by Tracey West
Aly frowned. “Like the ‘purple mist of morning’?”
Josh shook his head. “Honestly, I didn’t steal that on purpose. I must have read it and it got stuck in my head . . . I thought it was mine.” He looked like he was going to cry. “I can’t believe I blew my one chance.”
Jim walked up to Josh and gently lifted him up. “Let’s get out of here,” he stated. “We don’t have to mention anything about this until the contest is over.”
The sisters nodded. A cheating scandal would ruin a happy moment for the other two finalists.
“So does that mean the contest is over?” Claire asked.
“Not yet,” AJ said. “Aly and I have to pick a winner.”
Aly looked at her watch. “We’d better do it quickly.”
They ran back to the office.
“Hey, we were great back there,” Aly said. “Laying out the mystery like that. I imagined I was a detective on a TV show. I liked how you were pacing back and forth. Nice touch.”
“I thought so,” AJ said. “But now that the mystery’s solved, we’ve got to choose a winner. Is it Austin or Claire?”
“Austin’s a better performer,” Aly pointed out. “But this is a songwriting contest, not a performing contest.”
“He’s a good songwriter, too,” AJ said. “But so is Claire.”
“Let’s look over their songs again,” Aly suggested.
They quickly read the lyrics sheets. They looked up at the same time.
“I guess it’s obvious,” Aly said.
AJ nodded. “It is,” she said. “But I think I have an idea that will make everyone happy.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
SHOWTIME
“The KeyArena is proud to present Aly and AJ’s special guest!” the announcer blared over the speaker. “Please welcome Austin!”
Thousands of Aly and AJ fans cheered as Austin took the stage. They had never seen him before, or even heard of him, but he was a cute teenage boy—and a friend of Aly and AJ’s. That’s all they needed to know.
“Hello, Seattle!” Austin called out. The crowd cheered again. He grinned, then launched into his song.
The crowd loved it. Austin gave a great performance, dancing across the stage as he sang and played his guitar. When the song was over, he waved and ran off the stage.
Aly and AJ were waiting for him.
“Wow, what a rush!” he said, sweat pouring down his face. “I can’t believe you guys get to do that all the time.”
“It’s a great feeling,” AJ agreed.
Austin unstrapped his guitar. “I have to thank you guys again for letting me do this. It’s completely awesome.”
“We wish there could have been two winners for the contest,” Aly said. “But we had to pick one. We liked Claire’s songs a little better. But you’re an awesome performer.”
“We’ll try to help you get a break whenever we can,” AJ said.
Austin gazed out at the cheering crowd. “I think this is a pretty good start,” he said. “It makes me feel a lot better about losing the contest.”
He looked at AJ. “I’d feel even better if you’d go out with me after the show,” he said.
AJ smiled. “Sure,” she said as Aly raised an eyebrow. “Meet me at our dressing room later.”
“Thanks,” Austin said. His smile could have lit up the entire arena.
Next, some stagehands handed Aly and AJ their electric guitars. Jeffrey and the other bandmates appeared.
“Ready to rock?” Jeffrey asked.
“Let’s do it,” the girls replied.
They ran out onstage. The arena erupted in applause and screams. Aly and AJ took their places behind the two microphones at the front of the stage.
“It’s great to be back in Seattle!” AJ yelled.
The crowd went wild.
“We’re going to open the show with a special song,” Aly told the fans. “It was written by the winner of the Seattle Young Songwriters Competition, Claire Hayden.”
AJ strummed a chord on her guitar. Tommy started a slow beat on his drums. Then the girls launched into Claire’s song, “Prom Queen.”
The crowd loved the song. People were standing up and dancing, and by the second chorus, they were even singing along. Aly and AJ smiled at each other across the stage. They had picked the right song.
They played the song’s final chord, and the audience clapped and cheered. Aly glimpsed Claire standing backstage. She had a look of stunned happiness on her face.
Aly walked to the side of the stage. “Seattle, meet your songwriter, Claire!”
Aly motioned for Claire to come onstage. She hesitated for a minute. The applause just got louder.
“Come on, Claire!” AJ called.
Claire took a deep breath and stepped out to face the crowd. She gave a shy wave, then hurried back to her hiding place.
The concert had gotten off to an amazing start, and the rest of the show went just as smoothly. The crowd’s energy was strong and upbeat all night.
After the show, the girls gulped bottles of water in their dressing room. Then AJ started to fix her makeup in the mirror. There was a knock on the door.
“That must be Austin,” she said. “Come in!”
Austin stepped inside. “Great show, guys,” he said. “AJ, where would you like to go?”
“Anyplace but Howl,” AJ said. “I think I’ve had enough drama for one week.”
Austin laughed. AJ turned to Aly. “I feel bad leaving you here alone. Do you want to come with us?”
Aly smiled. “You don’t have to worry about me.” She looked past AJ, toward the dressing room door.
A boy with brown hair and green eyes stood there, holding a bouquet of daisies.
“Hi, Shane,” Aly said.
Then AJ remembered—it was the cute guy from the fish market. “Hey, I almost didn’t recognize you without your orange overalls,” she joked.
Shane blushed. “My mom says I clean up pretty nice,” he said.
“Would you guys mind waiting outside for just a minute?” Aly asked. “We both need to freshen up a little more.”
“Sure,” the boys answered at once. They left and closed the door.
AJ picked up a hairbrush. “This was a pretty crazy week. I’m relieved that everything turned out okay.”
“Me too,” Aly said. “Playing detective is fun. But I’m glad the only mystery we’re faced with now is whether we’ll have a good time on our dates tonight.”
AJ grinned. “That’s one mystery I look forward to solving!”
