Plastic Polly (20 page)

The three of us spend the next half hour setting up the auditorium. We've moved the ticket and refreshment tables into place in the foyer, and Alyssa has just finished signing Kelsey's cast when Mr. Fish arrives. His expression becomes increasingly annoyed as I tell him about the boycott.

“May I borrow your cell phone?” he asks when I've finished.

“I don't have it right now,” I tell him. “You don't have one?”

“No, Miss Pierce, I don't. I think they're a supreme waste of time.”

Mr. Fish borrows Kelsey's phone. He calls Mrs. Fish and asks her to bring their daughters early so they can help set up. After he's finished, Alyssa calls some of her drama
and choir friends to come and help her and Mr. Fish with the sound and lighting. Then I call Mom, asking her if she can bring snacks for the bake sale.

“You want
me
to bake snacks for you?”

“No, there's not enough time for that. Can you run to the store and pick up some brownies and cookies and stuff?”

“Oh, sure.” Relief floods Mom's voice. “
That
I can do.”

American River's planning committee arrives. Montana leads the way, and her beady black eyes take in the red-and-yellow Winston banners posted on the left wall. “Playing favorites?” she says, and sneers. “Both schools should be equally represented. Otherwise it's not fair.”

“Who is this strange person?” Kelsey whispers loudly.

I shush Kelsey and say, “Turn around, Montana.”

Montana eyes the blue American River banners hanging on the right wall. Then she checks Winston's side again—I think to make sure each school has the same amount. “Fine,” she concedes, and heads backstage, calling over her shoulder, “I left all of our props and costumes in the dressing room. If I find anything out of place, I'm holding you responsible.”

The rest of American River's planning committee—all of them wearing their black polo shirts and khaki pants—
quietly follow after her. Justin brings up the rear and stops in front of me, looking sheepish.

“Mr. Pritchard called me into his office yesterday afternoon, wanting to know if we've been working together. Someone told him they saw us at the diner.”

“Even Mr. Pritchard knows?”

“I guess. And somehow Montana found out. Now she thinks I'm trying to help you guys win.” Justin looks away, over to the stage, where Zack the emcee is testing out the microphone. “She thinks I have a crush on you.”

“Oh? Oh, really?” My voice comes out squeaky.

“Yeah, well . . . So maybe after this is over, do you think I could call you?”

I shake my head. “I wish. I'm currently grounded, and phoneless. But are you going to Maple Oaks High next year?” After Justin nods I say, “Me too. See you there?”

Justin smiles. “See you there.” He turns to walk away. “But I'm still going to win today.”

“Dream on,” I call.

“You dream on,” Justin says before he disappears backstage. “You have no idea what we're planning.”

I don't have time to think about whatever American River has planned, because both school's Talent Teams arrive, and chaos ensues. Backstage I placed a line of duct
tape on the floor, dividing the space into two equal sections. Justin directs his team stage right to the American River section, while I herd my team stage left to the Winston Academy section.

After that I spend ten minutes helping Tasha and Dominique locate their costumes, which seem to have suddenly gone missing. Mr. Fish's daughters arrive, and I assign the three oldest to the ticket and refreshment tables. Then I help Justin separate Kristy and the captain of the American River cheerleading squad, who get into a name-calling match.

“Thanks for not boycotting with Melinda and Jenna,” I say to Kristy as we walk back to the Winston section.

“Melinda and Jenna need to get a grip,” Kristy says with a furious look at American River's cheerleaders. She glances over at Justin. “So he's their PlanMaster? He's cute, in a dorky sort of way.”

“Yeah, I guess. But I promise, I wasn't—”

Kristy waves her hand. “Whatever. I think I believe you. And either way, I'm gonna wipe the floor with their cheerleaders.”

“That's the spirit.” We high-five, and Kristy goes back to her girls.

Mom arrives with brownies, cookies, and several pies she picked up from Chip's.

“Great.” I make a check on my clipboard. “Can you unload them in the foyer?”

Mom looks around at people scurrying left and right. “Polly, I just wanted to tell you—”

“Can it wait?” I ask, noticing that Kelsey has mistaken Betsy the gymnast for a younger student and is trying to shoo her from backstage.

“Kelsey!” I bellow. “Stop messing with my Talent Team!” Then to no one in particular I yell, “Where's the program with all the acts listed? Kelsey clearly needs one!”

“Didn't you tell me Melinda was supposed to pick them up from the printer?” Alyssa comes up behind me.

I look down at my clipboard. “Shoot!”

“Where are they?” Mom asks. “I can pick them up.”

After I tell Mom the name of the printer, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out my cell phone. “Just in case I need to get ahold of you.” I reach for my phone, but Mom moves it out of my grasp. “However, after this is over, it's going right back into my purse. Okay?”

“Okay. Thanks.” I slip my phone into my pocket. When Mom doesn't leave, I ask, “Anything else?”

Mom fidgets with the strap on her purse. “I wanted to tell you that—”

“Would Alyssa Grace and PlanMaster Polly Pierce please report to the
sound booth?”
booms Mr. Fish's voice over the sound system.

“Can we talk later, Mom?” I say, and hurry away.

Alyssa and I spend the next several minutes helping Mr. Fish and a couple of Alyssa's friends hunt through about a hundred CDs for the Soccer Shakers' karaoke music.

“This would've been a lot easier if they hadn't brought their entire music collection,” Alyssa grumbles.

After we finish, I find Kelsey. “How are things going backstage?”

“Great.” Kelsey nods. “All eight acts are almost ready to go.”

I know there's something not right about what she's saying, but I can't figure out what. I don't have time to think about it, though, because Kai and Aidan come rushing up to tell me that Montana's guarding the door to the dressing room, preventing them from getting their hacky sacks.

“She won't let anyone from Winston inside because she's stored American River's props there and she's afraid we'll mess them up,” Kai says.

“Wait!” I call to Kelsey, who's started to walk away. “There's someone on American River's planning committee who thinks our dressing room is her own personal property. Go set her straight.”

“You got it.” Kelsey takes off.

Then one of the Soccer Shakers, a boy named Aaron, stops me. “I can't find my uniform shirt! We're supposed to wear them for our act!”

“So go get a shirt from one of your friends. We're starting pretty soon, and I saw half the soccer team sitting in the audience. They're wearing their uniforms.” I check my clipboard again. Something doesn't seem right. Am I forgetting something?

“Yeah, but it won't have my number on it,” Aaron whines. “I want people to see
my
number.”

I hug my clipboard to my hip and sigh. “Do you want to hear just how much I
don't care
about your number right now? Go out there. Go get your friend's shirt. Or so
help
me, I will sic Kelsey on you.”

“You called?” Kelsey emerges from backstage. She's followed by a slightly terrified and clearly contrite-looking Montana.

“No, we're good.” I look pointedly at Aaron. “Now go out there and get that shirt.”

“Five minutes, everyone! Five minutes!” Mr. Fish calls out.

Mom arrives with the programs and hands me one. She leaves to pass the rest out to the audience. She's followed
by Mr. Pritchard, who's grumbling that things would've been going a lot smoother if American River had hosted Groove It Up.

The overhead lights flicker on and off, signaling that the show's about to start. I close my eyes. Backstage smells like a mixture of sweat, too much perfume, and anticipation. I hear Winston's Talent Team excitedly wishing each other good luck and Mr. Fish giving Zack some last-minute instructions. For the first time all day, I breathe a long sigh of relief. Even with the boycott, things are coming together, and it looks like everything's going to be okay.

But when I open my program and scan the list of acts, I freeze. The unease I felt earlier comes flooding back. “Kelsey!” I hiss. “Can you come over here?”

“What?” Kelsey raises her cast like it's a hot-pink baseball bat. “Need me to beat anyone up?”

“No. What did you mean when you said all
eight
acts were ready?”

Kelsey shrugs. “I tracked them down and made sure everyone has everything they need.” She taps the program. “Would've been easier if I'd had that, though.”

Over the sound system, Zack's voice booms,
“Laaaadiiiees and Geeennntlemen! Welcome to the fortieth annual Groove It Up talent show competition. I'm your host, Zack Wilson!”

Applause as loud as a fall thunderstorm bursts from the audience, and I have to shout at Kelsey, “They changed it this year! We've got
ten
acts!” I shove the program at her.

“That would have been helpful to know a lot earlier!” Kelsey shouts back.

“I'm proud to introduce this year's judges: Superintendent Nichols! Principal Martinez from Maple Oaks High School! Annnnnd . . . our very own . . . Mayor Peterson!”

Kelsey reads the program, and I shout, “Who
haven't
you seen today?”

Kelsey looks up. “Derek Tanner and the Glitter Girls!”

“And finally, may I have this year's PlanMasters, Polly Pierce and Justin Goodwin!”

“Find out where they are!” I shout before stepping onto the stage.

True Confession: Sometimes when I'm alone in my room, I lip-sync to the radio and pretend I'm a rock star.

I'
M GREETED WITH CHEERS AND BOOS FROM THE AUDI
ence as I take my place next to Justin on the stage. The families from Winston Academy are sitting on the left, most of them dressed in red and yellow. On the right, people hold signs saying,
AMERICAN RIVER IS A WINNER!
On Winston's side I see Principal Allen sitting in the front row, right next to my parents. Flashes of white light twinkle like shooting stars as Zack poses for pictures with the judges.

While I wait, I step back a couple paces and glance backstage. Kelsey is standing in the wings, talking on her cell phone.

Please, please, please let Derek and the Glitter Girls be here,
I think, trying not to panic. Because I have no idea what I'm going to do if we're short two acts.

Once the pictures are finished, Zack moves to center stage. “We've got a great show planned for you tonight! To celebrate our fortieth anniversary, tonight's winning school will receive some fabulous prizes! The winning Talent Team will appear next week on
Good Morning, Maple Oaks
, and the entire school will receive a private concert with our favorite hometown band, Shattered Stars!” More applause, so loud I see a couple people clamp their hands over their ears. Finally Zack motions for everyone to be quiet and says, “Dim the lights, please!” A spotlight switches on, and Zack instructs everyone on the stage to form a circle. The audience quiets down, and everything is silent except for the clicking of several camera shutters. “And now, to kick things off, we'll toss a coin to determine which school will have the honor of opening the show. May I have the coin?”

Mr. Pritchard reaches into his pocket, but Mr. Fish stops him. “I've got one.” Mr. Fish produces a penny so shiny, it practically glows. “Just picked it up from the bank this morning. If you don't mind.”

He reaches past Mr. Pritchard and hands the coin to Zack, who looks at Justin and me. “PlanMasters, call it!”

Justin nods at me.

“I call heads!” I say, hoping I look like I really want to win the toss. But right now I'm trying to remember our program. The Glitter Girls were toward the end, I think. But wasn't Derek one of our first acts?

“All right. HERE. WE. GO!” Zack tosses the penny high into the air, and it spins and twists, a copper star twinkling in the spotlight, until it drops into the center of our circle.

“It's tails!” shouts the mayor.

Cheers erupt from American River's side and boos from Winston Academy's side.

“Will the judges, teacher advisers, and PlanMasters each confirm this is tails?” Zack says.