The minute Principal Hardy had dismissed the performers, Lark bolted from the stage on a mission.
“Songbird!”
“Daddy!” She doubled her pace, speeding toward her father to throw herself into his open arms.
“I’ve missed you so much!”
“I miss you too, baby girl.”
He was holding her so tightly, she nearly couldn’t breathe, and she was pretty sure she was crushing the bouquet of purple irises he’d brought, but she didn’t care. “I can’t believe you’re here. And you know what? I don’t even mind that scruffy beard of yours scratching my cheeks.”
Jackson laughed. “I’m so sorry we missed your first song, darlin’. The plane was delayed.”
“But you made it in time to hear ‘Is It Just Me.’ I fixed the bridge, the one you helped me with.”
“It was perfect,” said Jackson, placing her back on her feet and giving her a huge smile. “And the best part was that you got up there and sang it in front of all these people.”
“I was shaking like a leaf.”
“Couldn’t tell from where I was sitting. You looked like a real pro.”
Donna ran over to join them, wrapping her arms around Lark. “You! Were! Amazing! Oh, Lark, I am so proud! As my granny used to say, I am livin’ in the high cotton tonight.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“And you were absolutely right about Teddy,” Donna continued. “He’d be a perfect addition to Abbey Road. I’ve already talked to Max and Ollie and they’re all for it.”
As if on cue, the boys appeared, looking somewhat frazzled.
“Y’all okay?” asked Lark.
Ollie laughed. “Never better. We got stopped to sign autographs.”
“You brought the house down, Lark!” said Max. “You’re a star. And speaking of stars . . . where’s our boy Teddy? I want to shake his hand.”
“Yes, where is Teddy?” asked Donna, shifting into professional mode. She began to scan the crowd. “The sooner I talk to him and his parents, the better. I wonder if they’d object to my stylist giving him a few blond highlights.”
“Mom,” said Lark with a giggle. “Slow down. You can have your people call his people in the morning.”
“Of course. Sorry.” Donna gave her a sheepish look. “You’re right. Tonight is all about you, baby.”
“Good. Then I vote we all go back home right now, where Dad and me can drink sweet tea and play our guitars under the stars.”
Jackson’s eyes turned serious. “Songbird, are you talking about Nashville? Because we’ve been over this and—”
“No, Daddy,” Lark said, taking his hand. “I’m talking about my home right here in LA.”
“Is that really how you feel?” asked Donna, her eyes shining, her voice hopeful.
Lark nodded. “I’m a lucky girl. I’ve got two places I can call home. After all, home is where the heart is . . . that’s what people say.”
“Hmm. Sounds like a great opening line for a hit, doesn’t it?” Donna teased.
“Sure does!” Lark said, beaming. “It sure does.”
Suddenly, someone was standing behind Lark, nervously clearing her throat. She turned to see Mimi, looking worried.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?” asked Mimi. “In private?”
“Sure, Meems.” Lark excused herself and followed her friend to a quieter corner of the auditorium. “What’s up?”
“This is what’s up,” said Mimi, holding out her cell phone. Paused on the screen was the “Homesick” music video. “As in uploaded . . . still.”
It took Lark a moment to understand. “You mean the ‘Homesick’ video is still posted online? You never took it down?”
Mimi shook her head. “You know I only posted it so that you could show it to your mom that day you needed to prove that Aidan was lying.” She shrugged. “But I sorta-kinda-oops forgot to take it down.”
“So just take it down now. It’s no big deal.”
“Well, actually it is kind of a big deal. In fact, it’s kind of a huge deal.”
“Meems, what are you talkin’ about? You’re acting like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.”
Mimi frowned. “Ohhh-kaayy . . . I have no idea what that means, but . . . look.”
She pointed to the spot where the number of views was logged. Lark squinted at the tiny numerals and gasped.
“Mimi!”
“I know, I know!”
“How?”
“Best I can figure is that the footage I posted of Holly Rose with the boys got lots of views because she’s a huge star. That sent people looking for other videos I’ve made. And, well . . . they found you.” Mimi bit her lip. “Are you mad?”
Lark honestly did not know how to answer that. A day ago she would have been frantic about it. The thought of thousands of people hearing her sing her most intimate thoughts would have made her skin crawl. But tonight, everything had changed. She’d sung her original song in front of their entire school and won the talent show.
But winning a gift card to the Ice Cream Lab was a far cry from going viral in cyberspace.
“Do you want me to take it down?” Mimi asked, her finger poised over the phone’s screen.
Lark opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again. What should she do? She had no idea. Should she leave the video posted for the entire world to see and enjoy or criticize? Or should she take it down immediately?
Was this her worst nightmare . . .
Or a dream come true?
With special thanks to Lisa Fiedler
Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi and Sydney
First published in Great Britain in June 2016 by
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
First published in the USA in June 2016 by
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
1385 Broadway, New York, New York 10018
www.bloomsbury.com
This electronic edition published in June 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Hothouse Fiction 2016
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 4088 6854 6
eISBN 978 1 4088 6855 3
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Girl vs. Boy Band Page 16
