Mixed Messages (11 page)

Chapter 10
Karaoke Dokey

M
rs. Chapman had already picked up Chloe from soccer practice on the way to rehearsal. Jen was sitting next to her in the minivan.

“You'll never guess what my mom was doing when I got home this afternoon,” Zee blurted out as she fastened her seat belt.

“Taking a nap?” Chloe asked.

“Not this time,” Zee told her. “She was talking to someone about baby-proofing the house.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“It means I'm probably going to have to know a secret code to open a cabinet, go up steps, or lift the toilet lid.”

“Perhaps we should start hanging out at my house more,” Jasper joked.

“But what about Mrs. Carmichael's snacks, Jasper?” Chloe asked. “Wouldn't you miss them?”

“I already do,” Jasper responded, exaggerating a frown.

Jen laughed loudly.

“There weren't any,” Zee said. “Again.”

“Maybe your mom just didn't have time, because the baby-proofer was coming,” Ally suggested.

“I bet it just slipped her mind,” Mrs. Chapman called from the driver's seat in her British accent. “I remember when I was pregnant with Jaspy.”

“Jaspy?” Zee silently mouthed.

Jasper buried his hands in his face.

“What happened?” Chloe asked.

“I forgot everything,” Mrs. Chapman began. “I would pick up the phone and forget who I was calling. I'd drive to the grocery store and end up at the bank.”

“Is that normal?” Ally asked.

“It doesn't happen to every woman, but a lot of people do have trouble remembering things when they get pregnant.”

“When my mom was pregnant with my little sister, she wore slippers to work once,” Jen told them.

The seventh graders laughed.

“See, Zee? It's perfectly normal,” Chloe said.

“I guess,” Zee agreed. “I can't worry about it now, anyway. I need to focus on the performance on Saturday.”

“We all do,” Chloe said, looking at the others. “Right?”

“Now that Bluetopia is running smoothly, I will be able to practice as much as it takes to make The Beans the stars of Brookdale Day,” Jasper said.

Zee turned to Jen. “That was a really good idea to mention Brookdale Day in your update,” she said. “We're all going to do that.”

“Thanks!” Jen said. “I love Bluetopia. I'm making so many new friends.”

“Oh, that reminds me, José sent me a bunch of doodles right before I got home from school.” Chloe blushed. “He says he likes my green eyes.”

“How does he know you have green eyes?” Zee asked.

“I have a bunch of photos on my Bluetopia page.”

“So what does he look like?” Ally said.

“Like a model,” Chloe said.

“Really?” Zee asked.

“Yeah. He only has one picture, but I swear it belongs in a magazine. He's so gorgeous.”

“Wow, Chloe!” Jen exclaimed as the minivan stopped in front of Kathi's house. “That's so awesome.”

Zee looked from one friend to the next. It was great to see Chloe so happy, but was she the only one with a funny feeling about mysterious José?

 

As Zee and her friends approached the Barneys' house, the front door flew open. Mrs. Barney stood inside it with a huge smile across her face. “Welcome, everyone! Please come inside. It's so nice to have you here. I was so pleased Roxy—I mean, Ms. Vardolis—told us that Kathi had stepped up and shown her strong leadership skills. I think that's what a group like this needs.”

Ally stared at Kathi's mother with wide eyes. “Uh-huh.”

“Of course, she gets it from my side of the family. I'm sure you can see that in Ms. Vardolis—and me.”

Chloe nodded. “Totally,” she said unenthusiastically.

Zee looked around. “Um . . . where is Kathi?”

Mrs. Barney placed her hand on her chest and gave a phony chuckle. “Oh my! I almost forgot.” She pointed toward the back of the house. “She's all set up on the patio.”

“By the pool?” Zee asked.

“Yes! I know that most of your families don't have swimming pools as big as mine, so I thought this would be fun.”

Zee began walking toward the back of the house. “Definitely,” she said. The others followed.

Kathi clapped when she saw the others. “Yay! Everyone's here now.”

But Zee could barely hear because she was so distracted by the scene before her. The patio had been transformed into a Hawaiian luau. Tiki torches surrounded the pool. Landon was piling his plate with food from a table full of colorful platters. Missy wore a real flower lei around her neck. Conrad and Marcus were sitting on lounge chairs, sipping drinks in hollow pineapple shells through straws.

“Wow!” Jasper exclaimed.

“I thought we were having pizza,” Chloe said.

“Oh, I just said that,” Kathi said. “My mom would never serve guests pizza. As soon as I told her everyone was coming over, she called our caterers.”

“You really didn't need to go to so much trouble,” Zee pointed out.

“Yes, I did!” Kathi said, then corrected herself. “The Beans deserve to be treated well, and the Barneys know how to do that.”

Ally snorted. Then everyone stared at her. “Oh, sorry,” she apologized. “I must be getting a cold.”

“Anyway,” Kathi said dismissively. She turned to the others and raised her voice. “Let's warm up with some karaoke.”

“I thought we were going to practice for Brookdale Day,” Zee said.

“We are,” Kathi said firmly. “But we're going to have a little fun first.”

“Yeah!” Conrad said to Zee. “Let's have some fun first.”

Marcus got out of his chair and grabbed the microphone. “I'll go first!”

Missy sat down in front of Marcus. “Ally, sit next to me,” she said.

Ally headed across the patio, and Zee followed. The others found a spot around them.

Marcus started pushing some buttons on the karaoke machine. “What are you going to sing, Marcus?” Landon asked.

“You'll find out when I start singing,” Marcus told him. Then he put the mike up to his mouth and nodded to Kathi.

“‘If I were a boy, even just for a day,'” he quietly crooned along to the music.

“Oh no!” Conrad shouted as the others cracked up. Marcus was singing a Beyoncé song.

Marcus kept singing above the laughter, belting out the chorus as loudly as he could and nodding his head furiously each time he got to the part in the chorus, “I think I'd be a better man.”

Conrad leaped onstage after him to perform Rihanna's “Take a Bow.” Each time he sang “How 'bout a round of applause,” he motioned for everyone to clap. When he finished, he yelled, “A standing ovation!” The seventh graders stood and cheered.

Then Kathi did a serious interpretation of Miley Cyrus's “The Climb,” and Jen wowed the crowd with Whitney Houston's classic “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?”

After that, Missy bounded toward the stage as Ally started to get up. “Ally and I are going to sing a duet.”

“Really?” Zee asked.

“Uh . . . yeah,” Ally said. “That's okay, right?”

“Definitely,” Zee said, although it sounded more like, “No.”

Chloe leaned closer to Zee. “I know the perfect song for us to sing together,” she whispered.

Zee smiled.
Good old Chloe!
Knowing Chloe was there for Zee made it easier to watch Ally and Missy having so much fun—without her.

When Ally and Missy finished singing their duet from
High School Musical
,
Chloe grabbed Zee's arm. “Our turn!” Chloe announced.

“What are we singing?” Zee asked.

“It's a surprise,” Chloe explained.

“From me?” Zee said. “How can I sing if I don't know what I'm singing?”

Chloe shook her head. “Don't worry. As soon as the music comes up, you'll know just what to do.”

Chloe made her selection and the music began to play. As soon as it did, Zee really did know what to do. It was a song from
Toy Story.

“‘You've got a friend in me,'” Chloe sang. Zee loved the fact that it was totally corny—and true.

“‘You've got a friend in me,'” Zee sang back.

They sang the song together, switching off parts, joining arms, and kicking their legs in sync to the beat. But the best part was that Zee knew Chloe meant every word of the lyrics.

“I never realized what a great song that was,” Zee said when the music faded out.

“Awesome, huh?” Chloe hurried back to her spot in the audience.

“Who wants to go next?” Zee asked, holding out the microphone.

“Landon!” Conrad volunteered his friend.

Landon shook his head. “No way am I doing karaoke.”

“Are you too cool, surfer dude?” Marcus joked.

“Pretty much,” Landon said.

“Jasper?” Zee said, but as all eyes turned in his direction, she immediately regretted saying anything. Jasper hated to be the focus of attention. She hadn't meant to embarrass him.