Lights Out! by Laura Dower Page A

Madison’s voice trembled.
    Fiona sighed. “I just don’t feel like singing.”
    “What are we going to do if you don’t sing?” Lindsay said. “I can’t do this alone!”
    “What is your problem?” Aimee cried.
    Fiona looked away. All around them, kids were talking about their skits and routines, getting psyched for their talent performance.
    “Fiona, I have never seen you like this,” Aimee went on. “What’s wrong? Tell me!”
    “Nothing,” Fiona said. “I’ll sing. But I’m not happy about it, okay? Okay ?”
    Lindsay was confused. “What’s up?” she asked gently. “What happened?”
    Fiona looked right at Madison. “Forget it.”
    Madison was about to say something to Fiona when Ivy Daly strolled by. She and the drones sat right up front.
    “Aren’t you four wearing costumes?” Ivy asked. She was wearing a feather boa and had drawn hearts on both her cheeks. She also wore her short shorts, the same ones she’d been modeling in the cabin a day before. They must have been magnetized because all the boys were staring at them!
    Even Hart.
    “Our costumes!” Lindsay cried. “We have to get changed right away.”
    Aimee led the group into the opposite corner, where they each put on funny hats and pulled on T-shirts with words taped to the front. When Aimee, Fiona, and Lindsay stood in a line, their shirts read: FRIENDS ARE FOREVER. Madison stood at the end. On her T-shirt were six bold exclamation points—!!!!!!
    “Ivy’s costume is nothing compared to ours,” Aimee said. “Ours rule.”
    Fiona wasn’t saying much, which had Madison worried.
    “Are you okay?” Madison asked her.
    “Fine,” Fiona said. But she crossed her arms and looked away.
    The four friends in hats watched other acts go before them. Madison’s classmates Montrell and Lance juggled while they sang. They called themselves Surfer Boys. Another group of girls, including Fiona’s soccer pal Daisy and Stacey “the traitor” sang an old song by the Supremes called “Stop! In the Name of Love.” Their group name was The Butterflies.
    Fiona wasn’t saying much. She was concentrating on the next act. Next up were Chet, Hart, Dan, Drew, and Egg—otherwise known as The Dudes.
    The guys all had sports equipment they had found in the main lodge, and they pretended that the lacrosse sticks and baseball bats were musical instruments. Ivy played a girl in their music video, the part that Egg had originally asked Madison to play.
    Aimee clenched her teeth so she wouldn’t laugh. “Music video? The Dudes?” she silently mouthed the words to Madison. “Are you kidding?”
    Madison shrugged. It wasn’t so bad. They would definitely get points for creativity. And Ivy didn’t do anything except walk around them while they sang, pretending to pose like a model. As if.
    “That part was really dumb,” Lindsay said afterward. “Why did Ivy even need to be up there?”
    Madison shrugged. “There needs to be a girl in every boy band video,” she explained. “I know how Egg’s brain works.”
    “Sure,” Fiona said, breaking her silence. “You know everything.”
    Aimee did a double take when Fiona said that. Fiona Waters never said bad things about anyone—let alone one of her BFFs.
    “Next up, the BFFs,” Mrs. Goode announced.
    “That’s us!” Aimee squealed, twirling around. “Hit it!”
    “We have to go on,” Madison said quietly.
    “I know,” Fiona said. “I KNOW.”
    Without another word, the BFFs took the stage. Everyone was hooting and clapping for them, especially the boys.
    But Fiona’s singing cut right through all the noise-making. Her voice was like ribbon candy, rippling and sweet. Kids sat back down just to listen to her—she sounded that good.
    Madison swayed to the music in the background. Aimee twirled around the stage area.
    “‘That’s what friends are for,’” Fiona sang out as if she were a real-life pop singer. “‘In good times…in bad times…I’ll be yours