Grover Girls Chapters 7-9

CHAPTER 7 
         All I could do was head back upstairs.  I was still stinging from the strange encounter with Graham, and I needed my friends badly.  I needed to make sense of all of it.  I found them all waiting for me on the couch in the common room.  Talia saw me first.  She jumped up when she spotted me getting off of the elevator. 
         “When I got out of the shower and saw you were gone, I knew you were headed to talk to Graham.  I called Chloe and Maya.  What happened?”  Talia asked gently.
         I relived the whole ugly story for me friends, including my thoughts about rumors and Lacey Blume. 
         “Oh, that’s ridiculous, Lex.  No one thinks you’re like Lacey.  Plus, we’ve all seen Lacey in action.  We ALL know what she’s really like.  She’s a liar and a cheater, and such a sleeze.  I guess there was some truth to those stories about Graham.  Just goes to show…” Chloe tried to make me feel better.  I still wasn’t completely convinced.  Still, I felt better telling my friends about what happened.  We decided to go to breakfast and drown my sorrows in a plate of french toast. 
         “I’ve never heard any nasty rumors about you, Lexi.  Maybe Graham just thought he would be a big stud if he could “nail a virgin” or something.  You know how guys are.  If it wears a skirt, they’ll try to chase it.  Don’t worry.  We’ve got the whole year in front of us, this won’t plague you forever.  We won’t let it.”  Maya said with a smile as we headed out into the crisp fall air.  Maya was kind and sensitive, the kind of friend everyone needs on her side when something like this happens. Just as I had hoped, my friends made me feel a bit better. 
         I had to forget about Graham and Lacey and the rumor mill if I was to have a shot at a part in The Sound of Music.  The auditions were only a few hours away, and my mind was definitely not with Maria Von Trapp in Austria.  I decided to skip out of breakfast and head back to the dorm to listen to my borrowed soundtrack and put my mind where it belonged.  I knew that orchestra auditions were also this evening, so the floor should have been very quiet.  Chloe, Maya, and Talia were heading to the Center for the Performing Arts, (CPA in Northwoods speak), to practice and get ready.  They wished me luck as I walked out towards the dorm, and they walked the opposite direction, instruments in hand. 
         Talia shouted as I reached the front door to Grover, “You’ll be great, Lex!  Just keep your head where it belongs!”  She gave me a thumbs up and flashed me her nicest smile.  I have such great friends.
         When I reached the door to my room, I realized that all the doors had two envelopes taped to them.  I knew from experience that it was our first semester work assignments.  I knew Ms. Bracken must have been up here earlier to deliver them.  I was eager to see what I would be doing this semester, so I ripped the envelope down that read “Frost, Alexis 301” and laid down on my bed.  I opened the envelope, hoping it would be a cool job like ripping tickets at the basketball games and not something boring like collecting cafeteria trays.  This is what the note said:

NORTHWOODS ACADEMY STUDENT JOB PROGRAM is pleased to announce that FROST, ALEXIS ANNE(GROVER 301) will be working in the LIBRARY.  Your new job duties will include, but are not limited to CHECKING OUT STUDENT BOOKS HOURS SATURDAY 8AM to 12PM.  BLUME, LACEY DINSMOORE (GROVER 302) has also been assigned to this job and these hours.  The student job program begins SEPTEMBER 10.  Please report to MRS. JANE WEATHERBY on this date at your scheduled time.
         I collapsed on my bed with the note in my hand.  Not only did I have to endure Lacey living right next door to me, making out with my old boyfriend, running into her in the bathroom, but now we actually had to work together?  How was I ever going to survive the first semester of tenth grade?
         I should never had read my work program note before auditions.  My mind just would not stay focused on the VonTrapp family singers.  It kept wandering back to thoughts of being stuck in the library every Saturday with Lacey Blume.  I could picture her trying to get me in trouble with Mrs. Weatherby, the head librarian.  I could also picture Pete coming in to visit her while she worked.  How awkward would that be.  The only thing that made me feel better was that the library was a VERY big place.  Five floors of books and student study carrels and places to hide.  Hide from Lacey Blume.  I was being OH SO MATURE about all of this. 
         Somehow, I made it through the afternoon with no permanent emotional scarring.  Talia, Chloe, and Maya even made it back from orchestra auditions before I was ready to go to my audition.  They each had great news, all making the upper cluster orchestra with no problem.  Chloe had even made first chair trumpet, unheard of for a tenth grader.           Talia read her work program note and will be working in the Grover mailroom with a first floor girl, Jen Larsen, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.  It was an easy job, and I found myself longing to be her.  Maya got the very dirty job of working in the cafeteria on Monday and Wednesday afternoons after lunch.  She would be collecting trays and sweeping floors.  I almost wanted to switch with her just so I did not have to be near Lacey.  That is, until Maya revealed that she would be working with Lacey’s best friend, Amanda Dennis.  Amanda is even more high maintenance than Lacey.  Working in the cafeteria with her would pretty much be like working by yourself.  Chloe read her note and found that she would have the best job of us all.  She would be working in the box office of the Center for the Performing Arts on weekend mornings with Owen Parkston!  She was overjoyed!  It was a red-letter day for Chloe.  Tenth grade was being kind to my best friend.  Maybe if I stood real close to her, some of her luck would rub off on me.

CHAPTER 8
         I walked to the CPA with my head held high.  I wasn’t going to let Lacey get to me.  I wasn’t going to let Graham get to me, either.  I was bigger than this problem, I wouldn’t let it consume me.  This audition was too important to me.           
         I pulled open the heavy doors to the audition room and noticed clusters of students mumbling lines to themselves, while others stretched on the stage, while still others practiced singing scales quietly by the piano.  I noticed Graham and Lacey standing together, whispering and giggling.  Perhaps I was imagining things, but I thought I saw Graham looking at me with a sarcastic smirk on his face.  I wondered what he was up to.  I did not have to wonder too long.  I thought it strange to see Lacey hanging around Graham.  Since all three of us had been attending Northwoods since the sixth grade, I was pretty sure that Lacey and Graham were not close friends.  Boy, she did not waste much time.  Graham and I had just that afternoon “called things off”.  Did she break up with Pete?  The thought made my heart leap.  That girl sure gets around. Hmm.  I didn’t have time to ponder the why’s of Lacey’s behavior, I was supposed to be focusing on the audition. 
Focus, Lexi, focus.
         Eli Brown, a close friend of Graham’s, approached me.  I smiled, Eli and I had always been friendly. 
         “Hey Lexi.  I was wondering if you’d like to come up to my room after the auditions.” His question took me by surprise.
         “Why would I want to do that?” I asked.
         “I thought we could, you know…spend some time together  Get to know each other.  Maybe you’d be my girlfriend?”  He raised his eyebrows at me.
         I whipped around to see Lacey and Graham collapsed in a fit of giggles on the stage floor.  Graham must have told all of his immature friends about our encounter and the later conversation.  I just shook my head at Eli and walked away. 
Focus, Lexi, focus. 
I could not blow it just because Graham could not take rejection.  Was he that egotistical about girls that he had to stoop to making fun of me to make himself feel better?  Because I didn’t want to be his blow up doll? 
I sat down in the house seats and waited for my number to be called for the dance audition.  I tried very hard to focus on the task at hand. 
Focus, Lexi, focus.
         My number was finally called for the dance audition.  I took to the stage and noticed Graham standing in the wings, closest to where I was standing. 
         “Hey Hot Stuff…” he whispered.  “Been in any good boy’s suites lately?”
         If his main goal was to make me flustered, he more than succeeded.  I tripped over my own feet, I forgot the combination, and ended the dance with my hands in the air, while the rest of the group ended with their hands on their hips.  Shaking my head, I headed back to seats to read over my audition song.
         Graham came up behind me.  “What happened to you out there?”  he smirked.
         “That was a nasty trick, Graham.  What’s your deal?  Why are you trying to psych me out?”  I growled at him.
         He put his hands up. ”It’s not my problem that you can’t perform under pressure.”  He backed up and headed back to Lacey, who was watching us and laughing riotously.
         The singing auditions, which are usually my strong point, didn’t go well either.  Lacey, Graham, a senior named Nathan Princeton and I were to audition together.  Mr. Paul, the voice coach, expected us to harmonize to “So Long, Farewell” before listening to each of us separately.  I was so flustered, that I flubbed my alto part, which made Lacey grin devilishly.  When we sang alone, I noticed Graham and Lacey outside of the voice room window, kissing.  I guess that answered my question about Pete.  If she had not broken up with him yet, it appeared pretty obvious that Pete Ryan was about to get the blow off from Lacey.  Graham flashed me a look while I was singing, and I completely forgot the words to my song.  I felt as if I had swallowed a great big rock, and it was stuck somewhere in my windpipe.  I knew I had done poorly.  I hoped against hope that Mr. Paul would give me the benefit of the doubt.  He had been my voice coach last year and knew I was a good singer.  I slinked back into the theater like a child who had been scolded.  How could I let Lacey and Graham do that to me?  A better question was…WHY would Lacey and Graham do that to me? 
         A short time later, the director, the choreographer, and Mr. Paul took to the stage.  Mr. Paul clapped his hands for attention, and began his speech.
         “There is some exceptional talent in this room!  Unfortunately, The Sound of Music has a small cast, and aside from the principal players, we are not going to be needing a very large chorus.  I hope those of you who have not made it will consider helping us out on the stage crew, with costumes, props, or makeup.  Also, please don’t let this discourage you from auditioning again in the spring.  Thank you all again for coming.”  With that, he crossed the stage and attached a yellow piece of paper to the backstage bulletin board.  Thirty excited high schoolers stampeded, crowding the bulletin board.  I slowly rose from my seat, and meandered to the board.  I was nervous, knowing that I had not performed to the best of my ability.  I was hoping that the directors would cut me a break and cast me anyway.  I was almost betting on it.  By the time I made it to the paper, most of the others had walked away.  Some happy and slapping five with their friends, others with disappointed scowls or tears in their eyes.
         I had to read through the list twice to make sure my eyes didn’t deceive me. 
                                       THE SOUND OF MUSIC
                        FINAL CAST

MARIA:  Jill Jones
CAPTAIN VON TRAPP:  Nathan Princeton
LEISL: Lacey Blume
FRIEDRICH: Grant Peters
LOUISA:  Petra Jacoby
BRIGITA: Nadine Basone
KURT: Eli Brown
MARTA: TBA (lower cluster)
GRETEL: TBA (lower cluster)
BARONNESS SCHRADER: Tina Franklin
UNCLE MAX: Clark Rosen          
ROLF: Graham Peale
MOTHER SUPERIOR:  Corrine Carson

FEMALE CHORUS:  Diana Carson, Stacey Brook, Natalie Mines(U), Tori Nixon, Kelly Holsenbach.
MALE CHORUS:  Chip Underwood(U), David Sears, Ryan Franklin, Adam Vandekamp, Nicholas Mann.
U = Understudy for principles

         I hadn’t made the cut.  I had let Graham and Lacey get the best of me and I hadn’t done well in the audition.  I stood in front of the paper for a few more minutes, letting the reality sink in.  Being in the shows was one of the best things about Northwoods.  I had been in every musical since the sixth grade.  What was I going to do all semester?  I was counting on this show.  I had even planned my academic schedule around the evening rehearsals.  I was so embarrassed, I ran from the theater and didn’t stop running until I reached Grover, all the way across the campus.  It was there in the darkened courtyard that I finally let myself feel some emotion.  I cried.  I cried hard.  Sobbing, nose dripping, hard to catch your breath crying.  It felt good to let it out.  After a few minutes, I pulled myself together and went upstairs to my suite.  When I arrived on the third floor, the living area was buzzing.  Lacey was regaling everyone with the story of the audition.  The other girls listened raptly as she told them that she was going to be Leisl.  I noticed that Jill was sitting in the corner, already studying the script.  Jill was going to be the female lead, Maria, but I was sure that she had not egotistically told the story to the whole suite like she was Audrey Hepburn or something.  The living room became quiet as I entered.
         “Why, Alexis!  Tell us…which part will you be playing, dear?”  Lacey drawled in her sickly sweet way.  By the way her eyes were sparkling, I could tell that she damn well KNEW that I hadn’t been cast in the show.  Evil Toad.
         “I…uh…didn’t make it this semester.”  I heard someone’s breath catch.
         “Well, well.  Can’t win ‘em all, can we darlin’?” Lacey said. 
         “That’s right.  Congratulations Lacey…Jill.”  I decided to take the high road.  I knew that my ignoring Lacey’s evil ways would annoy her WAY more than coming up with a snappy retort.
         I went into my room, while I knew all eyes were watching me.  Chloe, Talia, and Maya were waiting for me on the bed. 
         Chloe immediately enveloped me in a hug.  I knew then that they had all heard from Lacey that I hadn’t made the cut.  I sat down hard on the bed and told them the whole ugly story.  They all sat open-mouthed, stunned that Graham and Lacey would stoop that low to keep me from getting a part in the musical. 
         Either I was still in shock, or the reality that I wouldn’t be participating in the theatre this semester hadn’t really sunk in, because I was strangely calm.  I felt almost…relieved.  Maybe it would be good for me to stay away from Lacey and Graham this semester.  Graham had managed to make life a living hell for me already, and it was only the second week of school.  And Lacey…well, I’d be seeing plenty of her in the library and in the dorms.  Did I really need to be spending more time with her at the CPA?  Maybe I could take this opportunity to try something new.  Maybe I would try out for a sport.  HA!  Who was I kidding?  Other than ballet and tap dancing, I was the most UNATHLETIC person in the world.  There had to be something in my yellow packet, something I hadn’t thought of. 
         I brought up my idea to my friends, and of course they were super supportive.  They all thought it was a great idea that I wanted to try something new this semester.  I could always audition for the spring theatre production next semester.  Who needed Graham and Lacey anyway?

CHAPTER 8B
         Still reeling from the outcome of the auditions, the next day I was slated to begin my job program duties in the library with Lacey.  Can’t a girl catch a break?  It felt like a nonstop trip aboard the Crazy Lacey Express since I arrived at school this year. 
         I prepared myself for the worst, but walked to the library with my head held high.  It was just shelving books, right?  How much trouble could Lacey be? An added bonus, Mrs. Weatherby, the librarian, is a stickler for quiet.  She is absolutely insistent on complete silence in her library.  Usually I had a hard time sticking to Weatherby’s rules, but in this case, I was actually looking forward to a few hours of silence. 
         I arrived right on time, and made my way to the circulation desk, where I knew Mrs. Weatherby would be waiting for me with a spreadsheet outlining my duties for the semester.  I was not disappointed.  There she was, decked out in her navy blue pantsuit, a jaunty little scarf tied around her neck.  She waved her spreadsheets in the air as a greeting, and I could not help but smile.  Mrs. Weatherby was just such a librarian.  Just what comes to mind when you think of a librarian.  And there next to her was Lacey Blume.  Ugh.  The smile faded from my lips. 
         “Girls, girls!”  Mrs. Weatherby singsonged.  “Here are your duties, I was up late last night entering them into a spreadsheet so there would be no mistaking your duties.  Let me show you the computer and the bar code system, and then two of you can get busy restacking.  We’ve got a bit of a mess to clean up from last year!”  She was MUCH too excited about the prospect of restacking books.
         It did not take long for Mrs. Weatherby to show us the system for checking out student books.  She insisted on giving us each a little quiz before releasing us to restack a large rolling cart of books.  I found myself hoping that there were two rolling carts.  One for each of us, so we were not forced to be together, but it was not to be.
         “Everything on this cart is fiction, and will all need to be restacked on the third floor.  I will be down here working on my lesson plans if you need any help.  When you are finished, come back up here and I will need some help making copies.”  Mrs. Weatherby sent us off with a little flick of her wrist.
         “She gets way too excited about this stuff,” I said sarcastically to Lacey.  I was taking a stab at being friendly.
         One look at Lacey’s face showed that being friendly was the WRONG way to go.  She turned to look at me with daggers in her eyes.  She almost looked like she wanted to vomit.  I took that as my first clue that she really didn’t want to talk to me.
         We made our way to the third floor in total silence.  For the first time, I realized that the elevator trip from the lobby to the third floor of the library actually takes a year and three days, not twenty five seconds, as I had originally thought.  We (silently, of course), made our way to the fiction shelves in a far corner of the third floor.  The library was empty, which was not surprising that early in the semester.  No one really had studying on their minds yet.  Classes would not even begin for two more days.
         We worked in silence for a few minutes.  My mind was racing a mile a minute.  I was on tenterhooks, waiting for Lacey to spring on me like a predator.  My whole body was on edge.  Every little noise made me jump.  What exactly did I think Lacey was going to do?  Sometimes I really do have an overactive imagination.
         “So, I haven’t slept with Graham yet.  How was he?”  Lacey asked out of the blue.
         I could do nothing but stare at her in shock.  I must have turned five shades of purple. 
         “I didn’t…what did he…I just…”, I stammered idiotically. 
         “Whatever, Lex.  Graham told me what happened.”  She replied.
         “What exactly did he tell you?” My curiosity was piqued.
         “That you guys got together a couple days before auditions.  That he was not very impressed.  Then he dumped you.”  Lacey smirked.  She was getting some kind of sick pleasure out of making me squirm.  I don’t know why I was so shocked. 
         What should I do?  If I tried to explain to her how it really was, would she even believe me?  Probably not.  If I said nothing, the story would spread like wildfire, if it had not already.  It was a conundrum.
         “Lacey…that’s not really how it was…”  I began.
         “Oh, please, Lexi.  Don’t pull that holier than thou crap on me.  I know better.  It’s no big deal.  He just wasn’t that into you.  You were dumped.  Whatever.”  Lacey returned to her book stacking. 
         I was at a loss for words.  Graham was a lot sicker than I thought.  At first I was under the impression that Graham was just a big jerk who wasn’t too keen on being dumped by me.  I did not realize how incredibly vindictive he was.  If Graham and Lacey were together now, they totally deserved each other.
         “See, Lexi, the trick is not to give it up too soon.  Keep them guessing.  You sleep with them too soon, and the magic is over.  They’re going to move on.”  Lacey smirked at me again.
         She was making me incredibly uncomfortable, which was, of course, her main objective.  I was going to have to develop thicker skin if I was going to spend every Saturday morning in the library with Lacey.  If this were any indication of how the rest of the semester was going to go, I was in for a very bumpy road.