by Jen Calonita
“Lidia?”
She turned around. Miss Pattie Ann’s head was sticking out of one of the studio doors. She could hear the music pumping behind the door and the giggles from younger students.
“Nice job today,” Miss Pattie Ann said appraisingly. “You’re keeping up. I think you’re ready for your audition.”
Lidia’s heart did a fouetté turn. Miss Pattie Ann rarely paid compliments. She just pushed you harder. “I am ready. When is my audition?”
Miss Pattie Ann smiled. “How about this Friday at five?”
Friday I have Nightingales practice, she thought. She’d forgotten to take it off her iCalendar and the schedule kept popping up on her phone. You used to have Nightingales practice, she reminded herself. “Friday at five would be great. Thank you.”
She officially had an audition for the senior competition dance team! This was cause for celebration! Lidia forgot all about the bus schedule and headed straight for Kyle’s Candy Shoppe. She was envisioning a nonpareil in her mouth as she opened the store door.
“Hey, Lidia.”
Lidia turned around, her ponytail smacking her in the face. She felt her heart stop. “Griffin.” She sucked in her breath. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Griffin genuinely smiled as if he was happy to see her. He was leaning on the store window like he had no place to be but there. Lidia took a snapshot of this image in her mind. His hazel eyes were magnetic, but it was his smile, with the small gap between his two lower teeth, and the way his face tanned leaving just a trace of freckles, that did her in. He was wearing an outrageous graphic tee, like he usually did outside of class, and had on board shorts. Syd had told her Griffin showed up at play practices in board shorts too, as if he’d just come from the beach. These ones had tacky pineapples on them.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Getting candy,” she said, nodding to the store she was about to enter before she saw him.
Griffin laughed. “I know that. I meant downtown.”
“Oh.” She blushed. “I take dance classes at Integral Dance down the block.”
Griffin’s face clouded over. “I heard you left the Nightingales.”
Lidia paled. Please don’t ask me why. “Yes. Not enough time to do everything I want to do,” she joked. “I had to give something up.”
“But the Nightingales?” Griffin questioned. “I thought you loved being in the group.”
“I did.” She stood up straighter, her hand closing over the top of her dance bag. She had to remind herself to breathe. “But like I said, not enough time.” Please don’t ask me to say more. I don’t want to talk about it. I hardly know you.
The thought hit Lidia like an accidental dance kick to the stomach. I hardly know you. It was true, wasn’t it? Everything she knew about Griffin was through Sydney. Sydney was the one who had gotten to know him. Here was her chance to connect with Griffin and she had no clue what to say. She didn’t feel comfortable opening up to him, and she couldn’t figure out how to make small talk either. He must have felt the same because he was quiet too. The sounds of the light street traffic grew louder as she racked her brain.
“I’m sure you’re glad the play is over,” Lidia blurted out. That wasn’t what she meant. Why would he be happy to be done with In the Heights? Syd had said Griffin wanted their run of the show to go on forever. He was as much of a Broadway fanatic as she was. “I mean, so you can start thinking about the Naples Music Festival and stuff.” What was it about Griffin that made her lose her head?
His mouth twisted awkwardly. He popped in a piece of peppermint gum. He was never without it. “Are you okay with that? Us doing the Naples Music Festival together, I mean?”
He knows I like him, Lidia realized. She’d walked right into this trap. “I’m fine,” Lidia said quickly. “That’s great you and Sydney were picked.”
Griffin’s face flooded with relief. “Oh good. I didn’t want it to be weird.”
This is already weird, Lidia thought and she couldn’t help but smirk. “It’s fine,” she said again.
“Have you talked to her?” Griffin asked, his face hopeful. “She seems overwhelmed at practice without you.”
“No, I haven’t,” Lidia said. He really likes her. She could see it now. “He kissed me,” she remembered Sydney saying. She might have been telling the truth about that part. Lidia’s grip on the doorknob tightened. “Well, I should run in and get that candy so I don’t miss the bus.”
“Yes,” Griffin said. “I should go too. The Kingfishers have a working dinner practice.” Griffin grinned. “We’ve got a reputation to uphold, you know.”
So smug. For the first time ever, Lidia found herself wanting to get away from Griffin Mancini. “Have fun.”
“You too,” he said. “Nice talking to you, Lidia.”
“You too too,” Lidia said and realized she’d said “too” twice. Why? Why did he do this to her? And why was it so hard to talk to him?
“Why?” she found herself muttering as she yanked open the door to Kyle’s and stepped inside. “You too too. Who says that? Have you talked to her? Who says that either?” she mumbled.
“Rough practice?” Kyle asked. He was standing on a stool refilling the soft-serve ice cream machine. Lidia resisted the urge to jump over the counter and chug the soft-serve vanilla by the gallon.
“I need nonpareils as if my life depended on it.” She eyed a group of younger kids sitting at a table trading gummies. Sharks, worms, people, spiders. It’s like they had their own personal game of poker going. They looked so happy. None of them looked like they had lost their a cappella friends, their best friend, and the guy they liked in just a few short weeks.
“You’re in luck.” Kyle placed a large plastic bag on the counter.
Lidia grabbed the bag and peeked inside. There had to be at least three pounds of nonpareils in there! There weren’t just white-sprinkled ones either. There were multicolored and vanilla ones as well. She ripped open the bag and popped one into her mouth. Aaah … just what she needed.
Kyle leaned on the counter. “They’re all yours. They’ve already been paid for.” He handed her a note.
Lidia opened the small green card with the even smaller green piece of paper inside. There was a sketch of Sailor Moon on it.
Wanted to make sure you had chocolate to survive the week. ☺ Also, any chance you want to go with me to a cosplay gathering next Sunday? It’s at the Naples Seaside Resort from 1–5 p.m. You’d be the best Sailor Moon in the place!—Jack.
“Jack,” Lidia said aloud, unable to hide her smile. He’d bought her nonpareils and invited her out. Sure, it was to dress up in costume as her favorite comic character, but it still counted as a date, right? She thumbed Jack’s phone number, which he had scribbled neatly at the bottom of the note.
“He came in yesterday before his class,” Kyle told her. “He bought me out of nonpareils again.” He shook his head. “I swear between the two of you, I’m going to need to start making more of these things.”
“Do you think he’s at class now?” Lidia asked, her heart thumping a little faster at the prospect of seeing Jack.
Kyle thought for a moment. “No, he doesn’t go there on Tuesdays. He’ll be there tomorrow, though. But give me a heads-up if you’re going to be buying him nonpareils. I’ll start making a batch now.”
Lidia clutched the bag of chocolate and headed out. She was still smiling as she walked in her front door a half hour later. Her smile faded when she saw her mom sitting at the dining room table.
“You’re home,” Lidia said, and immediately started to feel uneasy. “I thought you’d be with Dougie at soccer practice.”
“Your father took him,” her mom said.
Lidia could see Grandma Evie in the kitchen singing “Bubble Gum Love” again. She had on a long print dress and double strands of necklaces wrapped around her neck. Her grandmother was always dressed to go out. “What if Bradley Cooper rings the bell and asks me to go out
and I’m not ready?” she always said when Dougie or Lidia teased her about it.
“I wanted to be home early so we could talk before dinner,” her mom said.
Lidia had been avoiding this conversation for days. “Okay.”
“Talk in the kitchen so I can hear you!” Grandma Evie yelled. “This way I don’t have to spy.”
Lidia and her mom couldn’t help but grin.
“Do you think Mariah Carey sings her old hits while she cooks?” Lidia teased as she followed her mom into the kitchen.
“I doubt Mariah even knows the words to her songs, but I know mine.” Her grandmother hit a high note Lidia didn’t even realize she could still hit. Her grandmother reached for her hand and Lidia’s mom’s hands. “Sing with me.”
Lidia’s mom jumped right in. The pair looked at Lidia.
This time Lidia didn’t fight it. She knew the words. She even knew which harmony to take. Her grandmother went high and Lidia and her mom went low. Lidia matched the pair note for note as she stared into her grandmother’s dark-brown eyes. Her mom was singing beautifully, but there was something about her voice that sounded sad.
“Nice,” her grandmother said as they hit the last note together. “Very nice for a girl who is no longer in a cappella.” Lidia’s smile faded as her mom and grandmother both gave her a look.
“You guys know I love to sing with you,” Lidia said, taking a seat at the table, “but I had to make a choice and I picked dance. I told you there’s no time to do both.”
Her mom sat down too while her grandmother went back to stirring the pot on the stove. “But you were so excited about the Nightingales when you were named captain last June,” her mom reminded her. “What changed?”
“I started dancing every day this summer and I fell in love with it,” Lidia admitted. “Now I’m trying out for the competition team and if I really want to make it, I need to practice every day. And I’m still singing in the chorus.” Which doesn’t practice every day.
Grandma Evie and Lidia’s mom looked at each other.
“I see,” her mom said. “So this has nothing to do with you fighting with Sydney?”
“How do you know I had a fight with Sydney?” Lidia asked calmly.
Her mom gave her a look. “I am the headmistress. I do hear things. Plus, Syd practically lived in this house all summer. She hasn’t been here once since before school started.”
“Okay, we had a fight,” Lidia said and they both sighed, “but that wasn’t the reason I quit the group. I left the Nightingales because I wanted to dance more.”
“Really?” her mom pressed.
“Really!” Lidia insisted, but her voice sounded weaker. And there’s also part of me that’s happy to be away from the drama.
The two stared each other down.
Lidia finally looked at her grandmother. She was shaking her head, her earrings swinging. “Grandma Evie? What do you think about all this?”
“You have to do what makes you happy,” her grandmother said. “For me, it’s song. For you, it’s dance, right?”
“Yes,” she gushed. “My teacher pushes me to be better than I think I can be, and I love having the time now to take so many different classes.”
“But?” her grandmother and mother asked.
They knew her too well.
“Part of me feels like I let the Nightingales down,” Lidia admitted.
“I knew it!” her mom said happily. “You miss the group!”
“Of course she misses the group,” Grandma Evie said. “They were a family. Even if many of the girls are new this year, the group was her home for the last few years. When you move away, you always miss home. That doesn’t mean you go running back.”
Her mom sank back into her chair. She looked like a kid. “True.” She grabbed Lidia’s hand. “If dance is what makes you happy, I won’t keep harping on it. I was just worried about you. I don’t even know if the Nightingales have enough girls to have a team anyway …” She trailed off and squeezed Lidia’s hand again. “It’s not your problem.”
Lidia felt a pang of guilt again. “Can’t they perform with fewer girls? Did you appeal to the a cappella board for them? What did Mr. Wickey say? Did Sydney think about hosting new tryouts? Is that allowed? The Nightingales can’t just disappear!” she said shrilly.
Grandma Evie started to hum another song Lidia remembered from her album.
Her mom was looking at her strangely. “We have it covered. Do you know Pearl? She just auditioned for beatboxer. She’s really good. I think they’ll be able to compete by adding one girl, and Mr. Wickey said they just met with one. ”
“Pearl beatboxes?” Lidia asked.
Her mom nodded. “I heard her the other day. She’s excellent. The rest of the team needs work. I think one girl has terrible stage fright. Sydney said she ran offstage at practice the other day.”
Lidia had heard about this. It was Julianna, the same girl who freaked out the first morning of school when she was handed the mic.
“But again, not your problem. Sydney will get the team there.” Her mom smiled. “I should go finish up some calls before dinner. I’m glad we talked.” She stood up and kissed Lidia on the head.
It’s not your problem. Then why did Lidia feel like it was?
She reached for a piece of chocolate and her hand landed on Jack’s note. She opened the card and looked for Jack’s number. Then she texted him.
Thx for the chocolate. You convinced me. See you next Sun. at 1 p.m.
She saw the typing bubbles pop up immediately. The reply came right back.
Hi, Ms. Nonpareils. Great. See you then—if not before at Kyle’s.
Julianna read Sydney’s text again to be sure she had it right.
Meet me at the mall at 5 p.m. on Friday and bring your dog!
Who brought their dog to the mall?
Apparently, a lot of people in Naples, because when Julianna arrived at the mall with Cocoa in tow, almost everyone had a dog with them. Then she saw the sign draped across a walkway: BARKY HOURS, FRIDAYS AT 5 P.M.! Everywhere Julianna looked, stores had water bowls and treats for four-legged guests. A young family with a double stroller had a Yorkie while a retiree held tight to a Great Dane. Cocoa barked happily as she encountered each pup, but Julianna felt anxious. Even though she’d been sitting with Sydney, Gabby, and Viola at lunch for the last week, no one had brought up the elephant in the room: Julianna’s flake-out. She couldn’t keep making excuses to leave the stage or run out whenever it was her turn to sing. Julianna wondered if this was why Sydney wanted to meet up today. Maybe she was cutting her from the group.
But if that was the case, why did she want her to bring Cocoa?
“Julianna!” Sydney was waving to her from a bench between a pretzel stand and an electronics store. Cocoa bolted for Sydney while Julianna held on tight. The hyper puppy loved any chance to meet new people.
“Who’s this?” Sydney asked, dropping to her knees to pet Cocoa, who practically jumped in Sydney’s lap as she slobbered all over her.
“Cocoa,” Julianna said, pulling on the leash to get the puppy to sit. “Cocoa, um, Krispy.” The girls looked at each other and both burst out laughing. “Cheesy, I know.” Julianna’s face flushed. “But when we got her at the animal shelter this summer, it was the first thing I thought of. With her coloring, the name seemed to fit. Plus, it’s my favorite cereal.”
“It is a pretty good cereal.” Sydney scratched Cocoa behind the ears. “If you’re not partial to regular krispies like I am.”
“She likes you,” Julianna observed as Cocoa tried to eat Sydney’s hair, “which is why you’re one of the few people I’ve told her full name.”
“Your secret is safe with me, Cocoa,” Sydney told the dog. She looked up at Julianna. “So is yours, you know.”
Julianna sat down. She pulled a squeaky toy shaped like a pineapple out of her bag and threw it to Cocoa. “I should have told you about the stage fright. I thought I had it under control,
but obviously, it’s still a thing.” She looked anxiously at Sydney. “I understand if you need to cut me from the group.”
“Cut you?” Sydney looked baffled. “I brought you here to tell you about how badly we need you! I didn’t want to bring this up at school in front of the others, but I hope you know you’re the strongest vocalist I have. You’re not going anywhere.”
Julianna felt relief wash over her. So Sydney did like her voice. “Really?”
“Yes!” Sydney declared. “I have big plans for you, Ramirez. We just need to teach you to get on a stage and not want to run.”
Julianna grabbed the squeaky toy from Cocoa and squeezed it. “I want you to know I wasn’t always like this. I wanted to be in this a cappella group at my old high school—the Tonal Teens. I tried out and didn’t make it.”
“You tried out for the Tonal Teens and didn’t make the cut?” Sydney asked in surprise. “There must be some talent pool at your old school if you didn’t get in. Your voice is incredible.”
“Thanks.” Julianna blushed. “After that happened, I was so bummed, I stopped singing anywhere but at home. I didn’t feel like my voice was worthy.” Sydney huffed. “So I started writing songs that other people with better voices could sing and I love it. Not that I’m that good at writing tunes either.”
“Why do you say that?” Sydney asked.
“I’ve entered three songwriting contests this year and never even won an honorable mention.” Julianna shrugged. “I guess I’m not cut out for a career in music, but at Bradley that doesn’t matter. Everyone has to do something. That’s how I wound up trying out for the Nightingales. Headmistress Sato insisted.”
Sydney nodded. “She was an original Nightingale, so she’s our biggest fan and we’re lucky to have her. She got the board to agree to let us perform with only nine girls this season now that Pearl is official.” She put an arm around Julianna. “Which is why I need you on that stage! You’re going to be electric up there.” Julianna wasn’t convinced. “I’m telling you, once you get over that fear, being onstage is more exciting than you can imagine. Hearing the crowd cheer and people applauding for you.” Sydney closed her eyes. “There’s no better feeling in the world.”