grace’s portrait stand was due to open in fifteen minutes. There were already four people waiting to get their portraits done.

  “Wow, look at the line you have already,” JoJo said as she approached Grace’s stand.

  “Oh, hey!” Grace waved. “Did you try out the bouncy house?”

  “I sure did!” JoJo sat down in one of the chairs at Grace’s stand. “I got my bounce on, sampled the cotton candy, conquered the rock wall, played street mini golf, and I told everyone I met to make sure to get their portrait done at your stand.”

  “So in other words, you’ve been a little busy.” Grace laughed.

  “Yep.” JoJo smiled. “I squeezed everything in so now I can relax a bit before I have to get ready for my performance. I’m supposed to meet back up with my mom in a few, but I just wanted to come say hello. Are you all set to open?”

  Just then, the girls heard a commotion over at Kyra’s stand. She’d returned with more supplies and knocked over the paints she’d set up on the wobbly table. She was covered in paint, and her stand was a mess.

  JoJo and Grace rushed over to help. “Can we help you clean up?” Grace asked.

  Kyra looked up, and JoJo held her breath. Was Kyra going to snap at Grace again? Tell her to get lost? Spill more paint on her?

  Then Kyra did the unimaginable: She burst into tears!

  “Oh, don’t cry!” Grace and JoJo exclaimed at the same time.

  “We’ll get this cleaned up really fast,” JoJo said, pulling a tissue from a packet in her backpack and handing it to Kyra.

  “Where can I find lots of paper towels?” Grace asked JoJo.

  “Try the concession area,” JoJo said after a moment. “Jacob is still working there, and he can give you a bunch.”

  “Be right back,” Grace said, and she ran off.

  JoJo pulled the rest of the tissues out of the tiny pack and began wiping up as much paint as she could.

  Kyra cleared her throat. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked quietly. “I’ve been terrible to Grace, and I know she’s your friend. Why are you guys even helping me?”

  JoJo stopped cleaning for a moment and looked at Kyra. “Grace is my friend, and you have been pretty unfair to her, but being mean to you wouldn’t be right either. Besides, that’s not me.” JoJo stood up and threw the wadded tissues into a nearby garbage can. “Can I ask you something, though?”

  Kyra nodded.

  JoJo took a deep breath. “Why do you treat Grace differently? It seems like you never gave her a chance.”

  JoJo bit her lip, waiting to hear what Kyra would say. She knew that, a lot of times, bullies didn’t even know why they were picking on someone. She had a feeling that whatever was bothering Kyra, it had way more to do with Kyra than with Grace. But would Kyra ever admit that?

  “You’re right. I never really gave her a chance,” Kyra replied, sighing heavily. She began picking up jars of paint as she spoke. “I was so excited that day you guys all came over to talk about the block party. I wanted you guys to like me, and I was hoping you had room for another friend . . .” Kyra’s voice trailed off. “And then you showed up with Grace, and I felt like she’d taken the spot I was hoping to get. I was mad, and I guess I was jealous,” she finished softly. “Does that even make sense?”

  JoJo sat on one of the chairs and patted the one next to her for Kyra to join her. “I guess so,” she said slowly. JoJo understood what Kyra was saying, but she also knew it didn’t have to be that way. She thought for a moment about how to explain that to Kyra. “You know, it’s not like there’s a limit to the number of friends we can have. And Grace is a really great friend.” She met Kyra’s eyes. “You’re missing out.”

  Kyra swallowed and nodded. “I know. And I’ve been so horrible to her. Do you think it’s too late? Do you think she’d accept my apology?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” JoJo said gently. “But my mom always told me that you don’t apologize to be forgiven. You apologize because it’s the right thing to do.”

  Kyra nodded. “My mom says that too.” She laughed. JoJo was glad to see that Kyra seemed to be feeling a bit better. “Do you think you could leave me alone with Grace when she gets back?” Kyra asked. “So I can try to talk to her?”

  “I have to go warm up soon anyway,” JoJo said, standing up. “My mom is probably wondering where I am.”

  Just then, Grace arrived back at the stand, breathless and holding a huge stack of paper towels. “Oh, you look better!” she said to Kyra when she noticed that Kyra was no longer crying.

  “Yeah, I’m feeling a lot better. May I talk to you for a minute?”

  Grace looked curiously at JoJo.

  “I have to go find my mom,” JoJo said. “But come by when you’re done to say hi before my performance, okay?”

  “Definitely,” Grace agreed.

  JoJo gave her friend a hug. “You’ve got this, Grace,” she whispered in her ear. “Unicorn power! Text me if you need me, okay?”

  As JoJo walked away, Grace placed a wad of paper towels on the table at Kyra’s stand and began wiping up some spilled paint. She knew JoJo wouldn’t leave her alone with Kyra if she thought there was a chance Kyra would be mean again. Thinking about that gave Grace a surge of confidence. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” she asked Kyra, careful to keep her voice even.

  “I’m so sorry about before. About everything,” Kyra blurted. “For ruining your headband, for not letting you help with the block party . . .” Kyra took a deep, shaky breath, unsure if she could continue, but then she thought about her conversation with JoJo and plunged ahead. “And most of all, for not giving you a chance. I am so sorry.”

  Grace stopped cleaning and straightened up. “Thank you for the apology,” she said after a moment. “I appreciate it.” Still a little uncomfortable, she looked at the ground.

  “When does the face painting reopen?” a woman’s voice rang out. Grace and Kyra looked up and saw a young woman with a toddler in a stroller. “Lila wants a mermaid! Do you do mermaids?”

  “Um, I can try!” Kyra replied. “Just give me one minute, okay?”

  “I should head over to my stand anyway,” Grace said. “Are you okay now?”

  Kyra looked Grace in the eye. “Actually, I’m a mess,” she started. “I screwed everythi
ng up with this block party. I never confirmed the kids for the balloon animals, so there wasn’t anyone to do them. I tried to fill in, but I was terrible at them.” She held out her hand and used her fingers to tick off all the things she had done wrong. “I also never reminded people to come early to set up, so a bunch of stands opened late. And my face painting is awful. Beyond awful. One little girl cried when she saw the mermaid I’d painted on her arm because she thought it was a shark! So I’d better up my game before I traumatize poor Lila over there.”

  Grace burst out laughing. “I’m sorry—I don’t mean to laugh, but that’s pretty hilarious.”

  Kyra smiled a little bit. Then her smile got bigger, and before long she was laughing with Grace. “It is pretty hilarious,” she agreed finally.

  “Want to know what I think?” Grace asked. When Kyra nodded, she continued. “I think you have two hours left before JoJo’s performance and then the movie after dark. Why don’t you walk around and ask for help? This is a block party—people are here to have fun, and I bet there are great painters in the crowd, or people who know how to do balloon animals. You don’t have to do it all yourself. And then you should go have some fun, because . . . well, you live here too!”

  Kyra was silent for a moment, and then she nodded. “That is really good advice. Thank you.”

  “No problem,” Grace said. She walked over to her stand and pulled out her pad and pencils, ready to begin drawing.

  “Oh, and, Grace?” Kyra swallowed and looked at the ground. “Maybe after, I can come back and get a portrait drawn? You’re really good—I’d love to get one . . . I think it would be the perfect souvenir from the block party.”

  “You got it!” Grace beamed.

  “You’re my last client of the day,” Grace joked to Kyra. It was almost two hours later, and Grace’s portrait stand had been a huge hit. She’d drawn so many portraits, she’d lost count! The art teacher from the high school even sat for one and told Grace she couldn’t wait to have her in class in a few years because she was that talented. Grace felt like she might explode with pride when the teacher said that.