Girl vs. Boy Band

  To my agent, Susan Cohen, with gratitude

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  CHAPTER

  ONE

  Home is where the grass is green and just a little bit blue,

  And there’s no place in all the world I’d rather be, it’s true.

  If home is where the heart is . . . if that’s what people say,

  Then mine is far away from you and breakin’ every day . . .

  Lark Campbell’s fingers moved gracefully over the strings of her beat-up old Gibson guitar. Every lyric she sang, every chord she played, had come from somewhere deep inside her, and now the sound of her music flooded the backyard just like the California sunshine.

  Her favorite boots—distressed brown leather embroidered with dainty blue and yellow flowers—glided through the lush grass as she walked in time with her song. As a warm LA breeze ruffled the ends of her long auburn hair, she tilted her face toward the sky and belted out the final lines.

  I can’t feel the rhythm, and I can’t hear the rhyme.

  What’s a girl supposed to do when she’s homesick all the time?

  “Cut! Beautiful!”

  Lark opened her eyes and smiled at her best friend, Mimi Solis. “Really? It was good?”

  “It was beyond good,” Mimi assured her. “It was incredible.”

  Lark’s cheeks flushed bright pink. “I’m not sure about that last lyric, though. Maybe I’ll change—”

  “Don’t change a thing!” Mimi dashed across the lawn toward Lark. “Take it from the world’s leading seventh-grade Latina filmmaker—”

  Lark laughed. “I think you mean the world’s only seventh-grade Latina filmmaker.”

  “Even better! I’m a true original. Just like this song.”

  Lark couldn’t agree more; Mimi really was one in a million. Lark had known that the minute they’d met on the school bus eight months ago, back in sixth grade. Lark had clambered onto the giant yellow vehicle, convinced there was nothing worse than switching schools midterm. As she’d made her way down the narrow aisle, not a single kid offered her a place to sit. Then Mimi, in the very back seat, smiled and waved.

  “There’s room here,” she’d said.

  Lark had sat down beside her, relieved. But before she could even introduce herself, Mimi was holding her phone in Lark’s face, saying, “You just gave me a great idea for a documentary film. I’ll call it The New Kid: A Middle School Exposé.”

  “Um . . . okay,” said Lark, feeling sick to her stomach.

  It must have shown on her face, because Mimi gave her a sympathetic laugh. “Don’t worry. Nobody’ll see it. Except maybe my brothers, if I force them to watch it. I don’t have much in the way of distribution just yet.”

  When all was said and done, the documentary turned out to be just a bunch of silly segments of Lark and Mimi becoming friends. But because it had been Mimi’s goal of becoming a filmmaker that sparked their friendship, Lark had vowed she would always be supportive of Mimi’s dream.

  Now Mimi grabbed the sleeve of Lark’s worn denim jacket and dragged her toward the pool. “Ya know,” she said, dropping into one of the wrought iron chaise longues, “I’ve always considered myself more of an indie film kind of gal, but since you and I have become biffles, I’m thinking I might have a real future in directing music videos.” To prove it, she twisted the video display so Lark could see it and hit the Play arrow.

  A close-up of Lark’s face filled the tiny screen, and she immediately felt her skin prickle with goose bumps. It was like being hit with a tidal wave of self-consciousness.

  She snuck a glance at Mimi, who was watching the video with a critical eye.

  The music through the miniature speaker sounded tinny, but Lark couldn’t help thinking that despite the poor audio quality, the song sounded pretty great.

  “Hmm . . . maybe I can add some special effects in the editing process,” Mimi murmured thoughtfully.

  “Can you make me look like any less of a dork?” Lark said, cringing at the sight of her face on the screen.

  “Oh puh-leese,” Mimi said. “Those perfect cheekbones, pouty lips, and zillion-mile legs don’t need any improving! Girl, you are an album cover waiting to happen!” She turned up the volume and swayed her head to Lark’s singing. “Talented and pretty—I’d have to hate you if you weren’t my best friend.”

  Lark felt a tingle of gratitude at her friend’s compliment. She’d spent most of her childhood feeling like an ugly duckling. Even though her mom always assured her that she’d grow out of her gawky shyness, Lark wasn’t convinced that she was a swan in the making.

  Mimi paused the video, backed up a few frames, and hit Play again. “I really like this moment, when you’re half in the shadow of that orange tree. Very moody.”

  “Who knew citrus had such screen presence?” Lark teased, sitting down on the chaise next to Mimi. She leaned back and cradled the guitar, loving the way the golden-yellow wood looked against the faded indigo of her jeans. Her new kitten, Dolly, skittered over from where she’d been hunting in the shrubbery and leaped onto the chair to settle against Lark’s hip. Absently, Lark began strumming a few bars of “Homesick,” wondering if perhaps it should be a little more up-tempo. She knew if she just let her fingers linger on those strings, sooner or later the answer would come to her.

  She had a newer and fancier guitar upstairs in her bedroom, which overlooked the pool. But this one suited her much better. It felt familiar, like an old friend. It had been her dad’s guitar when he was her age. He’d given it to Lark back when she turned twelve . . . a month before her mom gave him the divorce papers. She could remember her mother’s voice, floating into her room from the kitchen.

  I love you, Jackson, she’d said. But you’re gone so often, sometimes I feel like we’re not even a family anymore.

  I have to travel for work, Dad had reminded her. That’s what session musicians do, Donna. We go on the road.

  Lark’s mother had sighed. I need to do something bigger with my life than just shuffling papers at some tiny Nashville record company and waiting for you to come back from a tour. Lark needs more, too.

  Lark remembered wanting to burst into the kitchen and tell her mother she was wrong—she didn’t need more. The only thing she needed was what they already had. But her mom’s next words had stunned her, freezing her in place.

  I’m moving to the West Coast, she’d said. I’m starting my own record label and it’s going to be ten times the size of Rebel Yell. And I’m taking Lark with me.

  Dad had put up an argument, but even Lark knew it was a fight he couldn’t win. She would have been overjoyed to stay in Nashville with her dad, but his unpredictable schedule would make that completely impractical. It just didn’t make sense for a kid her age to be traipsing around the country, tagging along after her father with a guitar slung over her shoulder . . . no matter how much she would have loved it.

  Eventually, her dad was forced to agree that Lark belonged in California with her mother. It was the first time Lark had ever seen her dad—who usually only expressed his emotions through his music—cry. Lark had felt her heart split
in half that day.

  Mimi sighed, jarring Lark out of her memories. “Your song is amazing, and I want the video to be really good, too,” she said. “I want to do something that will really grab the viewer’s attention.”

  “Whoa . . . ,” Lark said nervously, sitting upright. “I don’t want to attract attention. I don’t want anybody to see this video except for you.” Lark had agreed to let Mimi film her so that she could hone her filmmaking skills, but Lark was so shy that Mimi had had to promise to keep the videos secret.

  “Don’t worry,” said Mimi, shaking her head emphatically. “I’d never show our videos to anyone without your permission. I just want to capture the essence of the song. Ya know—wholesome country girl with a heart of gold, stuck in the big city . . .”

  “Um, thanks.” Lark bit her lip. “I think.” She knew Mimi meant it as another compliment, but the description made her sound like some hillbilly who’d just fallen off the back of a turnip truck.

  Mimi put down her video camera and flopped back on the lounger, her arms spread wide as if waiting for inspiration to strike. Turning her head to squint at Lark in the late September sunlight, she asked, “Are you really, truly that homesick for Nashville? I mean, I know it must be hard to be away from your dad, but I can think of a few very cool things Los Angeles has that Nashville doesn’t.”

  “You?” asked Lark, grinning.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” said Mimi. “And let’s not forget the one and only Teddy You-Can’t-Get-Him-Out-of-Your-Head-y Reese! The most crushable boy in our whole school.”

  Lark rolled her eyes but she didn’t dispute it. She’d had a crush on Teddy since the moment she first saw him, and nobody knew that better than Mimi. Actually, nobody knew that except Mimi.

  “You just got back from spending practically the whole summer with your dad in Nashville,” Mimi reminded her. “Didn’t that help at all?”

  Lark closed her eyes and pictured some of her favorite moments of the summer. A night out with Dad at the Grand Ole Opry; an afternoon on the shady front porch, listening to his Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton records like they did when Lark was little; a deliciously spicy dinner at Prince’s Hot Chicken. (Her tongue was still burning!) “I reckon it did help while I was there,” said Lark. As always, thinking about home caused her Southern drawl to become more pronounced. “But now that I’m back here, I feel like a stranger all over again. I know LA is beautiful, and I’m lucky, but I’d gladly trade this fancy house and swimming pool for my dad’s cozy little place in Nashville. Sometimes the homesickness is so deep, I feel like I’m drowning in it.”

  “Drowning in it!” Mimi jumped up from the lounge chair, frightening furry little Dolly, who let out a tiny mew of annoyance. “That’s it! That’s how we can make the video more interesting.”

  “What is?”

  Mimi jerked her thumb toward the glistening blue pool and grinned. “Sink or swim, girlfriend! You said it yourself . . . you’re drowning in homesickness.”

  “Drowning?” Lark gasped, horrified. “Hey, now, Meems . . . I totally get suffering for your art and all, but I don’t think I’m willing to go that far.”

  Mimi laughed. “Lark, I don’t mean you have to actually drown. Duh! Who would I eat lunch with at school if you did that?”

  Lark knew better than to protest when her friend had an artistic vision. The last time they had made a video together, Mimi had convinced her to paint her face camouflage-style and sing with her head poking out of a shrub. Lark had been doubtful, but had to admit the video was pretty cool. Her best friend was kind of a genius. It was a shame nobody ever got to see their music videos, but that was the deal.

  Half an hour later, Lark was lying on a pool float, fully clothed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she grumbled. As she shifted her weight to get more comfortable, water spilled over the edge of the raft and soaked her jeans. “Ugh! This feels gross.”

  Mimi, who was standing on the diving board in full-on director mode, smiled down at her. “You know you love it! Now, let your hair just kind of sprawl out around you, mermaid-style. Perfect! I think we’re good to go. Let me just hand you your guitar—”

  “No!” Lark sat up so fast, she nearly toppled off the raft. “Don’t bring my guitar anywhere near the water!”

  Mimi frowned, but only for a second. Then she snapped her fingers, and her face lit up. “No problem. You can sing a cappella in this shot. It’ll add some variety!”

  Lark lowered herself back onto the plastic float. The sun was scorching, but the gentle rocking of the raft and the lapping sound of the clean, clear pool water were soothing.

  “Action!” called Mimi as she hit Play on the track they’d recorded on her phone the week before.

  “If home is where the heart is, if that’s what people say . . .”

  Lark sang and drifted, trailing her fingers over the cool surface of the water, impulsively splashing up a slender arc of glittering spray during the chorus. She lost herself in the floating and the lyrics and the music of her own voice.

  “I can’t feel the rhythm, and I can’t hear—”

  The sound of the patio door sliding open startled Lark so much that she slipped off the raft and into the water. Her heart was pounding as she came up for air.

  “Lark!” came her mom’s voice. “Why are you swimming in your clothes? You’ll ruin your boots!”

  Lark pushed her dripping hair away from her eyes and climbed out of the pool, her sodden jeans hanging heavily off her hips. “Tell me about it,” she muttered as she squished across the patio.

  Lark’s mom looked at the girls suspiciously. “What on earth are you girls doing?”

  Lark shot Mimi an urgent look. On the list of people Lark didn’t want to see her perform (and that included pretty much everyone on the entire planet except Mimi), her mother was at the very top. Since the divorce, she and her mom hadn’t been getting along very well. Lark’s songs were about her deepest feelings, and she definitely didn’t want to share them with her mom—whom she still blamed for making her leave Nashville.

  Mimi, as always, could read Lark’s expression and knew exactly what she was thinking. She had already turned off the track and snapped the screen shut. “I dropped my camera case in the pool by accident, and Lark jumped in to rescue it for me,” Mimi said.

  Lark’s mom seemed to buy Mimi’s explanation. She tottered on her stilettos across the patio and handed Lark a towel, then sat down at the table. “I’ve asked Mrs. Fitzpatrick to bring out a pitcher of sweet tea.”

  “Nice to see you still like some Southern things,” Lark said tightly.

  “Oh, the tea is for you girls,” said Donna, waving off the dig. “I’m having coconut water.”

  “Of course,” Lark muttered. She wrapped the towel around her soggy clothes and sat down across from her mother, who looked as polished as ever in her tailored business suit and flawless makeup. Back when they lived in Tennessee, her mom had worn jeans and boots like everyone else. Lark missed her dressed-down mom, the one who liked to go hiking and didn’t work late all the time.

  The one who hadn’t needed to live in a house that was three times the size of the one they’d shared with Lark’s dad when they were still a family. But Donna had explained that in many ways the music industry was all about appearances, and if she wanted to be treated like an LA music mogul, she’d need to look the part. So she’d rented some office space downtown and had the words Lotus Records painted in silver on the glass door. Then she’d invested in a new business wardrobe for herself and taken out a lease on this enormous house. Lark thought it was all ridiculously phony. Two people rattling around in all these empty rooms, just for show! But her mom insisted it would pay for itself in no time. Unfortunately, the plan was beginning to backfire. Although everyone in the business agreed that Lotus was an up-and-coming label, it was still in the growth phase, and the profits were taking much longer to add up than Donna had anticipated. Although she hadn’t come right out and tol
d Lark they were heading for financial trouble, Lark was smart enough to know that money was tight, and getting tighter by the minute. Her mom needed a hit band . . . and she needed one fast.

  When Mrs. Fitzpatrick bustled over with the refreshment tray, Lark noticed she’d included a plate of fresh-baked cookies. The matronly housekeeper smoothed her apron, which read, I’d Tell You the Recipe, But I’d Have to Kill You, and she watched expectantly as Lark helped herself to a cookie.

  “Mmm,” Lark said, nibbling tentatively. “Chocolate and . . . something else?” There was another flavor in the cookie that she couldn’t quite place.

  Mrs. Fitzpatrick nodded, her tightly permed gray curls bobbing. “Chocolate and avocado,” she announced proudly. “I noticed some ripe avocadoes on the trees outside and popped them in the mix. I thought they’d add vitamins.”

  Lark finished her cookie and gave Mrs. Fitzpatrick a thumbs-up. Smiling broadly, the housekeeper bustled back into the house. Mrs. Fitzpatrick was always trying out new recipes. Even though chocolate and avocado sounded like a strange combination, it somehow worked—unlike the peanut-butter-and-marmalade cookies she’d baked earlier in the week.

  “Why are you home so early, Mom?” Lark asked, reaching for another cookie.

  “Because I have news,” said Donna, sipping her coconut drink. “Big news.”

  Mimi gulped down a mouthful of tea. “You guys aren’t moving back to Tennessee, are you?”

  Lark held her breath. Are we?

  “No, Mimi,” said Donna, grinning. “Lark and I are here to stay.”

  Lark’s heart sank.

  Her mother pulled a tablet out of her briefcase. “I want to talk to you about a music video.”

  At that, Lark almost gagged on her cookie. Had her mom somehow found out about the videos she and Mimi had made? The thought filled her with horror. It would be like her mom reading her secret songwriting journal, but worse.

  But when her mom clicked on a link, Lark relaxed.

  “I want you to watch this and tell me what you think,” said Donna. “You too, Mimi. I’d love your thoughts, since you’re so creative.”