Tempo Change by Barbara Hall Read Free Book Online

keyboards?” Gigi asked.
    “Because you’ve had piano lessons since you were a kid.”
    “I play Beethoven. And what are you going to do, drag a piano onto the stage?”
    “I don’t know. An electric keyboard. We’ll figure it out. The important thing is, we’re a band.”
    They got quiet and thought about it. While they were thinking about it, the headmistress of LaHa, Dr. Bonny, came by. She was a smiley woman in colorful power suits with a strong addiction to Altoids. She chomped them nervously, and behind her eternal smile was this forced quality that I thought revealed a sense that LaHa was always on the verge of falling apart.
    She said, “Girls, congratulations. Such a talented group of people here at Laurel Hall. I commend you. The Fringers. That’s a wonderful name. That’s …”
    She walked off, still talking, which was another thing she always did.
    The Fringers were still staring at me.
    “For you, Gigi, a no-brainer. It makes you look well-rounded. Ivy Leagues love that,” I said.
    “Keep talking,” Viv said.
    “It’s good for your lungs, singing. Good for your body, too. It’ll help when it’s time to play soccer. What is that, a winter sport?”
    “Yep.”
    “The talent show will be over by then. The Whisky is right before winter break.”
    They considered it. I saw them falling for it, so I just waited.
    Finally Gigi said, “The Fringers? That’s what we’re called?”
    “Sure. I mean, LaHa, it’s a fringe school. We’ll be competing with the established schools. It’s a celebration of the underdog.”
    Ella stopped chewing her nail and said, “I kinda like that.”
    “What are we going to play?” Gigi asked.
    “I’m writing something. You’ll like it.”
    “You write music?” Gigi asked. She was staring as if she were seeing me for the first time.
    “Where are we going to rehearse?” Ella asked. “I play loud.”
    “Peace Pizza. I asked Toby and he says we can use the banquet room after nine o’clock if nobody’s in there.”
    “Nobody’s ever in there,” Ella said. “Nobody has pizza banquets.”
    The bell rang. Viv and Ella walked away talking about how they’d get to Main Street, what bus they’d take, or if one of Viv’s sisters could drive them.
    Gigi was still standing there.
    She said, “It’s a dirty trick, Blanche. You know that, don’t you?”
    “It’s not a trick. It’s a plan.”
    “It’s a dirty plan.”
    “You’re going to thank me,” I said. “Just wait.”
    She shook her head but she walked away smiling.
    When I went home that night, after work, I found the living room of our house full of Twelve Steppers. They were drinking tea and one of them was crying and the rest were all hanging on her every word. The crier wasn’t Louise. Infact, Louise wasn’t there, which was unusual. Maybe she had a date with the married man.
    My mother looked up at me and asked if everything was all right. I said it was. She went back to listening.
    I checked my e-mail and there was nothing from my father. But I didn’t expect it. They were few and far between. I had already gotten a couple this month so I wasn’t due for a while. Sometimes I could get him to respond by telling him something new or asking him a question. So I sat down and e-mailed him:
    Hey, Dad,
Just checking in. School is school and L.A. is the way it always is, full of sunshine and promises. I’ve started a band called the Fringers and we’re working hard to get our act together in time for the talent show. The talent show at LaHa is lame but if we win, we get to play at the Whisky. I’d appreciate any tips you have.
    I stared at what I’d written and then I hit Send and I felt that message traveling through the system, the whirring mass of X’s and O’s that Jeff talked about, the perfect system mimicking some bigger system that I didn’t believe in, but like everyone else, I believed in this one. This tiny thread that kept me connected to him. I swear, I could feel it when