The music from “Love Monsoon” fills the amphitheater as Ryder Landry runs onstage. I’ve seen that run in clip after clip online—live performances, music videos, even news stories where he’s running from fans. It’s the best run ever.
“Hello, Southern California—it’s the end of the school year! Woooo!” he shouts into the microphone. Everyone in the audience goes crazy—except me. I don’t know what to think or how to act. I feel like someone conked me over the head with a big, heavy frying pan. My brain is scrambled.
I stand up without even realizing it. I look over at Dad, who’s smiling at me. “This is the guy! Right?” he asks, shouting over the screams and cheers. I don’t say anything, still in shock. But I’m sure Dad gets his answer from Sam, who is jumping up and down and screaming, “Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!” Even Larry is standing, and he thinks Ryder Landry is a creepo-teen-robot who won’t be around in five years’ time.
“I hope you don’t mind that I’m singing to a backing track tonight. My band’s already on their way to Japan. But before I left, I wanted to do a special favor for a friend.”
A favor…for a friend? That’s how I signed my letter! Still, it couldn’t be because of me…could it? I’m clenching my hands so tightly that my nails are digging into my palms.
“So buckle up and get ready for a love monsoon!” Ryder shouts as his music cranks up again.
I mouth the words as Ryder sings—or maybe I scream the words at the top of my lungs; I really have no idea. It’s hard to pry my eyes away from Ryder, in his skinny jeans and white T-shirt with suspenders and a knit beanie, but a few times I crane my neck and look left, right, and behind us. Whether this has anything to do with me or not, I hope, hope, hope Madison is here to enjoy it!
The applause after “Love Monsoon” seems endless, but Ryder quiets everyone down with a wave of his hand. He says he’s only here for a couple of songs, so my heart jumps out of my chest when the next song is “I Like You, Baby.” My favorite! Well, one of my many favorites!
I’m jumping up and down in place without really realizing it while kids are gathering in front of the stage to dance. I don’t even mean to take my eyes away from Ryder—who knows when I’ll see him in person again, if ever?—but somehow my eye wanders down to the crowd and glimpses a flash of blond hair—Madison’s!
I’m so glad she’s here. Even if she is dancing with Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae.
Then I see her wave to me. I wave back. But she’s not just waving hello; she’s waving for me to come down and join them.
“Is she…?” I ask Samantha, but Sam’s already moving toward the end of the row, pulling me and Larry with her. I look to Dad for permission, and he nods.
Samantha, Larry, and I squeeze through the crowd. As Ryder sings and dances and encourages the audience to join in (which of course we do), we make our way toward Madison. Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae are smiling as they watch Ryder, and when their attention turns to us…they keep on smiling! I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s almost as big a surprise as Ryder Landry was.
When the song ends on a big, loud high note, it seems like the screaming and cheering will never end. Ryder smiles and waves until we quiet down again; then he says, “I only have time for one more song.”
There are sighs, “awws,” and a couple of friendly boos. Only Larry says “yay,” but it’s obviously a joke. Samantha and Madison both punch him from opposite sides.
“All of my songs mean something to me,” he tells the audience as he walks back and forth. “But this one has special meaning, especially for kids like us. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, in all the places I’ve traveled and from all the awesome people I’ve met, it’s that there’s nothing more important than friendship.”
I totally agree! I guess everyone else does too, because they cheer like crazy. And the cheers get even louder when we hear the first notes of “Friend to the End of the Earth.”
“I’m a man who lives for love.”
The crowd screeches and squeals.
“Love fits me like a glove
But love like that can come and go.
When I need to talk, or take that long, long walk
You’re the one who won’t say no.
Because you’re my friend, my friend
My friend to the end of the Earth.”
I look over at Madison. Her eyes are glistening with tears. Is it my fault she’s crying? I wanted Ryder to help bring us back together, but I didn’t want her to cry. She puts her arms out toward Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae, who immediately lean in for a group hug. Their three heads bop up and down in time to Ryder’s song.
Well, that’s it. Madison has made her choice. She’s got two friends to the end of the Earth, and there’s no room for a third.
It feels like someone has grabbed my heart and squeezed it hard. Suddenly this great Ryder song about friendship sounds like the saddest thing in the world to me. Even Ryder Landry himself can’t hold me in place. I can’t stand on the sidelines looking at Madison and her friends one second longer. I turn my back to the stage and walk away, clenching my teeth together and trying not to cry.
With my eyes closed, I hear Ryder shout, “Good night, Southern California!” to the crowd. “Have a great summer, and I’ll see you soon!”
The music fades out, and everyone screams and cheers and shouts his name. Everyone but me, that is. Then he must be gone for good, because I start to hear kids talking and feel people walking past me. I breathe in and out, trying to get my emotions under control. An amazing thing just happened, and I may have had something to do with it. But that doesn’t even matter anymore. What should have been one of the happiest moments of my life turned out to be one of the worst.
Someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn. It’s Lisa Lee, with Kylie Mae by her side. “Did that really just happen?” Lisa Lee asks.
I gulp and force a half smile. “I was just wondering that too,” I say.
“I think it did,” Kylie Mae says.
We all look at each other for a moment. Our conversation seems to be over, but when I really think about it, it’s probably the nicest conversation we’ve ever had.
A second later, before I can barely see her coming, I’ve almost been tackled—by Madison. She throws her arms around me and hugs me tight. The sadness is knocked right out of me. Confusion has taken over.
“I’m gonna miss you so much!” she says. Miss me? When? This summer? The rest of my life?
When Madison lets me go, she sees I’m standing with Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae. “I’m glad you guys are talking! I just invited Sam….” Sam is standing with us too, grinning wildly. “But I haven’t gotten to tell you about the sleepover yet.”
“What?” I ask. “What sleepover?”
“I’ve been begging for days, but my mom and dad are finally going to let me have a campout in the backyard tomorrow night. A big last-day-of-school party and sleepover, and then on Saturday we can play in the pool and have a barbecue.”
I look around at Madison’s two sets of friends: me and Samantha, Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae. “All of us?” I ask.
“Yes!” she says. “I’ve wanted to tell you about it, but I wasn’t sure until tonight. We leave for Hawaii next week, but I hope we can have a lot of fun until then!”
I look at Samantha with her goofy smile. We both nod. Of course we want to have as much fun as possible at Madison’s house before she leaves for Hawaii. But can it really be true? Could we really all be friends? I guess there’s only one way to find out, and that starts with a sleepover.
Larry interrupts. “I’m really excited about this party, ladies….”
“You’re not invited!” Madison and Samantha shout together.
“Good,” he says. “I don’t want to be there anyway if you’re playing his music.” He sneers up at the stage, but we know he’s kidding. “I just want to say that it’s time to ride the Claws of Doom!”
“We’ve already been, but I’ll go again,” Lisa Lee says. “My dad can get us to the front.”
“Can we come too?” Larry asks.
Lisa Lee looks at Kylie Mae. I don’t see an expression cross either of their faces, but something must be communicated between them because Lisa Lee says, “I guess.” It’s not in the nicest tone I’ve ever heard, but at least it’s the right words!
“Yes!” Sam says, psyched. “See you later!” They all run up the aisle toward their parents, while Madison and I stand together.
“You don’t want to go on the Claws of Doom?” she asks.
“Yeah, I guess. But I also don’t want to leave. I could stare at this stage forever.” Then I say the obvious. “I can’t believe what just happened.”
“I know,” Madison says, looking up at the stage too, her hand absentmindedly going to her neck.
And that’s when I notice it. Her necklace is gone, just like Sam’s! “Did you pull off your necklace too?” I ask her.
“No, you won’t believe this! It fell off today after school.”
I gasp in surprise. “Oh my gosh, the universe actually heard your Siren Call? You wished for Ryder and he appeared!”
“Well, the universe heard me,” she says seriously, “but Ryder wasn’t my wish.”
I don’t understand. “He wasn’t? Who was it, then?”
“It was all of us,” she says. She must see the confusion on my face. “Remember the badge I threw into the lake?”
I nod. “Yeah, from the concert you went to with Lisa Lee and Kylie Mae.”
“Right. And you and Samantha love Ryder too. I was using the Ryder badge to wish for all of us to be friends.”
“Then…maybe it worked.”
“Who knows?” Madison says with a smile.
“Only the universe!” I say. “It’s always listening.”
“But it’s not talking!” Madison gives me a hug. “Come on and meet us at the Claws of Doom, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, still a little stunned by everything that’s happened. I watch her run off; then I walk back to the benches where all of this began. Sam and Larry are trying to drag Paige to the Claws of Doom while Dad types something into his phone. When he looks up and sees me, he says, “Well, that was quite the surprise!”
“Yeah, it was fun.” I’m acting all casual but inside I’m bursting. It was only a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life!
“That was pretty cool, I guess,” Larry says, and I decide I’ll wait until tomorrow to give him a hard time about knowing all of Ryder Landry’s lyrics. “But right now we’ve got to go to the Claws of Doom.”
“Woo-hoo!” Samantha shouts. “Let’s go!”
Her mom is not as enthusiastic, but she sighs and says, “Okay.” She turns to my dad, whose phone has just dinged with a text, and asks, “Has she tracked you down yet?”
Dad looks up toward the entrance to the amphitheater. “I believe she has.” I follow his eyes, but all I see is the backs of people’s heads bobbing up and down—the big crowd still leaving the show.
Then I see a face coming in the other direction, toward us. A smiling face topped with long red hair.
Terri?