CHAPTER 12: Showtime!

We arrived at the school about 45 minutes later. As soon as we got off the bus and went inside, we were met at the check-in table by one of the teachers who worked there. He had thinning, graying hair, tortoise-shell glasses, and was wearing a dark blue suit. "Good morning," he smiled in a fairly thick English accent. "Welcome to Roosevelt High. I'm Mr. Vincent, and you must be the Stoneybrook Kids."

"In the flesh," Mr. Drubek answered as some of us nodded.

"This way, please," Mr. Vincent said, and led us down the hall to one of the classrooms.

On the way down the hall, I couldn't help noticing how spotlessly white the walls and ceiling in the hallway were. The lockers were a very dull bluish-gray, but what really caught my attention was the rust-colored carpeting on the floor. None of the schools in Stoneybrook had this, not even Stoneybrook Academy.

We got to our assigned room, #115, which was actually two rooms in one. There was a track on the ceiling with those black panels hanging on it, which reminded me of the ER cubicles at the hospital back home. This was so that the boys and girls wouldn't have to change in front of each other. There were hooks on the panels for us to hang our costumes: boys on the left, and girls on the right.

"We'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Mr. Vincent said, then left us alone to change.

"Well, this is it," I told my two best friends as I finished tying my headband.

"Yup," Nancy agreed.

Just then, Becca came up to us. "I just wanted to wish you guys luck," she said, pulling on her wristbands.

"Thanks, Becca," Hannie smiled. The four of us stood in a circle and squeezed hands. That's something that my friends and I do to psyche each other up.

When I went out into the hall, I saw Rick going over the dance steps. "All set?" I asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Just then, Jackie came out of the boys' side of the room. "Mr. Drubek wanted me to tell you that vocal warm-ups are in five minutes," he told us.

"All right," Rick said. Then, turning to me, he asked, "You nervous?"

"A little," I answered. "I'm just glad Jason will still get to see us perform."

"Yeah, I saw how you, Bebe, and David Michael came to his aid when he collapsed at Rax. If I'd been there, you would've been reduced to doing the 'It's going to be all right' bit from Airplane!"

I smiled, then he continued, "I, uh—I just wanted to say that I'm glad we get to sing together, and, uh...(AHEM) I think you're going to be terrific."

I was so touched when he said that. I stood up on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Break a leg, Rick," I said tenderly.

"Thanks," he smiled. "You, too."

He sure was different from when we were seven. I think we all are.

Soon, it was our turn to perform. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, all the way from Stoneybrook, Connecticut, the Stoneybrook Kids!" the principal announced.

As soon as the music started, we all ran out on stage, grinning and clapping to the beat, and launched right into "Proud Mary". Despite the bright lights shining in our eyes, I clearly remember seeing Mom, Seth, and Kristy sitting in the middle of the second row, and they were loving what they were seeing. I know Jason was, too.

After we finished "September" (no, David Michael's voice didn't crack...yet), the boys went behind the set to change their shirts around, and us girls went into "Love Will Keep Us Together" by the Captain & Tennille. I already knew this song, because they played it at Mom and Seth's wedding when I was almost five, and it's always been one of my favorites. In fact, I'd like to hear it at my own wedding someday.

After that, the rest of us left Pamela alone onstage to sing "Close to You" by the Carpenters. And you know what? Even though the two of us never really got along, even I had to admit that her voice was just beautiful. The audience must have thought so, too, because after she finished, I'm laying bets that she got a standing ovation. If I were in that audience, too, I'd be the first one standing.

Next, it was Johnny's turn. "Go get 'em," Hank whispered.

"Thanks, mate," Johnny whispered back, then ran out on stage. He sang "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", and he sang it in the same annoyingly high, nasal voice as the artist who had it, whatever his name was. Other than that, he did a good job.

While the boys went onstage for "ABC", us girls flipped our shirts around. "Are you guys ready for your songs?" I asked my friends.

Nancy nodded. "Nick and I have been practicing ours a lot," she said.

"Me, too," Hannie agreed. "Hey, did you guys know the song 'Ben' is about a rat?"

"No way! Really?" Natalie whispered. "I didn't know that! Did you, Karen?"

I started to answer her, but I was interrupted by Andrew doing his spoken part, as well as a little girl in the audience, maybe around his age, saying, "Oh, my God, he likes me!"

The four of us erupted into stifled giggles. "Hey, what's so funny?" Rosie whispered. When Natalie whispered into Rosie's ear, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Between giggles, she managed to gasp out. "Do not tell Jenny." And we all pinky-swore that we wouldn't.

After that, the other boys left Jackie alone onstage to sing "Old Time Rock & Roll". He did a great job. In fact, I never once heard him trip, drop the microphone, or make a mistake, and that's saying something. Best of all, he wasn't dancing around in his underwear and singing into a hairbrush. I was really proud of him, and I assumed that Kristy and Jessi were, too.

Hannie was next, and I still can't believe that a song as beautiful as "Ben" is about, of all things, a rat. Oh, I hope that Claire and Johnny don't mind me saying this, but Claire told me that her sister, Mallory—who happens to be a BSC member—likes that song, mostly because she's dating Johnny's brother, Ben.

Later on, Nick and Nancy started into their duet, "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart". Even though I had a bird's-eye view, I could tell that both of them were really into it, and the way those two harmonized, to die for.

The next number was "I'll Be There". Just like we'd done back in Stoneybrook, the other kids gathered behind Rick and me during the third verse. By the way, on the Jackson 5 recording, there's a part in the song where Michael says, "Just look over your shoulder, honey." I had said that during rehearsals and the concert, like I was supposed to, but considering what we'd experienced over the past few days, I decided to change it. Without thinking about how Mr. Drubek would take it, I looked into a nearby camera and said, "We love you, Jason."

I wanted Jason to know that we were thinking of him, and that's exactly what he wanted to hear.