The Big Day

Saturday morning everyone was buzzing with excitement as they returned from their morning run. On Saturday the run was not required but most of the girls continued with their normal daily routine anyway. To say that everyone was highly motivated to keep their bodies healthy would have been an understatement. Having grown older and much too heavy the first time around Kelli had no desire to repeat the experience. With all of the high calorie foods that would be easily available today she wanted to be able to sample them without feeling guilty.

Most of the Sutton Student Council and numerous volunteers had constructed a float that was a chicken wire and paper sculpture of the schools bee mascot. One of the girls in the art club had done some work on Hollywood monster movies in the early seventies. She had taken charge of the fabrication of the bee and Kelli thought it would probably be among the best floats in the parade. She and everyone not involved in getting something else ready were going to be walking near the bee giving candy to kids. They had decided that everyone would wear yellow and black. She had chosen to wear a yellow Sutton Bees tee under a really soft black and yellow plaid flannel shirt that she had found at one of the thrift stores with black leggings and her comfortable black leather boots with low heels. Her boots had been another thrift store find. The heals had been bad but everything else had been in good shape. She had probably saved a couple hundred bucks by having them resoled, not that she could have afforded them new.

Kelli was glad that it was going to be sunny and slightly colder today. It was shaping up to be the perfect fall day. They were all gathered at the bus garage where Mr. Matheny one of the Science teachers was hooking the float up to his truck. She looked around and it looked like everyone that had signed up was here. Hailey caught her eye and motioned Kelli over to where she, Nicole and Holly were standing.

"I got a strange phone call this morning. Do either of you know a man named Lance Briggs?"

Kelli remembered the guy she had taken down in her impromptu self defense demo. She wondered if she was about to get in trouble. She thought they had parted on a good note though. "Yeah, I met him at the football game. Seemed like a good guy. What did he want?"

"He told me that you two had convinced him that the boys who were involved in the incident with your friend Jennifer were and I quote 'feeding him a line of shit.' He then wondered aloud that if he happened to know who did the recent vandalism to the school if I would be willing to not press charges if they made things right. I told him I would think about it and call him back. I have a call into our lawyer to see what he has to say. I want to know how you changed this guys mind. He has the same last name as one of the kids that got arrested that night and family means a lot around here."

Briefly Nicole outlined their interaction at the game, including the part where Kelli had dared him to hit her.

"Kelli, what were you thinking?" Holly asked. "He might have hurt you."

"It was a calculated risk. I knew exactly what the attack would be and I was pretty confident that he wasn't fast enough to touch me. That particular take down is one that we've practiced a thousand times. I didn't think he could dislike us any more than he obviously already did. So I figured that the least that might happen is the word might spread that assaulting any of us would be tougher than people probably think. As it turned out he seemed to actually respect me for being able to do what I did to him. We had a nice conversation in the line when he bought us snacks to pay off the bet."

"This makes a lot of sense, Hailey," Holly said. "The people who spray painted the school buildings are probably some relation to him as well. Probably not the original boys. They are out on bail and from what I have heard around town their parents grounded them. Even though they dispute what happened to that girl and her car the underage drinking charges are solid. This Lance guy is probably really pissed about being lied to by whoever did it."

Hailey thought about it briefly. "If the lawyer gives the go ahead I'll agree to not press charges as long as the people who vandalized the school clean everything properly and at their own expense and repay us for the restorations that we have already made. Also they will agree to be photographed by the newspaper and admit their guilt in an interview with Glenn Dunn from the paper. He started the good coverage so it is fair that he gets to wrap it up. Thanks for your input. Please don't say anything yet. I'll make an announcement if things fall into place.

"Yeah, no problem. It looks like we are about to head out I need to grab a candy bag for the kids."

* * *

After the parade was over the crowds began to disperse to the different activities. Kelli and Nicole stopped to talk to Maryanne York on the way to help direct things backstage at the athletic field. This year there seemed to be a lot more people in attendance according to Maryanne. Nikki invited her to come see her sing later then the two girls hurried off to get things ready.

At the school Kelli took off to help with the kids games and Nikki headed for the band area.

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When Nicole arrived the first few bands were beginning to haul their stuff to the big tent that had been set up as a combination storage area and green room. Nicole directed them to the area that had been marked off for their gear and told them to be sure to be around for the pre-show meeting in an hour. She then asked Alana to see that the food that had been donated would be ready to offer the assembled band members for lunch. More than anything she wanted everyone to have a good experience. Happy people got along better. Low blood sugar made people crabby, therefore providing food was a priority.

An hour later with all of the out of town bands unloaded and happily munching their food she called them all together.

"Hi everyone. I'm Nikki Lawson. We're going to get started soon. I'm just going to go over a few things so we are all on the same page. This is all new to us so please be patient if there are snags getting your gear on and off the stage. We want to bring things on from the east side and off of the west. We have volunteers to help you transport anything to and from the stage but we will not touch any equipment without your direction, so feel free to ask for help from anyone dressed in black and yellow," she said while pointing to a group of Sutton students.

"You will be happy to note that we were able to expand the prize pool a little bit so all of you will get your entry fee back and the top five bands as assessed by our panel of judges will get cash and valuable merchandise.

"Detailed rules are posted over on the whiteboard by the door. There are two rounds. After the first round the top three bands as determined by the judges will play this evening. The best two scoring bands of the rest will receive a $100 voucher from Holtens music and a gift assortment of donated items. Our little school bands will try to keep the crowd going from the small stage during the stage changes. Any questions?"

Looking out at the crowd she saw that there weren't any so Nikki continued. "Great. First up will be Closet Monsters followed by Graphic Plaid. So if you all want to get ready I will signal everyone that the show is about to start." She signaled to Samantha that it was time.

Samantha made her way to the side stage that the Sutton bands would be using. It was at the west side of the tent and not nearly as nice as the main stage but hooked into the same sound system and that was a fine thing in Samantha's mind. She had chosen to dress in her normal school uniform as an homage to Angus Young of AC/DC. However it was Jimi Hendrix that she was thinking about as she took the stage alone. She plugged in her guitar, walked to the mic and said, "Please rise for our national anthem," and began to play. She did a good job and went easy on the distortion because she didn't want anyone accusing the School of being disrespectful. People could get really touchy about stuff like that.

As soon as she was done Courtney, who had volunteered for the job of MC, took the main stage. She spent a couple minutes getting the crowd warmed up as the first band got ready to take the stage. When the lead singer finally gave her a thumbs up she concluded with "Please give a big Thompsonville welcome to the Closet Monsters!"

There was a really good mood on the old football field. The crowd was loud and seemed to be enjoying the competition. It was hard to know how many people were there because they hadn't sold tickets. People could come and go as they pleased but Nicole thought that the crowd usually hovered at about seven hundred, sometimes more. The old bleachers were filled with people and the open areas in front of the stages were usually packed. She hoped that there would be standing room only for the finals.

When Courtney took the stage to announce the final three bands Nikki was happy that Graphic Plaid, her favorite of the day, had made it. Closet Monsters, and the Crow Magnums, completed the lineup.

Now it was finally Nicole's turn to shine. Her band was up during the intermission. This would either be really great or it was going to give her nightmares for months.

The sun had sunk below the trees and the stage was lit with red and blue lights. All of the girls had changed into their disco queen outfits that they had made for their first appearance in front of the students. The dress felt too short in the cool October evening. Maybe they would look like stupid try- hards in their glittery outfits. She thought they should have just worn jeans like Samantha wanted but that really wouldn't have worked with the music that they would be performing. There were butterflies the size of eagles in her belly. Finally she heard Courtney finish the introduction and the band took the stage. They were staring with their Blondie covers beginning with Atomic. As soon as they got through the intro the butterflies were gone. Nicole had argued that this was the best song to start with because it was really hard to mess up the words, there being so few of them. They segued into 'Knock on Wood'. By this time all eyes were on her. The girls running the spotlights were both focused on her as she danced back and forth along the front of the stage. Her blond hair and sparkling turquoise dress reflected the spotlights in a way that drew everyone's eyes to her.

As soon as the cheering stopped after 'Knock on Wood' she nervously began talking to the crowd. "Thank you so much. It should be pretty clear that most of us here at the school are into older music. Our teacher Mr. Dawkins says that we will never be able to do anything new if we don't understand what's already been done. With that in mind we are going to finish up this set with a few of our favorites from the 80's."

The girls launched into their version of B-52's 'Love Shack' followed by 'Relax' from Frankie Goes to Hollywood then finished strong with Prince's 'When Doves Cry' just as The Crow Magnums were ready to take the main stage. Nikki felt like electricity was surging through her Having the so many people cheer for her was amazing.

Once back in the green room the band felt like they were walking on air. In the tent lots of friends were there giving them high fives and even some members of the competition bands told them that they had done well. After a few minutes the well wishers drifted off to do other things and Nicole wandered over to get some hot chocolate. She felt someone come up beside her. Turning her head she saw it was the lead guitarist for Graphic Plaid. A very cool girl with a trendy asymmetrical haircut in bright blue and the coolest thigh high leather boots that Nikki had ever seen.

"Hey, I didn't realize you weren't just one of the organizers. I watched your set. You have an amazing presence on stage. I'm Libby. You're Nikki right?"

"Yes," Nicole said. " I love the boots, by the way. Your band is amazing. I think that you will walk away with first place. The closest in talent are out there now but I don't think Mr. Dawkins is that into metal."

"Thanks, we try. We have a producer and studio time lined up for early next year. We have been working on a bunch of new songs Sebastian and I have written together. He is the guy with long hair over there. Our keyboardist and music arranger."

"He's hot. Your boyfriend?"

Libby cracked up. "No he is my best friend but he is totally into boys. He will be thrilled to know that the most beautiful girl here thought he was hot. Speaking of that can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"How come none of you are ugly? Wait, that didn't come out well. I mean they told us that you were all orphans. All of you, the girls in black and gold are really good looking and you are probably one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. How come no one adopted you?" then she stammered, "I mean if that is not too personal. Shit, sorry sometimes I just blurt things out."

"It's okay. We get that a lot. Let me take it in parts. First our looks. We work out for like four or five hours every day and eat a very controlled diet as part of the deal to be here. That means all of our bodies are as good as they will probably ever look. Then we have a dorm mother that knows everything about hair and makeup and skin care. She has been giving us classes. Without makeup we all look super normal. You should see us at morning yoga. Naked faces and sweat all around. Now the other part. This is a great option to stay out of foster care. There are lots of great families I'm sure but there are also a lot of horror stories. Without exception we ended up in the system kind of late. Anyway the exercise, diet, great school and other stuff is all part of the big experiment they are doing on us."

"Experiment?"

"Taking people at the crap end of the spectrum and treating us to a high level of healthcare and education. They are going to pay for our college and then see how we turn out. I think it is the whole nurture versus nature thing. Anyway it is really not a bad deal. I gotta say I love my body and don't mind all of the work that it took to look like this.

"Where was I?" Nicole asked herself. "Oh, adoption. We were too old to really be considered for adoption when we were orphaned. Who wants to adopt a girl right when she hits her teens, right?

Libby laughed. "I see your point. I think mine would have sent me to a boarding school if they could have managed it just so they didn't have to deal with my drama? So tell me about your set. Those were some pretty sexually suggestive songs. Are you going to get in any trouble. I mean Relax is all about sex, combined with those sexy dancing moves you were doing with the other band members... I think I know what all of the guys and many of the girls in the audience are going to be thinking about tonight."

"We won't get in any trouble. We might have got a bunch of nasty comments before things turned around with the town, but we are golden now," Nicole laughed. "The school knows we will all behave. They don't go in for censorship."

Libby laughed. "You don't sound like a normal high school girl."

"None of us here are what you would call normal."

"So... all girls school...and sexy dancing with your band mates...?"

"If you are asking if I am a lesbian, the answer is no. If you were asking if I am bi, the answer is a big yes," Nikki said laughing at the look on Libby's face.

"Wow, you just lay it right out, don't you? How old are you anyway?" Libby bit at the ring in her lower lip as she gave Nikki a long slow once-over with her eyes.

"I've been working on self-confidence," Nicole returned dryly. "How old am I? I have the mind of a senior citizen in the body of an eighteen year old."

Libby cracked up with laughter. "I don't think I have ever met a more confident person. During your set. You just took control of the audience. I think you are a natural."

"Thanks for the compliment. We have been working hard to get better in stage, It helps that our music teacher used to be in Atomic Tomatoes."

"I imagine so. How long have you all been together?"

"As a band? We got together as a group in September just after school started"

"So you are that good after just a couple of months? That's amazing."

"Well it isn't like we write our own music or anything. We just plan on being a cover band. It should keep us in rent money during college."

"I think you could probably do more that that if you chose to."

"I won't have time. I plan to double major in electrical engineering and business."

"Wow! That's going to be quite a load. I can only do 12 credit hours a semester if I want to pass and still have the band. Sebastian and Derrick are in the same boat she said, naming two of her band mates.

"I hope I can handle it." Nicole said. "I'm getting all A's and it's a tough curriculum. Right now I think I can manage but we will have to see what happens next year."

"I'll catch up to you later. I need to get ready for our set," Libby said.

***

It took the entire time the Closet Monsters were on stage to wipe down and pack the instruments. Nicole didn't have an instrument so she helped out were she could. Nicole looked around and saw that Samantha, Alana and Grace were ready to haul there instruments back to the school with help from some of their other friends. She called to them. "What can I carry?"

Grace, the drummer waved at all of the girls around her. "We've got it covered Nikki."

Alana said, "I think that we ought get together to talk about our performance at breakfast tomorrow. Right now Grace and I are going to go chill in my room after we put our stuff away."

"Sounds good," Nicole said. "What are you doing Sam? I'm going to find Kelli and Leanne in the crowd. You are welcome to come with."

"Thanks. I'm going to find Piper and Tegan but we might see you out there."

Nicole was glad that the band had different circles of friends. They spent so much time practicing with each other that she thought it was healthy to get a break from each other. The thing between Grace and Alana was new though. She hoped it was something casual that wouldn't mess with the band dynamics.

It turned out that Kelli, Leanne and Olivia were outside the tent waiting for her to finish with her band mates. Kelli gave her a big hug while the others offered their congratulations.

"Sorry we weren't back here sooner, but it took longer than I thought it would to get through the crowd," Kelli said. "Everyone is having a great time and they all want to see the last two bands. How much longer will Juliana and Kasey be on before the final round starts?"

Nicole looked over at the white board where the appearance order had been updated for the final round. "They probably have another ten minutes then Courtney will introduce Graphic Plaid. They will play for a half hour then Courtney's group will play during the changeover. Crow Magnums are next with Britney's group doing the changeover and last will be the Closet Monsters. They are supposed to announce the winners around eleven, eleven-thirty."

"Let's find a good spot to watch the show," Olivia said.

Juliana and Kasey were just finishing up there filler set when the girls made it to a spot much nearer to the main stage than Kelli thought possible. People in the crowd had recognized Nicole from her performance and had let them get closer whenever Nikki would turn on her thousand watt smile and ask to get closer so she could watch her friends band. The people had just stepped aside while complimenting her on how great she was for a high school kid.

Graphic Plaid was amazing even to Kelli's untrained ears. They had taken a risk and played all original songs during their forty minutes on stage. Kelli, Nicole and their friends had happily danced along with the music with the rest of the crowd. The lead singer Derrick seemed a little full of himself but at least he could back up the attitude with a great voice and the girls in the audience seemed to love him. When the set was over everyone had cheered for a good five minutes while the band took their bows.

The next Sutton girls band went straight into their first song as soon as Graphic Plaid left the main stage. Courtney Warren was singing. Nicole loved her smooth vocals as she sang an old 10,000 Maniacs tune. Without a doubt Nicole thought Courtney and her band had a much more sophisticated style than her own group. Nicole didn't feel any need to change what she was doing though. They were all friends and they chose to play what made them happy. Courtney's group wanted to feel cool and Sophisticated, while Nikki and company liked to feel sexy and powerful with a lot more energy in the mix.

Kelli was just wondering how Nicole's new friend was going to fight through all of the people to meet up with them when she saw the blue haired singer striding across the main stage. Libby, jumped down into the crowd and threaded her way to Nicole with practiced ease.

"Hey, friend," she said, giving Nicole a hug.

Nicole quickly introduced Kelli, Olivia and Leanne.

On stage Courtney began to sing a cover of Pure Morning by Placebo.

"I am really amazed at how good all of your school's bands are," Libby said. "It's too bad you can't compete. I think that most of you would have done well."

"Yeah, that might have been fun but we organized it. Also, the judges are the local music store owner who knows all of us, our music teacher and two of his friends from back in his time as a pop star. There would have been drama if any of us won. Trust me, drama is the last thing we want. We have been trying hard to polish our reputation for the last couple of months. It'd be a shame to waste all that effort."

During the rest of the evening Libby found herself fascinated by the Sutton girls. During the brief periods when nothing was happening on stage they had chatted and she had found herself liking all of them Kelli was a cute and friendly little brunette that seemed like she would be everyone's favorite little sister. Olivia was a beautiful petite Asian girl who seemed really competent and could participate in their conversations while wielding the big-ass camera she had brought with her. Leanne seemed like the mother of the group, making sure that they all could see and providing snacks and bottles of water from the giant tote bag she carried. Nicole was the one that had her focus though. All of the girls were really pretty but the blond singer was on another level.

Libby found herself completely infatuated with Nicole. The girl wasn't like anyone she had ever met. The first things that had drawn her to speak with Nicole were her beauty and energy. Her command of the audience had been raw but natural as if it would be unthinkable for people not to watch her every move. After talking only briefly she had realized how smart this girl was too. Libby was developing a bit of a girl crush.

At one point Olivia complimented Libby on her great looks and it surprised her. Her body was not as toned as the Sutton girls but she was no couch potato. She was so focused on her flaws that she really didn't see her own beauty. She had colored her hair bright blue to draw attention away from what she had always felt was an average face and body. She was floored when the others all agreed with Olivia's assessment.

"It's not just her good looks, it's her confidence," Nicole said. "Did you all see how she owned the stage when she was playing? I am so jealous of your poise and raw stage presence Libby. And you were amazing during your solos. Then, throw in how pretty you are and your killer sense of style. Damn! I wanna be just like you when I grow up."

Kelli laughed. "How do you really feel Nikki?" She thought that Nicole and Libby might have the beginnings of a mutual crush. It would be interesting to see if anything became of it.

"Oh please. I look like a plane Jane next to Nicole," Libby said.

Olivia felt the attraction between the two as well. "Don't say that, Libby. You have your own beauty just like anyone else and more than most. Leave me an email address and I will send you a couple of my better shots. I think I got some good ones while you were on. Now can I get you and Nikki to stand with your arms around each other and face me."

The rest of Graphic Plaid soon joined them. Kelli thought that they were an interesting group. Sebastian and Derrick were hilarious. Jill the drummer was a little aloof but she figured it was because she was older that the others having started grad school the year before. Cody the bassist seemed like a bit of a dick at first. He lightened up after a few minutes and soon found himself flirting outrageously with all of the Sutton girls.

Near the end if the second finalists set the group had moved over to the bleachers. The Sutton girls had been on the go since six that morning and they wanted to get off their feet. Olivia was sitting in Derrick's lap Kelli and Leanne were sandwiched between Sebastian and Cody with Jill lounging against Cody's legs on the next lower row. Nicole and Libby had disappeared for a short time and now they were cuddled up under what looked like Nicole's comforter in front of Leanne and Kelli.

The two had been away for longer that it took to just run up to Nikki's dorm and back. Kelli wondered if they had done more than just fetch the cover. She also wondered if she was jealous of Nicole for the attention that she was getting from the blue haired cutie. Nicole was one of her best friends but they weren't as close as they had been when they were sleeping together. Nikki also needed to spend a lot of time with her band so Kelli had been hanging out with other friends much more than before. She decided that she was maybe just a little envious but probably only because she wasn't receiving similar attention from anyone else.

Since this 'charm the town plan' had started Kelli hadn't been with any of the other girls in a sexual way. She had also found herself fantasizing about guys most of the time when she had needed to relieve her own sexual tension. It wasn't that she didn't like girls any longer it was just that she wanted to know if men were more satisfying for her. She made a mental note to talk about it in her next group session. Maybe some of the other girls were having similar thoughts.

The last band was nearly done with their set when Nicole and the members of Graphic Plaid headed back stage. As finalists Graphic Plaid were guaranteed at least a thousand dollars worth of prizes. Nikki had to be there to help organize everything and also wanted to be with her new friends to celebrate. Olivia said she needed to get closer to shoot the awards ceremony giving Kelli and Leanne a little wave as she left.

"I'm feeling a little deserted," Leanne said.

"Yeah. I wish I had some musical talent so I could have gone with the cool kids," Kelli joked.

"Well I think your cool just the way you are, sweetie," Leanne said in her best motherly voice.

Kelli snorted.

***

Eventually the judges took the stage to announce the winners. Nicole and the back stage crew got all of the bands lined up to take the stage. There was a lot of nervous joking among the three finalist bands. They all would be getting something the only question now was how what prize they would get.

As Nicole had expected Graphic Plaid won first place. She made arrangements to stay in touch with Libby. They had several hundred dollars in store credit at Holten's Music so lunch some Saturday in the near future seemed like the best plan. Before she knew it the crowd was gone and the bands had headed out. The Sutton girls spent an hour putting away equipment and picking up loose garbage. Tomorrow they would do the bulk of the cleanup. Everyone went to bed feeling good about having brought about such a striking change in the towns view of them in such a short time.