Out of Bounds (5 page)

“Who wants to go next?” Ms. Ciara asked. “I know Maeve is a hard act to follow, but remember, Maeve studies singing and dancing outside of school. I don't expect the rest of you to perform at her level.” You could practically hear the collective sigh of relief. Ms. Ciara asked again, “Any volunteers?”

Still, not a single hand went up. Maeve's song had been so good that no one wanted to follow her. Not even Betsy Fitzgerald, whose hands remained folded on her desk.

Walking around the classroom, Ms. Ciara spotted the cassette player on Isabel's desk.

“Isabel,” she said. “Why don't you go next?”

Oh, no,
lucky me
, sighed Isabel to herself. I shouldn't have taken out my recorder. There was nothing to do but get up from her desk and walk slowly to the front of the room. Very slowly. Maybe the clocks were wrong and the bell would ring. Isabel put her right hand behind her back and crossed her fingers as she turned to face her classmates.

Following Maeve was the last thing she wanted to do, but she couldn't exactly say no. She took as much time as she could setting up the cassette player.

“This music is from my cousin's Quinceanera.”

“Quincey a whata?” Anna whispered so everyone could hear.

Ms. Ciara didn't even say anything this time. She was probably getting sick of dealing with the Queens of Mean, thought Maeve. I mean, how many times a day would you want to tell kids to be quiet, or shape up, or whatever? Meanwhile, Maeve could see Isabel's hand shaking as she slid her tape into the player.

“Quinceanera is a special celebration that happens in the Mexican community when a girl turns fifteen. It's a like a growing-up ceremony. The first part takes place in the church, but that's mainly for the family. Afterwards, there's a huge party, with costumes and dancing and everything.” Isabel could feel everyone's eyes on her. Suddenly, in front of all these people, the idea of a Quince seemed very old fashioned.

“Kind of like a Bat Mitzvah?” Maeve offered.

“Yes, kind of. But practically every Mexican girl gets a Quince party. People bring gifts, and usually the party lasts all night.”

“I think it would be cool to stay up all night,” Avery said.

“The Quinceanera, which is the name for the girl whose party it is, usually wears a tiara and carries a scepter, like a princess. And she has a court of fifteen Damas—which are girls—and Chambelans—the boys. They are the ones who do the dance, which is usually a waltz.”

“A waltz?” Anna snorted. “No one does waltzes anymore.”

Ms. Ciara shot her a really scary look. Anna better be careful, thought Avery. Ms. Ciara looked like she had had enough. Detention looked about a minute away.

Isabel's face was getting redder and redder, she could feel it.

“Go on,” Ms. Ciara said. “This is very interesting.”

Isabel took a breath before speaking again. She couldn't wait for this to be over so she could sit down. She reached for some photographs she had brought, hoping that no one would notice her shaky hands as she passed them out. “These pictures are from my cousin's Quince. It was in Mexico City last summer. The ceremony was at the Church of San Juan Bautista, and the party was at my grandparents' house.”

Isabel had planned to say more, but, instead, she went right to the music. She pressed the button on the cassette player and the waltz began. It was beautiful. When they got to the last chorus, Isabel's family began to sing along. You could hear their voices blending with the band. Isabel stood waiting while the tape played. Then she picked up the cassette player and headed back to her desk.

“Very nice, Isabel,” Ms. Ciara said. “And now we've seen another kind of tradition, also musical…Very good.”

“Thank you,” Isabel said, relieved to be back in her seat. As she passed Anna and Joline's desks, she noticed that they
were drawing little princesses with tiaras and funny faces all over their notebooks. Isabel wished she had some paint with her now, something she could accidentally spill on their drawings. That was the thing about Anna and Joline. They sometimes made you feel like being mean, too.

“Does anyone have any questions or comments?” Ms. Ciara asked.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Fields walked in. “Sounds like you're all having fun in here today,” she said.

“We're discussing musical traditions,” Ms. Ciara explained.

“Well, then, I've come at the perfect time,” Mrs. Fields said. “I have come to talk about an Abigail Adams school tradition…the seventh-grade talent show.”

Katani looked at Mrs. Fields. It was difficult, sometimes, for Katani to believe that the principal of Abigail Adams Junior High was her own grandmother. Her grandmother had worked hard to get where she was, and Katani was proud of her. It was all about education at Katani's house. But, still, it was pretty weird having your grandmother be the principal, she thought.

“Each year we have a wonderful show. And from what I heard out there in the hall, it sounds like we have quite a few potential performers here. The audition times are posted on the board. The show is voluntary, of course, though I hope each of you will perform in some way, as this is a charitable event. And that is really the part I came here to talk to you about.

“Last year, the proceeds of the talent show funded a field trip along with a sizable contribution to the Peabody Essex Museum. The year before, we held an art show to benefit a
local charity. This year it can be anything you want, with one stipulation. The event or cause you choose must be somewhat educational. What do I mean by that? A class trip to the Museum of Science is educational. A trip to Crane's Beach is probably not…” She thought for a minute. “I take that back. A trip to Crane's Beach could be educational if it included a nature walk…or a visit to a historic monument…You get the point. You are all encouraged to submit proposals to the Student Council. This group will make a decision at their next session.”

Betsy Fitzgerald's hand shot up.

“Yes, Betsy?” Mrs. Fields said.

“Mrs. Fields, I move that we use the proceeds of the show to hire a college PSAT coach to host vocabulary enhancement training sessions at the school.” Betsy looked around. “Any seconds?”

The Trentini twins started banging their heads on their notebooks, pretending that Betsy's vocabulary program would drive them over the edge.

Mrs. Fields was clearly amused. “Don't you think that's a bit premature, Betsy? I mean, for a seventh-grade class.”

“It's never too early to build your vocabulary, Mrs. Fields,” Betsy said.

“True enough,” Mrs. Fields said. “Well, if that's what you would like, I urge you to write it up as a proposal and submit it to the Student Council. One page only.”

Betsy started making notes in her notebook even before Mrs. Fields finished what she had to say.

“I will post the audition schedule as well as the proposal guidelines on the bulletin board next to the cafeteria. Please make sure to stop by and take a look at them.”

The bell rang and Maeve rushed over to Charlotte, Isabel,
Avery, and Katani, who were on their way out the door.

“Isn't this so cool? A talent show,” Maeve enthused. “I went to one at my cousin's high school once. It was super fun.”

“Yeah, super fun if you have a talent like yours, Maeve,” said Avery. “But I see backstage work in
my
future.”

The other BSG cracked up, remembering Avery's voice and dance dyslexia. She could kick a soccer ball like Mia Hamm, but performing on stage was definitely not one of Avery's strong points.

The Beacon Street Girls made their way to the bulletin board. There were lots of kids huddled around, and at the center of the whole crowd were Anna and Joline, talking and whispering with Kiki Underwood. If Anna and Joline were the Queens of Mean, then Kiki was the Empress. She was so unfriendly to everyone none of the BSG could understand why she was so popular. Katani said it was because she looked like a Barbie doll and wielded power like an army general. That seemed like a good enough explanation.

The Beacon Street Girls didn't have much to do with Kiki. With the exception of gym and music, she wasn't in any of their classes, and she never spoke to them. They guessed they weren't cool enough. But that was okay with them. It was too much work to be around someone like Kiki. You never knew what she was up to. She barely spoke to Anna and Joline, and they were supposed to be her friends.

“What are you doing for an act?” Kiki asked Dillon. She was leaning into him as she spoke, pretending she was doing it to get a better look at the announcement on the board.

“Talent shows are not really my thing,” Dillon answered. He didn't sound too encouraged.

Maeve jumped into the conversation. “I think I'm going
to do something from
Fame
, it has the best songs and dances,” she said, trying to move between them.

“
Fame
is lame,” Kiki said, looking at Maeve as if she were some annoying bug.

“We've decided to do something together,” Joline proudly pointed to Anna and Kiki.

“How nice for you,” Katani said. Katani totally had a way of stopping a conversation flat when she wanted to. It was a handy quality to have in a friend, as long as you were on the right side of it. Katani once told the BSG, “You really need to learn how to get people to stop talking without shouting at them. I mean, like what if you have some totally obnoxious employee and you have to squish him before things get out of hand?” She had a point.

“Would you guys mind moving away from the board so we can look?” Charlotte asked politely. Charlotte was always polite. She said it was from living overseas, where adults got really freaked out if kids weren't polite.

Dillon stepped out of the way, as did Nick.

Dillon bowed, “All yours, girls.”

They were really nice guys, but today that seemed to annoy Kiki.

“I thought you Beacon Street whatevers would be doing an act together,” Kiki said. “I heard you do everything together.”

“Where did you hear that?” Avery said challengingly.

Anna snorted. “No one had to tell us. Everyone can
see
you're attached at the hip.”

“So what kind of act are you going to do?” Kiki said, ignoring Anna.

“A great one,” Avery said.

“Like what?” Anna challenged.

“We're going to do a magic show,” Charlotte blurted out, surprising even herself.

The other BSG tried to look as if they weren't surprised.

“Right, like you know magic,” Anna said.

“Charlotte studied magic in Paris,” Maeve said. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was a stretch.

“Yeah, right,” Joline said.

“She did so!” said Maeve, this time with attitude.

“So, what, you're like David Copperfield or something?” asked Joline.

“More like Harry Houdini,” Charlotte said. “Which reminds me, isn't it time for our vanishing act?”

Attempting an exit with attitude, Charlotte managed to send the bulletin board crashing to the floor as she turned to walk away. So much for being smooth. Katani put the board back in place and shot a glare over her shoulder, silencing the snickers from the Empress and Queens of Mean.

“Do you think Anna and Joline were born that way?” asked Isabel when the Beacon Street Girls had finally made it down the hall.

“No way,” answered Avery. “I think they practice after school to see how they can annoy everyone.”

“I think they are really going to be sorry when they grow up. If they stay that way through high school, nobody is going to want to see them at our high school reunion,” Maeve said vehemently.

Ready to change the subject, Avery turned to Charlotte. “So, did I hear you right? Did you just say we're going to do a magic show?”

“Sorry, it just popped out,” Charlotte said.

“I think that's a great idea,” Isabel said. “Avery, you should have seen the magic trick that Charlotte did the other day.”

“I think it'll be fantastic,” Katani said.

“I really want to do it,” Charlotte said, just realizing how excited she was.

“I'm in,” Maeve said.

“Me too,” added Katani.

“Me three,” Isabel chimed in.

“There's just one teeny problem, Charlotte,” Katani realized.

“What?” the others answered in unison.

“Think about it. Charlotte is the only one who knows magic,” she said just a little smugly. “What are the rest of us going to do?”

“Oh, yeah, good point,” said Avery with her customary “let's get real here” attitude.

“No problem,” Charlotte jumped in to reassure them all. “A magic show has lots of different parts…costumes, props, music. Somebody needs to get sawed in half.”

“Eww!” Maeve shrilled. “Count me out.”

“It's fake,” Charlotte explained. “The whole thing is an illusion. That's what magic is all about. Maeve, you could be the girl in the fancy costume, who walks around the stage with funny signs. And Avery, I could make you disappear. We'll all get to do something really fun. Just wait and see.”

Avery thought for a minute. “Okay, I'll do it,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “But only if I get to pull Marty out of a hat.” She began whooping and running down the hall.

In chorus, the Beacon Street Girls groaned and began to chase after her.