The Lonely Hearts Club (22 page)

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"What?" I screamed. "It's four days away!"

Jen took a deep breath, "He said that he feels it's turned into a Lonely Hearts Club event and that it can't be on school grounds!'

"that doesn't make any sense!' I protested, "Were raising money for the basketball team. We're just helping because you're our friend. Everybody's invited."

Jen put her head in her hands. "I just don't know what we're going to do. We've all worked so hard."

Tracy sat down and put her hand around Jen's shaking body. "It's okay, we'll just have to postpone it until..."

"the hell we are!" I proclaimed. Both Tracy and Jen looked up at me in shock. "We're going to have this party and raise so much flippin' money that the basketball team is going to have the best uniforms in the school's history."

Tracy looked at me like I had gone insane. "But, Pen, we can't use the school."

"then we'll find somewhere else to have it. I am so sick of all the drama. Seriously, what's the point of having the Club if we can't find a way to overcome these little obstacles?"

"But all of the flyers have been put up.., ." Jen argued.

"So we'll make new ones. Screw Principal Braddock -- let's show him how much power we really have," Now even I was a little surprised by myself. "Let's go to my house -- we've got some phone calls to make."

In less than an hour, all thirty members of the Lonely Hearts Club were at my house, ready to step into action. My

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parents had ordered pizza for the group as we analyzed our options.

"I still say all the parents need to get together and talk to Braddock," Dadsaid, opening up a pizza box and helping himself to another slice.

I shook my head. "No, we need to do this on our own and show him that we can stand on our own two feet. We can handle whatever he's going to throw at us."

Dad nodded while he chewed, looking around the room, clearly happy to be in the middle of all the excitement,

"All right, here's the deal," Eileen Vodak said as she came into the basement. "My uncle will let us use the event space at the Bowlarama for free, but since it's a Saturday night and he'll have to turn away paying customers, he asks that we don't bring in any food but have people buy sodas and snacks. Or, if we give him $5 a person, they will cater the event for us with soda and chips and stuff"

"But that's going to cut into the profit," Jen replied as she sat nervously on the floor.

"Exactly how many people are you expecting?" Dad asked.

Jen picked at her uneaten slice of pepperoni, "I have no idea -- fifty?"

"But fifty hardly covers the Club and the basketball team," Diane reminded us.

"Wow, you're right. I guess a hundred or a hundred and fifty." Jen started writing figures down in her notepad.

Dad looked over Jen's shoulder at her writing. "Come to

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think of it, Jen, I don't think the Bloom Dental Office has made a donation to the team this year. How about this -- you guys pull this off and I'll pay for the refreshments?"

Jen looked up at my dad with her big blue eyes, and for the first time all night she smiled. "Dr. Bloom, thank you so much." She got up and threw her arms around him. "I promise to start flossing every day!"

Dad laughed. "Well, that's just great."

I think that might have made his day more than saving the basketball team.

"Okay." Jen nervously bit her lip. "I guess all we need to do now is to let everybody know about the location change. We've got flyers. ... I guess that will be enough." She didn't seem convinced.

"We should make an announcement over the PA system," Tracy said, drawing a microphone on poster board. "Like Braddock would ever let that happen. I just wish I could find a way to get in there and do it."

"You can't," Diane told her,

"Well, I know that. I was just joking," Tracy responded.

Diane stood up. "No, I'm just saying that you can't, but I can."

I stared nervously at the clock before homeroom and took a deep breath to calm down. I hoped Diane could pull this off and that she wouldn't be suspended for it.

Since Diane was the president of the student council, she was responsible for the Friday morning announcements.

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Usually, she just edited the announcements that all the clubs had submitted for the week and let other members read them over the PA.

Not this time.

Hilary Jacobs and I exchanged glances as the bell rang and everybody started to take their seats.

We had been distributing the new flyers all week in the school parking lot. We had to take different shifts to make sure we didn't get caught. One girl hung outside the school office with cell phone in hand, while two others monitored the exit closest to the parking lot. the rest of us were each assigned a row in the parking lot to hand out flyers. Another group came in later to make sure that nobody had littered so there wasn't any evidence.

To my knowledge, Principal Braddock had no idea that we were even still having the karaoke fund-raiser. I couldn't watt to see the look on his face when Jen presented him with the money on Monday. the buzz of the intercom sounded. "Good morning, everybody, and happy Friday," Diane announced. "the following are your announcements for the week. the Key Club's annual flower drive begins next week. Carnations are a dollar, and you can get. . "

I could hardly concentrate on the announcements as I was too nervous for Diane, I prayed that Principal Braddock wasn't too close by and that she would have enough time to do it.

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"And, finally, please note that the girls' basketball karaoke fund-raiser on Saturday night at seven p.m. has been switched from the gymnasium to the Bowlarama on Cook Street." there was a noise in the background, but Diane sounded as calm as ever. "the entrance fee is five dollars, which includes food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you all Saturday night at the Bowl --"

The intercom went dead.

"You're my hero, Diane," Jen said as we headed into the Bowlarama. She was beaming as we bought tickets. "There are so many people here already! I've got to go check on the sign-in sheet for the songs. Remember, you guys aren't off the hook yet."

I didn't want to be reminded.

Diane smiled at her as she handed over her admission fee. "Hey, I took one for the team. Anybody would've done it."

I don't know how many people would've taken getting suspended from playing at Tuesday's basketball game and having her announcement duties revoked in such stride, but Diane was glowing.

We walked into the back room, and it was packed -- there had to be easily over one hundred and fifty people already there. The room was dark with white lights hanging down from the ceiling. it was sort of pretty, for a bowling alley.

I saw the stage up front with a big spotlight on it and a monitor to display the words to the songs. As we headed there, Jen ran over. "This is a total disaster!"

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"Everything is great and look at the turnout -- what could possibly be wrong?" I asked.

"Erin is sick -- her voice is shot."

Wow, Jen really needed to chill out. With all of the drama the past few weeks, I really didn't see one person being sick as a disaster. "Jen, there are plenty of people who will sing, don't worry about it."

"But who will be the first person? Everybody who has signed up has refused to go first. Please, Penny, you need to help me."

I looked around and noticed that Tracy had made a quick getaway.

"Really, Jen, you don't want my help. if I'm the first person to start, the room will be cleared out."

"Please, Penny. Everybody looks up to you. if you do it, I'm sure the whole Club will, too."

Okay, I was wrong. this was a disaster. "Fine".

"Thank you, thank you. I totally owe you."

No kidding. I wasn't going to forget this anytime soon.

I walked over to the Club's five front tables. "All right, guys, I'm going first. Who wants to go up with me?"

You could hear a pin drop. For the first time since the Lonely Hearts Club started, nobody would look me in the eye. "Seriously, guys, if we all go up in a group together, it wont be so bad." Please, oh please, somebody has got to go up with me. "Anybody?"

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Tracy was playing around with her bag of chips, refusing to make eye contact.

Et tu Tracy ?

This was ridiculous. it was just singing a song.

Jen was looking around anxiously. If I didn't act soon, she was going to snap.

"Okay, Jen, let's get this over with! What song am I singing?"

A look of relief spread over her face. "Any song you want. Remember -- I've got Beatles songs!"

Although I loved the Beatles, I felt a little silly singing one of their songs in front of everybody. As Ryan had learned, there were only four people who could ever do those songs justice, and I was not one of them.

t nervously started flipping through the binder -- nothing seemed to be calling out to me. I needed something that wouldn't be difficult to sing and maybe something people would want to join in on. Nothing was looking right, so I figured I might as well go to the old standby. I flipped to the B section of the songs and started going through the Beatles, when I spotted it.

Perfect.

Okay, so I was no Paul, John, or George, but maybe, just maybe, I could be Ringo.

I reluctantly got up on the stage, and as the Club began to cheer, I gave them all a glare. Traitors. My hands were shaking as I scanned the crowd -- it seemed like the entire school was here. Toward the back I saw Ryan clapping for me. I began to

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smile until I noticed who was standing right next to him -- Missy. How could he be around her after everything that had happened?

And, more important, what on earth was I doing up onstage?

Jen grabbed the microphone. "Thank you all so much for coming to this fund-raiser for the team. All the profits from tonight's event will help pay for our new uniforms. So don't be shy, and come up and request your songs. Kicking off tonight's festivities is none other than Miss Penny Lane Bloom!"

I heard cheering, but stared at the monitor, trying to control my breathing. I didn't need the lyrics to this song, but I couldn't stand to look out to the audience. There was hardly an introduction to the song, and before I knew it I was singing, asking everyone what they would do if I sang out of tune -- would they stand up and walk out on me?

So far, no.

Although if I kept singing, that most certainly would happen and, really, would that have necessarily been a bad thing?

I closed my eyes and just moved back and forth as I sang the song. I looked out to the front row, Please help me. I was not only begging, I was actually singing for help. the audience started to clap along.

I strutted over to the side where Tracy and Diane were sitting and cheering me on. I pointed to them as I continued to sing about getting by with a little help from my friends. I motioned for them to join me on the stage.

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Diane got the hint and got up and dragged Tracy along. Morgan and Amy followed, and even Erin came up onstage -- never one to turn down a spotlight.

We all gathered around the microphone, and the rest of the Club members got on their feet and clapped in time with the song. I grabbed the other microphone and headed out into the audience. I started dancing around with the other girls. they all started taking turns singing.

And yes, I somehow got by with a little help from my friends. the song ended and a roar erupted from the crowd. I joined everybody back onstage and we high-fived each other. Jen was jumping up and down as a line starred to form for people to request songs.

We heard everything from girls singing along to boy-band pop to the football team doing a very off-key rendition of "We Are the Champions." Even Morgan and Tyson did a cute duet. The Club couldn't get enough. But most important, Jen was raking in the money.

Morgan, Eileen, Meg, and Kara finished singing "We Are Family," and we were on our feet again.

I sat down next to Tracy and stole a chip from her bag. "Oh my God, Penny," she said.

"Relax, Tracy, it's just a chip."

She pointed to the stage. I saw Ryan standing up there by himself. I started to laugh -- was he trying to prove to the

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whole school how completely imperfect he was? He looked down at me and winked.

"What's the big deal?" I asked.

Tracy looked at me with wide eyes. "Did you see the song he picked?" the music started and my heart dropped.

I recognized the song instantly.

How could I not?

I was named after it.

The entire Club looked over at me as Ryan started singing "Penny Lane." incredibly

off-key. I wanted to feel embarrassed for him as he struggled with the first verse, but I was trying to control the emotion on my face as the entire room kept switching their stares from Ryan to me.

I had to concentrate on breathing, I was so overwhelmed and touched. I couldn't believe this was happening, that Ryan would do this in front of the entire school.

He liked me. He really, really liked me.

And I liked him. I really, really liked him.

I could no longer deny my feelings and tell myself that I couldn't risk the Club. How could I not want to be with someone like Ryan? How much longer was I going to fight it? How much longer was I going to lie to myself?

The first verse ended and Ryan stepped back, looking like he knew what a mistake he'd made. It was heartbreaking in so many ways. Diane suddenly popped out of her seat to help