A/N: In case you're wondering, my aunt used to have me and my cousins play "Quaker's Meeting" to keep us quiet when we were kids.

CHAPTER 16: Bebe

Well, opening night is just four days away. God, I can't wait! I, for one, think that rehearsals have been running more smoothly this past week. And you know something? Out of all the teachers I've had over the past few years, I don't think I've ever seen any of them get as fired up as Mr. Cheney was that one day. I'm just glad that Kristy and some of the other Peter Pan cast members had warned me about that. On the upside, I'm told that show did very well, and I think that this show will, too...

It was now Monday of production week. A week and a half had passed since Mr. Cheney's blow-up and a week since his apology. Like I said in my journal entry, rehearsals since then had been going very well.

When DM and I got off the bus, Kristy was waiting for us. They headed toward their house, and I headed toward the apartment complex. We had to be back at school in a couple of hours. "See you guys later," I called out.

"See you, Bebe," Kristy called back.

"Oh, DM? Great job with your accent," I said.

"Thanks, Bebe," he answered.

When I got home, I got a banana from the kitchen, then went to my room and dumped my stuff on the floor. I had some time to myself, for once, so I put on my Rush CD and settled back on the bed, just losing myself in the guitars, drums, and Geddy Lee's insanely high voice. I can't even hit some of those notes, and I'm a girl! Why these guys aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet, search me.

An hour and a half later, I heard Daddy call, "Bebe, time to go!"

"Coming, Daddy," I answered, grabbing my jacket and heading to the door. Since it was the first night of tech week, I wasn't sure what to expect from that point on.

That evening at rehearsal, Mallory and Savannah handed out our costumes. The only ones who had to have special costumes made were Stacey, Marilyn, the clowns/vendors, Dawn (when she was a sign girl), Sam, the Bluebird Girls, and the Shillaber twins. The rest of the costumes were rented from a costume shop in Stamford.

"Now, we expect you to take really good care of these," Savannah was saying. "Don't get them dirty or lose any parts of them. Also, when you're not wearing them, do not leave them lying around. You must hang them up, especially anything made of satin. Getting the wrinkles out is next to impossible, and believe me, I know from experience. There are designated areas in the dressing room where you can hang them."

The Bluebird Girls' costumes were really pretty. They were basically light blue leotards with white and gold sequins sewn on them, navy chiffon miniskirts, and white headbands with three blue feathers glued onto them. Also, the Bluebird Girls, Jessi, and Shannon were told early on that we'd be performing barefoot. At first, it was freezing, but we soon got used to it. I, for one, was already pretty used to it, because our apartment is so warm, I never wear shoes.

Tonight's rehearsal went pretty well, even though it was our first time to be working with the lights. I think all of us expected them to distract us, especially during "Kommen", but we didn't miss a beat. If only we knew what the words to the song meant, eh!

That night after we got home, I decided to take a bubble bath. My muscles were a little stiff from all the dancing, and I've heard a lot of people say that warm water's supposed to help; and believe me, it did. By the way, here's a little tip: if you want to relieve sore, aching muscles, you can't go wrong with lavender bubble bath.

While I was in the tub, I was quietly singing "Kommen" while I went over the steps in my head. We'd been working on that particular one quite a bit. In fact, we'd even made up this one step where Pamela Harding and I leapfrog over Rosie Wilder and Kerry Bruno—who happens to be my best friend—and land facing each other, while Kristy Thomas does a cartwheel. That step was the hardest, and the first time we tried it, Pamela and I literally banged our heads together when we landed, sandwiching poor Kristy right in the middle of us! Fortunately, she wasn't too upset with us, and still gets a good laugh about it.

After my bath, I put on my pink Minnie Mouse nightgown, went to my room, and sat down on my bed to brush my hair. Just as I was finishing, I heard a whistle, and a voice call, "Hey, Bebe!"

I turned around and saw Carrot Top behind my mattress. I was a little surprised, but I also knew it was Jason. I mean, who else would it be, right? But I decided to play along anyway.

"Hi, Carrot Top," I said. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing all right," Carrot Top said. "Tonight's rehearsal went pretty well, didn't it?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "I think Mr. Cheney seems much calmer compared to last week, don't you?"

"Oh, definitely," Carrot Top agreed.

"Jason's doing a great job," I said. "And have you noticed how Karen's always hanging around him?"

"Really?"

I nodded. "She just loves him to bits." Then I tucked my hair behind my ear, leaned over, and whispered, "By the way, don't tell Karen I said this, but I think Claudia likes him."

"Wow, I didn't know that!"

And that was not Carrot Top's voice! I yanked the puppet off Jason's hand, and he came up from behind the bed, smiling and laughing his head off.

"Fooled you pretty good, yes?"

"I've never been so insulted in my life!" I exclaimed, beating Jason over the head with the puppet. All the while, Jason put his hands up in front of his face and continued laughing. Of course, I wasn't really mad, not even close.

"Oh, you have, too, and you know it," he laughed as he sat beside me.

"Okay, you want to settle this the way we used to? Fine." Then I said in a sing-song voice, "I'm telling your mo-om! I'm telling your mo-om!"

"See if I even ca-are, see if I even ca-are," he sang back.

"And by the way, Jason," I added, "I knew it was you the whole time."

I should've taken off running, but I never got the chance, because the next thing he did was grab my ankles and tickle my feet. I was laughing so hard, it's a wonder I didn't fall off the bed.

Brothers can be such a pain, blood-related or not.