Down the hall, the elevator door opened, and Carina heard her footsteps approaching. Along with someone else’s, too.
“Hey, C!” she heard Lizzie yell. “I’m coming!”
Carina leaped off the couch and turned the corner. Lizzie was walking down the hall, stunning in a seasmoke blue strapless gown, with her red curls twisted up in a knot. And beside her, bopping along on her Chuck Taylors and holding a silver camera, was Andrea Sidwell, the photographer who had “discovered” Lizzie.
“Hey, Carina!” she said, waving her arms. “What’s up?!”
Carina ran to Andrea and gave her a hug. She hadn’t seen her since the shoot in Central Park all those weeks ago, when she and Hudson had taken turns holding the camera. Seeing her now, with her familiar blond ponytail and black hoodie, made Carina break into a smile.
“I thought Andrea could take some shots of us looking all pretty,” Lizzie said. “Since it’s kind of a rare occasion.”
“Great idea,” Carina said as she took off her coat to reveal her emerald green minidress.
“Okay you guys, stand next to each other,” Andrea directed. “And give me a big smile.”
Lizzie leaned into Carina’s ear. “I can’t believe we’re going to Ava’s dance,” she said.
“Me neither,” Carina muttered, and then they both laughed.
Andrea clicked the shutter. “That was perfect, you guys! Let’s do another one!”
“I just hope she doesn’t attack me for not showing up with my mom,” Lizzie quipped.
“No, she’ll just attack me,” Carina said, and they laughed again.
Andrea took another picture. “That’s the one,” she said. “You guys look beautiful!”
In that moment, Carina knew that everything with Lizzie was going to be okay. And in the car on the way down to the hotel, they laughed so hard about what Ava was probably going to wear that they didn’t even have a moment to talk about their fight.
“So I’m excited to see what you’ve done with the party,” Lizzie said.
“I don’t want to build it up too much,” Carina said. “But I think I might have a knack for this.”
“So Ava’s not mad at you?” she asked.
“Well, she is a little,” she said. “She keeps hinting that I still owe her two hundred bucks.”
“What are you gonna do about that?” Lizzie asked.
Carina shrugged. “Just try to pay her back as soon as I can. My dad said he’s going to up my allowance a little bit. So hopefully it’ll be pretty soon.”
Lizzie gazed out the window. “You really kicked butt with that whole twenty-dollars-a-week thing, just so you know.”
“Thanks.”
“Hudson, Todd, and I could definitely learn from you a little.”
Carina realized that now was the time to bring up Todd. “You know, I think Todd’s awesome, Lizbutt. And I’m sorry if I freaked out about stuff. I guess it’s just weird for me to know that he’s that important to you. You know, as important as we are.”
Lizzie grabbed Carina’s hand. “It’ll never be the same thing as what the three of us have. Never, ever, ever.”
Carina smiled back at her. “Okay.”
“And hey, is that guy gonna be there? The DJ guy?” Lizzie asked with a smile.
“Only because I begged him to be,” Carina said. “Don’t get your hopes up for us.”
“Just promise me one thing,” she said. “Whatever happens tonight, I want you to have a good time. Because this party is as much yours as Ava’s.”
Carina realized that Lizzie was right. It was her party, too. “Okay. I promise.”
Max finally pulled up in front of the Pierre and they saw a knot of girls with long blond hair in tight black dresses walk through the revolving doors. “Here we go,” Lizzie said. “Into the land of the blue bloods.”
They followed the blonds down the long carpeted hallway and up a flight of stairs to the ballroom. When they walked through the doors, Lizzie and Carina both gasped. “Nicely done,” Lizzie managed to say, nudging Carina in the arm. And Carina had to agree.
People milled around on a dance floor the size of a football field, underneath a series of crystal chandeliers. Soft pink and purple lighting dappled the walls. Marisol’s beautiful flowers lined the banquet tables to the side, where platters of colorful cupcakes and Trader Joe’s hors d’oeuvres were being gobbled up by hungry ninth-graders. Votive candles covered every square inch of table surface. And on the stage, above the dance floor, was Alex in a red spotlight, standing in front of his turntables like a magician, fully immersed in the music that was flooding the room.
“What’s that music?” Lizzie asked.
“Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings,” Carina said. “They’re amazing.”
“Huh?” asked Lizzie.
“I’ll play them for you sometime,” she said.
They moved into the room, staying close to each other in the dim light. It seemed like people were having a good time, but she couldn’t tell yet.
“Nobody’s dancing,” Carina murmured.
Lizzie patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. They will. At least it doesn’t look like anyone’s leaving.”
“Hey, Carina!” said a bubbly voice. A girl with a purple stripe in her hair emerged from the shadows.
“Hey, Marisol!” Carina said, running over to give her a hug. “The flowers look gorgeous!”
“Thanks so much,” she said, her brown eyes shining. She tugged at the piece of striped hair. “And thanks again for getting me a ticket.”
“Oh my God, what are you wearing?” Lizzie asked her. “That is the coolest dress!”
“Oh, this?” Marisol held out the edges of her T-shirt dress. It was black and white and red stripes, with fake epaulets at the shoulders and a distressed hem. “I made this myself.”
“You did?” Lizzie circled around her.
“Honestly, I just kind of copied it from this store on the Lower East Side where I saw something like it,” she said. She twirled around. “But I love how girly it is.”
“Wait a minute,” Carina said, her mind clicking into gear. “Would you ever want to be a trend scout for Princess magazine?”
“A what scout?” Marisol asked.
“They’re looking for real-life teenagers who have great style and know what’s happening before everyone else. Would you want to do it? I think you’d be great for it.”
Marisol beamed. “Sure. I love Princess magazine.”
“You do?” Carina asked, mildly stunned.
“Yeah,” Marisol said. “It’s kind of a guilty pleasure. I’ve been reading it since I was six. How do you know the people there?”
Carina paused. Alex still hadn’t told anyone about her. Now she liked him even more. “I’ll tell you later,” she said. “But I’ll e-mail you with their information.”
“Okay, cool,” Marisol said, bubbling with excitement. “Hey, go say hi to my brother. He’s been waiting for you to show up.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Whoops. I’m not supposed to have told you that.”
Hearing this sent a shiver right down her spine, but as she looked over at the stage, she saw the unmistakable silhouette of Ava in the electric purple dress, striding over to her with her hands on her hips. “Carina? Can I talk to you?”
Carina steeled herself. “Hey, Ava,” she said. “Good to see you.”
“What took you so long to get here?” she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her cleavage. “I’ve been texting you.”
Carina’s heart sank. “Why? What’s the problem?” she asked.
“There’s no problem,” Ava said innocently. “I just wanted to tell you that five people have come up to me and said that this is the best Silver Snowflake Ball they’ve ever been to,” she said. “Even people from Exeter,” she added. “I have to admit, you did an amazing job.”
“That’s great,” Carina said. She couldn’t believe how thrilled she was to hear this.
“And I
’m not sure how it happened, but there’s a photographer here from the Times,” Ava said, pointing to a young man with credentials taking pictures of some kids on the dance floor. “Did you do that?”
Carina smiled to herself. Her dad really was pretty awesome sometimes. “Listen, Ava, about the two hundred dollars I still owe you, I just want you to know that I’m gonna be able to get it to you really soon, like, as soon as break is done—”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Ava said.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s fine if you keep it,” she said. “You earned it. You did.” Ava put her hand on Carina’s shoulder and glanced at her outfit. “And nice dress, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Carina said, overwhelmed.
“Do you think my hair looks all right?” Ava asked, turning around so Carina could admire her complicated upsweep. “I can’t really tell.”
Carina sighed to herself. Maybe Ava wasn’t a terrible person to the core, but she was certainly never going to change. “It looks gorgeous,” she said.
Ava turned around and pulled at one stray curl. “Thanks,” she said. “I went to Fekkai.”
She strutted off, and Carina moved closer to the stage. She felt something pulling her toward Alex. She just wanted to be with him.
She climbed the steps to the stage and walked over to his turntables. He wore a cool black scarf around his neck and a thin red T-shirt, gray skinny jeans, and his beat-up Stan Smiths. She loved that he looked so different from all the boys here in dark suits and ties. Once again, he was completely focused on the turning records, a hand holding his headphones to one ear.
He looked up at her. “ ’Bout time you showed up. Aren’t you throwing this thing?” he asked.
“I’m just trying to be fashionably late.” She could see now that his T-shirt had a familiar image on it. It was the same image of the couple from the DVD he’d showed her. “Looks like you’re In the Mood for Love,” she teased, gesturing to his shirt.
He looked down at it and grinned. “Thought it might give me the guts to do what I’ve been thinking about for days,” he said.
“And what was that?” she asked.
He took her by the hand and led her away to the side of the stage. “This,” he whispered, leaning in.
She closed her eyes and held her breath. The music was swirling around them, and in her mind she pictured it as a lush, tropical landscape, full of swaying palm trees and gently lapping waves. Her eyes still closed, she stepped closer to him, and he put his arms around her waist. As his lips touched hers, she felt her knees go rubbery. She’d never thought in a million years that a boy who was a friend could be such a good kisser. Now she was thrilled to find out that she’d been wrong.
They stood there for what seemed like hours, until Carina felt someone tap her on her shoulder.
Carina opened her eyes. It was Hudson standing in front of her. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think I’m supposed to go on now.”
“Oh my God, you look gorgeous!” Carina shrieked.
It was true. For the first time ever, Hudson looked like a real star. Her hair had been straightened and then curled into soft, romantic waves, and her eyes were beautifully lined with purple kohl pencil. She wore a black halter dress that showed off her toned arms and narrow waist, and long gold earrings made of intersecting hoops.
“Oh my God, I’m so happy I made you do this,” Carina said, jumping up and down. “Oh, and by the way, this is Alex,” she said, holding Alex’s hand.
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you,” said Hudson. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Hi there,” Alex said, shaking her hand. “Um, sorry to change the subject,” he said, “but is that Holla Jones standing back there?”
He pointed backstage, where, sure enough, Carina could make out the petite frame and muscled arms of Holla Jones. “Holla’s Hudson’s mom,” Carina told him.
Alex did a discreet double-take, and then caught himself. “Wow,” he said. “This is some school you go to.”
“How’re you feeling?” Carina asked Hudson. “Are you psyched?”
Hudson swallowed and nodded. “I guess you could say that,” she said vaguely.
“Just go out there and kill,” Carina said. She grabbed Hudson’s hand. “No fear.”
“C, I’m not about to surf a monster wave or anything,” Hudson wisecracked.
Carina laughed out loud. Hudson could be sarcastic when she wanted to be. “Okay, fine, break a leg.”
She waited for Alex to finish his set, and then they walked down to the dance floor. Lizzie and Todd walked up to them in the dark as Hudson’s tech guys set up for her performance.
“Is she coming out soon?” Lizzie asked Carina.
“Any minute,” Carina said. “Oh, and this is Alex. The DJ I told you about.”
“Oh yeah, nice to meet you,” Lizzie said, shaking his hand.
“Same here,” Alex said.
When Alex wasn’t looking, Lizzie gave Carina a wink.
Alex whispered into Carina’s ear. “Why does she look so familiar?”
“She’s a model,” Carina said, her chest swelling with pride.
Suddenly Ava walked out onstage to the microphone stand that one of Hudson’s tech guys had placed there. “Thanks, everyone, for coming!” she yelled into the mic. “And now I’d like to introduce to you the next huge pop music sensation, in her debut performance, the daughter of Holla Jones and my really good friend, Hudson Jones!”
The lights dimmed and the crowd clapped. Lizzie and Carina traded looks over the applause. Leave it to Ava to include herself in someone’s introduction, Carina thought.
At last Hudson appeared on the stage. She looked scared but determined to get this over with, and as she crossed to the mic a narrow spotlight followed her all the way. Amid the applause were a few whistles and screams of “You’re hot!” When she finally got to the stand, Hudson reached for the mic.
“Hi, everyone,” she said softly. “It’s great to see you all here.”
The room became deafeningly quiet.
“This is a song off my first album,” she said. “It’s called ‘Heartbeat.’ ”
Hudson bowed her head. A music track began to play, something fast and up-tempo that sounded more like Holla’s kind of music than Hudson’s.
Hudson kept her head down, listening to the track, until it was her cue to start singing. She raised her head and turned to face the audience, bringing the mic to her lips… and then, nothing happened.
In the dark, Lizzie grabbed Carina’s arm.
Hudson swallowed and seemed to collect herself, bringing the mic to her lips once more. This time, she opened her mouth, ready to start… and no sound came out.
Lizzie’s hand tightened around Carina’s arm.
Onstage, Hudson stood paralyzed in the spotlight and started to tremble. The track continued to play mercilessly. And then, as if in slow motion, Hudson dropped the mic. A loud BOOM! echoed through the room. And then she ran offstage.
“Oh my God,” Carina whispered.
“She has stage fright,” said Lizzie.
“It’s all my fault,” said Carina. “All of this.”
“Stop, it’s okay,” Lizzie said, grabbing her arm to console her. “We just need to find her.”
Carina followed Lizzie as they elbowed past tech guys and roadies. I’m sorry, Hudson, she thought. I had no idea. I’m so, so sorry.
And as she set off toward the stage, Carina wondered if Hudson’s career might have just ended before it even started.
The daughter of chart-topping pop star Holla Jones, stylish and sensitive Hudson Jones, is on the brink of her own musical debut. Hudson’s inherited her mother’s talent, but she hasn’t yet embraced Holla’s love of the megawatt spotlight.
Can Hudson find a way to perform that reflects her own low-key style? Or will Holla see to it that her only daughter becomes a pop music sensation?
Go behind the music in
t
he
daughters
take the stage
by JOANNA PHILBIN
COMING MAY 2011
acknowledgments
Huge thanks go to Becka Oliver, Elizabeth Bewley, Kate Sullivan, Cindy Eagan, Amanda Hong, David Ramm, Fionn Davenport, Jay Tidmarsh, Jill Cargerman, and Ido Ostrowsky.
Enormous thanks go to JJ Philbin. Sister, best friend, and favorite writer.
And Costco-size thanks go to Adam Brown and Edie, who came on the scene while I was writing this book and changed my life. I love you.
Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
The Daughters Take the Stage
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Acknowledgments
Copyright
the daughters break the rules