Casey Barnes Eponymous

24



By the end of day one of talent show auditions, the front-runners for the coveted music slots revealed themselves to be:

1. The Alex Deal band. Otherwise known as ‘Air Morocco.’ Ben rolled his eyes when they said their name, but everyone else was under their cooler than thou spell hook, line, and sinker. Air Morocco glanced at the crowd with a look of dominance and then played their audition song. Everyone applauded loudly when they were done.

2. Hair Band were three juniors who played heavy metal music, wore long blonde wigs and fake tattoos, and set up a shrine to Yngwie Malmsteen on the guitar amp. Under the guise, Hair Band were clean-cut and square. The singer/guitar player wrote book reviews for the school paper, the bass player was in the Dungeons and Dragons club, and the drummer was a math team buddy of Sukh’s, something Casey did not approve of. After she saw Sukh speaking to him she snapped, “What if he steals band secrets, Sukh? Huh? Blood’d be on your hands, Sikh man.”

“Though it’s okay for you to consort with the phlegmatically instrumental rockers,” Ben said. She scowled.

Hair Band had humor going for them. And they also played in last year’s talent show. But Casey had a feeling they were not going to be that big of a threat. They were a one-trick pony and there was only so far an overplayed Spinal Tap riff could carry sub-average geek metal.

3. Eleanor Hoffman. Bethesda, Maryland was, unfortunately, not a racially diverse place and Eleanor was one of about fifty black kids at a high school of eight hundred students. She was a junior, funny, smart, ran track in the spring, and was on cheerleading squad in the fall. She was, in an omniscient, Yull kind of way, very popular. Not only that but she had the best singing voice Casey had ever heard in a live person. Eleanor auditioned with a version of “At the Dark End of the Street” and when she was done the auditorium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Then the place erupted into thunderous applause.

4. The Mother F*ckers. That was not their real name. But it was what Casey called them. In reality they were Note Mountain, a four-person acapella group. Note Mountain won the all-state acapella contest the previous year, which they announced before performing. “What the hell’s that?” Casey snorted to Ben, “Next thing you’re gonna tell me there’s a state championship for making toast.” Note Mountain’s soprano was a girl named Carol Emilio whose hair accouterments matched her socks but who also, infuriatingly, was an all-state soccer player. She was friends with all the players, male and female, and, thus, had street cred. Note Mountain auditioned with a show tune, at which point Casey started brainstorming alternative names for Note Mountain. The Mother F*ckers topped the list while Products of Incest and Glue Sniffers came in second and third.

When they were done, a few (nerds) clapped with gusto. Ms. Vernon, a French teacher and the advisor to talent show, remarked to Carol Emilio that acapella would add a richness to talent show. Casey then said, from the fourth row Ms. Vernon had assumed out of earshot, “THOUGH POP WIRE DOES NOT NORMALLY TAKE PART IN PAYOLA, EXCEPTIONS, NAMELY BEN’S NUBILE FLESH, CAN BE NEGOTIATED.”

5. Pop Wire had the best name of any band auditioning. In Casey’s opinion. Despite this, however, their tryout song did not engender the kind of response that Eleanor Hoffman’s had (but really no one’s would), the laughter Hair Band had, the admiration (only on the part of Ms. Vernon and the losers, but still) Note Mountain had, or the awe Air Morocco had. In fact, Pop Wire’s audition did not get much response at all. When they first got up, Casey was nervous. She tried the trick from the day before, the one where she imagined Alex and Maxine together, but it did not work. Perhaps it was because he was in the room and was not even looking her way, but the trick may have even backfired. She flubbed a lyric and got so scared about messing up again that she lowered her voice. Sukh tried to compensate by making his bass louder, but that only served to drown out the vocals altogether.

When they finished a handful of kids clapped politely. Danny from Alex’s band gave them the thumbs-up sign. Then Yull, who decided to grace the talent show committee with his presence that day, brought his hands together with force. There was a chain effect in that everyone around him did too. But Alex Deal was in the back of the auditorium talking to a girl. Casey slumped to the seats with Ben and Sukh.

“We weren’t bad, Casey,” Sukh said.

“Yes we were. But it wasn’t your fault.”

“Some people clapped,” Sukh offered weakly.

She snuck a look at Ben hoping he would at least try to refute what she was saying, but he appeared to be considering something. “Can you guys rehearse now?”

“Why bother?” Casey moaned.

“Why not?”

Casey sighed, stood, and Ben and Sukh did as well. The three of them walked to the back of the auditorium. Alex was still standing with the girl for whom he had ignored Casey’s talent show audition. As Casey got closer she realized it was Maxine French. Her stomach tightened. Then, when she, Ben and Sukh were no more than five feet away, something horrific occurred.

Maxine French leaned over, kissed Alex Deal, looked at Casey, and spoke. “Look who it is, AD. Your rival rock star.”

AD. Casey had heard one of his guy friends call him that. His eyes met Casey’s. They seemed embarrassed. “Nice job up there,” he mumbled.

She turned to Ben and Sukh. “Let’s go.”



Songlist for a rock and roller who’s just had an arrow shot through her heart

1. Song 1 - “Why Are You Looking Grave” by Mew. Seeing Alex Deal kiss Maxine French made Casey want to die. She felt distinctly uncomfortable, like everything about her was wrong. A thought ran through her head that had never been there before: In order to get him back, she would have to start acting mean, make her hair sleek, shop at the mall, and scream in the halls when she saw Leigh. In other words, she needed to be more like Melanie Corcoran and Maxine French.

She was not sure if anything could make her feel better in that moment. But a pop song as bright and bursting as a Dip ‘em stick, as this one was? Maybe.

2. Song 2 - “A Winner Needs a Wand” by Sufjan Stevens. There was a killer bass line in the Sufjan song that made Casey think of the third act of movies when heroines have to take on bad guys. Plus Casey loved Sufjan because he once said he was going to write a theme record for every one of the fifty states and then, once he did Illinois and Michigan, shelved the idea.

3. Song 3 - “A Sunday Smile” by Beirut. Liking this band was problematic at times. Those would be the times Yull caught her listening to them. Yull liked them a lot too. And by rights, Beirut was more of a Yull kind of band. Their sound was orchestral and grand. More neat, over-achieving Yull, less punk, you can’t even get a talent show audition right Casey. Yet Casey listened anyway, especially to this song. There was something about it that made her feel like everything would be okay.



“You’re awfully quiet,” Ben said.

The members of Pop Wire had been reduced to taking the public bus to Ben’s house after talent show auditions. Oh how the soon to be mighty had never really risen. Ben and Sukh were in front of Casey as she scribbled out her song list.

Sukh turned and looked. “Is that a set list, Casey?”

She moved her hand over it and looked at them. “Do allow me to suffer in silence before we hit the drawing board again.”

“It was not so bad,” Sukh said.

“We just lacked a little luster,” Ben added.

“And how, in the space of one rehearsal, are we going to get lustered up enough to compete with what we saw today?”

Sukh shrugged. “Perhaps we write a new song about that cheerleader who was attempting to engage you in a taunt fest as we departed the auditorium. What is the name there? Maxine French?”

“We shouldn’t target specific individuals,” Ben said.

“I think there are many people who do not like this girl.”

“Sign me up,” Casey growled.

“Two of them are girls in my bio lab,” Sukh continued, “I heard them say that girl had breast augmentation as well as a touch of rhinoplasty performed over the summer break.”

Casey cocked her head to one side. “Rhino--?”

“She got a nose job,” Ben said.

“And a boob job too,” Sukh added.

“Allegedly,” Ben said, “Remember that the source for this knowledge was teenage girls.”

Casey stared at Sukh. “Teenage girls in Sukh’s bio lab, which means they have an above-average intelligence, correct?”

Sukh nodded. “Of course.”

Casey took her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed a number. “This is very interesting, Sikh man. Very interesting indeed.”

“What are you doing?” Ben asked.

“Research.”

“Resear--?” Sukh began.

Casey silenced him with her hand. “Greetings Barnes household,” she said in a voice slower and louder than normal, “This is Casey. I was wondering if anyone who’s home, namely Yull Barnes, the exalted community leader whom I am graced to have as an older brother, could pick--”

The answering machine recording was cut off by Leigh picking up the phone on the other end of the line. “This is very dangerous,” Leigh whispered.

“Is someone else there?”

“No, but the machine’s on.”

“Hit the stop button, then rewind and hold down record for like thirty seconds.”

“Done.”

“Good. Now I need you to do something. Go to my room, get the freshman yearbook off the shelf, and bring it back down to the phone.”

“My mom sent me a really intense email today,” Leigh said, “She hasn’t slept for two nights.”

“Don’t fall prey to her emotional manipulation. Write and tell her you’ve been taken in by a church-going family that does not persecute based on trumped-up charges. But before you do that get the yearbook.”

Leigh put the phone down. Casey winked at Ben and Sukh. “The little idea I have might just be our ticket to talent show stardom, rockers.”

“What are you up to?” Ben asked.

“Just wait.”

Leigh picked the phone back up. “Got it.”

“Flip to the random pictures in back. There should be a shot of Maxine French from the side.”

Ben and Sukh exchanged a look. A moment went by.

“Found it,” Leigh said, “Now what?”

“There’s a scanner on the desk next to my mom’s computer. Scan the picture and send it to my phone.”

“Your mom’s scanner?”

“Relax. She only dusts it for fingerprints once a month.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding.”

A moment passed. Ben and Sukh watched as Casey took her pen out and started jotting down notes. Even without proof, the lyrics were already coming to her.

“Done,” Leigh said.

“Righteous.” Casey’s phone buzzed to notify her of a text. She held the phone away from her and saw that a jpeg was attached. “Nice work, spanky. Now go back to your hiding place.”

“I’m not so sure about this anymore. Can I forward you my Mom’s email?”

“No. We’ll confer later. Ciao.”

She clicked the phone off and held the screen away so she could study the .jpeg Leigh sent.

Sukh reached over and angled it so he and Ben could see too. “Oh yes,” he said, “She indeed has altered not only her nose but her chest.”

Casey smiled. Ben looked at her. “What are you up to?”

“You’ll see.” She put the phone down and continued writing.

Ben attempted to read but Casey pulled the paper away. She wrote faster. “Looks like lyrics,” Sukh commented to Ben.

“I don’t like this,” Ben said.

The bus came to a stop and Casey put the paper away.

“You still have not told us what you are writing,” Sukh said.

“Pop Wire’s first big hit, Sukh. That’s what.”





25



“Maxine French is a Bitch” was the name of the song.

The first verse was about a high school girl who was popular and a bully. Then the chorus kicked in. The girl was Maxine French.

Though what would Maxine know with her fake boobs and nose. That’s the sit*. Maxine French is a Bitch. (*pronounced ‘sitch’)

As soon as Casey finished playing it, Sukh clapped with vigor. “That was your best song yet!”

“Thanks!” Casey turned to Ben.

He took an apricot cookie from the plate in front of them. “It’s a good song. Quite possibly your best. But I don’t think we should play it at auditions.”

“Those cookies are clouding your judgment,” she said.

“She might really go after us, or you, if we play that song.”

Casey waved a hand in the air. “Please.”

“Maybe she try to hit us with the fake breasts!” Sukh said.

“It’s bad energy,” Ben said.

“What is?” Casey asked.

“The song.”

“Bad energy,” she repeated.

“It says bad things about another person. The sole purpose is to hurt her. A negative goal means, by default, it’s giving off bad energy.”

“Is that Reiki?” she asked.

“No.”

“Bullshit. How’s that for bad energy?” she said.

“You wanted my opinion on the song, and I gave it,” Ben said.

“I think we should play it,” Sukh said, “and I know all about energy and karma. But it is funny and good and Maxine French is not a nice girl.”

“Then that settles it,” Casey said, “Majority rules, drummer.”

“If, that is, we get asked to audition again tomorrow,” Ben said icily.

She scowled at him. “If we do, we play that song.”

“Great!” Sukh said.

“Yeah it is great,” she said.

“Yeah, great,” Ben said, even if his voice said he did not think it was.





26



“No,” Yull said.

“I have to know,” Casey said.

“I’m sure you do. But you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out just like every other kid who auditioned.” He paused. “I do have one thing I can share with you, though.”

They were in the kitchen. Casey had just arrived home from Ben’s house, Yull was making dinner, and Leigh was sniffing a bowl of leftover Barnes food. Casey leaned over to take a piece of salad from a bowl on the table but Yull slapped her hand away.

“What’s that?”

“Samantha told me she thinks your drummer Ben’s cute.”

Casey shot Yull a dirty look. “She did not.”

“She did. She wants to know if he’s going out with anyone.”

“Samantha’s a dork,” Casey said, “I saw her iPod and it had John Mayer.”

“Maybe Ben isn’t as picky about music as you are.”

“HE IS. He won’t like her. No way.”

Yull studied her. “You’re awfully touchy. Is something going on between the two of you?”

Leigh slammed a hand on the counter. “I knew that was going to happen! Awesome. He’s much nicer than Alex Deal.”

“Nothing is happening between us.”

“Are you sure?” Yull asked.

“Yes.”

Leigh rolled her eyes. “She’s still holding out for Alex Deal.”

“I AM NOT. I just don’t think Ben will like that dork Samantha. That’s all.”

“So then he’s not going out with anyone?” Yull asked.

Casey glowered at him. Yull shook his head and turned to Leigh. “So tell me, how did you pass your, what is it, third day as a runaway?”

Leigh popped the bowl into the microwave. “I did homework. I’ve been following our assignments online and figured it might be a good idea to catch up a bit.”

Casey shot her a disbelieving look. “You did what?”

“Are you going to call your parents tonight?” Yull asked.

“No!” Casey said.

“I was thinking it might be a good idea,” Leigh said, “My mom sounded really freaked out in her email.”

“I can’t believe this,” Casey said, “You’re going to allow them to ship you off to hell just because your mother dangled a little sentimentality in your face?”

“Oh Casey grow up. She can’t stay here forever,” Yull said.

“No, she can let her nerve morph into a slice of moldy cheese soufflé and go to boarding school.”

“I bet they’ll reconsider the boarding school idea,” Yull said, “But call your mother before she loses her mind.” He took the phone off the receiver and carried it to her. “If you dial *67 first the number will come up as unknown.”

Leigh dialed the phone. Mrs. Robinson answered.

“Hi mom,” Leigh said quietly.

They all heard Mrs. Robinson say, “WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Nowhere. I mean, safe. I have food and I don’t have a cold. Just calling to tell you that.”

“ARE YOU AT CASEY’S HOUSE?”

“Of course not,” Leigh replied with admirable steadiness.

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.”

Leigh did not respond for a moment. “So how’s Vincent?” she asked. Vincent was the Robinson family cat.

“IF YOU’RE NOT AT CASEY’S THEN WHERE ARE YOU?”

Casey looked to Yull for help. He grabbed a message pad and scribbled on it. W/ a friend from school, one she’s never met b4

“WHERE ARE YOU, LEIGH?”

They heard a car approaching the house. Yull darted to the front door to see who it was.

“I’m at a friend’s house from school you’ve never met before, a new friend.”

“I’M CALLING THE POLICE!”

Leigh groaned. Casey scribbled another note. Calling po-lice’ll harm her biznes. Who buys scented candles from the parent of a fugitive?

“DID YOU HEAR ME?”

“Don’t call the police.”

Yull came back into the room and mouthed, ‘Jim!’

“It’ll hurt your business since no one wants to buy candles from the parent of a fugitive and anyway I have to run,” Leigh said.

“THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING CASEY WOULD TELL YOU TO SAY.”

“I’m hanging up, Mom, but please reconsider sending me to--”

“NO.”

Leigh slammed the phone down and bolted upstairs to hide in Casey’s closet. Casey ran into the living room and turned on the television. Yull continued cooking.



The pot brownies.

Casey theorized later, when she and Yull were sitting on the floor of her room whispering to Leigh through the closet door, would be inedible if they sat in the bottom of her backpack for another day.

“Which is why you should just throw them out now,” Yull hissed.

Casey shook her head. “I don’t think so, bro.”

“Don’t be a crackhead. In the morning Leigh will call her mother and talk to her about why boarding school is not a necessary step at this point. If she’s calm and articulate her mother will come around.”

Casey glared at him.

“I agree with Yull,” Leigh whispered.

Casey fixed the closet door with an annoyed look. She knew Yull was right. But there was a part of her, one that reared its ugly head in moments such as these, that couldn’t admit it. “I think we should leave the pot brownies on your parents’ doorstep tonight.”

“Casey,” Leigh whined.

“Don’t be crazy,” Yull said. They heard footsteps in the hall outside the room.

“Are you guys going to sleep soon?” Tricia asked from the other side of the door.

“Yes mom,” Casey and Yull said in suspicious unison.

Tricia paused outside the door for a long moment. “Okay.”

“Goodnight,” they called out.

Yull stood. “Throw those things out first thing in the morning.” Casey narrowed her eyes.

Then Yull did something that, had he not done, might have caused the events of the night to take a different course. What he did, though, instead of calling her ‘shit-for-brains,’ and thus initiating a verbal smack down, was shoot her a condescending smile. Yull knew she had seen Alex kiss Maxine. She watched as he left the room. Once he was gone she set the alarm on her cell phone for three in the morning.



When it went off, Casey slunk to the closet and woke Leigh up. “Come on.”

Leigh sat up. “We’re not actually going to do this.”

But Casey was already pulling jeans and a sweater on.



Twenty minutes later Casey pulled her bike over a block from Leigh’s house. Leigh rode up behind her. Casey leaned the bike against a tree, took the brownie packet out of her bag, and walked towards the house. Leigh followed. “Casey,” she whispered, “Seriously!”

She heard Leigh’s footsteps quickening behind her and ran so Leigh could not catch up. She reached a bush five feet from Leigh’s front door, hunched down, and saw that Leigh was hiding behind a tree a few feet away. She motioned to Casey. But instead of coming back, Casey ran to the front door, dropped the packet, and ran back to the bush.

And that was when things veered off course.

For Casey was not actually planning on leaving the packet of pot brownies there. Her intention was to leave them long enough for Leigh to tell Yull the next day, thus causing Yull to think Casey didn’t care about Alex kissing Maxine, and then to retrieve them. That was the plan, anyway. However after Casey returned to the bush and shot Leigh her best hyena smile, the front door to Leigh’s house opened, her father came out, picked the packet up, and went back inside.

Casey gasped. Leigh’s mouth fell open in horror. Casey ran over, took her by the elbow, and the two bolted to where the bikes were parked. They pedaled furiously until they were a block away.

Leigh got off her bike and threw it on the ground. “I can’t believe you did that!”

“The house was dark.”

“My Dad walks around in the middle of the night. He’s an insomniac.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

Leigh threw her hands in the air. “Like that would’ve stopped you!”

“Well, yeah,” Casey said weakly, “I wasn’t really going to leave them.”

A moment passed in which Leigh processed Casey’s words. “You mean that whole thing was just to freak me out?” Leigh asked.

Casey shifted her weight from one foot to the other and looked at the ground. “Yeah.”

“I can’t believe you,” Leigh said icily.

“First of all,” Casey began, “they don’t know who left it there.”

“Who else would leave pot brownies on their doorstep in the middle of the night?”

“They have no proof.”

“They don’t need proof,” Leigh said, “All they saw was a roach clip and they decided to ship me off to boarding school. This is real live pot. They’ll probably have me sent to jail.”

“I’ll take the fall for it.”

“That’s not going to do any good,” Leigh snapped.

“Sure it is. Anyway it really was all me.”

Leigh picked her bike up off the ground. “I really, really wish you hadn’t done that.” She got on it. “Don’t follow me.”

“Where are you going?” Casey said, “Hey, wait!”

Leigh pedaled off, and quickly too. By the time Casey got on her bike and pedaled after her, she had reached the end of the street and turned. And by the time Casey reached the turn she split off again, and Casey could not tell which direction she took. She stopped and got off her bike.

There was a time, as recently as a few weeks ago, when Casey would have let the image of Mr. Robinson sniffing pot brownies overshadow guilt at getting Leigh into more trouble. When she would have found the whole thing pretty funny. But she wasn’t feeling so great, in that moment. And she could not get the conversation she had with Ben at Glen Echo out of her head.

She got on her bike and headed towards her house. Surely Leigh would be waiting there when she got home, she told herself. But she also knew the direction Leigh went in would not take her to Casey’s.

She passed Ben’s house, which was closer than she realized, and looked up. There was a light on in an upstairs window. She hoped she wasn’t about to be wrong about the nocturnal activity of a suburban home for the second time in one night, but she had a hunch the light was coming from Ben’s bedroom.

She put the bike down and walked to the area of lawn under the window. She stared up at it. “Psst!” Nothing happened. She waited a moment. “Psst!” Still nothing happened. She picked up a small stone. With her luck she would break the window. But if she hit the frame it might get his attention. She aimed carefully and threw. Miraculously, the rock hit the frame just to the right of the window. Ben’s face appeared in the window. He saw Casey and his expression softened. She waved for him to come down. He motioned to the back of the house.

He met her at the sliding glass door that led to his basement. “Guess I forgot to add the three a.m. band practice to my planner,” he said.

“Figures,” she replied.

He motioned for her to follow him inside. She plunked herself down on the couch. “What are you doing up at this hour, anyway?” she asked, “Shouldn’t you should be getting your beauty sleep in anticipation of the big audition tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

She paused. “I just did a stupid thing.”

“What?”

“You know Leigh, my friend who’s currently living in my basement?”

“Yes.”

“Well so we, I, really, took these pot brownies to her folks’ house. I put them on the doorstep but was just going to mess with her for a moment then take them back. But her dad came out of the house and grabbed them and went back inside.”

“Where’s Leigh now?”

“Not sure. She got pissed and went pedaling off into the night.”

“Did her dad see you guys?”

“No.”

“Where’d you get the pot?”

“From my stepfather. But he doesn’t know we took it.”

“I see.”

A moment passed. “Her dad won’t eat the brownies,” Ben said, “Who would?”

Casey sat up straighter. “Good point.”

“But that’s not the point.”

“No?”

“No. The point is you pulled a prank on your best friend, who, I gather from the fact she ran away, hasn’t been having a great time lately.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel bad it’s not going to work.”

“That’s debatable.”

“So what do I do now?”

“Apologize.”

“Remember when we went to Glen Echo and you said ‘someday you’re not gonna need to have a comeback for everything’?”

“I do.”

“The next time you say something like that are you gonna tag on ‘and you’re not gonna play tricks on your best friend that go horribly awry’?”

“Where are you going with this?” he asked.

“Are you?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

He nodded.

Something unexpected bubbled up in Casey’s head. Maybe it was because of the time. Maybe it was because she didn’t want Ben to end up with someone who listened to John Mayer. Maybe it was because Ben was looking at her in a way that lacked its typical snarkiness. Whatever the reason, Casey suddenly was curious about what it would be like to kiss Ben. So she leaned over and tried it.

He was surprised for a moment there. But then he put a hand on her knee. They went on like that for about a minute. Kissing, that is.

She pulled away. He grinned. She studied him. “Don’t think this means I’m going to favor you over Sukh at band practice.”

“Why would I?” He leaned over and they kissed again.

When that time finished Casey realized something. Ben--gawky, weird Ben?--Ben was a good kisser. Just how had he come to be such a good kisser? Had there been some sort of girlfriend out in California? She felt jealous and studied him more closely. He studied right back. They heard footsteps above. Ben’s mother was up and walking around the house.

“I should go,” Casey said.

Ben nodded. They walked to the sliding glass door. When they got there she turned. “You never told me what you were doing up in the first place.”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“Just couldn’t.”

“You should try warm milk.”

He kissed her again. She smiled, turned, and exited through the sliding glass doors.





27



There was an email from Leigh first thing in the morning. I’m okay. Don’t freak out or call the police or anything like that.

Casey responded gunfire-quick. WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? Also, I ran into Ben after I saw you and he pointed out that in all likelihood your parents won’t even eat the pot brownies. Nothing’s gonna happen. I think. But something did happen last night, between me and Ben. Write when you can.

She thought about Ben and smiled. But it was short-lived because Yull chose that moment to enter her room uninvited. “What happened last night?”

She placed her laptop beside her, stood, and stretched. “I got a long and refreshing night’s sleep. Did you, dear brother?”

Yull walked over to the closet, and looked inside.

“She left before dawn,” Casey said.

“Did she now? Funny that I didn’t hear her given that I heard the two of you, loud and clear, when you took off in the middle of the night.”

She stared at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh but I bet you don’t.”

The house phone rang. “Who’s calling at this hour?” Yull asked suspiciously. She shrugged.

“Casey,” Tricia bellowed from the hall. She opened it. Her mother was standing in the hall with the phone in hand.

“Yes, mother?”

“Mrs. Robinson is on the phone. She says that in the middle of the night an un-marked package containing brownies was deposited on their doorstep. Do you know anything about this?”

Behind Casey, Yull sank onto the bed with a groan. Casey shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I was getting assistance from my dear brother on wardrobe choices for the second day of talent show auditions. Talent show, the extra-curricular activity that I slaved over brownies for the other day.”

“Who’s the advisor for talent show, Yull? I’m calling to verify that this supposed bake sale took place.”

Casey turned and mouthed, ‘F*ck you.’

Yull closed his eyes. “I can’t remember.”

Tricia glowered at her and stomped away. As soon as she was gone Yull got up and closed the door behind her. “How idiotic can you be? All this time I thought it was an act.”

“We didn’t mean to…what did you think was an act?”

“You acting stupid and doing badly in school. I thought it was just a reaction to, you know…” He bit his lip.

“Having a brother who’s perfect? Um, no Yull. Doing badly in school is something I’m able to achieve on my own merits, thank you very much.”

Yull sighed. “You could do better if you tried.”

She glanced at the time on her alarm clock. “Lookey there. The time has come for Yull to get out of Casey’s room before he gets shot. Did you have any idea it was that time, Yull?” She pushed him in the direction of the door.



That day at school, several odd and interesting things occurred.

1. Bizarrity Número Uno. Ben showed up at Casey’s locker after second period. Casey had never seen him at that time of day before. Not even a once. He loitered. Casey A) straightened up, B) smiled because she was happy to see him, and, C) got embarrassed about having smiled.

“Any word from Leigh?” he asked.

“She emailed me to say she’s okay, but she didn’t say where she is. And she didn’t respond to the email I sent her back.”

“At least she’s alive,” he said. She waited for him to say something about the night before. He didn’t.

“I guess I’ll see you in Spanish class,” she said and turned back to her locker.

But instead of leaving Ben moved closer. “It was fun last night.” Then he walked away.

2. Bizarrity Número Dos. There was still no word from Leigh as of fourth, aka library, period. Casey checked her email no less than four times. She even called Mrs. Robinson’s candle store from the library phone when Mr. Cole was in the bathroom. “This is Casey. Casey Barnes.”

Mrs. Robinson sighed. “I recognize your voice, Casey.”

“Splendid. I was wondering if you’ve had any word from Leigh?”

“She called me yesterday. But other than that, nothing.”

Casey frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Are you?” Mrs. Robinson asked. Casey didn’t respond. “There was a strange package left on our doorstep last night,” Mrs. Robinson added, “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“Why, no,” Casey said, “But I wouldn’t eat anything given to you by strangers, Mrs. R. For all you know it could be the devilish handiwork of a competing candle store proprietor and contain arsenic.”

“I don’t think so,” Mrs. Robinson said dryly, “And of course we weren’t planning on eating them. Even if I do have my suspicions about who delivered it.”

Mr. Cole re-entered the library.

“Gotta go,” Casey said and hung up the phone.

But that wasn’t the full extent of the second strange thing. The full extent of the second strange thing was that, as Casey obsessed over where Leigh could be and whether or not she and Ben would kiss later that day and Mr. Cole wrote a note that said ONLY STAFF, MEANING FULL-TIME UNION MEMBERS, CAN USE THE LANDLINE. NO EXCEPTIONS, Sukh walked into the library with a big smile on his face and said, “Congratulations.” Casey narrowed her eyes. Had Ben told him about the night before?

“Por quoi ‘Congratulations,’ Master Sukh?”

Sukh was surprised. “You mean you do not know?” Casey’s mouth fell open. The talent show audition callback list. She was so distracted with thoughts of Ben and Leigh that she actually forgot to check it. And Sukh said ‘congratulations.’

“You mean we didn’t get cut?” she whispered.

Sukh shook his head. “We’re on the list! I think we should play our new song.”

“We absolutely should play our new song! I’ll see you after school, bass-meister.” Sukh saluted Casey and departed the library. Casey got off her stool and waved her arms in the air Rocky Balboa style.

“Cut that out,” Mr. Cole growled.

3. The third, fourth perhaps?, crazy thing. A second after Casey ceased jumping up and down, Ms. Vernon, the French teacher talent show advisor whom Casey might have offended the day before, entered the library.

Ms. Vernon was in her late twenties. She was skinny and had a chic if somewhat austere gamine haircut that she accompanied with tight black clothing. In addition to talent show committee, she was also advisor for the Amnesty International Club (and, of course, thought Yull should be knighted). Leigh had her for French the previous year and said she often inter-cut grammar lessons with discussion of atrocity in Africa and vignettes about the Impressionists. The Impressionists got equal airtime as African dictators. “I just got off the phone with your mother,” Ms. Vernon said.

“Is that so?” Casey asked.

“She said the other night you made brownies for what you told her was some sort of bake sale to benefit talent show.” Ms. Vernon tilted her head to the side. “I knew nothing about this.”

“Really?”

“Furthermore,” Ms. Vernon continued, “she said Leigh Robinson has run away from home and that both Mrs. Robinson and she suspect you’ve been helping her. And she said a mysterious package of brownies was dropped on the doorstep of the Robinson family home last night.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Casey observed Mr. Cole listening with interest. She turned back to Ms. Vernon. “First of all, there was a bake sale to benefit talent show.”

“There was not--” Ms. Vernon began.

“There was. But it was a grassroots bake sale and it happened after school hours in the quad.”

“A grassroots bake sale?” Ms. Vernon snapped, “To make money for what?”

“New light gels. The ones from last year got stolen.”

“That’s not true.”

“Is too.” It wasn’t.

Ms. Vernon glared. “As I had no knowledge of this ‘bake sale’ I told your mother it never existed.”

“I would’ve thought an education professional who quotes Sartre would’ve been a bit more open-minded,” Casey said. From behind her Casey heard Mr. Cole snort and go back to his paperwork.

“Watch it, Barnes,” Ms. Vernon snarled. Casey thew her hands in the air in an I’m-innocent gesture. Ms. Vernon turned and marched out of the library.

“Hate the French,” Mr. Cole grumbled.

“She’s from Boston,” Casey said.

And then there was Spanish class, which was cloaked in an air of weirdness from the start because Ben had been absent at lunch, a period he shared with Casey, a fact there was no way he was not conscious of, especially on that of all days. He entered class right before the bell and shot her a tight look. At the front of the room, Señor Griffin began to blabber about reflexive verbs.

Casey scribbled a note. Where were you at lunch? After a moment he passed it back. Had to study. She felt odd. Couldn’t he at least elaborate on what it was he was studying? She wrote. Did you hear about talent show auditions? Ben responded. Saw Sukh in hall. He told me we’re playing our new song.

A wave of understanding broke. Ben was pissed that they were going to play “Maxine French is a Bitch” at talent show auditions. He had thought--mistakenly, of course--that after engaging in a session of tongue hockey with his front woman, he would be in a position to influence whether or not Pop Wire played their divisive new single.

Señor Griffin chose that moment to ask Casey a question. “Yo no sé,” she responded in a tone that suggested that Señor Griffin attempting to get useful information out of her that day would be as futile as assigning a summer reading list.

She wrote back to Ben. Someone once said, ‘There is no freedom without creative freedom.’ After staring at her words for a moment she scribbled out Someone, erased it, and added in a messily written name to make it look as though the previous erase mark was making it hard to read. She passed it up.

Ben read, shook his head, and responded. The expression was ‘There In No Freedom Without Bread’ and it was the Russian historian Constantine Pleshakov. Unless, of course, what you mean to write was ‘Without Truth There is No Freedom.’ I can’t remember who said that but am happy to look it up for you later. I for one hate to get historical quotes wrong.

Casey crumpled his note into a ball and folded her arms over her chest. There was no way she would ever kiss Ben again. Not only that but she could not believe she had kissed him the night before. He was fifteen, for God’s sake. Good kisser or not, he had no business knowing that much about random historical quotes. Ben was weird. And “Maxine French is a Bitch” was cool. And drummers? Drummers could be replaced. When the bell rang Casey marched out of the room without a word.

In math class, Maxine French was, as per usual, brimming with grace and charm. As soon as Casey sat down she turned around. “So I hear you got your big brother to pull some strings for you.”

For a moment Casey debated whether to hint at the sonic terror that lay ahead for old Maxine. But then she decided that the element of surprise would serve her well. She took out her workbook and started doing the problems on the board. When Maxine saw that she was not getting a reaction out of Casey, she turned back around.



Playlist for a girl about to sing a song labeling the most popular girl in school a bitch:

1. Song 1 - “Remnants” by My Morning Jacket. There was nothing like a carnivorous rock band to get one prepared for reckless action. How could she not take Maxine French down with the strains of punk rock meets Duke of Hazzard (A percussionist named Bo! Past members with last names Quaid and Cash!) running through her head?

2. Song 2 - “Incinerate” by Sonic Youth. Casey wondered if Kim Gordon, bass player of Sonic Youth, coolest resident of earth, and queen of everything, had been too hip and ahead of her time for high school. Oh of course she had been. But had she gotten teased for being that way? No, she was probably smart enough to evade torture. But would she have gotten up at talent show auditions and played the Maxine French song? Y-E-S.

3. Song 3 -“Passion Pit” by Moth’s Wings. Candy pop with a touch of rebellion. Car commercials with lip gloss. Get up on that stage and DO it, Casey Barnes.



Ben was sitting in the front row looking morose when Casey and Sukh arrived for auditions.

“Are you ready?” Sukh with an enthusiasm completely lacking in knowledge of what was going on between Ben and Casey.

“I suppose,” Ben muttered. He gave Casey a wary look.

She ignored him and began to tune her guitar. She had seen Alex Deal with the other members of Air Morocco as she entered the auditorium. She did not even bother to make eye contact or say hi. Through the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the area where Alex and co were seated: a swish of long hair and a short cheerleading skirt.

“Do you see this?” Sukh hissed, “Maxine French is here.”

Casey shot him the thumbs-up sign. Ben spoke without taking his eyes from the stage where Note Mountain was singing something from South Pacific. “We can still change the plan.”

“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t speak while The Mother F*ckers are performing,” Casey said.

Ben looked at her. “I guess I’ll take that as a no?”

“Yes, Ben. That’s a no.”

When Note Mountain finished they walked by Ms. Vernon. She gave them a nod and quickly looked to see if Casey had caught it, which, of course, she had. Casey waved broadly at her. Ms. Vernon frowned and turned back around.

“It was a weak Note Mountain showing, Casey,” Sukh said, “We have nothing to worry about.”

Casey looked at Ben but he maintained poker face. Air Morocco took the stage. From the area of the auditorium where they were sitting a female voice hooted encouragement. Casey did not have to turn to see who it was. She scooted down lower in her seat. But a few bars into their audition song, a nice little thing happened: some kids started talking in the back of the auditorium. This was not exactly extraordinary. The gathered masses were teenagers and school was done for the day. But the reason it was noteworthy was that the day before everyone had been too awed to make noise during Air Morocco’s audition. On that second day, however, this was not the case. Plus the song they played could easily have passed for the one from the day before.

They finished and got off the stage. Casey’s heartbeat sped up. Samantha approached. “You guys ready?” They nodded, followed her to the stage, and ascended. Casey plugged in her guitar.

Ben hesitated before walking to the drum kit. “Last chance to change our minds on this one.”

She stared at him. She then looked out at the audience and saw that, for the first time since talent show auditions began, she had Alex Deal’s attention. Next to him Maxine French folded her arms over her chest and smirked. Casey looked back to Ben and realized he had seen her watching Alex Deal. He walked back to his drum kit.

She motioned for Sukh to come closer. “Lower your bass line during the chorus. That way everyone’ll really hear it when I talk about her you-know-what.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Samantha said.

Casey nodded and launched into the first chord. For a second, just as she began, she got a panicked feeling. What was she getting herself into and who did she think she was to get herself into it? But then she remembered something Clayton Gould said once, before Ben and Sukh and Alex Deal and Pop Wire, when he was trying to convince Casey to play her rock songs in front of others. He said that the secret to public speaking, doing anything in front of a crowd, really, was imagining that everyone in front of you had no clothes on.

She forced the image into her head. It grossed her out. But she did relax. She then tried the trick where she made herself see Alex and herself leaving auditions together. Her playing got better. There was a textured, woodsy tone that, up until then, her voice had only gotten when she played guitar in her room. In that moment, however, the tone came out.

They were still on the first verse. They had not yet gone into the chorus that would out Maxine French and her adventures in plastic surgery. But the words in that verse, about a girl bully, were hitting people. Casey could tell because of how quiet it got in that auditorium.

As instructed, Sukh lowered his bass as they began the chorus. Casey’s voice boomed. And then she went into it: “Though what would Maxine know with her fake boobs and nose. That’s the sit. Maxine French is a Bitch.”

Now there was noise in the auditorium. Gasps and ‘Oh shits.’ Laughter too. And one girl, a spindly little thing who was a friend of Carol Emilio’s and whom, Casey had a feeling, had once been a victim of Maxine, shouted “Yeah!”

As they swung into the second verse, they really had the auditorium’s attention. And that was when Casey saw Yull. He was in the fifth row sitting with Samantha and staring at Casey with stone-cold disbelief.

Perhaps it was because people were expecting it that second time, but once she started singing the chorus there were at least four cheers from the audience. Casey pushed on, her voice louder than before. In what only seemed like seconds later, it was over. There was a moment of silence. Then the place burst into rapturous applause. Sukh hung his bass across his chest and pumped two fists into the air.

Casey turned to look at Ben. He was surprised, there was no doubt about it, but when he caught her eyes he did not smile.

When they re-entered the fray of the audience they were bombarded with comments.

“That was awesome!”

“About time someone said it.”

“You guys rock!”

“If you guys play that at talent show it would be the highlight of my high school existence.”

Casey and Sukh gave each other high fives as they walked to their seats. Ben remained silent.

“Seriously?” Casey said to him, “You’re not even gonna get remotely excited?”

“Your voice sounded really good.”

“And?”

“And you both played your instruments like pros. Happy?” Casey shook her head.

Ms. Vernon came striding over. “There is no way you are playing that song in talent show.”

Casey made a face at her. “Um, call me crazy but I thought we were still in auditions. Are you trying to say your vote has already been decided?”

“I am saying the song is inappropriate.”

“Samantha!” Casey bellowed. Samantha came over. “Are there any rules about votes being pre-decided before auditions are over?” Casey asked.

Samantha did not try to make eye contact with Ben when she spoke. “If anyone on the voting committee shows a bias then their vote is discounted.”

“I see,” Casey looked to Ben. “Care to repeat what Ms. Vernon just said for our friend Samantha?”

Ben spoke in a monotone voice. “She said that there’s no way we’re going to play that song in talent show.”

Samantha looked to Ms. Vernon. “Well actually Ms. Vernon you can’t say that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Talent’s the one show of the year where students have control over the material. It’s in the student government charter. I mean if it’s truly objectionable then it can be put to a vote. But,” she looked around and lowered her voice, “based on the reaction that song got I’m not sure how many people are protesting.” She smiled. “Maxine French was in my English class last year.”

Ms. Vernon stalked away. Samantha shrugged. Yull was the next person to come over. “We will talk about this later.” He left. It was then and only then that Casey allowed herself to look in the direction of Maxine French and Alex Deal. But they were gone. She looked around and saw their backsides as they exited the auditorium. “Be right back,” she said to Ben and Sukh.

She entered the hall at the back of the auditorium. From there she saw them. It may have been only for a moment, but it was enough. Alex Deal and Maxine French were walking on opposite sides of the hall. They looked stiff and awkward, and there was zero contact between them. Casey grinned and entered the bathroom just off the hall. She used it and, as she was washing her hands, the door opened and Eleanor Hoffman entered. “Pretty ballsy song.”

“Thanks.”

Eleanor paused before entering a stall. “I know how nasty Maxine can be.” Casey dried her hands. “But you shouldn’t play that song again,” she continued. Casey stopped and stared. “I wish I could tell you why. But you really shouldn’t.” Eleanor entered a stall.

After a confused moment, Casey decided to ignore Eleanor’s comment. For what differentiates truly amazing rock stars from merely good ones is knowing that a bad reputation can be a very good thing.