Singing in Seattle

Table of Contents

 

 

GROSSET & DUNLAP
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Copyright © 2008 by FREAKY TWIN POWER.

All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-09795-3

“Thank you.” AJ smiled as the flight attendant handed her a bottle of water.

“Would your sister like something to drink?” asked the flight attendant, whose name tag said KAREN.

AJ glanced at Aly. She was curled up in her window seat, her eyes closed and the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up over her head, with a few stray blond curls poking out.

“Aly?” AJ reached over and tapped her sister. Aly muttered and turned in her seat.

Her eyes popped open and she looked at AJ.

“What?” Aly practically shouted.

AJ reached over and yanked Aly's hood off her head. Her iPod was in her ear.

Aly grinned. “Oops, sorry,” she said. She took the earpiece out and sat up straight. She gave a big yawn and stretched her arms.

“Would you like something to drink, miss?” Karen asked.

“Yes, please,” Aly answered. “Water would be great. My throat is so dry.”

Karen handed her a bottle of water and a plastic cup. She smiled. “We can't have that! It's not every day I have two famous singers on my flight. You need to keep your voice in good shape. Aren't you going to be performing at a concert in Seattle?”

AJ nodded. “We are, but we've got other business in Seattle, too.”

“We're going to be judges in a contest for young songwriters,” Aly added. “So we had to get to town early. That means we got to fly out and take a break from the tour bus.”

Karen smiled. “Well, if you need anything at all, let me know,” she said. Then she moved down the plane's narrow aisle with her drink cart.

AJ leaned back against her seat. “I kind of miss the bus,” she said. “And all of our Hello Kitty stuff.”

“I know what you mean,” Aly said. “The bus does feel like home. But you know how I start to get bus crazy!”

AJ laughed. “You're like a bird trapped in a cage. I'm sure the guys in the band are happy to have the bus to themselves for this trip.”

“And I'm so totally stoked about judging this contest. We'll get to hear all the young, hot talent that's out there,” Aly said. “The winner even gets a college scholarship! It's awesome that we get to give out a huge prize like that.”

“We'd better pick someone really good. We're going to be performing one of the winner's songs at our concert at KeyArena,” AJ reminded her.

“We'll need extra rehearsal time with the band to learn the new song,” Aly said. “We'd better remind Jim to work the extra time into our schedule.”

AJ laughed. “This is Jim we're talking about, remember?” she said. Jim, their tour manager, was right out of college. Even though he was young, he was more organized than anyone they'd ever met.

AJ suddenly got a nervous look on her face. “I am worried about one thing,” she said. “If we're judges, we'll have to tell people if we don't like their songs. You know what it's like when we write songs for our albums. They're like little pieces of our souls, practically. I don't want to break anyone's heart.”

“We just have to be careful what we say,” Aly suggested. “Sometimes we get constructive criticism from our producer, or even each other. We'll just focus on what works and try to give them some pointers for the rest.”

AJ relaxed. “You're right. It's not like we have to be mean or anything!”

“And the songwriters have already been narrowed down to twelve finalists. They must be pretty talented to have made it that far,” Aly added. “I heard that thousands of people entered.”

AJ pulled her notebook out from where she had stashed it in the little pocket in the seat in front of her. She unclipped a pen from the binder.

Aly giggled. “AJ, you would be lost without your notebook!”

AJ grinned sheepishly. “It makes me feel better to write things down. It helps me to stay organized. Now,” she said as she began to write, “we'll listen to the twelve finalists in the first round. Then we'll have to cut six right away!” She looked up from her notebook. “That's a lot.”

“There can only be one winner,” Aly said. “At some point, they'll all be eliminated except for one.”

“Okay,” AJ said as she started to write again. “Then we'll have to narrow down the six contestants to three. And out of that final three we'll pick the winner.”

“It's a big responsibility,” Aly said. “But I'm sure we'll pick someone awesome.”

She gave a little dry cough. AJ shook her head. “Karen was right. You've got to drink your water and take care of your voice,” she said. “By the end of the week, we'll be singing in Seattle!”

After the plane landed, the girls had to race to their next destination. They were used to it by now. Being on the road meant they were always rushing off somewhere.

They waited for their luggage, then for a car to take them to their hotel to drop off their bags. They quickly changed, then stopped by the hotel's coffee bar to pick up a couple of lattes. The driver whisked them off to a theater in downtown Seattle.

“Ahhh,” AJ took a deep breath of the steamy coffee concoction. “This hits the spot.”

They were sitting in red velvet theater seats. The stage was empty, but they could hear noises coming from backstage. The twelve finalists were getting ready to perform their best songs in front of Aly and AJ.

A petite young woman with long reddish-blond hair walked over to them. She carried a clipboard and a stack of papers. “Aly, AJ,” she said as she held out her hand to them. “My name is Lily. I work for Entertainment Unlimited, one of the companies sponsoring the competition. I'm the contest coordinator.”

Aly and AJ shook hands with her.

“We're really excited to be here,” Aly said.

“If you think you're excited, you should see the contestants,” Lily said. “They can't wait to perform. The first person will take the stage in just a few minutes. Can I get you anything?”

Aly gestured to her coffee. “We're good.”

“Let me leave you with these.” Lily handed them each a bundle of papers. “It has the contestants' names, ages, and what they'll be singing. Most of the performers have taped music that we'll be playing to accompany them, but a few will be playing guitars.”

“Thanks, Lily,” AJ said.

Lily disappeared backstage. AJ took her notebook out from her purse.

“I'm ready!” she joked.

“I won't laugh,” Aly said. “Look what I've got!” She pulled a notebook out from her own bag. “I figured we'd both need to take notes while we were judging.”

“See—you are finally beginning to understand the beauty of the notebook.” AJ laughed.

Aly reached into her bag again.

“Uh, AJ,” she said. “I got the notebook but forgot to bring a pen!”

“Don't worry,” AJ grabbed an extra from her purse. “I'm always prepared.”