Ace's Basement by Ted Staunton Read Free Book Online Page B

higher. “And she saw the video and found out how to contact Denny in his channel details and asked him to send us a message that she liked the song! And she wants to pay us to use it on one of the episodes because it sounds like something two of the characters might record! Isn’t that fantastic? We did it!” Lisa grabs my arms and shakes me. “We did it, we did it!” She is jumping up and down. I think I am too. First, though, I have to ask.
    â€œAre you sure it’s for real? This is from Denny, right?”
    â€œIt is, it is! There was an email address in the message, and I emailed her right away and she got back to me. It’s the real thing. We’ve got to text the whole world,” Lisa says, “and then we’ve got to celebrate. What should we do?”
    There are lots of answers for that, but for once I know the best one. “Let’s play some music.”

Chapter Fourteen
    I can hardly wait. We meet at the liquor store after school. I open Chuck’s guitar case and prop up our cardboard sign that reads Broken String Fund. We sling on our guitars, I pull my harp rack on, and we tune up.
    â€œReady?”
    â€œReady.”
    We’re barely done the first song when someone tosses money in the case and says, “Are you the ones on YouTube?”
    â€œYup,” I say.
    â€œWill you do that song?”
    â€œSure.” Lisa smiles. We play “Coming Apart at the Dreams” the best we ever have. I even get the harmonica part just right. By the end, there’s a small crowd. They clap.
    Then someone says to Lisa, “How come you didn’t, you know, pop your…” Someone else calls to me, “Hey, aren’t you gonna fall into the guitar case and do the eyes?”
    Lisa turns away as if she doesn’t hear. I say, “Can’t today. Doctor’s orders. It’s an insurance thing.” I don’t know what I’m talking about, but it seems to work. “Listen for our song on Garden Avenue Kids, ” I call, and I start to strum.
    Lisa picks up on it. “Here’s a Neil Young song.”
    Lisa sings it great, but people drift away. Stuff like that happens twice more in the next half hour. I know that’s how busking works, but still. Are the dumb bits all anybody wants from us? Lisa doesn’t look any happier.
    I say, “Remember at lunch today, when you said we did it ?”
    â€œSure. Why?”
    â€œUm, maybe it’s not we . Maybe it’s Denny, Nadia and Alison. We didn’t make us go viral.”
    Lisa shakes her head. “No way. They didn’t do that for us, they did it to us. We wrote the song. We win. That’s what’s important. It serves them right.”
    I’m about to say it doesn’t feel as if we’re winning right now when a guy walks up and says, “Hey, are you the—”
    â€œYup,” I say.
    â€œWill you do the song?” He holds up a twenty. Maybe Lisa’s right after all.
    Lisa says, “With all the comedy stuff?”
    â€œWell, yeah.” The guy shrugs as if it’s a no-brainer.
    Lisa looks at me. I look at her. What now? Twenty bucks is twenty bucks. Is it worth acting dumb for?
    Lisa smiles at the guy. “We’ll do the song, but we can’t do the comedy today. Ace hurt his neck doing the video, and his doctor won’t let him. Sorry.”
    We start to play. The guy pockets his twenty and tosses in a five instead. “Thanks,” he says halfway through and walks off.
    We finish and look at each other again. “Hey,” I say, “a five is still great.”
    Lisa nods. “But…” Then she shakes her head and sighs. “I see what you mean.”
    I check my tuning while I try to find something to say. “Hey,” I remind us both, “the producer for Garden Avenue Kids doesn’t want the comedy. She wants the song.” I check my sixth string. It’s flat.