DANNY Chapter 45 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Danny had a lengthy talk with Dr. Roberts, the man who first diagnosed his condition, and it seems the Doc discovered new things about him - alarming things. Wonder how it will go with Danny now. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang.

  Chapter Forty-Five:  Not Quite Back To Normal

***** (Tracey) *****

The effect of the KRPQ kick-off couldn't be underestimated. All of our new station's programs were hitting mom's mandated maximum in ads and commercials, which was fifteen minutes per hour, at rates comparable to the prime regions. No limits were really mandated by the government, but mom wanted ours to be a conscientious operation. So mom imposed a reasonable quota. For the lower-rated 1AM to 5AM shows, though, mom was willing to go thirty minutes. And, though we thought that the graveyard shift wouldn't get too many ads, Dennis and Lou's programs were actually exceeding their quotas.

Many advertisers were desperate to advertise on the station, and lobbied my mom to allow more advertising minutes, especially for Danny's Nighthawk show. But mom was adamant to maintain the 15-minute maximum per hour. I thought mom was just being her usual pig-headed self, but it turns out it was a strategy, and it paid off. KRPQ became the radio station with the highest per-minute rate in the region, and that advertising rates for Danny's show being among the country's highest.

As a result, we found our P&L totally in the black - it was, in fact, so far out of the red that, in the new station's first three months, we had such a big revenue surplus that mom joked we could run the rest of the year without any more advertising.

That's an exaggeration, of course, but it seemed that we were doing very well, indeed, and everyone was busting our doors down to advertise with us.

As for our crew - Talia, Harry and Sally found themselves the newest media celebrities. Just in our burg, only, of course, but that might change soon since many stations from the surrounding areas had been inquiring about syndication possibilities for some of our primetime shows, especially the Nighthawk show. As for Dennis and Lou, it seemed that they had uncovered a new commercial demographic - the late-night 65-to-75 demographic - a demographic made up mostly of older single or widowed listeners. It was amazing to discover that this was a very significant and active commercial demographic, and Lou and Dennis seemed to have cornered it.

As for the Nighthawk - her 6AM-10AM Saturday program was the most popular program around, and became mandatory listening for the kids in town, and after the Jackson Residential Building fire, I don't think it was possible for our ratings to go any higher, unless we discover a population of tweens and teens living in caves. And after Val's "Mission Impossible," we weren't worried about the Nighthawk's real identity being discovered anymore, which allowed Danny and the station to just continue with business with no fear. Mom, of course, wanted the Nighthawk to have other programs, but Danny and Danielle weren't too keen on it. Mom didn't push, of course, and just said she'd be open to the idea if Danny or Danielle ever thought it was something they wanted to do.

As for the band, their status had been cemented further.

Hardcore fans had been able to track down all of the members of the band, and security had become problematic. To help the band out, Betsy had prevailed on her parents to provide security for the guys. Her folks didn't mind since it just meant reassigning a few of their people. Betsy herself already had security, courtesy of her folks, but the other five were assigned three security people each, in alternating eight-hour shifts - all-in-all fifteen full-time security people were now dedicated to protecting the band - what it amounted to was each had a full-time bodyguard around them .

Most of the kids in school eventually came to recognize the bodyguards, even though they were shuffled around from time to time, or were sometimes replaced after a week's duty. Standard practice for bodyguard-protection, I eventually found out.

The bodyguard that should have gone to Danny went to Danielle, of course, since, to the world at large, the singer known as "Dannie Fairchild" was actually Danielle Loiuse Fairchild, while Daniel Lewis Fairchild was just her nerdy brother.

But in keeping with "the plan," and unbeknownst to Danielle's bodyguards, when Danielle was in Mario's doing their show, or when she was practicing with the band in Mongo's garage, they were actually guarding Danny in disguise. (This didn't last long, however, and the guards would eventually discover the truth, but Betsy said they could be trusted not to tell anyone, not even Betsy's folks and Walter.)

The upshot of it was that Daniel was left alone and without bodyguards most of the time. Which was just fine to everyone, especially Danny.

But then, Danny had to have his own security, too, since he was, after all, the lynchpin to the whole KRPQ operation. However, so as not to make it suspicious, Mrs. Piper hired the security for Danny, and it was made up of three specially-briefed guards especially picked because they looked like kids close to our age, and were required to remain inconspicuous at all times.

As for the band's regular gigs at Mario's, that still continued except that Friday night dining there was now a by-reservation affair, with appropriate cover fees and menu and drink prices. The band didn't like that, but what could they do.

Also, the guys actually started having trouble getting to their gigs, but Joanne's and Dale's vans - the band's de-facto transportation, flanked by their bodyguards' cars providing the much-needed interference, were able to manage.

The schoolkids had quickly adjusted to the celebrities in their midst, as did most people in town. Sure, the half-life for being a celebrity was fairly longer in little towns like ours (but not by much), but in a month, the band became just another fixture of regular teen life. More or less. And, so long as there weren't new stuff happening, most kids just left the band alone. In fact, after a month, we were all thinking that the bodyguards were unnecessary.

What was troubling was that we kept on seeing Janet around. Though she wasn't really making herself known to us, we couldn't help but notice that she was always around.

Today, for example, as Danny and I had our first post-progam brunch in the building's lounge with Danielle and the girls, we found Janet sitting at a corner table.

During the week, the building's lounge served the managers and executives in the building, but on weekends, the lounge was opened up to the public, otherwise the concessionaires would have just closed up for the weekend since the building was practically deserted.

I suggested that the lounge could be our new Saturday brunch place after Danny's morning radio program. With the new popularity of the band, the station and Robin, we'd been having a difficult time finding a place to eat without being pestered by fans and other hangers-on trying to ingratiate themselves into our little group. So this out-of-the-way place was ideal.

This wouldn't last, of course - sooner or later, the kids will find out about this place... But while they haven't yet, we can get a little privacy.

We settled down to a nice brunch. Mel and the others thanked me for the nice meal since it was on my mom's tab today. And though the choices available weren't as many as what they usually had during the week, they were still pretty okay.

As usual, Danielle had a big breakfast - three gourmet breakfast burritos, a cesar salad, a couple of virgin mimosas, a milanese mac & cheese, a big mug of coffee, and an apple. Danny, in a Danny-Danielle version of sibling rivalry, came over with a stack of whole-grain buttermilk pancakes, a couple of spinach and ham and egg mini quiches, a couple of country ham French toasts, a big tumbler of ice-choked orange juice, a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a banana.

Danielle was dressed as Danny - we were on the way to the band's weekly practice, after all, and there might be some fans there. Hence, the disguise. Joanne looked at Danielle's champagne glass with a raised eyebrow. The champagne glass that her virgin mimosa came in didn't go with the outfit - it was like a grungy boy trying to look all refined. But who cares, right?

Of course, Danny himself was in his Robin-the-Nighthawk persona. No one would probably see him, but since we just came from doing our Nighthawk program, per "The Plan," Danny did the show in full Robin regalia.

Danny wore a sexy, fitted girl's leather jacket over a super-tight white middie tee, slim-fit jean-jeggings, gray suede buckled ankle boots and her extra-long shiny, brunette wig. Somehow, the tough-but-sexy image went well with the mountain of food on her tray.

"And what do the judges say?" Joanne asked, and Nikki, June, Drew, Mel, Betsy and Joane herself cheered and started clapping. June and Drew raised a couple of napkins with the number ten written on them, like judges at an ice-skating competition.

"Whooo!" Joanne cheered. "We have a winner! Robin by a nose!"

"Huzzah!" Betsy cheered and giggled.

"What winner?" Danielle asked.

"Of the one with the biggest tray of food!" Joanne laughed.

"That's mean," Danny said.

"Gimme one of your pancakes, then, Robin," I said.

"Get your own pancake, you mooch!" she answered predictably, and we all laughed.

"How about you, Dannie," I said. "Gimme your apple."

"Get your own, you mooch!" she said.

"Yep," Joanne said, "that proves it - they're related." And everyone laughed.

Danielle and Danny looked at us, in offended shock, but after a beat, they stuck their tongues out at each other. We all laughed, relieved they weren't hurt by our joking.

Because it was a Saturday, centralized air-conditioning was off in the building, so Danny doffed her leather jacket leaving her clad only in her white tee and jeggings, settled down and sat between Nikki and Danielle. She wore a pair of suspenders - just as accents to her outfit, because her tight jeggings didn't need suspenders. The suspenders did bring attention to her boobies, though. We all got quiet as we looked at her sexy sexitude, but she was clearly oblivious to our reactions and just got busy with the important work of eating. After a beat, the rest of us resumed chatting away about everything and nothing.

A few minutes into the meal, Mel seemed to have noticed something.

"Hey," she whispered conspiratorially. "Pssst… Hey, guys!"

"Why are we whispering," Joanne whispered back, in a repeat of an old running joke.

"I'm serious, guys!" Mel continued, still whispering. "The girl sitting alone in the corner - it's Janet."

We all looked, and it was indeed Janet. She had her head down trying to hide her face, and eating a bowl of soup.

Danny looked over. "Janet…"

"She's always hanging around," Mel said. "It's creepy. She should just come over and stop all this spying and creeping around. Call the cops, Danny!"

Instead, Danny stood up and went over to her.

"For God's sake, Janet," she said.

Janet looked up at Danny and, after a moment, started sobbing.

"Janet…"

She suddenly stood up and ran out of the lounge.

"Janet!"

- - - - -

***** (Tracey) *****

After brunch, and after a futile search of the floor for Janet, we all went to the elevator and pressed the button for the KRPQ office's floor, where Danny switched to an outfit Danielle brought with her. So Danny went from tough-as-nails-sexy-Robin to Dannie-the-glamorous-singer. I grinned. This will never get old.

We were all getting ready to go to Mongo's house for the band's usual Saturday rehearsal when mom called me on my cel - it turned out she needed to meet with Danny, Danielle and me.

"But, mom," I said, "it's band practice today, and they can't afford to miss it again."

"Well, all right," she said. "Would it be okay if I just meet with you and Danielle at least?"

"Hold on," I said, and told the others.

Dan and Danielle agreed, so while Dan and the others left for Mongo's, Danielle and I would go to my place in my PT Cruiser. Thank goodness Joanne brought her mom's minivan. I doubt they'd all fit in Danny's Mustang.

I gave Danny the bag that now had his Robin stuff, and they left for Mongo's.

When Danielle and I got to my place, I unlocked the door and stepped in right away, ushering Danielle into our condo. Danny's bodyguard unobtrusively stayed in the hallway. (The guy knew it was Danielle, but, per instructions, he continued shadowing "Danny" since the real Danny was now being guarded by Danielle's security.)

"Mom!" I called, "we're here!"

She came out and gave Danielle and I kisses on the cheek.

"I'm so pleased that you came over right away, my dears," she said. "I'm sorry to disrupt your day. It's just that someone has come over that really needed to talk with you. Come with me to the living room."

They walked over and saw what looked like a little girl sitting in the living room.

But when she turned towards us, we recognized her. It was little Katie Hargraves.

"Ms Hargraves," I exclaimed in complete surprise. "What are you doing here?"

She stood up to her full four feet six inches, and went to us, her hand outstretched.

"Good morning, Ms Piper," she said in her sweet little-girl sort of voice, and shook my hand. "And this must be Daniel Fairchild. Good morning." They shook hands as well.

"Good morning, Ms Hargraves," Danielle said in her version of Danny's voice (since Danny's natural voice was quite girlie, Danielle had it easy imitating him). "Is this something about the band or the Evolution contest?"

"Yes. Both, actually."

"Sit down, everyone," mom said, "I'll get us some coffee."

Danielle and I sat in the couch in the sunken section of the living room, and Katie Hargraves sat across from us. We looked at her in some fascination - she looked like a stone-cold fox, but was so tiny: her feet wouldn't even touch the floor.

Katie looked at us with a subtle little smile. We realized we were staring and looked away in embarassment.

"That's okay," Katie said, smiling. "I don't mind. People are naturally curious."

"I'm sorry, Ms Hargraves," I said. "We know all about the…"

"It's all right," she said, "and please call me Katie."

"Thank you. I'm Tracey and this is Dan."

"So is anything wrong, Katie?" Danielle asked.

"Everything's going well, thank you, Dan," she said. "Rockrgrrl production is keeping steady and sales are up."

"Good to hear," Danielle responded.

"So!" mom came back with a tray. "Coffee, anyone?"

As we got busy serving ourselves coffee, Katie continued.

"I'm sorry for bothering you on a Saturday," Katie said, "but I've finally gotten word on Danielle's question… Pardon me, but Danielle's actually the one in the band?"

Danielle nervously cleared her throat. "Ummm, yes, she is."

"Then who have we been negotiating with?" Katie asked.

"That was actually me," Danielle said, a bit nervously. "I'm actually the one managing the band as well as Robin Tibbles, the radio announcer everyone knows as the Nighthawk." (The family name, "Tibbles," was selected by mom - I don't know where she got it, but Danny didn't mind being a "Tibbles." So Robin was now officially "Robin Tibbles.")

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how old are you, anyway, Dan?" Katie asked.

"My, ummm, sister and I are both sixteen, turning seventeen this year."

"Ahh, I see. But if you're not even eighteen…"

"Yes, that's right - we aren't able to sign contracts and such. My position as the manager of Unlimited Bandwidth and Robin Tibbles is an unofficial position. I mostly advise, arrange things and help negotiate, so the 'manager' thing is appropriate. But I don't really get a salary or anything like that: I do this as a favor to my sister and my friend Robin - they want me to represent them and be their advocate: they don't do anything without checking with me.

"As to the legality of things, many in the band are over eighteen already, so they can basically sign their own contracts. Except for Betsy Haley and my sister, everyone's contracts are their own. For Betsy and Dannie, any contract-type documents are co-signed by our parents, and all of their contracts are within the legal requirements for minors. As for Fallon, she and her folks had her emancipated when she turned sixteen, so she signs her own contracts."

Mom nodded at that. "I can vouch for all that, Ms Hargraves," she said.

Katie nodded. "You seem to have thought this through," she said. "We actually knew most of that. Except for that thing with Fallon. But I'm confused - why were we led to believe that you were actually Danielle Fairchild?"

Mom, Danielle and I looked at each other. Time for our story to kick in.

"Well, actually, it started out as sort of a goof," Danielle-as-Danny explained. "My, ahhh, sister didn't want to be identified with the band. I guess out of some misguided idea of modesty, she didn't want to sing as her. To reinforce that, I play-acted as her sometimes, and that's how you got to know me as 'Danielle.'"

"But as time went on," I said, "it became more and more complicated to continue with it when people discovered the truth - that Dannie was actually Danielle. Not much of a secret, really - I mean, she wasn't fooling anyone."

"But we in Rockrgrrl had her signed up as…"

I shook my head. "She signed herself as 'Dannie' - no pronouns - and all of the paperwork was properly signed by our folks. So legally speaking, everything was in order, and all of us has agreed we're supporting that."

Mom shrugged. "Yes - paperwork-wise, all totally and literally legal, I assure you," she said.

"You are okay with all this?"

Mom shrugged. "Actually, not completely. But when the kids explained it, I sort of understood. And I had my people check everything as to their legality. Everything checked out. There was no misrepresentation, both legally and otherwise. Any confusion as to Danielle's real identity was not their fault, legally speaking."

Katie looked at mom. "Well… if you're allowing this, and you say there are no legal issues, then I guess we'll accept it, as well. We'll still do some due diligence, and have our lawyers do their own vetting."

We nodded. Danielle-as-Danny and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Was that the reason for your visit, Ms Hargraves? I mean, Katie…"

"Well, not really. The reason I'm here is because we've finally gotten some feedback from our lawyers regarding Unlimited Bandwidth's status in the Evolution Concert contest, and their continuing eligibility."

Danielle and I took a deep breath. Here it comes!

"Well," Katie said, "our lawyers are fine with the situation, and we feel we haven't been remiss in any of our responsibilities to our contestants. The agreements you and your folks signed were all totally satisfactory. But with what you brought up, certain, ummm, concerns have been highlighted. And we've come to certain major policy decisions."

"Yes?" mom asked.

"First, though the concert is for amateurs, their amateur status upon entering the contest is the only main consideration. If they're not amateurs anymore after their regionals - it will not be an issue. After all, it would be unfair for our contestants to put their musical careers on hold.

"But given the rationale for the selection of the participants, the rule that a band must be at least fifty percent female must be for the duration of the contest, and as a compromise to the amateur status thing, they can't have any music recording contracts with any organization or company - only limited performing contracts will be allowed.

"And, lastly, since the point of the concerts was to promote our company, until the last Evolution concert, the contestants, to retain eligibility, can't do anything to put the company in a bad light, nor have any professional association or relationship with any of our competitors."

We all stopped to think that through.

"Competitors?" Danielle asked.

"Other companies that make or sell musical equipment, or are running similar contests or events."

"How about 'bad light?' What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you know - the usual: no gambling, no drinking, no risque photos in the tabloids…"

We nodded at that. Of course...

"So, you're okay with this?" Katie asked after a minute or so.

"I guess," Danielle said.

"Good. We've added all that to our press statements and materials, and have sent out a memo to the finalists. You guys should get your copies of the memos soon via registered snailmail."

"So, with all this, what about UB? Are they okay?"

"UB?"

I grinned. "That's what we call the band."

She smiled at me. "I like that." She turned to Danielle. "Well, Dan," she said, "to answer your question, our legal people had to rush these determinations given your band's decision to push on with Mrs. Piper's concert."

"Katie - please call me Melody," my mom said.

Katie nodded her thanks."… Melody's concert… Mother wasn't too happy with your band, actually, Dan, since they've made things complicated, and she was all set to stick it to them, no offense, and kick them out of the contest. But, after watching Melody's show, she had a change of heart. She said that they were very talented, and had a very deft way of connecting with their fans that could really help the Evolution concerts, especially Danielle. It would be a shame, she said, if we were to lose UB, so mother and I made sure that no one would be able to use their participation in Melody's show to challenge their eligibility in the contest."

Danielle and I hugged each other in relief.

"That's so, so wonderful, Katie," mom said. "Tracey and I were so worried that we had put their status in jeopardy. We had even arranged it that they wouldn't be paid for their participation so their status as an amateur band wouldn't change."

"Oh! We didn't know! You didn't need to do that…"

Mom turned to me. "Tracey, given this information, let's draw up papers so we'll be able to pay the kids the original fees we intended to give."

"I don't know, mom. That'll complicate the papers we've already had them sign. I'm going to have to take them all back and replace them."

Mom nodded. "You're right. That's a lot of work. Okay, let's make it more simple - just call them bonuses, that, because the show did so well, we're giving them these bonuses, and let's type up a boilerplate conforme for the parents that need them, to sign."

I nodded. "Okay, mom."

"Pardon me, Mrs. Piper," Katie said.

"Please, Katie - Melody."

"Of course. I was wondering, Melody, what's Tracey's official position in your company?"

"Well, officially, Tracey is the producer and director of our early Saturday morning Nighthawk program, which is our most successful program, and she's deputy for station operations. I assure you, my companies are all compliant with child labor laws, and her position, title and responsibilities are in compliance."

"Good! But those are pretty heavy responsibilities."

Mom nodded. "Tracey has a good head on her shoulders, and I trust her implicitly. And I make sure she has enough time for schoolwork and gets all the rest she needs. I'm very proud of her."

I felt teary-eyed hearing that come from my mom. She pulled me close and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"That's excellent, then!" Katie exclaimed. "Because one of the things mother asked me to do was to ask you about the Nighthawk program."

"Oh?" mom asked. "What do you think of our program? Do you ever catch it where you are?"

Well, actually, we don't really get it back home, but I have staff who's from here, and he's been asking his folks to record them for him. He gives copies to me - you should consider streaming it, by the way. I like it. It's actually one of my favorite radio shows."

I couldn't stop myself and clapped. I realized that I just did that, and I couldn't stop myself from blushing.

"As you see, Katie," mom chuckled, "Tracey's pretty proud of the program."

"And she should be," Katie smiled. "In fact, Rockrgrrl would like to send you a proposal to sponsor the entire show."

Mom and I looked each other, ecstatic.

"We'll pick up all the advertising spots for the show, and buy up whatever contracts you already have, and we'd like to call the program the Rockrgrrl Nighthawk Show, and start converting it to a national program."

I looked pretty happy with that. Mom, too. But when I looked at Danielle…

Katie also saw her expression.

"Dan?" she asked. "You don't look too enthusiastic."

Danielle shrugged. "I'm not too confident with that…"

"What do you mean?"

"Mrs. P?" Danielle looked to mom. "What do you think?"

She shrugged. "I can't say. It's your and Robin's program, Dan."

Danielle turned to Katie. "Well, I think Robin won't go for that. She'll probably think that it'll make it sound that she's sold out. No offense, of course…"

Katie waved that away. "Not at all, Dan. No offense taken. Please go on."

"I'm sure you can see my point, Katie… I'll still ask her if you want, but knowing her, I'm pretty sure she won't agree."

"What if we don't get all the spots? What if we allow other sponsors?"

"I guess that would help, but, to be frank, Katie, it's the name…. 'The Rockrgrrl Nighthawk show...' you know?"

"Ahhh…"

Danielle shrugged. "Sorry, Katie."

She reached out and held Danielle's hand. "No worries, Dan. I completely understand. I'll talk to mother and see what we can do. It could be something like 'The Nighthawk Show, sponsored by Rockrgrrl...'"

Mom deftly changed topics and the discussion changed to something lighter. "We'll figure something out," she said. "How about some more coffee?"

An hour or so later, little Katie took her leave. Two very big men in suits that reminded me of Walter, Betsy's butler, met her outside our door. Danielle's bodyguard was there as well, but, after a signal from Danielle, he backed off.

"Oh! Before I go…" She signaled one of the men and whispered something. The guy handed her a couple of envelopes, and she came back in and handed one to Danielle. "Can you make sure you give those to the band and your backup singers? They're vouchers that you can use in any Rockrgrrl and PIMA store. PIMA's our top-brand Spanish music store - you know: acoustic guitars, spanish guitars and such. I know there are no branches here in your town, but we're considering putting some up. But I'm sure you can find one. And I have a few extra vouchers here…"

"Would you have five more?" I said, and blushed.

Katie giggled. "Sure!" She checked the last remaining envelope. "There are ten more here, so you make sure everyone gets one, okay?"

"Thanks so much, Katie."

She waved that away and handed me the extra vouchers. "It's nothing, honey. Anyway, I'll talk things over with mother and will contact you guys by tonight or tomorrow."

She waved goodbye again, and left.

"Pretty classy lady," Danielle said.

"I never realized how short she was…" I said, and turned back to mom and Danielle to discuss things over some more.

- - - - -

***** (Mongo) *****

Some of the guys started trickling into my garage at about one PM or so, but it took a while for everyone to get in. With all the fans that surrounded the house, that's not surprising. My mama didn't come out anymore because of the crowds, so she brought in the cooler with our usual drinks earlier, as well as several grocery bags of chips.

Since the show, the news that we had these weekly practice sessions had somehow spread, and though we've only had a handful of them since the show, people started coming to see if they can watch our practice sessions. They were mostly keeping their distance for now, but it was just a matter of time.

Having established a routine already, the bodyguards got together and organized a kind of cordon around my house with yellow rope and used their cars to block people, so the "fans" couldn't get close much. Per their "bodyguard SOP," they also informed the police, and they sent a couple of police cars and officers to keep the road open to traffic, and their conspicuous presence helped to keep people away. Just in the nick of time, too, since the size of the crowd had been growing.

Since Dale and Fallon weren't in yet, Danny, Nikki, Betsy, June and Drew, took the time to go into the house and say hi to mama. I really appreciated that. Mama, as well.

Mel and Joanne stayed behind to help me and the guys set up. That wasn't an unusual thing - all of us would usually use the time to help set up June's keyboards, my drum set, the speakers and wires, and mama's folding chairs until everyone was ready.

Morgan and Jerry started opening the garage windows to get rid of the stuffiness while Mike swept away the week's accumulation of dirt and dust. Jerry had to unlock the padlocks that mama and I installed - some folks try to jimmy the doors and windows of the garage at night, so I put some locks on the doors and windows of the house and garage.

The others had the same problem at their houses, too, actually, even at Morgan's and the others' who weren't really part of the band. Maybe we all needed some security cameras or something. Betsy's house was fully protected already, and Danny's dad had them signed up with a security company, but the rest of our houses didn't have anything like that.

"Ahhh, the perils of popularity," Mike said while he helped open the windows, which merited the usual shot in the head.

Any more talk had to wait, though, when Dale and Fallon finally arrived.

After a quick setup, we started our rehearsals.

It didn't go as smoothly as we hoped it would since everyone outside started singing along and bopping to our beat. And, though we asked nicely for them to allow us to practice in peace, and to be more considerate of our neighbors, it didn't do much.

After the second song that we couldn't get straight, Danny waved to us.

"Stop! Guys, stop!"

The song slowly petered out, all of us a little pissed. From the outside, we heard everyone go "awww!" in disappointment.

"This is just not working, guys," Danny said in barely suppressed frustration.

"Yeah, dude," Dale said. "The afternoon's shot."

"So, what'll we do?"" June asked.

After a minute or so, Fallon strummed her guitar.

"Screw it," Fallon said.

"Fallon?" Danny said.

"I said, screw it, Danny," she replied. "We can't practice under these conditions."

"So what do we do?" June said.

Fallon looked back at us, waggled her eyebrows and grinned.

After some talk, we got set. Mike pressed the garage switch and the garage doors slowly rumbled upwards. The kids outside held their breath, and when it was fully up, the kids all cheered.

As we planned, June started playing the opening chords to Van Halen's "Jump."

And the people outside went crazy.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

After three songs, we wound down things.

"Thanks, everyone!" I said. "That's it for today. This'll be the the last of our garage practice sessions, unfortunately. Thank you for coming!"

The guys and I went to the cordoned-off area and high-fived and shook hands with our fans. Some of the kids there were people we knew, or at least recognized, from school. The Glee Club kids weren't there, though - not too surprising 'coz Fallon and I see them at least once a week at the Glee Club meetings, and they probably didn't really feel the need to see more of us. Oh, well.

Glee Club days were special, though, since we get to have lunch together in the cafeteria and an after-school thing at the mall with the gang. A few times, June, Mongo, Dale and Tracey came over, which made us complete. And with twenty-five kids all together, it was better to reserve a place. Not a problem with Tracey's mom's connections at the mall. I was looking forward to the next Glee Club Day, actually.

to be continued...

 

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