Dawn's Acapella

by Libby Robare

  “Oh my god, that’s Tyler,” Dawn whispered. “He’s so cute!”

  “Him?” Rose said. “Really?”

  Tyler was tall, skinny, and wearing far too much hair gel. He might have had a nice smile, if there were nice intentions behind it.

  Tyler threw the cupcake across the room, and it landed right in the middle of the new sign advertising their next bake sale.

  “Hey!” Sylvia Sugarbee stormed toward him. “Did you trash the choir room?”

  “So what if I did?”

  “I’m gonna get a teacher,” Dawn said, and hurried away.

  “Should we do something?” Lucy said.

  “I think Sugarbee’s got it handled,” Rose said. But just as the words were out of her mouth, a soda flew across the table and exploded on Sylvia’s shirt. “Uh-oh.”

  Sylvia, of course, wasn’t about to let herself be humiliated, and flung her own drink right back at him. Before Rose knew it, a full-blown food fight erupted before her eyes.

  It didn’t last long. Dawn had returned with several staff members. The excitement died away in an instant, and several people tried to flee the scene. But Tyler and Sylvia were both taken to the office.

  “I hope she doesn’t get in too much trouble,” Rose said.

  “Do you think Tyler’ll hate me for telling on him?” Dawn asked.

  “That’s what you’re worried about?” Rose said. “Who cares? He’s a jerk. I thought you were ready to get your glitter-revenge.”

  “But it’s Tyler,” Dawn said. “You don’t know him. Maybe he’s just trying to motivate us. The ‘no light without darkness’ stuff.”

  “Still a jerk,” Rose muttered.

  “Hm. Maybe you’re not as wise as I thought.”

  “Shut up, freshman.”

  CHAPTER four

  best intentions

  Over the next few weeks the villains made several more appearances, some of them harmless, funny pranks, some of them more extreme, damaging school property. Someone decorated the windows with washable marker, and another group played off this idea, scribbling over the walls in the bathrooms with sharpies. Most of the pranks simply took up class time, which students didn’t object to whether they were heroes or villains. Teachers office’s filled with balloons, spring snakes in everyone’s lockers, “vandalism” of the student events board, cell phones with their alarms set placed in the ceiling tiles...

  The staff made a few feeble attempts to find and punish those responsible, but once they put it together that this was backlash from the Everyday Heroes Club, their tactics changed.

  They called Rose, Nick, and Lucy to the office separately to speak to them about the “dangers” their club posed. Lucy returned from her little chat with the principal and met the rest of the group at lunch.

  “I’m leaving them!” Lucy announced, throwing her bag on their table.

  “Um... what?” Rose said.

  “My ‘friends’ are villains!” Lucy exclaimed.

  “Ooooh!” Dawn said. “Yay!”

  “No! No ‘yay’!” Lucy said. “This sucks! I tried to tell them to stop because they could destroy our club, and we had this big fight, and they said all these mean things, and they think we’re all just a bunch of losers trying to build ourselves up to look better than we are, because this whole ‘heroes’ thing is really just selfish anyway, and...”

  “I thought the villains were trying to motivate us,” Nick said.

  “Yeah, and some of them are,” Lucy said. “But some want the whole thing shut down just because they hate us! They hate me! I don’t believe this, I’ve just lost—”

  “What?” Rose said. “What have you lost?”

  Lucy paused. She dropped into a seat, shaking her head. “Wow,” she whispered. “I—I don’t know, I...”

  “Nothing!” Rose said. “You haven’t lost anything!”

  “Yeah? Then why do I feel like this?”

  “They hurt you. You’re angry. You’re not sad you lost something, you’re just mad!”

  “You can’t tell me how I feel!”

  “Well, I’m tired of keeping quiet about this stuff! I didn't want to tell you what to do or how to feel, but my god Lucy, wake up! They’re nothing! You never needed them! If we meant anything to you, you’d know that!”

  “Is that what this is about?”

  “Yes!”

  For a moment they just stared at each other. Then they both let out their breath in the same moment.

  “I’m sorry, Rose,” Lucy said, standing to embrace her. “I’m sorry if I wasn’t there, I’m...”

  “I’m sorry,” Rose said. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that, I don’t have the right to tell you...”

  “It’s okay,” Lucy said. “I’ve got all the friends I need right here. You and Nick.” She smiled at them, until Dawn quietly cleared her throat. “And Dawn,” Lucy added. “And those villains, they’re... They’re nothing.”

  “Say it again.”

  “They’re nothing.”

  “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

  Lucy smiled, raising her voice even louder. “They’re nothing!”

  After lunch, Rose had her math class down the hall from where Dawn had biology. She was trying to listen to the lecture and take notes, occasionally slipping into daydreams and doodling on the side of her notebook. I'm really proud of you, Lucy…

  She had just snapped her attention back for the third time when she heard an exclamation from down the hallway.

  “They’re out! Quick, grab ‘em!”

  “Ew, no! Get ‘em away from me!”

  Someone raced down the hall. Every head in her class turned to see Dawn scampering down the hallway. She paused in the doorway, “Hi Rose!”

  Rose only stared, wide-eyed.

  “Someone let all the animals out in biology! Rats and bugs and a tarantula!” She ran on.

  “Oh no,” Rose whispered, dropping her head. Everyone in the class was staring at her. For the first time in all her years in school, she was grateful to hear the teacher demanding the class’s attention, and disciplining the whispering students.

  For a while, the class returned to it’s ordinary, boring state. Then, over the loudspeaker:

  “Attention: Rose Channing, please come to the office. Rose Channing to the office.”

  All eyes turned to her again. She stood up slowly, and left the classroom and whispers behind her.

  The principal was waiting for her. “Rose. Please sit down.”

  “Okay.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about the club you and your friends started.”

  “We’re only out to do good, really,” Rose said. “We didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

  “I understand. But trouble has still been caused due to your little club. If this continues, we’ll have to put a stop to it.”

  “What, shut down the Everyday Heroes Club? Because of ‘villains’ who aren’t even part of it? Are you serious?”

  “Their actions are a result of this group,” he said.

  “Typical!” Rose exclaimed. “Blame us! You know, we’ve made this school a lot better!”

  “Don’t you raise your voice at me, young lady!”

  “Don’t you ‘young lady’ me, old man!” Rose stood up.

  “Sit down this instant, Miss Channing!”

  “Look, Mr. principal, my name is Rose, and I’ll sit down and be good if you can give me one legitimate reason why you want to shut down our club.”

  “Because these pranks have to stop! They’re damaging school property, costing us hundreds of—”

  “And how is my club responsible?”

  “Many people have said these villains only emerged to motivate your club members. Is that true?”

  “Maybe,” Rose shrugged. “I’m not one of them, how would I know?”

  “Has it worked?”

  Rose dropped back in her seat and sighed. He had the numbers right there, on his stupid little clipboard. They had gained a lot o
f new members since the villains became active. Their fundraisers were bringing in more money. “Okay, it has. But who cares? Doesn’t the good outweigh the bad, here? If they’re costing you money, we’ll give you the money from our next event. Then you can concentrate on stopping them rather than fighting against people who are trying to help you.”

  “How does your club help me?”

  “Your students are happier,” Rose said. “And more confident. And people are more friendly. People are welcoming others into their little study groups and such. And with happier, confident students, who study in fun little groups like that, test scores go up. You’ve see it already, haven’t you? And high test scores make the school look good, which makes you look good. It’s pretty simple.”

  “Classes are being interrupted on a daily basis, and that will bring test scores down. The school is being destroyed by a handful of students. That makes us all look bad. I’ll give you another chance for now, Rose, but we can’t put up with much more of this. You’re excused.”

  She got up, still angry. There were several more things she wanted to say. He was giving her another chance? Stupid, stupid old man! It was up to him, and he was acting like it was her responsibility to find these pranksters and put a stop to their shenanigans. If she didn’t find a way, they would put a stop to her club. Sure, people would say they’d go on being “heroes” in secret, but without the club’s support, how long would that last?

  Dawn met her at lunch. “They’re gonna shut us down aren’t they?”

  “Not yet,” Rose said. “But they’re thinking about it. If we don’t do something, they will. It’s just not fair!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry, but this makes me so mad! We’re only trying to do good, and yet we’re the ones being blamed for them! And the school won’t do anything.”

  “It’s typical,” Dawn said.

  “That’s what I said!”

  Dawn smiled. “We’re twins!”

  Rose was silent, staring into space, trying to think of some way she could save their club. Nothing plausible came to mind. Worse was the thought that maybe, as fun as the club was, it was actually doing more harm than good.

  “Look at me!” Dawn said. She pulled her lips in and opened her eyes wide.

  “What are you doing?”

  “That’s the face you make when you space out. You’re doing it now.”

  “What? No I don’t. I don’t look that ridiculous.”

  “Sure you do! We’re twins, remember? We’re like the Ellie and Savannah of the school!”

  “I wish,” she said. “If we really were, we could fix this.”

  CHAPTER five

  the prom promise

  Rose was eating lunch with Lucy and Nick when Dawn danced over to their table.

  “Hey! Happy birthday, sunshine!” Rose said.

  “Thanks! I brought cupcakes! And these are just for us. The original oddities.” Dawn dropped the box in the middle of their table, and Lucy and Nick abandoned their own lunches to tear it open.

  “Technically, the original oddities were just me, Lucy and Nick,” Rose said, grabbing a cupcake.

  “What’s that?” Dawn asked, pointing to a box next to Rose’s lunch.

  “Oh! I got you a present,” Rose smiled. “Open it!”

  “Yay! Thank you!” She took the box, and tore off the silver paper. Opening the lid, her eyes went wide. Her hands trembled as she pulled the black and gray striped dress out of the box. Perfectly identical to the one Rose wore. “Oh my god!”

  “I know you liked this one,” Rose said. “Now we really are the Ellie and Savannah of the school!”

  “I’m gonna go put it on right now!” Dawn took it, the box, and the wrapping paper, and scurried off.

  “Wow Rose,” Lucy said.

  “I know, I don’t get it,” Rose laughed. “Makes me want a little sister.”

  “She wants to be you.”

  “Yeah. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

  Dawn found her again between classes. “Hey Rose!”

  “Oh, hey, freshman. Nice dress. Are you coming to the meeting tonight?”

  “Actually... Tyler and I are hanging out after school,” Dawn said. “I think he might take me to prom!”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh good. You can tell him to call off his ‘villain’ friends.”

  “Yeah, like he’d take me to prom after that,” Dawn said.

  “Well, maybe you shouldn’t go with him anyway! I mean, he takes the ‘villain’ thing a bit too far. If he doesn’t stop, the school’s gonna shut down our club.”

  “I know, I know… But he’s so…”

  “Cute? Doesn’t seem worth it.”

  “But Rose! I don’t care if he likes me or not, I just wanna go to prom! All he has to do is get me in the door!”

  “That’s not really a reason to go with someone. What, you’re just gonna leave him after you’re in?”

  “Are you standing up for him now?”

  “No, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “Don't tell me what to do!”

  “I’m not! I just don’t think he’s right for you. You deserve better.”

  She sighed. “I know he’s not right for me, I just... I wanna go to prom.”

  “I know, I do to, but we’ll get out turn soon. Tell you what. When I’m old enough, I’ll take you to prom.”

  “What if you have a boyfriend?”

  “He’ll understand. He can get his own ticket, and you’ll be my ‘date’.”

  “You promise?”

  “I promise.” They shook on it. “And I always keep my promises.”

  That weekend, Rose invited Dawn over to study. Well, Dawn had basically invited herself, but Rose agreed to it and told her what time to come.

  “Boost that biology grade yet?” Rose asked.

  “Yeah! He let me re-take the test, and now Dad says he’ll take me to the beach at the end of the term as long as I keep it up!”

  “Great.” Rose was putting the finishing touches on her English essay. After that, she had only to help Dawn with her math, or at least, attempt to. Study sessions always began so well-intended. Then came the “need” to have snacks with their work, which always led to further fun and distractions.

  “Cookies!” Dawn said, jumping up and down in the middle of the kitchen. “Let’s make cookies!”

  “Like we don’t already get enough,” Rose giggled. But that was all the resistance she had to offer, and soon the whole house smelled like a bakery. Rose’s mind drifted to all the bake sales, all the fun and laughter and songs of the Everyday Heroes Club.

  “Dawn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think what we’re doing—with the Heroes Club and all—do you think we’re actually making a difference?”

  “Of course we are!”

  “It’s just… With the pranks and such, now it kind of feels like it’s all a game. It doesn’t mean anything real.”

  “And you’re so concerned with what’s real?”

  She giggled. “I know.”

  “Even if it looks like a game sometimes, we’re raising a ton of money for charity. I’m sure we’re changing lives, even if we can’t see it. I mean… Has anyone ever changed your life, but you didn’t tell them?”

  “That’s getting awfully profound, freshman.”

  She didn’t know how it happened. Something about the calming smell of the cookies, the joyful atmosphere, and her newfound sense of leadership brought on a bizarre confidence. Before she knew it, she and Dawn were looking at her notebooks together, and discussion her plans for her book in depth.

  Rose had told Lucy and Nick the basic premise for her book, and asked their opinion on tiny details—such as word choice—but she’d never shared further than that. She mainly helped them with their works, offered her input when asked, and let them shine. They often asked about her work, but never pushed too hard.

  But when Dawn asked it was different. It wasn’t demanding jus
t to be demanding, or, like Lucy, wanting everyone in the writer-group to have equal speaking time. It was… Over the top, childlike curiosity. Real curiosity. Not a parent who asked because they had to ask. Not a fellow writer who wanted to offer criticism. This was someone who would actually read the book, and everything she said made Rose feel special.

  “I wish I had naturally purple hair,” Dawn said.

  “Me too. I don’t know if I’m more jealous of Eva’s hair or Hannah’s. I love that wavy look, and you can never get good looking blue from a bottle. I’ve tried.”

  “If my mom would let me dye my hair, I’d go for pink! Oooh, does anyone have pink hair?”

  “A singer in Summer’s Angels, her name’s Trista…”

  And on. It was natural, easy, and more fun than she’d ever had. But the day had to end, and far too soon, Dawn’s mom pulled up outside the house.

  “We should do this again next weekend.” Dawn said.

  “Ha. I honestly don’t think I could handle doing it again. Anyway, Lucy and I already have plans.”

  “Oh! What are you doing?”

  “Oh, nothing big. Just writer stuff.”

  “Can I come?”

  “Are you a writer?”

  “Come on, you just said I give great feedback.”

  “I dunno, freshman, I think she wants it to be just us, you know?”

  “Oh, yeah, I get it.” She was still smiling, but Rose saw the disappointment in her eyes. But she brightened up again quickly as they planned another “study session” for the weekend after. Rose returned to her room to write, feeling lighter than air. The only dark thought at the back of her mind was a tiny, annoying question: Why have I never been able to share like that with my best friends?

  A few days later, Rose entered the school, sipping her tea and waiting for the caffeine to kick in. She’d spent another night staying up too late with her notebooks.

  “Rose!” Lucy hurried toward her. “Rose!”

  “What? What? It’s too early for this!”

  “They broke into the teacher’s lounge last night.”

  “Too early!”

  “Rose, wake up, this is important!”