“Come on, Raven, we’re going to be late,” said Candy from my side. School was over for the day and we were going to go down to the gym to listen to the tryouts for the Christmas band solos. My stomach was already in a knot because I didn’t want to see Johnny hurt.
“I’m hurrying,” I said, looking over to Dex’s locker. He stood with his back against the locker and his arms around Janelle. Brett was with them. Then Janelle reached up to kiss him, but she coughed. Dex made a face and turned his head . . . looking directly at me! He smiled and nodded at me. I smiled back.
“I’m going to ask Brett if he wants to go to the band auditions with us.” Candy sped away before I could stop her.
“No, Candy,” I said, but she didn’t hear me. I had hoped Brett would turn her down but when I saw her smiling, I knew that he hadn’t. Then my worse nightmare came true when I heard what Candy was saying.
“Why don’t you all join us?” She was talking to Dex and Janelle. What the hell was she thinking? I didn’t want to sit there watching Janelle and Dex neck the entire time. Or listen to Janelle cough. Plus, when Johnny made a fool of himself, they were all going to laugh and that was something I couldn’t handle right now.
“Looks like we’re all going to spend some time together after all,” said Dex, walking over with Janelle trailing on his heels.
“Yes, I guess so.” I shyly looked up at Dex and almost gasped out loud when I saw him wink at me. Janelle, thankfully, didn’t see him since she was behind him. Thoughts ran rampant through my brain and all I could think about now was Dex.
“Are you coming, Raven?” Candy looked back as she and Brett walked to the gym. “I’m sure the junior high kids are already down in the gym.” Since the schools were both so small, the junior high joined with the high school band for all concerts. The auditions as well as the concerts were held at Half Horse High.
“Come on, Dex,” said Janelle, grabbing his hand and pulling him away. I walked down to the gym right behind them feeling like a third wheel.
Everyone climbed up to the bleachers near the band. They had been doing work in the gym and only one small section was open. It was so full that it didn’t look like there was any room for me. Candy was next to Brett, then there was Janelle, Dex, and the wall.
“Here, Raven, sit next to me,” said Dex, getting a nasty glare from Janelle. “Janelle can sit on my lap.”
Ugh, I almost puked with the way Janelle climbed atop Dex like a dog humping someone’s leg.
“That’s all right. I think I’ll just stand down here and wish my brother good luck.”
I waited until I saw Johnny walking into the gym with his blue trumpet in his hand. His head was down, and he shuffled his feet. Even with his new blue hair, I had no doubt it was Johnny and not Little Boy Blue. My heart already hurt for him. Still, I needed to stay strong. I lifted my chin and hurried up to catch up to my little brother.
“Good luck, Johnny,” I said.
He looked up at me with his bangs hanging in his eyes. I could barely see his face.
“I’m going to bomb this big time,” he mumbled.
“No, you’re not,” I told him. “You’ll do just fine.” I hated lying to my brother but he needed confidence and he needed it fast if he was going to get out of this without looking and sounding like the class fool.
“I wish Blue was here,” said Johnny. He lifted his face and looked directly at me. “Call him for me, Raven. Please?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head furiously. “Don’t even ask me, because I’m not going to do that,” I told him. “He’s . . . no good and you’ll be better off without him.”
“Then I’m going to call for him,” said Johnny, sounding like he meant it.
“Stop it,” I said with a laugh, noticing that everyone was quieting down and the auditions were about to start.
“I mean it, Raven.” Johnny closed his eyes, gripped his trumpet tightly and I heard him whispering Blue’s name.
“Don’t!” I told him, but his eyes were closed and he mustn’t have heard me. My hand flew to my crystal in habit to calm me. “Stop it, Johnny,” I warned him as he continued.
“Blue, come to me. Blue, I need you,” I heard Johnny chanting. What the hell did he think he was doing?
“Johnny, stop it. I mean it.” I was starting to panic. He still didn’t hear or see me. He just stood there with his eyes closed, grasping his trumpet, chanting that name that put shivers up my spine. I couldn’t help thinking about the warning I had from not only the ghost of my aunt but also Little Boy Blue’s own father. Blue was evil and no good, I was sure of it. I couldn’t let Johnny summon him. I had to stop him now.
“Everyone please take a seat,” said the band director into the microphone. Then the principal grabbed the mic and spoke into it.
“Ms. Birchfield, unless you are planning on auditioning as well, you’ll need to sit down please.”
“Of course,” I said, knowing Principal Devlin was being snide. He knew I didn’t play any instruments and had no talent for music of any kind.
“Johnny,” I whispered, but still he ignored me.
“We’re waiting, Ms. Birchfield,” said Mr. Devlin into the mic once more. I looked up and saw everyone in the bleachers staring at me. It reminded me of my first month here at Half Horse High when I’d been bullied. I never wanted to feel that way again. I clutched my crystal even harder for strength.
In one last futile attempt to stop Johnny from summoning up an evil spirit that was going to possess him, I grabbed his arm hard, squeezing his blue leather bomber jacket under my fingers. My gosh, the kid never took off the dang jacket. “Stop it, now,” I told him, right before I felt that all too familiar feeling of energy passing through me.
“Oh, no,” I said to myself, realizing I was touching my crystal and his jacket at the same time again. What the heck was I thinking? I quickly let go and hoped it was soon enough that I hadn’t opened the realms between our two worlds.
“Johnny?” I asked, bending over to look into his eyes. Sad, hazel eyes stared up at me.
“Yeah, Raven?” he asked sheepishly. While the sight of his sad face broke my heart, it also sent a feeling of relief through me. He wasn’t Little Boy Blue after all.
“Good luck,” I said with a sincere smile. “Just do your best. That’s all you can do.”
“Thanks, Raven,” he said, sitting down on the folding chair and hanging his head, his trumpet dangling from his fingers.
I hurried back to the bleachers, squeezing in next to Candy instead of taking the proffered seat next to Dex. When Dex saw I wasn’t going to sit there, he plopped Janelle down in the spot instead.
“What’s going on?” Candy leaned over to me and whispered.
“Johnny was trying to call forth Blue to help him,” I whispered back.
“Did he?”
“No.” I let out a deep sigh. “I’m happy about it, but worried about Johnny. I don’t know how he is going to take the rejection.”
“Well, we’re here to support him,” said Candy, flashing me a sincere, friendly smile.
The auditions were long and boring, and I even dozed off a few times. But then Candy elbowed me in the ribs, waking me up.
“It’s Johnny’s turn,” she told me.
I nervously wrung my hands together atop my lap, watching my little brother shuffle up to the stage with the trumpet in his hand and his head hung low. This was going to be painful. Then the band director gave him a nod and Johnny raised the trumpet to his mouth . . . and let out such a couple of flat notes that it made everyone cringe and cover their ears.
“It’s a dying cow,” called out one smart ass boy, making everyone laugh.
“Get him off the stage,” shouted someone else. All the kids started to boo him.
“Oh, no,” I said, squeezing my eyes closed and rubbing my crystal like a worry stone. All the ice cream in the world wasn’t going to make this better for Johnny later.
“Thank you, Johnny, th
at will be all,” the band director said into the mic. Johnny, hung his head and started off the stage as everyone laughed at him. I dared to sneak a peek at Dex and Janelle. Janelle was coughing and blowing her nose. Dex looked over at me and, to my surprise, he held concern in his eyes. He wasn’t laughing like the rest of them. Neither were Brett and Candy.
Then I heard someone speaking into the mic and looked up to see that Johnny had walked back up on the stage and taken the microphone out of the stand and was staring up into the crowd.
“I hope you all enjoyed that,” he said with a low chuckle. “Now, I’d like you all to hear my real audition. I promise you I’m the best trumpet player you’ve ever heard.”
“Candy,” I said, grabbing her arm and squeezing it hard.
“Ouch! What’s the matter, Raven?” she asked.
“That doesn’t sound like Johnny, does it?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t started playing yet.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean his words. They’re a little more boastful than usual. Especially since he just bombed out. It’s Blue up there, I’m sure of it.”
“No. Do you think so?” Candy almost looked happy.
Johnny lifted the trumpet to his mouth as everyone heckled him from the bleachers. I was about to faint, I swear. I bit my lip and squinted my eyes and waited. I almost expected to hear sour notes again but, instead, when he blew into the horn, he sounded like one of those old famous trumpet players our grandfather used to listen to from old record albums. One of those guys with the strange names like Doc Severinsen, Louie Armstrong, or Dizzy Gillespie. This is what all started Johnny’s infatuation with the trumpet to begin with. Our grandfather always used to tell Johnny he could play better than the best someday if he really wanted to.
Suddenly, the noise in the gym subsided and everyone watched in awe with their mouths hanging open. And when Johnny – or should I say Blue finished, everyone started clapping.
“Thank you, thank you,” Blue said into the microphone, acting like some kind of celebrity, waving up at the crowd. “I told you I was the best and now I’ve proved it. Mr. Lawson,” he said to the band director. “Did you just want to announce right now that I got the trumpet solo for the Christmas concert or what?”
There was much discussion between the band director, the principal and several other teachers. Then Mr. Lawson walked up to the stage, taking the mic from him.
“Quiet, please. Can I have your attention?” Once the room quieted down, he took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone once more. “I’m not sure how you did it, Johnny Birchfield, or why you’ve led us to believe you couldn’t play a single note all this time . . . but that is some of the best horn playing we’ve ever heard from a junior high or even a high school student in . . . in as long as I can remember.”
“I told you I was good, and now you all know it,” Blue said, leaning over to speak into the mic. “Now do I get the part or what?”
“Yes,” said Mr. Lawson with a nod and a smile. “The trumpet solo for our Christmas concert, for the first time ever goes to a junior high student . . . eighth grader Johnny Birchfield.”
Blue raised his trumpet up in the air like a rock star and shouted. Then everyone jumped up, stamping their feet in the bleachers, chanting out Johnny’s name.
“Raven, isn’t this wonderful?” asked Candy, standing up clapping, looking back down at me since I was the only one still sitting.
“Not really,” I mumbled, feeling my crystal from my necklace burning a hole right through my clothes. I wanted to be happy for Johnny, but I couldn’t. At least when he played sour notes, even with the hecklers, it was coming from him – from his heart. This was all wrong. It wasn’t Johnny who got the part – it was Blue who had taken over my little brother’s body. It might be exactly what Johnny wanted to happen when he’d summoned the ghost of Little Boy Blue, but little did he know that his life was about to take a very bad turn!
Chapter 7
I decided to tell my mom everything as soon as she got home from work. But when we got off the bus and I saw our car in the driveway I knew something was wrong.
“Mom’s home?” I asked, as Candy and I walked down the driveway. Johnny – or Blue, was standing on the corner playing his trumpet for a few of the neighborhood high school girls who now admired him like groupies.
“I thought your mother was going right to the diner after her other job,” said Candy as I opened the door to walk into the house.
“Me, too. Something’s wrong. I just know it. Mom,” I called, walking into the living room where I found my mother sitting on the couch crying. The cat was on her lap and the dogs were sulking on the floor. “Mom, what’s the matter? What happened?” I ran over to her and Candy followed.
“Mrs. Birchfield, why are you crying?” asked Candy, sitting down on one side of my mother while I sat down on the couch next to her on the other side.
“I’m sorry,” she said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “I hoped I’d be composed before you got home from school.”
“Mom? What is it?” I asked in concern, taking her hand in mine. She gripped my hand tightly.
“I – I was fired today from my job at the office,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Fired? Why?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“It doesn’t matter why,” said Mother, sniffling and dabbing her eyes. “How was your day at school? Both of you?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
I looked over at Candy and she nodded slightly, urging me to tell my mother the truth.
“I need to tell you something about Johnny,” I told her.
“Johnny? What about him? And where is he?” She looked around.
“He’s at the corner playing his trumpet for some of the girls that rode the bus.”
“Oh, dear. I almost forgot. It was the day of auditions, wasn’t it? How did he do?”
“Mom, I made it!” Johnny burst through the door, clutching the horn in his hand. It took me a second, but I realized Blue was gone and Johnny was back. “I can’t believe it, but I was chosen to play the trumpet solo in the Christmas concert!” Excitement showed in his eyes and he ran over to my mother.
“Johnny, I’m so proud of you.” Mother’s tears disappeared and her face lit up in a smile. “I knew you could do it. You have gone through so much through the years, especially with your father walking out on us. But you bounced back and I’m so proud of you. Your strength gives me the courage to move on, even if I was fired from one of my jobs today.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Johnny, looking sad.
“No frowns.” Mother lifted Johnny’s chin and gazed into his eyes. “You know what we’re going to do? We are going to celebrate all your hard work and all those hours of practicing the trumpet.”
“Mom, I don’t think it’s really necessary,” I told her, bursting to tell her that Johnny wasn’t the one who was responsible for getting chosen.
“Oh, yes it is.” She pulled my brother into her arms and hugged him. He saw me over her shoulder and I mouthed the words “tell her”. Johnny made a face and threw me a daggered look. “I’m going to make your favorite food, Johnny.”
“Which one?” he asked. “Spaghetti and meatballs or homemade pizza?”
“Why not both?” said mother, giving him another hug. “I’ll just run to the store and pick up the ingredients. And I’ll get some ice cream for dessert as well.”
“Mom? Do you have money for all that?” I asked, feeling very concerned.
“Well . . . a little,” she said. “We’ll just have to cut back next week. I’ll work double shifts at the diner to make up for it.”
“Thanks, Mom, you’re the best,” said Johnny.
“No, you are.” Mom looked at my brother with such admiration in her eyes that I couldn’t possibly tell her the truth now.
“I’m going up to my room to practice my trumpet solo,” announced Johnny, already making me cringe as I imagin
ed the screeching notes that were in store for the rest of the night. He took off at a run up the stairs.
“I’ll be right back,” said Mother, humming, getting her car keys from the bowl by the door. “Oh, what was it you wanted to tell me about Johnny, Raven?” she asked.
“I – I . . .” I was feeling very tongue-tied now. What was I supposed to say after what just happened? Thankfully, Candy came to my rescue.
“We wanted to tell you he got the solo, but we’re glad he told you instead,” said Candy flashing me a quick grin.
“Raven, I think this should be a lesson to you,” said Mother.
“What?” I asked, not understanding at all what she meant.
“Johnny wanted that solo so bad that he refused to give up. He practiced hard day and night and now because of all his hard work, he got the position. You give up too easy at things. Maybe you’d better take some lessons in perseverance from your little brother.”
The door closed behind her as she left me standing there with my mouth wide open.
“I should have told her,” I said, still in shock.
“No, you did the right thing,” Candy assured me.
“Did I?”
“Didn’t you see how your mother was crying one moment and smiling the next? It was exactly what she needed today after getting fired.”
“Maybe, but it’s all a lie, Candy. How do you think she’s going to feel when she is sitting there at the Christmas concert and Johnny is up on stage making a fool of himself instead of Blue winning the hearts of every female there?”
“Talking about me again? My name seems to be on everyone’s tongues lately.”
My body froze and I turned around to see Blue standing there at the bottom of the steps glaring at me. He wore his jacket as usual. But this time, he had a backpack slung over one shoulder.
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