Stitches and Stones (8 page)

“Wow, these are amazing!” Kate said. “How did you do that?”

“Not easily!” Zoey admitted. “They were a lot harder than I thought they'd be. It's taken me forever just to do three because I couldn't get the
fabric to lie flat. And I still have all the other things to make.”

“That's what I'm here for!” Kate said. “What can I do to help?”

“How about you cut out the pattern for the wrist cuffs while I finish this last fascinator, and then the scarves are easy-peasy.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Kate declared.

Zoey put on music and they both got to work.

“It's true what they say about many hands make light work,” Zoey said when they were almost finished. “I thought I was going to be up all night!”

Mr. Webber popped his head into Zoey's bedroom.

“Hi, honey—hi, Kate. Sorry I wasn't home for dinner. Had to do some extra rehab with some injured players to try to get them back in playing form for the championships.”

“It's okay,” Zoey said. “Marcus ordered pizza.”

“Marcus said you have a question for me?” her dad went on.

Zoey explained that Allie from the
Très Chic
online feature wanted to meet her at A Stitch in
Time. Her dad agreed, as long as he could talk to Allie's parents first and stay at the fabric store with them during the meet up. “You know, I'm sure if the folks at
Très Chic
give Allie their seal of approval, there's nothing to worry about . . . but you can't be too careful.”

“Thanks, Dad!” Zoey said.

Her dad scanned the room. “What are you two up to?”

“Kate's helping me make accessories for tomorrow,” she said. “You know, for the karaoke competition.”

Mr. Webber came in and picked up one of the fascinators, but held it upside down.

“Wow. This is cool. What is it, exactly?”

“It's a
fascinator
, Dad,” Zoey said.

“Well, that's absolutely
fascinating
, but I still don't understand what it is,” her dad said.

“You wear it in your hair,” Kate explained.

Mr. Webber held up the sparkly fascinator to his thinning hairline.

“You mean like
this
?”

Kate giggled. Zoey rolled her eyes.

“Um . . . no!” she said. “You should stick to baseball hats.”

“Right now, I think I'll forego hats of any kind,” Zoey's dad replied, “in favor of a long, hot shower. Good night, girls.”

He gave Zoey a kiss on the forehead. Zoey was thinking of asking him to wait so she could talk with him when a car horn honked outside. First once, then two more times. When she looked back for her dad, he was gone.

“That must be my mom,” Kate said. “Time to go . . .”

“Thanks for helping me, Kate,” Zoey said. “I wouldn't have finished otherwise.”

“We're a team, right?” Kate said. She waved her nails in Zoey's face. “A very
sparkly
team!”

Glitter Up, Girls!

I never thought I'd say this, because I
Mapleton Prep and I'm usually full of school spirit, but TGIF! I'm sooooo glad Spirit Week is almost over. It hasn't turned out to be nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. You know when you've looked forward to something for
a long time, and then it doesn't quite live up to your expectations? Yup. Like that.

Maybe today, School Colors Day, will be the day that turns it all around. I'm really happy with how the accessories I made last night (with help from Kate, thank you, sparkly teammate!!) came out. How do you spice up School Colors Day? Add sequins! We found some sequined material in the hat closet at Priti's house when we were looking at hats. Priti said I could use it, and I tried to work it as little as possible so nothing went to waste, because it's so beautiful and sparkly! It'll give our outfits the perfect finishing touch when it's time for the karaoke competition, don't you think?

Now if we can only remember all the dance moves and the words to our song! Wish me—oops! I mean, wish
us
—luck!

The entrance to Mapleton Prep was a sea of red and silver when Kate and Zoey got off the bus the next morning.

Morning classes passed quickly because they were on an abbreviated schedule so the students
could finish early for the school assembly.

Kate, Libby, Priti, and Zoey met in the girls' bathroom before the assembly to get dressed for the karaoke competition. Zoey had a shopping bag full of sparkly accessories to add to their School Colors Day outfits.

“What do you think?” she asked, putting a fascinator on Libby first. “Does this look right?”

“Perfect, totally, yes! And I love what you did with the fabric!” Priti exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement. “Where's mine? I can't wait to put it on!”

Zoey took it out and helped Priti put it in her hair. Kate gave Priti a scarf and wrist cuffs. Priti wrapped the scarf around her neck and tossed the ends over her shoulder with a jaunty flair.

“These accessories are so cool!” Libby said, snapping on some wrist cuffs. “You must have been up all night, Zoey.”

“No, Kate helped me,” Zoey said. “Otherwise I totally
would
have been up all night.”

Soon after, the entire school gathered in the auditorium for the Spirit Assembly and karaoke
competition. There was red and silver everywhere!

“Thank you for all the creativity you've displayed this week,” Ms. Austen told the students. “I've been so impressed by the outfits you've come up with for each of our Spirit Week theme days.”

She picked up the remote for the projector.

“Let's have a look at some of the great ensembles we've seen in school this week,” she said, starting a slideshow.

Zoey grabbed Kate when a picture of Kate and Libby in their Oreos and milk costume came up. “Look! It's you!”

There also was a picture of Priti in her Decades Day costume, and Zoey in her Backward Day outfit.

“Do you think any of these will end up in the yearbook?” Kate whispered.

“Maybe!” Zoey said.

When the slideshow ended, Ms. Austen said it was time to announce the Spirit Week prizes. Zoey's heart started to beat a little faster. It had been a challenging week, what with all the unpleasant stuff on her blog, and winning a prize for best costume would definitely cheer her up.

But as Ms. Austen went down the list of prizes, her name wasn't called. Not once. Zoey wondered if maybe, just maybe, the comments on her blog about her having no talent were just saying the truth.

“And now, last, but definitely not least, Best Team Costume,” Ms. Austen announced. She paused a moment for dramatic effect. “Libby Flynn and Kate Mackey for milk and Oreos!”

Kate jumped up with an excited squeal, and Libby was out of her seat, embracing Kate, then Priti, and then Zoey on the way to pick up their prize certificates. Zoey was happy to cheer for her friends, and especially thrilled to see Libby with such a radiant smile on her face after the horrible Hat Day incident. As she and Kate walked back to their seats, Libby got extra loud cheers from her classmates in Mrs. Brennan's class. At least something was going right in the world, Zoey thought.

“This is kind of your award too,” Kate said, giving Zoey a hug as she sat down. “After all, you designed the costumes.”

Zoey smiled, glad she had friends who appreciated her, but she was preoccupied by her nerves.

“Thanks,” she said. “Right now, I'm worried about remembering the dance steps!”

“You'll be fine,” Kate assured her. “You're an old pro at this now. After you've been on TV, doing karaoke in school should be a piece of cake!”

But as the karaoke contest began, Zoey got more and more nervous. The competition was really good. She never realized how many good singers there were at Mapleton Prep. Zoey knew she sounded okay in the shower, but it was different when she sang with a microphone. People could hear her! Priti had a great voice, and Libby's was pretty good, but she and Kate were better dancers than singers. Hopefully, their fancy footwork would wow the audience enough to make up for their so-so vocals.

There were a few groups who went first and got a decent amount of applause from the crowd. Then it was time for Ivy, Shannon, and Bree to sing. The music started and Zoey and her friends gasped.

“You are you and I am me

And that's the way it

All should be . . .”

They were singing “Be Yourself” by Las Chicas!

“Oh my gosh,” Zoey whispered to Kate, Priti, and Libby. “They're singing our song!”

Libby's lip began to quiver. “Everyone's going to think we're copying them!” she said.

“I don't get it,” Kate whispered back. “They're not really about ‘being yourself,' you know? Why would they pick
that
song?”

“Hold on.” Zoey thought back to gym class earlier in the week. “I heard them say they were going to sing “Get Your Cool On.” Why would they switch songs?”

“I'm sorry to say this, but maybe they knew we chose that song and wanted to mess with us,” Priti said in a hushed voice. “But how did they know?”

Kate shrugged.

“Oh no!” Zoey said. “I think . . . I think I wrote about it in my blog.”

For a moment, all four girls were quiet.

Then Libby asked, “What are we going to do?”

Priti sat up straighter and put on her best pep-talk voice. “We're going to go out there and give it our best. I refuse to let them win!”

Zoey smiled. That was so very Priti. The girls nodded in agreement and waited for the song to end.

Zoey wanted to hate Ivy, Bree, and Shannon's performance, but she had to admit they did pretty well, and they certainly got a decent amount of applause from the crowd. As the clapping petered out, Ms. Austen spoke again.

“Nice singing, girls. Okay, next up, we've got Priti Holbrooke, Libby Flynn, Kate Mackey, and Zoey Webber!” Ms. Austen said. “And . . . oh . . . it looks like they're also singing ‘Be Yourself.' Great minds think alike!”

Zoey heard whispers coming from the audience as they walked up to the stage.

“Quiet, everyone,” Ms. Austen said.

It's going to be fine
, Zoey told herself as got into position.
If I can handle
Fashion Showdown
, I can totally handle this
.

But when the music started, Zoey stood frozen in place for what felt like an eternity. When she saw the familiar faces in the crowd—particularly Lorenzo's face—her mind went completely blank.
She looked over at Priti, Libby, and Kate: They were getting into the music and seemed to be actually having fun.
Maybe I can just sneak offstage and no one will notice,
Zoey thought.

She wished the floor would open up and make her disappear—until she caught sight of both Gabe and Ms. Austen smiling and nodding at her encouragingly, as if to say,
Come on, Zoey, you can do this!

That was enough to make her snap out of it.

Glancing at Priti, she was able to pick up exactly where they were in the dance, and she rocked the rest of the song and the dance routine.

What's more, she actually had fun!

When the music stopped, the whole auditorium jumped to their feet and started to clap wildly.

“Nice job,” Ms. Austen said as they walked off the stage.

Gabe smiled at Zoey and gave her a high five as she walked by.

When they reached their seats and sat down, Kate, Priti, and Libby looked visibly relieved. Zoey was still reeling from her episode of stage fright.

“I can't believe I froze like that,” Zoey said. “Did it totally ruin everything?”

“People barely noticed,” Priti said. “It was only for, like, two seconds.”