Dawn's Acapella

by Libby Robare

  “Hi!” Dawn said. “What’s up?”

  “Wait one minute, freshman!” Rose snapped. “I’m not happy with you, Lucy, but I’ll forgive you if you promise never to do it again.”

  “Talk about you, or hang out with them?”

  “I wanna say both!” Rose said. “But...” she sighed. “That’s not fair. Do whatever you want, just leave me out of it.”

  “Okay. I promise I won’t gossip about you anymore. I’m really sorry—”

  “You won’t talk about me, or Nick! Or the freshman!”

  “Of course. I promise.” She left them.

  Rose let out her breath. “What’s wrong?” Dawn asked.

  Rose almost shouted at her to mind her own business, but she realized she wanted to talk to someone. “Come on,” she said, leading Dawn into the cafeteria. They settled down at a booth, and Rose began to explain. “She’s basically got a double life. It’s ridiculous. She’s weird like us, and she needs to just own it already.”

  “Own it? Maybe you should take your own advice.”

  “What do you know, freshman? I know who I am and who my friends are, what does it matter if I don’t share everything I write? This is about Lucy!”

  “Right,” Dawn said. “So you and Nick are her only real friends?”

  “It’s up to her, in the end. I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but I can’t make decisions for her. Better for us to just be there for her. She’ll come around.”

  “You’re so wise,” Dawn said.

  “Are you kidding?” Rose laughed. “We’re fools, Dawn. If I was half as great as you think I am, I’d be able to get Lucy out of this mess.”

  “Maybe we can!” Dawn said.

  “We can’t. We just have to be patient.”

  “Yeah, I know, but if we do something a thousand times more awesome, she’ll have to hang out with us more!”

  “Dawn, let it go. She always makes time for me. She’s there when I need her, that’s what matters.”

  “But listen to me,” Dawn said. “I’ve got an idea!”

  Rose shook her head, but allowed her to speak.

  “I think I’ve been making people happy with all the singing and giving out cookies and such, so I’ve decided I’m going to do something nice for someone every day. Want to join me?”

  “What’s that got to do with Lucy?”

  “Her fake friends are mean,” Dawn said. “It’ll be much easier for her to pick us over them if we’re… If we’re like heroes. And I was trying to do this before I knew about Lucy, so it’s not just a sneaky plan.”

  “But isn’t it now?”

  “No! I was going to ask you anyway, that just gave me extra motivation!”

  Rose nodded. “Forget about any plan to get Lucy on the right side. I like this idea, so let’s just use it to distract ourselves.”

  chapter two

  the oddities club

  In every book she’d ever read (and all the movies and TV shows she’d watched), teenagers hated high school. So of course, when Rose arrived as a freshman last year, she expected hell. To her surprise, this little school she ended up in was… nice. People were actually nice, and teachers were generally supportive. Of course there were a few bad eggs—mean kids out to ruin people’s days, and grumpy teachers who took out their stress on students. But in general, it was a close-knit school. People were open to the silly ideas of freshman like Dawn. At least, Rose’s kind of people were.

  At lunch, Rose, Lucy, Nick, and Dawn gathered to write decorative notes with positive messages: “You’re awesome.” “Have a spectacular day.” “You’re beautiful.” “Believe in your dreams.” “You matter.” They made them bright and colorful, hoping to inspire some smiles.

  “How many copies of these do you think I should make so we can put them in everyone’s locker?”

  “Everyone’s?” Nick said. “I don’t think they’ll even let you make that many copies!”

  “You know, if we want to actually do this, it’d be easier if there were more of us,” Lucy said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like, if this was an official school club,” Lucy said.

  “Yeah, like they’d go for that,” Nick said. “We’re just a bunch of weirdoes. They probably don’t consider what we’re doing meaningful at all.”

  “‘The Weirdo Club’,” Dawn said. “I like it.”

  “I prefer to be called an oddity,” Rose said.

  “‘The Oddities Club’,” Lucy said. “That’s better. Maybe it should just be us. I’ll make as many copies as I can at the library and use some other copy machine after school. We’ll drop these off tomorrow.”

  With the new “Oddities Club” and their daily plans of good deeds, Rose found herself looking forward to school every day. Their first burst of activity was quite a success. The notes were the talk of the school, and everyone was smiling, wondering who was behind them. Rose didn’t reveal herself. It was fun to be an anonymous do-gooder. People spoke very highly of such people.

  The group met at lunch to discuss new ideas for what they could do. Handing out cookies. Random bursts of song. Paying for someone’s lunch, or even just leaving coins in the vending machine to surprise the next person. Compliments. Kind notes. Dawn was the only one more excited about it than Rose was, though the ideas she suggested were sometimes odd.

  “We should tell Nick Lucy’s got a crush on him,” Dawn said.

  “Sh! We can't do that!”

  “Why not? They’d be great together!”

  “Because that’d make things really awkward if things didn’t work out! Look, I’ve got a better plan. Sort of. I think we should do something bigger. Like a fundraiser for charity.”

  “Like a choir concert?”

  “I was thinking more like a bake sale. Lucy’s dad owns a bakery, we could do it!”

  Dawn nodded. “What charity should we do it for?”

  “I was thinking about that, too,” Rose said. “Nick’s mom is a cancer survivor. If we wanted to do something that would actually mean something to Nick, instead of just embarrassing him with your silly ideas, we could raise money to donate to cancer research.”

  “So, Lucy’s dad’s got a bakery, Nick’s mom is a cancer survivor... What about your parents?”

  “What about them? No struggling small business, no battles with major diseases...” she shrugged. “We’re pretty lucky and ordinary.”

  “Except you’re weird.”

  “Obviously. But what’d you think? Does that sound like a plan? If it goes well, we could do it again, maybe once a term or even once a month, and pick a different charity every time.”

  “Yeah! And we could do choir concerts!”

  “Okay, let’s just be where we are and start with the bake sale.”

  “Can we still sing?”

  “No one’s stopping you, sunshine.”

  But the next day, Rose didn’t hear her Dawn singing. She was quiet all day. “Something buggin’ you, freshman?”

  She sighed. “I got C- on my biology test. When my parents find out they’re gonna kill me.”

  “Hard class, huh? At least you passed.”

  “Barely.”

  “Why do they have to find out?”

  “They’ll know when I get my report card. And I really wanted to go to the beach! If I get straight A’s, they take me there for a weekend…” She pulled out her phone, and started to search through her pictures. “Here, look… My dad took this the last time we went…”

  There she was, silhouetted against a sunrise, jumping for joy.

  “Classic,” Rose giggled.

  “But no more of this!” she said, tossing her phone back in her bag.

  “Come on, there can be plenty more of that. You’ve got time to get your grade back up, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “See? You’ll be fine. Go to some study groups or something.”

  “Yeah, okay, I can do that… But what if—”

  �
�Stop right there. You’ve got a plan now, so there’s no more reason to worry. Is anything wrong right here and now? Sitting at this table?”

  “No.”

  “So be here, freshman. Be where you are. I’ve got great news about the bake sale, we’re on for next Monday! You better be able to come by Lucy’s Sunday night.”

  “If I’m not grounded.”

  Rose went to Lucy’s that weekend. Lucy’s dad had reserved his bakery for them alone, to prepare for the bake sale. The two girls, Nick, and Lucy’s parents began their work before Dawn arrived. Rose hadn’t heard a word from her, and would have been worried, if not for the intoxicating smells of cookies and brownies.

  Dawn finally called her and said she’d made some plans of her own to help them make money, but she refused to tell Rose what they were.

  “Come on, we need to be prepared!”

  “Just make lots of cookies and we’ll be fine!” Dawn said. “I’ve got to go, I haven’t started my homework yet!”

  “Wait! Wait! Dawn?” She’d already hung up. “I’m gonna kill that girl!”

  “What’s her plan?” Lucy asked.

  “She wouldn’t tell me! She said it would help us, but...”

  “Well, maybe let’s see if it helps us first, and then decide if we’re gonna kill her.”

  “Got it,” Rose said, stuffing another cookie in her mouth.

  As Rose, Nick and Lucy set up the table the next day, Rose’s mind was still on the freshman and her mystery plan. “She’s late.”

  “So?” Nick said. “We can run the show without her.”

  “Wait,” Lucy said, “do you hear music?”

  There she was, walking down the hallway, speaker in hand, blasting music. Two other freshman walked on either side of her, a boy and a girl.

  “These are some of my friends from choir,” Dawn said. “For every fifty dollars we make, we’ll sing a song.”

  “And this is just a you-guys thing, right? You’re not gonna make me sing?” Rose asked.

  “Anyone is welcome to sing, no one will be forced,” Dawn smiled. “Now let’s sell some cookies!”

  The treats flew off the table. Dawn and her choir friends sang their first song, which of course, only drew more people, and more sales. Before Rose knew it, Dawn was singing again.

  “We’re gonna sell out!” She turned and greeted her next customer. “What can I get for you?”

  “Two chocolate chip, one of the pink cupcakes, and... That’s it for now. Hey, what’s this for?”

  “Well, this bake sale is to raise money for cancer research,” Rose said. “And since it’s going so well, we’ll probably do another one later, for another charity. We’re trying to do random good deeds and such. Kind of a new school year resolution.”

  “Were you the ones who put all those nice notes everywhere?” he asked, handing Rose the money.

  “Yeah,” Rose smiled, giving him the treats. “That was us.”

  “That was really sweet. So is this a club? Because I’d love to join.”

  “It’s not an official school club yet, but we were thinking about it,” Rose said. “Especially if more people are interested.”

  “Great. Thanks!”

  Dawn’s choir was beginning another song, a too-familiar chorus of “Na na na na na...”

  “Dawn? What are you singing?”

  “Rose, the customers!” Dawn said, and quickly turned away and began to sing.

  We’ve been through such crazy times

  And I can see you’re scared for me

  But I will be just fine...

  She heard Lucy’s laughter from somewhere in the distance. “Are you okay, Rose? You like you’re about to pass out or something.”

  “I’m just going to kill that girl is all,” Rose said. Her heart was racing and she was aware of how huge her eyes were. Probably popping right out of her face, she thought. It didn’t matter. People were still buying, and no one knew it was her song.

  “So what if they knew it’s yours?” Nick said.

  “What? What, the song? It’s not... How did you know that?”

  “Why else would you be freaking out? Look, the crowd seems to like it, right?”

  “You think so?” Rose smiled.

  As the sale went on, several other people asked if this was a club and if they could join. Even the staff said it should be a club. Before lunch ended, they’d sold out, and soon they were in the office setting up a schedule for their club, meeting after school every Tuesday.

  “Looks like the oddities club is a thing!” Nick said.

  “It’s ‘The Everyday Heroes Club’,” Lucy said. “A little cheesy, but I like it.”

  “Better than ‘The Weirdoes Club’,” Rose said.

  “It should be ‘The Everyday Heroes Choir’!” Dawn said.

  “Keep working on that, sunshine,” Rose laughed.

  CHAPTER three

  heroes and villains

  In the next few weeks, it became common to see people wearing capes or superhero shirts to school. Encouraging notes appeared in lockers almost every day. There were about fifteen or so people who showed up the club every week, but far more people were participating in the club’s activities. Some people even invented superhero names for themselves.

  Rose bonded with a few other people in the club. Sylvia, who had taken over bake sales, dressed in black and yellow stripes, and went by the name Sugarbee. There was a class clown that began calling himself Captain Clown, and a straight-A student who proudly declared herself Geometry Geek. There was Shadow Star, Brilliant Brit, Lacey Lighting, and several others who just put the word "Super" in front of their names, or "the Amazing" at the end. Rose couldn't pick a name, but several people had started calling her "Super Spacey." Dawn picked a new name for herself every other day, from Super Sunshine to Dawn-capella.

  “I don't know what to call myself,” Lucy said. “I like the idea of Lady something. Not Lady Lucy, that’s too obvious.”

  “I like it,” Rose said. “And I could be the Lady Illusion.”

  “I wanna be the Lady Illusion!” Dawn said.

  “No, you’re the Lady Dawn-capella.”

  Rose was happier and more confident than she thought possible. She was even beginning to open up to Dawn about the private world of her book. After school, the two of them went to Rose’s house, and Rose gave in to Dawn’s request to hear about “The Mansion’s Twins.” Rose decided she could talk about her characters, but still refused to show Dawn any of her actual writing.

  “I want Ellie and Savannah to be like... This symbol of light and hope, you know? Not like other heroes who have to kill people. There is a battle in the second book, and yeah, the twins have a part in it, but it’s not about fighting.”

  “So they’re real heroes like us!” Dawn said.

  “Huh. I wish we could be like Ellie and Savannah,” Rose said.

  “Are there villains in your story?”

  “Of course!”

  “Do the twins kill them?”

  “I’m not telling you if the villains die or not!” Rose said. “Maybe they win."

  “No they don't.”

  “Do you want to read it or not?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Okay, so chill. Anyway, just because the twins aren’t killers doesn’t mean I don’t need villains. Someone’s always trying to stop people trying to do good.”

  “Why?”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Really Dawn? You think I’ve got an answer?”

  “You’ve got an answer for everything else.”

  “No I don’t, silly freshman.”

  Next Tuesday after school, Rose and Lucy were walking together to the choir room, where the Heroes meetings took place.

  “Something’s weird,” Lucy said.

  “True,” Rose said. “I am. You are. What isn’t, really?”

  “Rose. Look at the door!”

  Rose looked. The entire door was covered in red paper. In large black letters was writt
en: “THIS IS A WARNING.”

  Rose tore away the paper and opened the door. “What happened here?”

  Chairs and tables were strewn about the room. All of their art projects from last week, from the small kind notes to the largest signs to hang in the hallways, were torn to pieces and thrown in a pile. Someone, or multiple people, had written on the walls, and there were many messages:

  “No light without darkness.”

  “Every hero will be tested.”

  “There’s no stopping us.”

  “THE VILLAINS ARE HERE.”

  Nick and Dawn showed up next, shortly followed by her choir friends, and more of the club.

  “Who did this?” Dawn said.

  “Doesn’t matter, for now,” Rose said. “Phones out, people! We’ll take pictures of the evidence before cleaning this stuff up. Dawn! Let’s get a song going, shall we?”

  “But all of our stuff...”

  “We’ll make new stuff. This is just a test from some fools who think they’re villains. Let’s show ‘em they can’t shut us down!”

  “Right!” Dawn gathered her choir friends and began to sing. Several others started snapping pictures. Soon they had everything recorded and cleaned up.

  Then the art supplies came out. Dawn had a habit of making all of her signs and notes super glittery, which irritated Rose to no end.

  “It gets everywhere, and we just got this room cleaned up!”

  “Oh calm down, I’ve got it,” Dawn said, rolling her eyes. “But ooh, once we find out who did this, I’m gonna cover them in glitter. And get it in their locker. So much glitter they won’t ever be able to get it out!”

  “Watch yourself sunshine, you’re turning evil,” Rose giggled.

  “I’m gonna find them. Watch me.”

  In truth, Rose doubted Dawn’s words. She didn’t think these so-called villains would strike again, or ever come out into the open.

  In fact, they did the very next day at lunch.

  “Hey Sugarbee!” a voice shouted from across the cafeteria. “Thanks for the cupcake! Nice new sign you made, too!”