“I’ll sing,” Taffy said. She grabbed Pepper and pushed her front and center. “You do the clappy thing.” Pepper’s face was flushed and her eyes were wide. “I’ll get your baby pictures if you don’t!” Taffy threatened. “The ones where you’re nakey-nakey!”
“Come on, Pepper,” Elliott said. “I know how it goes. I’m going to love it no matter what.”
“Me too,” said Nory. Pepper had such a nice family. Nory could already tell that whatever they were going to do would be super fun.
Pepper smiled. “Okay, you guys,” she said to Elliott and Nory. “This is just something we do after school some days, when I’m looking after them.”
“Clappy thing!” Elliott chanted. “Clappy thing!”
And then … magic happened. Not magic magic, but music magic. Clapping magic.
Pepper’s hands moved like birds all over her body, slapping, tapping, swish-swash thwapping. She did with her hands what the members of Everyday Cake did with keyboard, guitar, and electric violin. Right on cue, Taffy belted out the lyrics to their number-one hit “Crazy-Daisy Shame.”
When the chorus came around again, Elliott joined in, and so did Nory.
Together, everyone brought home the chorus:
Don’t don’t don’t
It’s a crazy-daisy shame
Don’t keep your honey bunch
Out in the rain
Open that door
I’ll come in and get dry
Don’t don’t don’t
Don’t pass me by!
They yelled the last bit, just like the real band did. Taffy jumped up and down with delight. Elliott whooped, and Pepper laughed and covered her face.
“Wow, Pepper, that was awesome!” Nory cried.
Taffy cleared her throat purposefully.
“And you, too, Taffy! All of you were fantastic! But, Pepper, why didn’t you tell us?”
“Tell you, what?” Pepper said. “That I know how to clap?”
“Pepper!” Nory said. “That was not clapping. That was … I don’t even know what it was. Just, zamboozle!”
Elliott pointed at Pepper as if something had fallen into place. “You took percussion lessons with my dad! You were the girl he was always talking about, weren’t you? You took lessons up until last summer, and then …”
Pepper and Elliott exchanged a look.
“Oh,” Elliott said sheepishly.
“What?” Nory demanded.
“My magic came in,” Pepper said. “And Elliott has three cats.” Pepper twisted her fingers together. “So … I quit.”
“My dad asked her to leave,” Elliott told Nory bitterly. He turned to Pepper. “But I didn’t know it was you. I swear. He said he had a problem with a student, and that was why Puffy and Cuddles and Mike were hiding under the sink yowling every week. I thought it was because some kid had been mean to them.”
“He didn’t make me quit,” Pepper said. “He said it wasn’t fair to the cats, because they weren’t outdoor cats, so they couldn’t get away. He said that once I got my fiercing under control, he’d be happy to have me back.” She smiled ruefully. “I mean, he didn’t call it fiercing. He didn’t know what to call it! But it wasn’t his fault, Elliott.”
“Guys!” cried Nory. She had a good idea. “We should have a band!”
Elliott’s eyes widened. “We should!”
“We won’t have to use our upside-down magic at all! We’ll just use our musical talents!”
“You want us to sing ‘Crazy-Daisy Shame’ for the Show Off?” Pepper said.
“Yes! Elliott plays guitar. Pepper, you’ll do percussion. I can sing!”
Their faces fell, but Nory didn’t have time to find out why, because the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it, I’ll get it!” Taffy said, sprinting to the door.
Nory heard voices. Pepper headed after Taffy, and Nory followed curiously. Elliott came along as well.
“—I’m babysitting, as usual on Wednesday,” a girl was saying. Her face was blocked by the door. “So do you and Taffy want to go to the park again? And your brothers, if you’re looking after them, too.”
“Oh,” Pepper said. She glanced back down the hall at Nory, clearly flustered. “Well …”
Nory came forward, and when she saw who it was, her mouth fell open.
Zinnia Clarke was on the porch.
Zinnia!
Clarke!
Zinnia the Sparky! Zinnia the cruel! Zinnia who had signed the petition to get rid of UDM! Zinnia who had called all the UDM kids horrible names! Zinnia who had thrown fireballs at them! Zinnia who had taunted them and mocked them and who always did Lacey’s evil bidding.
Nory sensed Elliott behind her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked Zinnia.
“Nothing,” she said. “I just—”
“Leave Pepper alone,” snapped Elliott. “I don’t care if she scared your dog or upset your hamster. She’s doesn’t fierce on purpose. And since I know you don’t know what nice means, I’ll put it in words you can understand: Pepper is on our team. So leave before I ice your socks.”
Zinnia went pale. “Pepper,” she said. “Please. Would you explain?”
“What’s there to explain?” Elliott scoffed. “Nory still has a burn scar from the flaming tennis balls you threw at her. You helped melt my bike tires. You helped start the petition against us, and you let Lacey burn Andres’s leash! You’ve been doing mean things ever since you got your powers.”
“Tell them I’m your friend,” Zinnia begged Pepper.
Elliott stepped toward Zinnia. “You are not her friend. We’re her friends. So just leave her ALONE.”
“I’m not that person anymore,” Zinnia said.
“You’re not Zinnia Clarke?” Elliott said. “Who are you, then?”
A spy, Nory thought. “She’s a spy!” she blurted. “She’s spying on UDM! Through Pepper! For the Show Off!”
“That’s why you staged your pretend fight with Lacey, isn’t it?” Elliott said as Zinnia stared at the floor. “I told you, Nory. I told you it was staged.”
“I’m sorry, Pepper,” Nory added. “But it’s got to be true. Zinnia is a total faker.”
Pepper’s eyes were wide. Nory couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“I think all of you should leave,” Pepper finally said in a soft voice. “Go home. I’m very busy babysitting.”
Pepper pulled Nory aside first thing the next morning, before Nory made it up the steps to Dunwiddle’s wide front entrance.
“Can I talk to you?” Pepper asked.
“You kicked us out of your house,” Nory said.
“I was upset.”
“It hurt my feelings.”
“You hurt my feelings.”
Nory’s eyebrows flew up. “I did?”
Pepper pulled Nory away from the throng of arriving students. “Well, you and Elliott. You guys were so mean to Zinnia. Like, really mean.”
“Yeah,” Nory said reluctantly. “But everything Elliott said was true. He was friends with all of them before. Lacey, Rune, Zinnia: They were his best buddies until everyone’s magic came in. They were so mean about his freezing. Evil, even. That’s how this whole trouble with the Sparkies started.”
“Don’t you think it was mostly Lacey who gave him a hard time, though?” Pepper said.
“She wasn’t working alone,” Nory pointed out. “Not ever.”
“I told you Zinnia and Lacey had a fight,” said Pepper. “But what I didn’t tell you was that Zinnia apologized to me last week. And we’ve been hanging out after school.”
Nory was surprised.
“I know you think Zinnia is a spy,” Pepper said. “And that would mean she’s only been pretending to be my friend.” She looked at the ground. “But I can’t believe that’s true. I really don’t believe it’s true.”
Nory replayed what she’d heard yesterday, at Pepper’s house. “You two have been going to the playground together?”
“With Taffy and Violet.” Pepper squared her shoulders. “Zinnia’s fun, Nory. And she’s really a good big sister. And she did say sorry. And when I heard Zinnia standing up to Lacey? That was real. Neither of them could have known I was there.”
Nory furrowed her brow. “You want me to like Zinnia now?”
Pepper nodded.
Nory felt uncomfortable. “After everything she’s done? It’s not like she apologized to me.”
“Will you think about it?” Pepper asked.
Nory sighed. “All right. I’ll think about it.”
The UDM class had poetry study. And math. And history. Then they had an Upside-Down Magic lesson with more foot painting and more time to clean up. Then they all had a fairly boring discussion of grounding magic and the connections between magic and art. After that, silent reading and a science lesson about dragon biology.
It wasn’t until nearly the end of the day that Ms. Starr said they could talk about the Show Off. They all sat in a circle on the carpet.
Willa raised her hand. “I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it,” said Ms. Starr.
“I can make it rain in small areas now,” said Willa. “It doesn’t always have to fill the room. So we can do Nory’s rain boot dance!”
“What part of no dancing doesn’t she understand?” Bax wondered aloud.
“Please, Bax. Willa, would you like to show us?” said Ms. Starr. “We’ll all be thrilled to see how your control of your talent is developing.”
Willa shut her eyes. She breathed deeply. And then it rained … only on Bax.
Bax panicked and immediately fluxed into a swivel chair.
“Whoa! Dude!” Elliott said.
“That’s what he’s been working on in tutoring!” Nory said.
Swivel-Bax began to spin. He zoomed around the room on his wheels. Willa’s rain followed him. “I can’t make it stop!” Willa cried.
Swivel-Bax banged into Elliott, who jumped in surprise and froze all the water on the floor and on the swivel chair. Now there was a pathway of ice where Swivel-Bax had moved, and Swivel-Bax was spinning so fast it made Nory dizzy. She stumbled over to grab him, and whup! She slipped on the ice and crashed to the floor.
Willa finally stopped raining.
Swivel-Bax kept spinning.
“Hands in pockets! Hands in pockets!” Ms. Starr cried out.
Elliott shoved his hands in his pockets to prevent them from icing anything else. Marigold had her hands in her pockets, too. It was a technique Ms. Starr had taught them for preventing magical accidents.
Nory tried to get up, but her feet skidded on the ice and … flimp! She was a bitten: part beaver, part kitten. It was an animal she changed into fairly often when angry or embarrassed.
Bitten-Nory still wanted to help Swivel-Bax, so she leapt up at him and landed smack on the seat of the chair, sending him twirling and skidding across the ice until they both bumped against the wall and stopped short.
There was silence for a moment.
Nory flipped back into girl form. Bax remained a swivel chair.
“Nory, what did I tell you all last week?” asked Ms. Starr.
“Um …”
“That friends should not ride friends.” Then she burst out laughing.
It was nearly half an hour before Bax got back from the nurse’s office, where he had turned back into a boy. Willa apologized to Bax. Only then were they able to hold a productive class meeting.
Nory raised her hand right away, eager to talk about the Show Off before the school day ended.
“I think we should be a band!” she said. “Elliott plays the guitar. Bax plays the piano—right, Bax?”
“I take lessons,” Bax admitted. “That doesn’t mean I’m any good.”
“I play the drums,” Andres volunteered.
Marigold bounced in her seat. “I play the clarinet! That’s totally enough instruments for a band!”
Bax looked at her. “You play an instrument?”
“Yes.”
“It’s just, you know …” He gestured vaguely at Marigold’s hearing aid.
“Hearing-impaired people can totally play instruments,” said Marigold. “It’s just that some instruments are easier than others.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“A band,” Sebastian said slowly. “We wouldn’t have to use our magic at all.” He cocked his head. “But not all of us play something. What would the rest of us do?”
“Pepper’s a drummer like Andres—just not with a drum,” said Nory. “She does, like, body drumming. She’s really good!”
Elliott nodded and Nory grinned. They liked her idea! And so many of them could play and sing.
“I can’t be in the show. I’d fierce the Fluxers,” Pepper said.
“We can figure something out,” said Elliott. “If we do a band, we’ll have to. We’d need you.”
Pepper shook her head. “There’ll be Fluxers at the Show Off. And regular animals, too, for the Fuzzies. So, no and no.”
Pepper lifted her chin and pressed her lips into a hard line.
Nory wondered, was Pepper mad at Elliott about the Zinnia thing? Or was she truly scared to be in the Show Off?
“You should still think about it,” Elliott said to Pepper. “You’re really amazing.” He turned to Willa. “And you could make it rain in a tiny area again and have the rain make a pitter-patter sound.”
“What if I sing?” Willa said. “I can definitely sing. I was in chorus at my ordinary school!”
“We still need that extra something, though,” Elliott said. He snapped his fingers. “Nory! Of course! You can flux into something really unusual!”
“I don’t know,” Nory said.
“Like a dritten!” said Elliott. “I know you’ve been practicing your dritten.”
“What does a dritten have to do with a band?” Bax asked.
“She could shake the tambourine. In her dritten mouth.”
“She would breathe fire on the tambourine! She could breathe fire on the whole school!” Bax said. He saw Dritten-Nory regularly in tutoring with Coach. She couldn’t always hold on to her human mind.
“No dritten,” Ms. Starr interjected.
“No unusual fluxing,” Nory said. “I’ll just sing.” She gave the group a thumbs-up.
The group paused politely, for about half a second.
“Ooh, ooh, I know!” Marigold said. “She could turn into a flamingo!” She turned to Nory. “You could turn into a beautiful pink flamingo, and you could hold a tambourine in your beak!”
“Yeah, that would count as something special!” Elliott said. “I like it!”
“I don’t do flamingo,” Nory said. “You have to study hard for animals with unusual shapes. And birds aren’t easy.”
“Or a flamingo-kitten,” said Marigold. “A flamitten!”
“Or you could say kittingo.” Sebastian said, thoughtfully. “Same thing, but sounds better.”
“No!” Nory said loudly. She was not going to become a dritten or a kittingo or any sort of mixed-up animal at all, not in front of Father. No way, no how—or, as Pepper put it, no and NO.
“Why not?” Elliott asked. “As long as you keep your human mind, it would really make our band stand out.”
Nory didn’t want to explain about her family and how they wanted to see only typical fluxing from her. Everyone else in UDM had families who seemed to accept them for who they were.
“Nory?” Elliott pressed.
The answer came to her, and she exhaled with relief. “Because of Pepper. Pepper, remember?”
“But Pepper might not be able to be in the Show Off at all, which is why we moved on to you,” said Andres.
“Pepper’s too important,” said Nory. “Because seriously, you guys, you haven’t seen what she can do. She’s, like, genius-level good. Right, Elliott?”
Elliott didn’t deny it.
“But Pepper can only perform if there aren’t any animals around. So it’s better
if I sing!”
“No,” everyone said at once.
“Why not? I love singing!”
“Yes,” Pepper said, “but just because you love singing doesn’t mean …” She broke off, looking embarrassed.
“I’ll practice a ton,” Nory said. “I know all the words already.”
“I think what Elliott and Pepper and the others are trying to say is that Willa was in the chorus at her ordinary school, and the kids who play instruments have all taken music lessons,” Ms. Starr said gently. “So maybe, if our class does a band, it would make sense to give the people who have been practicing a chance to shine.”
“Oh,” Nory said. She understood, but her heart sank, because she was back to where she’d started. What was she going to do for the Show Off?
At recess the next day, Zinnia sat alone at the top of the climbing structure, far away from Lacey, Rune, and the other Sparkies.
Pepper noticed her right away. She wanted to go say sorry about the way Elliott had yelled and the way Nory had called her a spy and the way she, Pepper, hadn’t explained about them being friends. But Elliott and Nory had been so nice about the band yesterday. They had both said they needed her. So Pepper was torn. She knew Elliott would feel she was disloyal if she befriended Zinnia.
It was too much to stand outside, looking at Zinnia all alone, so Pepper went inside early and retreated to the supply closet. There she waited for Ms. Starr to meet her for tutoring, which started when recess was over. She had saved some broccoli from her lunch for Carrot.
Eventually, Ms. Starr came in and set Carrot’s box on the floor. “I have a funny request for you, Pepper.”
“What is it?”
“I have a friend, an older lady.” Ms. Starr sat down and took off her bright orange cardigan. “She is having a problem with mice. Rather than call an exterminator, I was thinking you might help her out. You’d scare them away, but you wouldn’t hurt the mice, which an exterminator would. She’d pay you, of course. And it’s just over on Oregano Street. I’ve talked to your father and he’s on board. He thought you might like to earn some money with your talent. Maybe Saturday or Sunday? Two o’clock?” Ms. Starr prompted.
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