Initiation

by Isobel Bird

“They are,” Cooper said, closing her eyes. How could this be happening? That was supposed to be our big surprise, she thought.

  “Okay,” Jane said. “We have to come up with something else. We can’t do the same song. What else can we do? How about that one you’ve been working on? You know, ‘Rain on My Face’ or ‘Rain on the Roof,’ or whatever it is.”

  “It’s ‘Rain on My Parade,’ ” Cooper said. “And no, we’re not doing that. We have to do a Scrapple song.”

  “But they took ours!” Jane wailed.

  “We know other ones,” said Cooper. “Just think.”

  Lemon Fizz was finishing up the song. The Bitter Pills were on next. “We have, like, thirty seconds,” Cooper told Jane.

  The Lemon Fizz girls finished their set and left the stage to thunderous applause. “We’re on,” Cooper said.

  “But what song are we doing?” Jane asked.

  “I’ll tell you when it’s time,” said Cooper, taking her friend’s hand and dragging her along.

  She and Jane passed through the curtain and walked onto the stage as the announcer was saying, “It’s time to take your Bitter Pills, ladies and gentlemen.”

  As she and Jane plugged their guitars into the amplifiers, Cooper looked out at the audience. There, standing right at the edge of the stage, were her friends. And off to the side was the judges’ table. Cooper glanced over and saw Betty Bangs looking down at the paper in front of her. She’s not even looking at us, Cooper thought.

  But there was no time to dwell on it. It was time to play. Cooper looked at Jane, who nodded. Without saying a word to the audience, Cooper began playing. Their first song was a wild, rough number called “None for You.” Jane had written it, and she sang lead. Cooper concentrated on playing her guitar, joining in on the chorus. When the song was over, the audience clapped appreciatively.

  Just keep focused on the music, Cooper told herself, fighting the temptation to see if Betty Bangs was watching them. Instead she started on the next song, which was one she’d written titled “When I Sleep.” It was a new song, and she really liked it. She and Jane had never played it live before, and Cooper was glad to see people singing along after hearing the first chorus. It made her feel less worried about the judges, particularly Betty, and she found herself loosening up. By the third number, a collaboration between her and Jane called “Fill It Up With Regular,” she was enjoying herself.

  Then it was time for the last song. As the audience’s applause died down, Cooper saw Jane watching her expectantly. She had to decide, and quickly, whether they would do one of their own songs or go ahead with a Scrapple tune. Finally, Cooper allowed herself to look over at Betty Bangs. She was still looking at her paper.

  I’ll give her something that will get her attention, Cooper thought. She leaned over to Jane. “Let’s do ‘Anything for Attention.’ ”

  Jane looked surprised. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  Cooper nodded. The song was one of the more obscure Scrapple songs, but it was one of Jane and Cooper’s favorites. They’d only played it a few times together, though, and then only for fun. They’d never seriously practiced it. “Just go for it,” Cooper told Jane.

  Cooper leaned into her microphone. “Like Lemon Fizz, and probably like most people here, Jane and I are big Scrapple fans,” she said. “At the risk of looking like total suck-ups, we’d like to do this last song for Betty. Thanks for making us want to play.”

  With that she began the song. Just have fun, she told herself. That’s what playing rock music is all about. And she did. She let go and gave everything she had to the song. Jane did the same. Pretty soon Cooper forgot about Betty Bangs, and about the competition, and she remembered how much she loved just being onstage, playing good music with Jane.

  When the song came to its end Cooper played the final chord and then reached over to grab Jane’s hand, lifting it in triumph. She gave a final wave to her friends, who clapped madly, and then she and Jane went back through the curtain, where the first thing they saw was the singer from Lemon Fizz.

  “Nice idea, doing a Scrapple cover,” she said, clearly being sarcastic. “Too bad you didn’t think of it first.”

  Cooper ignored her as she and Jane put away their guitars. The last band was on, and Cooper was still enjoying the rush she got from playing live. She barely noticed when Messy Lucy finished and the announcer came back for a final time.

  “All right,” she said. “It’s time to hear who our judges picked as tonight’s winner. But before we announce that, let me just say that the prize tonight is a guitar autographed by Miss Betty Bangs herself.”

  “Oh,” Cooper said, gripping Jane’s hand. “I so want to win that.”

  There was a pause as someone brought the announcer the results of the judging. Cooper held her breath as the woman took what seemed like hours to read them.

  “It looks like tonight’s lucky winners are—Lemon Fizz!” she called out finally.

  Cooper’s heart sank. “Lemon Fizz?” she said to Jane as the members of that group streamed onstage.

  Jane looked crestfallen. “I guess you can’t win every time,” she said.

  Cooper picked up her guitar. “Let’s get out of here,” she said. She wanted to get as far away from the club as she could, before what little high she still had from playing evaporated completely.

  She and Jane went out front, where their friends were waiting for them.

  “You guys really kicked butt,” Kate said.

  “Thanks,” Cooper said, meaning it.

  “I don’t know why that other band won,” Siobhan said to Jane. “You guys were much better.”

  “Loads better,” said someone beside Annie.

  Cooper saw a girl standing there, hanging back a bit. She was a little younger than Cooper and her friends, with shoulder-length blond hair and glasses. Seeing Cooper looking at her, she blushed.

  “I’m Anne,” she said shyly. “Anne Rouyer. I just wanted to tell you that I love the way you play.”

  “Thanks,” said Cooper.

  “I saw you guys play once before,” Anne said. “At Bar None. You were amazing.”

  “You mean you came here to see us?” Jane asked her.

  Anne nodded. “I want to be in a band,” she said. “I sing and play guitar a little. Not as good as you guys do,” she added.

  Jane looked at Cooper, and suddenly losing didn’t matter anymore. Cooper couldn’t believe that the girl had come to see her, the same way she went to see bands that inspired her.

  “My favorite song of yours is ‘Why Should I Care?’ ” Anne told Cooper. “I wish I could write something like that.”

  Cooper wasn’t sure what to say to the girl. Anne was her first fan. Well, her first fan besides her friends. Cooper felt like she should say something nice to Anne, but she found herself unable to think of anything.

  “Ask her to hang out with you.”

  Cooper turned and found Betty Bangs standing next to her. She was so shocked she couldn’t even react.

  “Ask her to hang out with you,” Betty whispered in Cooper’s ear. “You’ll make her night.”

  “Um, would you like to hang out with us?” Cooper said, turning back to Anne, who seemed totally oblivious to the fact that Betty Bangs was there.

  Anne’s face lit up. “Could I?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Cooper said. “Why don’t you all go get a table. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Kate, Annie, and Siobhan took Anne and went to find a table. Jane, having seen Betty, remained behind. When their friends were gone, Betty shook Cooper’s hand, then Jane’s.

  “I just wanted to tell you guys that you really rock,” she said.

  Cooper was stunned. “But we lost,” she said.

  Betty snorted. “Not because of me,” she said. “I gave you guys first place. It was the two guys who voted for Lemon Fluff or whatever they were called. They thought the singer was hot—and she flirted with them before the show. Typical music business stu
ff.”

  “You gave us first place?” Jane said.

  Betty nodded. “That cover of ‘Anything for Attention’ was even better than my original. I loved how you guys gave it that raw, unrehearsed feel.”

  Jane and Cooper exchanged glances but didn’t say anything. Cooper wanted to confess to Betty that their version had been raw and unrehearsed, but she was so excited by Betty’s compliment that she let it ride. Better than her original, Cooper kept repeating to herself.

  “These other bands were okay,” Betty said, waving her hand dismissively. “But you guys were something different. What are your plans for this summer?”

  “I don’t know,” Cooper said. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

  “Well, think about it,” Betty told her. She took a card out of her pocket. “This is my manager. Call her next week. I’m putting together a women-in-rock tour, and I’d be really interested in having you guys play the small stage on the West Coast leg if you’re interested.”

  Cooper stared at the card in her hand. Was Betty joking? Had she really just asked Cooper and Jane to play on a real concert tour?

  “Like I said, you guys are originals,” Betty told them. “I like people who do their own thing. Keep it up. And call that number. I’ve got to get out of here, but I’m sure I’ll see you two again soon. And don’t forget your little groupie. She’s waiting for you over there.”

  All Cooper could do was nod at Betty as she disappeared into the crowd. It took another minute before she could look at Jane and say, “Did that just happen?”

  “Uh-huh,” said Jane, nodding.

  “Betty Bangs just asked us to tour with Scrapple?” Cooper said.

  “Uh-huh,” said Jane again.

  The two girls looked at each other.

  “She said we were originals,” said Jane. “She said we do our own thing.”

  Cooper looked again at the card in her hand. Do our own thing, she thought. She had always prided herself on not having to be like everyone else, of not having to be part of a group. Suddenly a thought came to her. You don’t just have to be an original when it comes to your music, she told herself. You can do it with magic, too.

  Cooper looked at the table where her friends were waiting. She saw Anne Rouyer watching her intently. “Let’s go mingle with our adoring public,” Cooper said to Jane. And later, she thought, I’m going to present Kate and Annie with a proposition.

  CHAPTER 11

  “When Becka and her dad move in, this is going to be his office,” Annie said as she turned on the light in the room next to Meg’s. “But until then it’s the guest bedroom.”

  Juliet looked around at the room. Inspired by Annie’s and Becka’s paint job, Grayson and Aunt Sarah had decided to tackle the office as well. It had taken most of the previous Sunday to clean the room of the junk that had accumulated there over the years. Some of it had gone down to the basement, some to the garage, and some directly into the trash. Once the room was empty, the walls had been painted a rich chocolate color. Because the room got a lot of light during the day, the newly painted walls gave off a warm glow that wasn’t at all dark or depressing. And once Grayson’s big oak desk was moved in, the room was going to be beautiful. At the moment it held a bed, a dresser, and an armchair that Annie and her aunt had set up so that Juliet could have her own room during her visit.

  “This is great,” said Juliet, putting her suitcase on the bed.

  “I’ll show you my room next,” said Annie, taking her sister by the hand and dragging her down the hallway and up the weird little staircase that led to the part of the house where Annie—and now Becka—had their rooms.

  “I love it,” Juliet exclaimed when she saw Annie’s bedroom. “It’s so big and airy.”

  “Isn’t it?” said Annie. “In the summer the breeze is fantastic. It smells like the ocean and roses and pine trees.”

  Juliet was walking around Annie’s room, looking at everything. She stopped in front of the large painting hanging opposite Annie’s bed—a painting that had been done by their mother. It showed Annie as a baby, being held by Mrs. Crandall as she looked out the window at a full moon. Juliet gazed at the picture for a minute without saying anything, then moved on. She stopped in front of Annie’s altar.

  “That’s a beautiful goddess statue,” she said, looking at the image of a large, round woman that was surrounded by small white and green candles on the altar. “What’s it made out of?”

  “Salt dough,” Annie said. “I made it for the Spring Equinox. We used to make Christmas ornaments out of salt dough when I was in second grade. I thought I could probably use it to make a goddess statue. She didn’t bake all the way through, but I like her.”

  Juliet laughed. “Half baked or not, I think she’s cool.”

  Annie was relieved that Juliet didn’t think her altar was weird. Although they had talked about Annie’s involvement in Wicca, this was the first time Juliet had actually seen any real evidence of her little sister’s witchcraft studies. She looked at the things on the altar for another minute or so and then turned around.

  “We should go downstairs,” she said. “Aunt Sarah has probably already gotten into the costumes.”

  When they’d picked Juliet up at the airport that afternoon, she had been carrying not only her own suitcase but two huge bags containing the costumes she’d been working on for the wedding. The bags had been deposited in the living room before Annie had shown Juliet to her bedroom. Both Aunt Sarah and Meg had been eyeing them with great interest, and Annie knew they wouldn’t be able to hold out for too long.

  As she and Juliet went down the stairs to the kitchen, Juliet laughed. “It feels so strange saying Aunt Sarah,” she told Annie. “I grew up with an Aunt Shirley, an Aunt Charlene, an Aunt Jean, and an Aunt Edith. I’m so used to saying their names that saying Aunt Sarah makes me feel like I’ve gotten the names mixed up or something.”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Annie told her. “Besides, she’s so freaked out about the wedding that she’d probably answer to just about anything.”

  They walked through the kitchen to the living room, where they found Meg unzipping one of the bags.

  “Ah-ha!” Juliet exclaimed, making Meg jump. “Caught you.”

  Meg turned a guilty face to them. “I was just testing the zipper,” she said quickly. “It looked like it might be broken.”

  “That’s true,” said Aunt Sarah. “We were just saying that it would be too bad if the zipper was broken and you couldn’t use the bag anymore.”

  “Liars,” Juliet said, shaking her head sadly. “I’ve come to a house of liars.” She turned to Annie. “How do you live with this?”

  Annie sighed deeply and looked seriously at her sister and aunt. “It’s hard,” she said. “But they can’t help themselves.”

  “Oh, man,” Meg said. “I don’t feel that bad about it. Just show them to us already.”

  Juliet laughed as she knelt beside the bags and unzipped first one and then the other. Out of one of them she pulled a blue dress with a white apron.

  “Here’s Alice,” she said, handing the costume to Annie to hold up.

  Aunt Sarah looked approvingly at the dress. “Very nice,” she said. “With some black shoes and white socks, that will be perfect.”

  “And here’s the groom,” Juliet announced. She had taken out a purple velvet jacket and a plain white shirt. “But that’s not the best part.” Again she reached into the bag, and this time she emerged with a large hat that resembled a top hat that had been sat upon and badly smashed.

  “That’s perfect!” Annie said. “It looks just like the one the Mad Hatter wore.”

  “It still needs some work,” Juliet said. “But this is basically it.”

  “Where’s mine?” Meg asked impatiently, looking meaningfully at the second bag.

  “Coming right up,” said Juliet. She rummaged around in the bag and pulled out a vest made of red plaid material and a jacket made out of green plaid ma
terial.

  “I brought some fuzzy material for making ears, too,” she told Meg. “And wait until you see the nose and whiskers my friend Todd came up with. The man is a genius with latex.”

  Another trip into the bag revealed bolts of fuzzy purple and pink material that Juliet announced she was going to fashion Becka’s Cheshire Cat costume out of during the week. She also showed them the gorgeous red, black, and white velvet dress she’d fashioned for the Queen of Hearts.

  “And now for the best part,” she said, looking at Annie.

  Annie held her breath. She’d been wondering what her Caterpillar costume might look like. Juliet had refused to give her any hints.

  Juliet pulled what looked like a length of greenish blue silk from the bag. She shook it and Annie, Meg, and Aunt Sarah all gasped in surprise. The silk was actually a kind of body suit. Attached to either side were six short arms, also made out of silk, that had been stuffed so that they stood out from the main body of the costume.

  “What do you think?” Juliet asked.

  “I think it’s amazing,” said Annie, taking the costume and holding it up to herself. The twelve arms jiggled around, making her laugh. “I can’t wait to try it on.”

  “You and I will have to work on some kind of mask or head thing,” Juliet told her sister. “Otherwise you’ll just look like Annie the Amazing Worm Girl or something.” She looked at Meg and Aunt Sarah, who were also admiring their costumes. “Actually, none of these are totally done,” she said. “I’ll be working on all the details this week. So if there’s anything you don’t like, just say so.”

  “They’re wonderful,” Aunt Sarah said, putting down her dress and giving Juliet a big hug. “I can’t thank you enough for all of this.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Juliet told her. “Believe me, working on these was a lot more interesting than making sixteen identical bowling shirts for the theater people.”

  “They’re doing a show about bowling?” asked Meg. “That sounds boring.”

  Juliet laughed. “It’s even more boring than that,” she told her sister. “They actually are bowling. It’s for their league. They wanted something unique to wear. We drew straws for who had to make them, and I lost. After making all of those, coming up with White Rabbit and Caterpillar costumes was a picnic.”