Read Online The Sisters Club by Megan McDonald - Free Book Online Page B

She started to cry. “I worked so hard for this, and now —”
    “Maybe you can still go out there,” I said.
    “Yeah, right! I can’t even stand up.”
    Alex looked so pathetic. I wished there was something I could do.
    Mr. Cannon was pacing back and forth with his clipboard. “Think, people. We have to think. What are we going to do? We still have Act Three to go. It’s short, but it’s the most important act. The grand finale.”
    “Alex, are you sure you can’t go out there?” somebody asked.
    “I don’t know . . .”
    “You have to tell us now if you really can’t go out there, honey,” said Dad. “We’ve only got a few minutes.”
    “She’s not going anywhere,” said Mom, “but the hospital. We’ve got to get that foot checked.”
    “Mom, please. I’ll be OK. Just till after the play. It’s almost over. C’mon, you guys. It’s opening night. ” She said it like it was her wedding or something.
    “Couldn’t we just wrap her foot up or something, so she can walk?” I asked.
    “There might be a fracture,” said Mom. “It’s already swollen. We can’t let her put any pressure on it. She has to prop up her foot and keep that thing iced.”
    “OK, Alex,” said Mr. Cannon. “If you can’t, you can’t. I don’t want you to hurt yourself more than you already have. We’ll think of something.”
    I was trying my best to think of a way to be helpful. “Don’t you have an understudy?” I asked. “Somebody who knows all the lines and could take Alex’s place? Act Three’s really short. There are hardly any words!”
    “Nina. She’s the understudy,” said Mr. Cannon. “But she’s sick tonight. Maybe we can just go out and explain to folks what happened.”
    “It’s opening night!” said Alex. “You can’t just tell everybody to go home. People will be mad. And want their money back or something. If I know anything about acting, it’s that you don’t quit. You keep going, no matter what!”
    “But nobody knows the lines,” said Mr. Cannon.
    “‘I see before me a prince, more beautiful than Love itself,’” I couldn’t help quoting, even though my voice was shaking. “‘But where is my Beast? What has become of him?’”
    “Stevie!” said Alex. “That’s it! It’s perfect. Hey, Mr. Cannon, my sister Stevie knows all the lines. We practiced this scene at home like a million gazillion times.” She turned to me. “You mean? Really? You would do this? For me?”
    I must have been crazy. Loony. Loco. I don’t know what got into me. Me! The only Reel without an acting gene! As much as I wanted to help Alex, I suddenly didn’t think I could go through with it.
    I thought of telling Alex I’d gone nuts. Temporary insanity. I thought of saying I didn’t know the lines. I thought of running out the back door.
    But then I looked at my sister. She looked like a raccoon, with her stage makeup all smeary. I looked at Mom. She nodded yes. I looked at Dad. “You know what I always say. The show must go on!” Dad said.
    “Where’s the dressing room?” I asked.
    “Act Three cast members,” called Mr. Cannon, “four minutes and counting.”
    “Thank you — four!” everybody called back.
    Including me — Beauty.
    On my way to get dressed, Alex and Joey hooked pinkies with me and we did our secret handshake, “Sisters, Blisters, and Tongue Twisters.”
    Alex pressed a tiny gold star on a chain into my hand.
    “What’s this?” I asked.
    “It’s from my baby bracelet. I always wear it. Put it on.”
    Since good luck was bad luck in acting, I asked, “For bad luck?”
    “Yes! Now go!” Alex whispered. Joey added a little push, and before I knew it, I was on the dark stage, behind the curtain.
    Guess what, everybody? The dress didn’t help. The makeup didn’t help. Not even the Sisters Handshake and the bad-luck charm seemed to help.
    I did not feel like Beauty one bit. I felt more like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
    “Curtain time!”
    My knees went