Part 5 (1/2)

And it was a good idea. I popped another Chunky in my mouth, grabbed a pen, and looked at the list of acts we had accepted. I circled these: dt/hv CcxxmUW J Out ”See?” I said. ”All of these guys seemed like great friends. Let's choose three. We'll call them to discuss the theme. Then we'll put the friends.h.i.+p song last.” ”One problem. The song isn't anywhere near fifteen minutes long.” ”Well . . . we'll ask the girls to sing more than one song. There are plenty more songs based on friends.h.i.+p, right?” ” 'Ben/ ” Ashley replied.

”Ben who?” I asked.

”The song 'Ben.' About the boy and the rat.” ”Yuck.” ”It's beautiful. It goes like this: 'Ben-nnnn Guess what? Ashley may be a great artist, but her singing is as bad as my spelling.

”Aaaugh, stop!” I said. ”You'll break my windows!” Ashley's face turned red. We both cracked up-Well, by the end of our meeting, we'd decided on our big three: the comedy act, the kiddie chorus, and the movie reviewers.

Ashley left at quarter after five. I had fifteen minutes until the BSC meeting.

I picked up the phone. My first call was to Frank (of Frank and Tim). He was delighted - until I mentioned the friends.h.i.+p angle.

”There's one problem,” he said softly. ”I hate Tim.” ”Oh, but I'm sure you can - ” ”Rank! See, now that is comedy!” Ugh. Maybe Ashley was right about these guys.

For the kids' chorus, I called Ms. Farrell, one of the moms who brought the group to the radio station. She thought the theme was a great idea, because s.h.i.+ning Time Station is all about friends.h.i.+p and cooperation.

Bill Shebar, the movie reviewer, seemed a little embarra.s.sed about the theme. But he agreed to call his partner, Katie Geissinger, to discuss it.

Last, I called the two girls who sang ”Friends.h.i.+p,” Julie Mansfield and Jennifer Evans. They said they'd try to find two or three more songs to sing.

Whew. This was turning out to be a lot of work. But I was doing it. Me, Claudia Kis.h.i.+. The artist. The girl who thinks planning means buying Twinkies ahead of time.

You know what? I was pretty proud of myself.

I could not wait until showtime.

I was out to lunch during school on Thursday. Afterward I put together this great new outfit and trimmed my hair.

I know. Double duh. It was a radio show. n.o.body was going to see me. But I could not help it. Honestly. I absolutely had to do it. I don't know why.

Anyway, I wore the coolest tuxedo I'd recently bought in a thrift shop, including a silky, piped s.h.i.+rt and a bright red velvet c.u.mmerbund. I removed the shoulder pads from the jacket, which made it really slouchy (I love that look). Then I bought a pair of white socks with silver glitter.

I decided to wear a pair of red sneakers to match the c.u.mmerbund. I swept my hair up and fastened it with a rhinestone barrette in the shape of a musical note.

Last, I carefully folded up a speech I had written, typed, and Spellchecked on the SMS Express computer. I put it in the inner pocket of my tux jacket.

My dad left work early so he could drive me to the station, with WSTO turned up almost to full volume. He kept nodding his head and saying, ”Nice station,” even though we only heard the weather, the sports, and a few ads.

He was grinning ear to ear when he dropped me off. ”Good luck, sweetheart. We're proud of you,” he said.

My dad hardly ever says that (to me, at least). I nearly lost it. Boy, was I glad I'm not Mary Anne. ”Thanks, Dad,” I replied. ”Don't forget to tape it.” ”I bought fresh batteries,” he called out as he drove away.

Ashley was already in the studio when I walked in, dressed in jeans and a works.h.i.+rt. She was deep in conversation with Bob, but when she saw me, she howled with laughter.

”Are you going to, like, describe your outfit to the listeners or something?” she asked.

”Ha ha,” I replied. ”Nice to see you, too.” I tried to look mean. At least serious. But Ashley's face looked like Christmas morning.

I let out a scream. She let out a scream. We hugged each other. We jumped up and down.

”Uh . . . harrumph,” Bob said.

”Oh. Right. The show.” I could barely speak, I was grinning so hard.

We gave Bob our program sheet. Somehow we managed to discuss it with him and Mr. Bullock. One by one, the guests started filtering into the waiting room next to the studio. I think I said hi, but I don't remember. I was sooo nervous.

An engineer knocked on the window and pointed to the clock. It was 4:56, and the show began at 5:00.

Yikes! Ashley and I put on our earphones (unfortunately, that meant taking off my barrette).

Mr. Bullock rushed in and wished us good luck. Bob gave us a salute and sat in a corner to watch. An engineer's voice began calling out, ”Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . .” I grabbed Ashley's hand, which was clammy. She was shaking. I was shaking.

”... Six ... five . . .” And I realized my speech was still in my pocket.

I let go of Ashley. I reached into my jacket with my right hand.

Wrong side. My finger caught in a rip in the lining.

”. . . three . . . two . . .” My left hand jabbed my chest. My fingers fluttered and fumbled. I had no control. My brain was somewhere in the Limbo Zone.

A red light blinked on above my head.

”You're on the air!” the voice said over the headphones.

Gulp.

The speech. It was in my hand. I had it. I smoothed it out on the table.

I could not understand a word.

”It's upside down!” Ashley whispered.

On the other side of the soundproof gla.s.s, an engineer started cracking up.

He had heard Ashley! Quickly I turned the speech around. ”Heek kew.” Oh. Oh. This was not happening. My throat was dry as dust.

I quickly swallowed. Ashley's eyes looked like white Frisbees.

”h.e.l.lo and welcome to Tor Kids Only'!” I did it! I took a deep breath and went on. ”This is Claudia Kis.h.i.+, coming to you live from the WSTO studios, along with Ashley Wyeth, and this is our first show. Today our theme is friends.h.i.+p.” As I continued speaking, Ashley's Frisbees slowly shrank. When I finished my speech, her eyes were more or less normal-sized.

Frank and Tim performed their comedy act. But they added a new section about being friends. It consisted mostly of dumb insults, such as ”With friends like you, who needs parents?” and ”Tim's a great buddy. I lend him my math homework and he lets me copy his lunch.” Next the kids sang. Afterward we asked them about the train characters of s.h.i.+ning Time Station, and then about their own experiences. They were very talkative. One little boy chattered about a pen pal in j.a.pan. ”I'm saving up to go visit him and I already have six dollars and twenty cents!” he announced.

Bill and Katie, the movie reviewers, talked about movies that featured strong friends.h.i.+ps (great idea, huh?).

The only problem was that everybody was going too fast. I tried desperately to stretch out my introductions, and that helped a little.

Julie and Jennifer began their song at five forty-two, three minutes early. (Do you know how long three minutes is, in radio time? Forever.) Ashley and I both signaled them to take their time (which was kind of useless, since they were singing to tapes).