Free Bad Rap by Nancy Krulik Page A

“Sorry, girls. I have to be at work early tomorrow morning. I won’t have time to get the tickets.”
    “How about Dad?” Katie asked hopefully.
    “He’s working, too,” Mrs. Carew reminded Katie.
    Suzanne thought for a moment. “My dad’s out of town. But my mom will be around. We can ask her to get the tickets.” She raced for the door.
    “Where are you going?” Katie asked her.
    “Home. I have to talk to my mom!” Suzanne exclaimed.
    “Why don’t you just call her from here?” Katie asked.
    Suzanne shook her head. “This is a big favor. I want to ask her in person.”

    Ten minutes later, Katie’s phone rang.
    “I’ll get it,” Katie shouted, hoping it was Suzanne.
    “Hello?” Katie said into the phone.
    It was Suzanne. And she didn’t sound happy.
    “My mom has to take Heather to some dumb old baby music class,” Suzanne told Katie angrily. “She didn’t think getting tickets for the Bayside Boys concert was an important enough reason for her to miss it.”
    “But it is important,” Katie said. “ So important.”
    “I know that, and you know that,” Suzanne sighed. “But my mom doesn’t know that. I can’t believe the Bayside Boys are going to be right here in Cherrydale and we won’t get to see them. It’s just not fair!”
    Katie and Suzanne stayed on the phone for a little while, but neither girl said much. There wasn’t anything to say. The fact was, they weren’t going to the Bayside Boys concert.
    And that really stunk!

Chapter 2
    The next morning on the playground, everyone was talking about the Bayside Boys concert.
    “I can’t believe my mom wouldn’t let me miss school to go get tickets,” Jessica Haynes moaned.
    “I know what you mean,” Zoe Canter agreed. “This is so sad.”
    “Even my big sister Lacey wants to go to that concert,” Emma Weber said. “But she’s got a math test this morning. There’s no way my parents would let her miss that to go buy tickets.”
    Katie sighed. “I really wanted to see the Bayside Boys up close, especially Spike.”
    “It’s just plain dumb,” Suzanne told the girls.
    “What is?” Katie asked her.
    “It’s dumb that the tickets went on sale today. All the Bayside Boys’ fans are kids. And kids are in school on Monday mornings,” Suzanne explained.
    “Hey, that’s right!” Mandy Banks exclaimed. “You know, I bet the concert won’t sell out. At least not this morning!”
    Katie’s face brightened. “That means we can go get tickets after school.”
    “I was thinking the same thing!” Suzanne agreed. “Meet me here after your band practice.”
    “Okay, but I have to go back to my classroom and sign out with Mr. Guthrie before I can go home,” Katie reminded her.
    “That’s all right,” Suzanne said. “But hurry! We don’t want to miss out on getting tickets!”

    Katie turned to Emma W. “Do you want to come with us?” she asked, not wanting to leave her new friend out.
    Emma frowned. “I can’t. It’s my turn to help my mom with the twins this afternoon.”
    “Oh,” Katie replied. “That’s too bad. But maybe ... ”
    Before Katie could finish her sentence, Becky Stern came running onto the playground. Well, not running, actually. She was doing cartwheels across the yard!
    “Hey, everyone!” Becky greeted the girls as she landed right beside them. “I have the best news!”
    “We already know,” Suzanne told her. “The Bayside Boys are coming to Cherrydale. Katie and I are going to buy tickets this afternoon.”
    “Forget it,” Becky told her. “They’ll be sold out by then. There are already a thousand people lined up outside the Cherrydale Arena waiting for the ticket booth to open. I heard it on the news.”
    Katie frowned. So much for great ideas .
    “If the show’s going to sell out, why are you so happy?” Emma W. asked Becky.
    Becky smiled. “Because I already have my tickets,” she told her.
    “That’s impossible!” Suzanne exclaimed. “They don’t go on sale