“Are you worried you won’t be able to control your fiercing?” Nory whispered.
Pepper nodded. “Really worried. After everything that’s happened, I’m not feeling grounded.”
“I’m worried I won’t be able to play the piano, since Zinnia burned it to a crisp,” Bax said darkly.
“Maybe you can!” Nory said. “Do what Coach told you!”
Pepper didn’t know what Nory was talking about.
“Listen,” Nory whispered. “I’ll stay human. Okay, Pepper? And then you won’t have to worry about fiercing. Just do your music.”
“But, Nory—” Sebastian said.
“Nope, it’s settled,” Nory said. Pepper thought she looked relieved. “I don’t need to be a flamingo. I’m happy to go as just me. I’m totally fine with it. Then the fiercing doesn’t matter, and we will all be amazing.” She bent and picked up the tambourine. “I’ll play the tambourine! And I won’t sing! It’ll be great!”
“All right then, it’s decided. Let’s go,” Sebastian told Pepper, Nory, and Bax. “Come on.”
He strode onto the stage. Pepper, Nory, and Bax followed.
“We need a piano,” Bax muttered. “We need. A. Piano. This is a disaster.”
“Do what you’re working on with Coach!” Nory repeated. She plastered a big smile on her face and took the mic. “Hello! We are the fifth-grade Upside-Down Magic class!” she said, loud and clear. “And we’re proud to rock the Dunwiddle Show Off!”
Sebastian raised his baton and let it drop.
Andres opened up on the bongos.
Willa started her rain and a few people in the audience cheered. A light shone on the bowl. The raindrops kerplopped together to make a beat.
And they went on. Drumming and kerplopping.
Nothing else happened.
This was where Bax usually came in on piano.
But Bax stood there, looking miserable, doing nothing.
Pepper couldn’t start till she heard Bax’s bass line. What was she supposed to do?
Elliott gulped and started up on his guitar, but it didn’t sound right without the piano.
Marigold gamely joined in on her clarinet. Same thing.
Sebastian made a pained expression.
Pepper didn’t know when to come in. Her cue usually came from Bax’s bass line.
She glanced back at Bax. He drew his eyebrows together, and Pepper had a sudden and awful suspicion that he was going to flux into a rock just to get himself out of this horrible, embarrassing situation.
Bax’s face grew red. The tendons on his neck bulged.
BOOM DING-A-CLANG-CLANG!
The audience gasped, and then broke into spontaneous applause.
Bax had fluxed into a piano. A piano!
Not only that, but a player piano! That was what it looked like, as the black and white keys went up and down. The bass line to “Crazy-Daisy Shame” echoed through the auditorium.
It wasn’t really a player piano, though. It was Piano-Bax. And he was playing himself!
The applause was so loud that Sebastian made the “stop” motion with his baton. The UDM kids all stopped playing. Piano-Bax heard them and stopped, too. They waited until the cheers died down, and they started the number again.
First Andres’s drumbeat. Then Willa’s rain.
Then the piano bass line.
Happiness welled up inside Pepper, and there was her cue! She clapped, slapped, and snapped, driving the music forward with an addictive percussive beat.
Elliott came in on the guitar, and Marigold on clarinet.
Willa sang the first verse into her microphone.
During the first chorus, Elliott took a break from the guitar to dip his hand into Willa’s bowl of water. He drew out icicles—one, two—and tossed them to Pepper. She caught them! And played them by beating them together. The ice sparkled.
Andres floated gently beside his drums, his white sneakers high above what ordinary fifth-grade Flyers could manage.
Nory was proud of her friends. So proud. Everyone was finally admiring the special magic of Bax Kapoor! And the indoor rain of Willa Ingeborg. Sebastian was using his Upside-Down Flicker talent while conducting, and Elliott had used his ice power.
The band hit the third verse. The singers sang it together, a capella. Then their voices stopped, and it was just Pepper and the rain.
The crowd went wild.
When the instruments kicked back in, Pepper leaned toward Nory.
“Go for it,” Pepper whispered in Nory’s ear. “I know I can pause my fiercing till the end of the song. It’s less than thirty seconds. No problem.”
Nory knew it was true. She raised her eyebrows at Sebastian, who was conducting. “Do it!” he mouthed. “Flamingo.”
Nory set down her tambourine and focused.
Her muscles shivered. Her spine popped. Her neck stretched.
She was Flamingo-Nory: a super-good-looking, sleek and long-legged, bright pink flamingo.
There was a smattering of applause.
Flamingo-Nory felt her body start to sway to the music and made herself stay perfectly still. She couldn’t risk moving and messing it up.
All around her, her friends were smiling and playing and enjoying the moment. They were showing off their unusual magics. And the audience was loving it. Even Hawthorn and Dalia were dancing and waving their hands in the air.
Father, however, stood with his arms folded across his chest. Flamingo-Nory saw him frown at her and her friends. His face was downright sour.
He still wasn’t impressed? Even though she was a perfect flamingo? Why not? Can’t he see how magnificent we all are? Flamingo-Nory wondered. What is wrong with him?
Then her beak dropped open. She had never thought of it like that.
Something was wrong with him.
With him. Maybe the problem had been with Father all along.
Flamingo-Nory wanted to dance. She wanted to have fun. She wanted to enjoy herself. “Crazy-Daisy Shame” was her favorite song!
She wanted to wonk out.
She let her feathers become fur and her beak become a kitten nose. Her whiskers sprouted, and then her whole head became a kitten head. Her neck shrank, and her body was a kitten body with a nice fluffy tail. She kept her two marvelous flamingo legs and added two more at the front, since she no longer had wings. She stayed her bright flamingo-pink color, and she danced and waggled and shook herself all around.
“What is she?” someone from the audience cried.
“A pink kitten!” someone yelled.
“With flamingo legs!” someone else said.
Sebastian flung his arms in Nory’s direction. The band pulled back to just Willa on rain and Andres on drums. “Ladies and gentlemen!” Sebastian proclaimed, addressing the audience in a booming voice. “The one … the only … kittingo!”
The band sang the final chorus while Kittingo-Nory danced her heart out.
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!
When their act finally ended, everyone in the audience jumped to their feet, applauding and whistling.
Well, everyone except Father. He was already standing. And he didn’t applaud.
Still. The Flares had been good, with their Fireflies of Many Colors act. And the Fluxers had been good, too, with “Kitty Grooves.” But Kittingo-Nory and her friends had been better than good. They’d been fabulous.
Kittingo-Nory swished her tail and took in all the people who were standing, stomping, and clapping. She and her friends had done it.
They had shown everyone just how wonderful upside-down magic could be.
Pepper went to the reception hall with the others, feeling shy at first and then astonished—and happy. Kid after kid told her how awesom
e the UDM act had been. Grown-ups, too!
Ms. Starr couldn’t stop beaming. “Yes, such amazing students!”
She gestured for Pepper to draw closer. When Pepper did, the teacher smiled playfully and opened her unusually large pocketbook.
“You did very well controlling your fiercing under pressure,” Carrot said from within. She was nestled on a blanket and wearing a bow around her neck for the occasion. “And it goes without saying that your percussion was just beautiful.”
“Carrot, have you been crying?” Pepper asked.
Carrot huffed. “Crying? Me? Absolutely not!” Then her enormous eyes welled with tears right there in front of Pepper, and she swiped at them with her paw. “Maybe just a bit. It was very moving. Much better than the American Rabbit Breeders’ Annual Competition.”
Pepper’s sister, Taffy, barreled into her. Next came Graham and Jam. Then her parents.
“Honey, that was spectacular,” said Pepper’s mom.
“We’re so proud,” said Pepper’s dad.
Mrs. Winterbottom came over next. “You were wonderful!” she gushed. “And you played ‘Crazy-Daisy Shame’!”
“You know Everyday Cake?” asked Pepper, surprised.
“Sure, they’re my favorite band,” said Mrs. Winterbottom, winking.
“You’re a star, Pep-Pep!” Taffy said. She wrinkled her brows into a sweet little knot. “But where’s Zinnia? I saw Violet, but not Zinnia.”
Zinnia! Pepper clapped her hand to her head. “I’ve got to run,” she told her family. “Love you so much. I’ll be back in a minute!”
She ran out of the reception and down the hall. “Zinnia!” she called as she jogged. “Zinnia?”
Zinnia wasn’t in the UDM classroom.
She wasn’t in the fifth-grade Flares’ room, either.
Or the Flare lab.
Or the bathroom.
Where was she?
Then Pepper tried the supply closet. Her hideout. Nory’s hideout. The hideout she’d shared with only Carrot and Ms. Starr.
It was dark in the closet. Darker than usual, because the lights were off in the hallway. Pepper had never been to the closet at night. She fumbled for the light switch, but before she found it, she heard a scratchy sound. Zinnia held up a rolled piece of paper, the end of which burned brightly.
“I come in here to hide out sometimes,” Zinnia said. “To get away from Lacey, or just to think.”
Pepper flipped on the light, and Zinnia blew out her flaming paper.
“I come in here, too,” said Pepper.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Pepper reached up to the back of a shelf and pulled out a half-empty bag of choco fire trucks. “See? I have a candy stash.”
“Wow.” Zinnia held out her hand and Pepper shook some trucks into it, then took some for herself.
“I’m sorry I said all those things,” Pepper said.
“It’s okay,” Zinnia said. “I know how it must have looked. But just so you know, I was never a spy.”
“I know that now. Elliott and Nory told me everything.”
“I just wanted to help. I was so nervous with everyone watching me warm the instruments that I overdid it. Most people underflare when they’re learning, but I overflare, which is much more dangerous. I’m glad no one got hurt.”
“I should have trusted you. But with magic like mine, I’ve gotten used to people not wanting me around. So it was easy to believe you weren’t really my friend.”
“I get it.”
“Thanks,” Pepper said.
“And I understand why you thought what you thought, after everything I did earlier this year.” Zinnia chewed on her lip. “Anyway. How did it go? Your number? I bet you rocked it.”
Pepper slid her back along the wall and sat beside her. “We rocked it,” she said. “Elliott made icicles that I could use for percussion and Nory turned into a kittingo at the end.”
“That’s great.”
Pepper jiggled Zinnia’s arm. “Thanks for talking me out of being so nervous.”
“No problem.”
“Come out, okay?” Pepper said. “Taffy’s asking for you, and they’re announcing the winners at the end of the reception.”
Zinnia stood. She grabbed Pepper’s hand and pulled her up, too.
Nory still hadn’t seen Father, Hawthorn, or Dalia. When the performance had ended, her main worry was Piano-Bax. She knew that he still couldn’t turn himself back.
First thing was to help Nurse Riley wheel Piano-Bax down to the nurse’s office. Then she’d dragged Coach to the nurse’s to help with post-fluxing nutrition. Nory finally arrived back at the hall while the reception was still in full swing.
“Do you want some punch?” Ms. Starr said, appearing behind Nory as she hovered at the edge of the crowd. “I’d love to meet your father.”
They found Father, Hawthorn, and Dalia sitting near the front of the auditorium. Dalia leapt up and hugged Nory.
“You guys sounded great!” Dalia exclaimed.
It wasn’t quite the same as her saying Your kittingo was great, but Nory hugged her sister back.
Hawthorn hugged Nory, too. He and Dalia were dressed up. He was in a suit jacket and tie. Dalia had on a knee-length dress with a white collar. Father was wearing his second-best suit.
“I loved seeing you with your friends,” Hawthorn said. “I’m so glad you found such good people here.”
That also wasn’t quite the same as Your kittingo was great, but Nory hugged Hawthorn back, too. “I’m glad you came,” she told them.
“We got lost,” said Hawthorn. “Just ask Aunt Margo if you want proof. We texted her four times because we were driving around, trying to find the school. There’s something weird with the address. Artichoke Avenue. Artichoke Street. It turns out they’re not the same.”
“Father got lost?” Nory almost couldn’t believe it was true.
She turned to face Father. Suddenly her jeans and purple T-shirt seemed like the wrong things to be wearing. Her hair felt big and out of control. “Father,” she said, pasting on a smile. “Thank you for coming to my show. It’s good to see you. May I introduce my teacher, Ms. Starr? Ms. Starr, this is my father, Dr. Stone Horace.”
Father reached out and shook Ms. Starr’s hand first, then Nory’s. “I’m glad to see you looking so healthy,” he said.
“Thank you for the rain boots.”
“You’re welcome. Is there anything else you need for the winter? I’ll have your cold-weather clothes sent over and give Margo some funds to take you shopping. You look like you’ve grown.”
“You must be extremely proud of Nory,” Ms. Starr put in, placing her arm around Nory’s shoulders.
“Well,” he said, “I don’t use the word proud lightly.”
Nory wanted to hide her face just then. But Ms. Starr pressed on. “Have you considered admitting Upside-Down Magic students to Sage Academy?” she asked Father. “The program is new and could use public support from well-known educators like yourself. Lots of school districts are thinking about creating UDM classrooms, but many haven’t done it yet.”
Nory’s father looked flustered. Then he puffed out his chest and cleared his throat. “Ms. Starr, I’m glad Nory’s getting an education here, and I still have hopes that it will help her. What I saw tonight suggests that she’s still not capable of traditional fluxing for more than a couple seconds.”
“The kittingo was on purpose, Father!” said Nory.
Father arched his eyebrows.
“It was. Truly!” said Nory. “I could have stayed a flamingo, but I wanted to … I wanted to show everyone …” Her voice trailed off.
When Father said nothing, Ms. Starr said, “Ah. I didn’t realize.”
“You didn’t realize what?” Nory’s father said.
“That you were a small-minded man,” said Ms. Starr. “I suppose I won’t change your mind, then. Small minds are often unable to make turnarounds. I’m glad Nory didn’t inherit that from you
.”
Nory gasped.
Father just stared.
Ms. Starr drew herself up. “Good-bye, Dr. Horace.”
She walked back toward the stage.
Nory turned toward her family. “Thank you for coming,” she said. Then she hugged Hawthorn and Dalia—and followed Ms. Starr.
Yes, Nory walked away from Father, away from her brother and sister, and went instead with Ms. Starr.
It was a hard thing to do. But it felt right.
The auditorium was full. Principal Gonzalez made the announcements. Nory stood at the back with her teacher.
“Let’s start with the eighth grade. First place goes to the Flyers!”
The eighth-grade Flyers cheered. Then they all raised themselves a foot off the ground and pumped their arms in the air. They had staged a human circus for their act and had flown from pretend cannons.
The Flickers won seventh grade. Their act had involved ladders and a live tic-tac-toe match. The Flickers were dressed in X-and-O sweaters and appeared with each move.
The Fuzzies won sixth grade. Their act involved fifteen groundhogs who’d actually listened to them. The groundhogs had made a pyramid.
Principal Gonzalez paused for effect. “And the fifth-grade winners of the Dunwiddle Show Off are …” There was a drumroll. “The fifth-grade Flares!”
Nory’s heart sank.
Boo. Drat.
The Sparkies had won.
They had been pretty amazing …
But still. They were Sparkies.
“And now,” Principal Gonzales said, “the prize for Most Original Show Off—for the entire school—goes to …”
Nory held her breath.
“The fifth-grade Upside-Down Magic class!”
Hooray!
Everyone in UDM cried and hugged one another.
Except Bax, who was still in the nurse’s office. He was no longer a piano and well on the way to recovery, but still feeling a little off-key.
After the ceremony, everyone went out on the lawn in front of the school. Hawthorn and Dalia found Nory and came over.
“I miss you,” said Dalia, squashing Nory in her arms. “I wish you could come home.”
“I miss you, too,” said Hawthorn.
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