Thunderbowl (6 page)

“Just start showing up. You've got a lot of work to make up, though.” He didn't seem surprised to hear from me.

So I'm back in school. I only play music two nights a week now. It still isn't easy to balance it with the schoolwork, but I'm getting by and I'm not flunking out.

And tonight I get to play in front of all the kids I know. Krista, the cute girl who sits behind me in math class. Alex, who always thought I was a do-nothing dip. Carly, who I grew up with and had a crush on for half my life. Even Gregory Aylesford, who thinks dances need videos instead of bands. They're all here.

Langford is here as a chaperone. I promised him we'd play a couple of old Doors songs and some Grateful Dead. For once, all of these people at school are going to see what makes me tick.

Maybe the best part of it is that Suzanne is here too. It feels sort of funny having her
with me tonight. This is such a different world than the bar. But even seeing her standing there, way back in the crowd, I feel like we are good for each other. I know I sound like I have helium in my head, but that's the way I feel.

Drek and Al are still a little ticked off at me, though. We're not making as much money as we did in the old days, for one thing. They both had to get their old day jobs back.

But remember the guy Drek said wanted to come scout us for the record company? Well, he did show up at The Dungeon when we were playing. And he liked us. Next week we get to cut a demo at a studio.

So things are pretty good. I'm getting some more sleep and I can let my guitar cook a couple of nights a week. Too much too soon wasn't such a good idea. And I want to be around to play music for a long time.

What was the line? “Better to burn out than to fade away”? Forget that. I'm
not ready for rock star heaven. Besides, tonight is close enough.

So are you ready? I'm going to crank my amp up just a little too high. I give Al the thumbs-up. Now Drek starts to lead us into our opener with a deep, weird synth sound like spaceships taking off or something.

Al kicks in on the bass drum and begins to pound like his life depended on it. In the back of the cafeteria, Langford has cut the lights, all except for a powerful spotlight on us. He points it at me as I hit the first chord. The music roars and drives itself all around the room.

Most of the kids are dancing, but some are just staring at us in disbelief. They've never heard anything quite like this before. Not live anyway.

The sound keeps on growing and it feels like the whole building is going to rise up off the ground. I have this gut feeling that somehow this old school won't ever be the same again.

NEW
Orca Soundings novel

Blue Moon
by Marilyn Halvorson

Bobbie Jo didn't set out to buy a limping blue roan mare—she wanted a colt she could train to barrel race. But the horse is a fighter, just like Bobbie Jo, and that's what made up her mind. Now all she has to do is train the sour old mare that obviously has a past. While she nurses the horse back to health and they get to know each other, Bobbie Jo realizes that the mare, now called Blue Moon, may have more history than she first thought. With the help of the enigmatic Cole McCall, she slowly turns the horse into a barrel racer. Then, when everything seems to be going well, she finds out the truth about Blue Moon and where she came from. Will Bobbie Jo be able to keep the horse? And will she find out why Cole seems to have so many secrets?

NEW
Orca Soundings novel

Zee's Way
by Kristin Butcher

And that's when I realized there was someone standing near the end of the wall, watching me. I looked up. My mouth went dry. It was a man with a baseball bat
.

Zee and his friends are angry, upset that they are not welcome at a new strip mall and that their old haunt has been replaced by stores that are off-limits to them and by storekeepers who treat them with distrust and disdain.

To get back at the merchants, and to let them know what he and his friends think, Zee paints graffiti on the wall of the hardware store. After the wall is repainted, Zee decides to repeat the vandalism, but this time with more artistic flair. When the store owner catches him in the act, he threatens to call the police—unless Zee agrees to repair the damage.

Orca Soundings

Death Wind
by William Bell

Allie's life has just taken a turn for the worse. Not only do her parents fight all the time, but she is failing more classes than not and now she thinks she just might be pregnant. Unable to face up to her parents, she decides to run away. She hooks up with her old friend Razz, a professional skateboarder, and goes on the road. Razz is ranked number one, but constant confrontations with the challenger, Slammer, put Allie in some dangerous situations.

With the rivalry heating up, Razz and Allie head toward home—right into the path of a fierce tornado. To survive in the horror and destruction that follow the storm, Allie has to call on an inner strength she didn't know she had.

Orca Soundings

Sticks and Stones
by Beth Goobie

No one expected Jujube to fight back when her reputation takes a beating
.

Jujube is thrilled when Brent asks her out. She is not so happy when the rumors start flying at school. Pretty soon her name is showing up on bathroom walls, and everyone is snickering and sniping. When her mother gets involved, Jujube's reputation takes another hit. Deciding that someone has to take a stand, Jujube gathers all the other girls who are labeled sluts—and worse—and tries to impress on her fellow students the damage that can be done by assigning a label that reduces a person to an object.

Sticks and Stones
is an inspiring—and enlightening—story about standing up for oneself and the importance of self-esteem and respect for others.

Other titles in the
ORCA SOUNDINGS series

Blue Moon by Marilyn Halvorson
Bull Rider
by Marilyn Halvorson
Death
Wind by William Bell
Fastback Beach
by Shirlee Smith Matheson
The Hemingway Tradition
by Kristin Butcher
Hit Squad
by James Heneghan
Kicked Out
by Beth Goobie
No Problem
by Dayle Campbell Gaetz
One More Step
by Sheree Fitch
Overdrive
by Eric Walters
Refuge Cove
by Lesley Choyce
Sticks and Stones
by Beth Goobie
Thunderbowl
by Lesley Choyce
Tough Trails
by Irene Morck
The Trouble With Liberty
by Kristin Butcher
Truth
by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Who Owns Kelly Paddik?
by Beth Goobie
Zee's Way
by Kristin Butcher