Girl vs. Boy Band (22 page)

Teddy stared at her. “So you're going out there to do the thing that scares you most in the whole world . . . for me?”

Lark nodded. “For you . . . for the boys . . . and especially for my mom. Abbey Road means so much to her, and I couldn't stand to see it fail. I know she just needs to see you perform to realize you've got the talent and charisma to be the band's new keyboard player. But the only way I could get her to come to the show was to say that I was going to sing my song. You know, the one I showed you.”

“‘Is It Just Me?'”

“That's the one. But now I've gone and put myself in this horrible situation for nothing because she isn't even here.” Lark's voice caught and she struggled to keep the tears out of her eyes. “She didn't show up.”

Teddy looked overwhelmed. “That's the most awesome thing anyone's ever done for me.”

“Yeah, well . . .” Lark shook her head and sighed. “I guess it's true what they say. No good deed goes unpunished.”

The bagpiper had finished piping and Howie the magician was preparing to pull a rabbit out of his hat. That meant Lark was up next.

“Can you hold this for me?” she said, thrusting her guitar into Teddy's hand.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she ran to the girls' dressing area, tugged off her sweater, changed into her faded jeans, and wriggled into her peasant blouse. Then she wrestled her hair into a loose up-do and flew back to the stage, putting the dangly earrings on as she ran.

Teddy was right where she'd left him, holding her guitar.

He did a double take when he saw her new look. “Wow! You look like a real country star.”

Lark blushed. “I do?”

Onstage, Howie Dornbaum was finishing his magic act by putting Principal Hardy into a large cabinet and sawing her in half. This was a huge hit with the students in the audience.

“I wish he had one of those boxes where he could make someone disappear,” Lark murmured. “I'd volunteer.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Howie, “for my final illusion, I will put Principal Hardy back together.”

Someone in the crowd called out, “Do you
have
to?” and everyone laughed.

Howie raised his arms and spoke an incantation. There was an enormous glittering puff of smoke and—presto! Principal Hardy stepped out of the cabinet, all in one piece.

Howie took his bow, then gathered up his top hat and the rabbit and left the stage.

Lark's knees buckled.

“And now, for our final performance of the evening,” said Principal Hardy, “here is Lark Campbell, singing a song she wrote herself. Let's hear it for Lark!”

The crowd clapped politely, waiting for Lark to take the stage.

But Lark remained frozen in the wings.

At the mike, the principal frowned. “Lark Campbell,” she repeated.

“Go on,” Teddy urged. “You'll be great.”

But Lark just shook her head. Her fingers were numb and her face felt as if it were on fire. “I can't. I just can't go out there all alone.”

The applause faded to an awkward hush. Principal Hardy scowled into the wings and gestured anxiously for Lark to take the stage.

Still, Lark could not move. “I can't,” she whispered to Teddy. “Oh, God, I feel like such a loser.”

“Everyone does sometimes,” Teddy whispered back. “Remember? Which is why you and I are going to sing your song . . . together.”

To Lark's shock, Teddy reached out and took her hand. With a little tug, he guided her onto the stage.

Lark was glad for the glare of the lights. She didn't want to see the sneering expressions on those hundreds of faces in the audience.

“All you have to do is start playing,” Teddy whispered. “I'm right here. I'll be singing with you, so just start—”

He was cut off by the loud squeal of the double doors opening at the far end of the auditorium. All heads swiveled to glower at the late arrivals.

Lark squinted into the glare, shading her eyes with her hand. She could just make out two figures, hurrying down the center aisle.

For a moment, she thought the spotlights had seriously altered her vision, because she could have sworn she was looking at . . .

Her dad!

It
was
him! He was following her mom as they skittered along the row of folding chairs to take their seats in the third row, next to Max and Ollie.

So the second empty seat didn't belong to one of Mimi's relations. Donna had reserved it for Jackson!

Lark's heart soared—just like a songbird.

She slid onto the stool and cradled her guitar.

Teddy grinned. “Okay, so, looks like you've got this. I'll leave you to it.”

“No,” said Lark. “Stay. Sing with me. Please?”

Teddy's answer was to sit down at the piano and count her in. “One, two . . . one, two, three four . . .”

And for the second time that night, Lark and Teddy filled the room with song. Behind them, Mimi's video montage was like a piece of moving art. The images faded in and out of one another . . . close-ups of Lark, smiling as she sang, strumming her guitar, swaying in time to the music, floating in the pool . . .

Is it just me, or do you feel this way, too?

I'm feeling so lost, like I don't have a clue.

Is it just me, thinking life's not on my side?

Is it just me, swimming against the tide?

The melody was sweet and the words were straight from the heart. Lark could feel every beat of it pulsing through her. When her eyes went to her parents, beaming with pride, she realized she had never been less afraid in her whole life.

When the song was over, the crowd rose to its feet to give the performers a standing ovation.

On the screen, the montage was ending with a slow-motion image of Lark, her back to the camera, walking toward the pink-and-gold clouds of a summer sunset. It lingered a moment, then faded to black as she and Teddy bowed once, then held hands and bowed again.

“Is this the best feeling in the world?” Lark shouted to him over the thunderous applause. “Or is it just me?”

“Oh, I'm pretty sure it's not just you,” he shouted back.

Teddy and Lark moved upstage to allow the other acts to file out and take their final bows. Then Principal Hardy returned and waved her hands to get the audience to settle down.

It was time for the awards.

But as far as Lark was concerned, she'd already won.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

Lark zigzagged through the crush of families, classmates, and teachers. She replied with polite thank-yous to the people who called out congratulations as she hurried past, but she refused to stop or even slow down until she found who she was looking for.

She was so excited, she'd barely been able to listen as Principal Hardy announced the results of the competition. Teddy had to give her a nudge when their names were announced as the joint winning act for both the songs they performed together. Their prize was a gift certificate to Ice Cream Lab on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Then had come what was in Lark's opinion an even more thrilling announcement. The judges had been so impressed with Mimi's innovative video montage that they'd given her the runner-up award to honor the skill and sophistication of her work.

The minute Principal Hardy had dismissed the performers, Lark bolted from the stage on a mission.

“Songbird!”

“Daddy!” She doubled her pace, speeding toward her father to throw herself into his open arms.

“I've missed you so much!”

“I miss you too, baby girl.”

He was holding her so tightly, she nearly couldn't breathe, and she was pretty sure she was crushing the bouquet of purple irises he'd brought, but she didn't care. “I can't believe you're here. And you know what? I don't even mind that scruffy beard of yours scratching my cheeks.”

Jackson laughed. “I'm so sorry we missed your first song, darlin'. The plane was delayed.”

“But you made it in time to hear ‘Is It Just Me.' I fixed the bridge, the one you helped me with.”

“It was perfect,” said Jackson, placing her back on her feet and giving her a huge smile. “And the best part was that you got up there and sang it in front of all these people.”

“I was shaking like a leaf.”

“Couldn't tell from where I was sitting. You looked like a real pro.”

Donna ran over to join them, wrapping her arms around Lark. “You! Were!
Amazing!
Oh, Lark, I am so proud! As my granny used to say, I am livin' in the high cotton tonight.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“And you were absolutely right about Teddy,” Donna continued. “He'd be a perfect addition to Abbey Road. I've already talked to Max and Ollie and they're all for it.”

As if on cue, the boys appeared, looking somewhat frazzled.

“Y'all okay?” asked Lark.

Ollie laughed. “Never better. We got stopped to sign autographs.”

“You brought the house down, Lark!” said Max. “You're a star. And speaking of stars . . . where's our boy Teddy? I want to shake his hand.”

“Yes, where is Teddy?” asked Donna, shifting into professional mode. She began to scan the crowd. “The sooner I talk to him and his parents, the better. I wonder if they'd object to my stylist giving him a few blond highlights.”

“Mom,” said Lark with a giggle. “Slow down. You can have your people call his people in the morning.”

“Of course. Sorry.” Donna gave her a sheepish look. “You're right. Tonight is all about you, baby.”

“Good. Then I vote we all go back home right now, where Dad and me can drink sweet tea and play our guitars under the stars.”

Jackson's eyes turned serious. “Songbird, are you talking about Nashville? Because we've been over this and—”

“No, Daddy,” Lark said, taking his hand. “I'm talking about my home right here in LA.”

“Is that really how you feel?” asked Donna, her eyes shining, her voice hopeful.

Lark nodded. “I'm a lucky girl. I've got two places I can call home. After all, home is where the heart is . . . that's what people say.”

“Hmm. Sounds like a great opening line for a hit, doesn't it?” Donna teased.

“Sure does!” Lark said, beaming. “It sure does.”

Suddenly, someone was standing behind Lark, nervously clearing her throat. She turned to see Mimi, looking worried.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” asked Mimi. “In private?”

“Sure, Meems.” Lark excused herself and followed her friend to a quieter corner of the auditorium. “What's up?”

“This is what's up,” said Mimi, holding out her cell phone. Paused on the screen was the “Homesick” music video. “As in
up
loaded . . . still.”

It took Lark a moment to understand. “You mean the ‘Homesick' video is still posted online? You never took it down?”

Mimi shook her head. “You know I only posted it so that you could show it to your mom that day you needed to prove that Aidan was lying.” She shrugged. “But I sorta-kinda-oops forgot to take it down.”

“So just take it down now. It's no big deal.”

“Well, actually it
is
kind of a big deal. In fact, it's kind of a
huge
deal.”

“Meems, what are you talkin' about? You're acting like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”

Mimi frowned. “Ohhh-kaayy . . . I have no idea what that means, but . . . look.”

She pointed to the spot where the number of views was logged. Lark squinted at the tiny numerals and gasped.

“Mimi!”

“I know, I know!”

“
How?
”

“Best I can figure is that the footage I posted of Holly Rose with the boys got lots of views because she's a huge star. That sent people looking for other videos I've made. And, well . . . they found you.” Mimi bit her lip. “Are you mad?”

Lark honestly did not know how to answer that. A day ago she would have been frantic about it. The thought of thousands of people hearing her sing her most intimate thoughts would have made her skin crawl. But tonight, everything had changed. She'd sung her original song in front of their entire school and won the talent show.

But winning a gift card to the Ice Cream Lab was a far cry from going viral in cyberspace.

“Do you want me to take it down?” Mimi asked, her finger poised over the phone's screen.

Lark opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again. What should she do? She had no idea. Should she leave the video posted for the entire world to see and enjoy or criticize? Or should she take it down immediately?

Was this her worst nightmare . . .

Or a dream come true?