QUARTER ’TIL TOMORROW

The girls and I stayed up way past lights out last night. We knew it was against the rules, but we had to learn our new lines and practice our dance. Time was practically up. It wasn’t so easy trying to whisper and dance silently in the dark, but we did it. Who needs sleep anyway? We could sleep when the competition was over.

This morning, I step through the Meeting Room Twelve doorway, and I remember how I felt the first time I walked into this room—like I couldn’t wait to start solving our task, but I worried we wouldn’t ever agree or work well together. Today, I can’t wait to practice our amazing solution as a united team. I guess we have come a long way.

We’ll have until dinner time tonight, when our families finally get here, to practice. Seraphina has planned a big party! Gregor didn’t want her to because he said we needed our rest for Rehearsal Judging, but she convinced him that after all our hard work this summer, we deserve a celebration no matter how the judges score us tomorrow.

He has arranged to have our costumes, sets, and props transported here. He said he wants to keep our stuff safe, especially after what happened in the shed. And that’s a relief. We can’t have another disaster happen.

We grab our costume bags and scatter to the hallway bathrooms. I slip into my yellow overalls, minus the ragged pieces, and brush my hair into pigtails. After removing some of the tattered pieces of fabric on her own costume, and adding more sparkly pink fabric to her dress, Jillian has turned herself into Madam Sparkles, the dramatic townsperson who chats with all newcomers to the magical land of Crimson Catroplis. Mare has changed too and is now a mystical teenager, snapping her gum and staring at her reflection in the Circle Spinner’s metal bracket.

We meet up with the boys in the hallway. Ander puts on his funky hat and bows to us, now looking like a court jester—like one of those clowns who could entertain the whole town. Jax, the Gate Keeper, flares his cape and smiles a little bit. His face doesn’t even get pink.

Back in Meeting Room Twelve, Seraphina gasps. “You guys look spectacular!”

“Thanks Seraphina!” I squeal, skipping around the room. “We do, don’t we?” My teammates skip behind me until Gregor clears his throat. Loud.

“It’s quite early to celebrate—don’t you agree?”

I know he’s right so I stop skipping.

Seraphina ignores him and grabs a small box. “I have my timer ready. I’m going to sit in those seats with Gregor. We’ll pretend we’re the judges. Tomorrow the audience will be seated behind them. When I say, ‘New York team, time begins now,’ you’ll quickly carry your spinner and other props to the judging area and begin.”

We scurry to our assigned spots. Mare and Jillian go to each side of our team sign. We’ve decorated it with the word, New York, a picture of the statue of Liberty made out of torn up newspapers, a picture of our school, Crimson Elementary, drawn out of duct tape, and in the center we’ve painted out our question, What will I be like when I grow up? Jax and Ander grab onto either side of the metal base on the Circle Spinner, and I grab hold of the wooden circle to keep it steady.

Out of nowhere, Ander starts dancing around the spinner. “Look at me in my fancy pants. I’m ready to do my crazy dance!”

I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. Gregor clears his throat. Again. Seraphina raises her timer. “Okay very funny, Ander. Let’s focus now. Team, are you ready?”

Ander yells out to her in one of his many random voices, “Yup dee dup dup dup. We’re ready to show you our Team Circle!” The rest of us burst out laughing.

Gregor stands up. “Ander, I thought you were going to focus.”

Gregor seriously has no sense of humor.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Wait!” says Seraphina. “Don’t be sorry. That was great. If the judges ask your team if you’re ready, I want you to sing that altogether.”

“Are you sure?” Mare asks.

“Yes, I’m sure. They won’t be expecting that.”

“That’s good,” says Jillian. “Then that will make us memorable!”

We stand very still and wait for her signal. When she asks if we’re ready, we chant, “Yup dee dup dup dup, we’re ready to show you our Team Circle!”

Seraphina puts her finger on the timer. “New York Team . . . begin.”

We sing a short version of our finale song as we wheel out our Circle Spinner and Team Sign. Once they’re set up in the right spots, we scurry behind the Circle Spinner so we can’t be seen. Then, I skip out first, inside the pretend taped off area and look at Seraphina and Gregor as if I’ve just stumbled upon a strange place.

“Where am I?” I say in a slow, loud voice. “This doesn’t look at all like Crimson Elementary, but where could I be?”

Ander jumps out from the other side of the spinner. “Where could you be? Well, Small Person, I will tell you where you could be! You have entered the magical, mystical land of Crimson Catropolis and I am Freddie Dinkleweed.”

“Freddie Dinkleweed?” I repeat.

He spins on his heel. “At your service.”

I open my arms in confusion. “I think I’m lost. One minute I’m at school trying to find the answer to a question and then—poof, I’m very far away from home.”

“Welcome!” calls Jax, creeping out from behind the spinner. “I am the Gate Keeper. Freddie forgets that it’s my job to welcome visitors.”

Ander dances a short jig and slaps Jax on the back. “The Gate Keeper has control issues.”

Jax ignores him. “Hello, Small Person. I am certain I know what question you were asking.”

I place my hands on my hips. “How would you know that?”

Jillian twirls out from behind the spinner and places her hands on my shoulders. “Oh, Dahling, we all know what your question is. It’s the question all children ask. I wanted to know the answer when I was small like you too.”

Mare struts out from the other side and leans against the corner of the spinner. “Me, too. I always asked, ‘What will I be like when I grow up?”’

“Yes!” I jump up and down. “That’s my question. That’s my question! I want to know what I’ll be like when I grow up!”

“Of course, you do,” says Jax. “That’s where we come in.”

“That’s right,” Ander sings. “We’re here to help. Yes, we are. Yes, we are. We’re here to help . . . aren’t we Madam Sparkles?” He slides over to her, his face two inches from her face.

She crinkles her nose and waves him away. “Get away, Freddie. Please get away.”

He sulks back to the spinner.

“What do you mean when you say, ‘You’re here to help me?’” I ask.

Jax flares his cape. “We mean this magical place is here to help you. Crimson Catropolis is the place all children come to find the answer to that question.”

“But how did I get here?” I ask.

“You knew the way the whole time. Now follow me.”

Ander jumps out from behind the spinner. “It’s spinner time! It’s spinner time!”

Teenager Mare waves her arm as if to introduce the giant spinning wheel. Madam Sparkles throws her feather boa over her shoulder and spins it. Ander slides over to me. “Pay close attention, Small Person. This is where it gets fun. It’s time for the Great Golden Light Bulb Spin.”

My eyes grow big. “Will this tell me what I’ll be like when I grow up?”

Ander motions so that he can whisper in my ear. “More,” he says. “It will tell you even more.”

We say the rest of our lines, all while Seraphina times us. When we say our last one, she jumps to her feet. “Oh my gosh! That was awesome, awesome, awesome! You even used a Golden Light Bulb. Guys! That app thing is genius! How did you ever think of that?”

Gregor claps real slow.

I should have known he wouldn’t like it, but then his serious face turns into a sort of grin. “Bravo, Crimson Five. Bravo. Now that is a solution worthy of your team.”

“You liked it?” I ask. “Really?” It’s a miracle!

Ander takes off his hat. “Do you really think it was good? I messed up one of my lines.”

“Me too,” I admit.

“And I was late spinning the spinner,” says Jillian.

Gregor waves his arms. “I knew you had the ability to create something special—I just knew it! And don’t worry about those small details—we can fix them. We have the rest of the day. We will practice until it’s right. Just focus. You will get it right.”

Wow. This is a first from Gregor. And now he’s going to make us perfect.

“What was our time?” asks Mare.

Seraphina checks the timer. “It was twelve minutes and twenty-eight seconds.”

“That’s bad!” I say. “We’ll get a penalty if we go over twelve minutes.”

“That’s right—you will. But that was only your first time through. Some of your lines came slowly, which is to be expected. You’ll get faster each time you practice.”

So that’s what we do. We run through it again. Our time is 12:18. And again. 12:14. And then 12:20. Ugh. And again. 12:11. We break for lunch and come back ready to try again. 11:58. Yes! Still too close though, so we shorten some of our lines.

It takes us four more tries but each time we run through it, our time is around 11:40. “Perfect!” Seraphina exclaims.

“Finally!” says Mare, and we all collapse on the floor. I feel like I could sleep until tomorrow. Somehow, we drag ourselves back up though and pack up our sets. And that’s when it hits me—we’re competing tomorrow!

“Okay,” says Seraphina. “We’ll meet at Piedmont Coliseum, the building across the square in the morning where all of your sets and costumes will be waiting. You’ll practice one more time before the actual Rehearsal Judging Competition. Our report time is 1:20 p.m.”

My butterflies wake up as she gives us our instructions. “But in just a little while, we have our celebration with your families, so go back to your bedchambers and change. That will give me just enough time to work my magic in this room. Your parents will arrive at 6:30 p.m. Make sure you’re back here by then. They’ll be anxious to see you and I’ll be anxious to celebrate!”

At 6:25 p.m. I yell to Mare and Jillian, who are still getting ready in the bathroom. “Come on! That spray stuff is hurting my head.” Finally, after four more squirts we run down the hall, grab the boys at the bottom of the stairs, and keep running. We round the corner and there they all are, standing outside Meeting Room Twelve—my whole family and everyone else’s too. I see Grandma Kitty first. Her hair sparkles are different somehow. They’re blue! She runs to me and pulls me into a hug. She’s strong like I remember, but shorter than me now!

“Oh my goodness, my Smartie Girl, you have grown. You’re taller than me!”

I feel like singing. Grandma Kitty can finally see this place again and we can share our stories about Camp Piedmont. My Dad and brother and sister wrap me up like a burrito. Their smiles are huge. From the cramps in my cheeks, I bet mine are too.

They finally loosen their grip and that’s when I see my mom. Tears are running down her face. She squeezes through the people in the hallway to get to me. “Oh, Baby Girl, I’m so happy to see you.” She hugs me and I squeeze her tight. I hadn’t realized how much I missed her. “Hi, Mom!”

“So how is it here?” Malin looks around the crowded hallway. “Are there any cute guys? How about the ones from California?”

“I guess so. I never noticed really, but wait until you see our bedchamber.”

“Your bedchamber?” says my dad. “That sounds fancy.”

“It is. It has sparkles and Mabel and, oh, never mind. I’ll show you.” Before I can though, lights and lasers pour out from Meeting Room Twelve. Music blasts and my teammates and I run for it. Seraphina has transformed the room into a concert and game room!

Tables are scattered everywhere with spinning food flowers on each one. A ping pong table that floats, a foosball table with hologram players, a pool table with light saber sticks, and an air hockey table with 3D pucks are set up in the corners. Even in the last week of camp, we’re still seeing new inventions! I wonder what team made all this.

Ander runs to the center of the dance floor dragging his older sister Daphne with him. Ryne runs after them, making up dance moves on the spot. Ander has a few moves of his own, and they start a dance-off. Daphne looks like she’s about to run away, but Seraphina grabs her arm and motions for me, Jillian, and Mare to start dancing. We do, and so does Jax. Soon the dance floor is packed, with Grandma Kitty too. Her sparkles fit right in!

We play games, sing, dance, and eat with our all our families. It feels like we’ve been friends forever. Seraphina chats with everyone. Gregor talks to no one. I guess he’s not the party type.

When the celebration is over, we bring our families up to our bedchambers. We show them the floating sparkles, the star bed, Mable, the air screen, the rotating bunk beds, and the laser board. My family is amazed. Even my mom looks impressed by it all.

“Time to clear out,” Ander suddenly announces. “It’s quarter till tomorrow and you know what tomorrow is!”

My dad laughs and I wonder for the hundredth time how he comes up with this stuff. We say goodbye to our families, and when they leave for their hotel, I start to miss them. But not for long. I don’t want to go with them. Not yet. I have to get into my bed and go to sleep. Rehearsal Judging is just eleven hours away!