*at school *
Gem had grabbed Tasalineâs hand and yanked her into the schoolâs front office to elude the biology teacher, who was rounding the corner in search of them.
See, Tasaline, Gem, and the rest of their friends werenât exactly supposed to be at the school right then. It was a teacher workday, and Tasaline had only come with her friends to the school to ask the gym teacher about why the volleyball team was getting discontinued. Then she and her friends had come to find out all the sports teams were getting discontinued, and now she had ended up in the main office to not get found out by the biology teacher, who had been on their tail since they began sneaking around the school that day.
As soon as they ran in, Gem took Tasaline behind the secretaryâs desk, which was where the rest of their friends were hiding.
âSHHH!â Lazy told Gem and Tasaline as they crouched down behind the counter. Gem had forgotten to close the door behind her, so the biology teacher of course walked right in behind them, searching for the cause of the footsteps and laughing he had heard behind every corner of the school halls that day.
They heard the biology teacherâs steps grow louder, slower, then cease completely. Tasaline knew that if she looked up she would see the biology teacher right across from her, and she could already see him writing up a suspension. She kept her head ducked.
Lazy, on the other hand, was only thinking about how to save the sports teams. Gem had already agreed that her brotherâs concert was going to have admission and snack fees, the profits going to save the school sports teams so kids could stay active and healthy. The gym teacher had told the kids there was no hope in saving the sports teams, that even a fundraiser would not change Principle Abdioâs mind, but Lazy believed in herself and her friends. She also believed she could not live without the volleyball team.
âBaldwick? Whatâs going on?â The kids heard another teacher call.
âDah-nothing, just thought Iâd heard something.â They heard the biology teacher leave the room and walk down the corridor far away from Gem and her friends.
âTHAT⌠was too close.â Tasaline could feel herself sweating, despite the chilly school air.
âI knew we shouldnât have come here!â Gem whispered, thought she badly felt like shouting. The volleyball team was not worth a suspension!
âOkay, so the sports are off by March 5, which gives us a little less than two weeks to save sports AND have it done as our school fundraising project.â reported Lazy. The fundraising project is due by March 8.
Thatâs when her friends realised Lazy had gotten up and began reading whatever was on their principal's desk.
âThatâs great, my brotherâs concert is on March 2! Heâll play his songs, and weâll get 80% of the money earned from it!â
âEighty percent!? Whereâs the other twenty going?â Lazy asked Gem, appalled. She believed the volleyball team was worth every penny.
âUh, me and my brother. We want a tad of the proceeds for his work as well!â said Gem defensively.
âWe can worry about all that later! For now, canât we focus on getting out of here!?â Tasaline whispered. She didnât much want to sneak into the school in the first place, much less the principal's office.
âYeah, letâs head out. Thereâs not anything else that we need to find out.â Lian said to his friends, and they carefully snuck out the building.
On their way back to Lazyâs house, it had been awkwardly quiet.
âSo Gem, is your brother even.. Good?â Lian asked Gem as politely as he could.
WhaâŚ? Oh, yeah, heâs pretty good.â Gem responded.
âWell, do you know if a lot of people are gonna come to his concert?â Lian ventured to ask Gem furthermore.
âWell, our family and some of his high school bros are coming. Whatâs with all the questions?â Gem glared at Lian.
âItâs just that, how do you know that your brother is going to get enough people to come so we can fund our sports fundraiser off the profits?â
âHey! My brother knows alot of people at his school! I bet there'll be a ton of people coming.â
âYeah, but maybe we can help with some advertisingâŚâ Lian suggested.
âHow?â Gem asked.
âYâknow, by putting up some flyers, telling our friends about it, that kind of thing.â Lian began. âWe have to try to get everyone we can to come and see your brother play.â
âYou know what? Thatâs smart!â Gem said
âYeah! And maybe we can pay for your brother to have a local commercial so that the whole city can really see âem! Ooh! Or maybe we can get him a spot on that one famous talk-show hostâs show so that the whole state will wanna come!â Lazy added on.
âYou really think you can manage all that!?â Gem asked Lazy, excitedly. She started to imagine if her brother was a famous drummer in a super famous band, and Gem and her family were behind the curtain of the talk-show stage watching excitedly as her brother talked about how he had risen to fame with the help of his brilliant sister and her fundraising team of friends.
âI donât think I can manage all that. I just suggested that you could do all that stuff.â Lazy said as if she hadnât said much.
Gem rolled her eyes.
âI donât think I could get Gemâs brother a commercial or anything like that, but Iâm sure I could do something that will get your brother some publicity.â Tasaline said, joining in on the chat.
âCool! Thanks Tasaline! Letâs all think of something to make my brotherâs concert known in this city! Fist-bump!â Gem wasnât expecting that last part to come out, as she wasnât especially good friends with any of them, but it was too late to take it back. âSure!â Lazy put her fist out. Gem then put her own hand next to Lazyâs, next Tasaline, and finally Lian. âFor the sports teams!â Gem yelled, and everyone else repeated this comment. Then they raised their hands up and dispersed.
Gem told everyone sheâd see them tomorrow at school, then they all split up, each going to their own home.
As Gem came home, her brother was busy playing his drums.
But this was different. This was a beat she hadnât ever heard him play before.
âWoah! Whereâd you steal that beat from?â
âNo one. Itâs my own. Iâm practicing this new drum solo idea Iâve got for the bandâs newest song. I think it would go good right towards the end.â
âOh well, itâs actually⌠pretty good.â Gem was so used to her brother Keeth playing the same old annoying sounds while practicing for his band and almost always quoted how dum he sounded. She felt weird complimenting him.
âI already know itâs pretty good. Now let me get back into the zone before I lose my energy to play on.â Keeth then began to get lost in his drumming again.
Now, how do I promote my brotherâs concert? Gem thought. She decided to go on her phone to find out ways other people promoted themselves, but got distracted and went How-u-been.
How-u-been was a popular social media app. Gem had an active account that she posted on, but not that many followers (only seventeen.) The last thing she had posted was, âwhat I hear every afternoonâ which was just eighteen seconds of her brother's drum playing that she had secretly recorded after school one day.
Hereâs the thing though: it had gotten over 1,000 views.
âWhat!?â Gem said, amazed. She had never gotten over 1,000 views on any of her posts. Heck, not even half that amount.
Gem had posted that video out of irritation to her brother's constant playing, but everyone had seemed to like that video. People had commented, âhey that sounds great!â or âphenomenal playing!â but something in particular had caught Gemâs eye.
Megi Issa, a famous actor and musician had commented, âThat boys got talent. I see youâve tagged â#North Carolina and #Sahara city on this video. Thatâs my hometown in my home state. Wouldnât it be crazy if I came to one of his performances?â
Gemâs eyes lit up. âKEETH!â she yelled loudly over his drum playing.
Keeth sighed, annoyed by his sisterâs constant interruptions, but he stopped playing. âWhat do you want?â he answered.
Gem only smiled and said âHow would you like it if Megi Issa came to your concert?â