Free Wishing on a Star by Deborah Gregory Page B

Fashion Industries High with us.
    “He’s not a Kats and Kittys member. He thinks it’s mad corny.”
    “Too bad. You coulda been the dynamic duo.”
    “I got a Batmobile outside. Wanna ride later?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Well, if you decide to, just give me the Batsignal.” Derek laughs, pointing a flashlight in my face.
    “
Au revoir
, Batman.” Chanel says, wiggling her fingers.
    “
Ciao
, Cheetah,” he says to me. “Remember—you could be my Catwoman.”
    He does have good comeback lines, even if he was super-nervy right out of the box. Maybe Chanel is right—maybe I do think he’s kinda cute, even if that gold tooth of his makes me laugh.
Not!
    Mrs. Bugge is signaling us to go backstage. It’s show time. We run backstage and pick up the cordless mikes on the floor waiting for us. Then we line up five in a row behind the curtain, just like we rehearsed. Me and Chuchie are in the center. Do’ Re Mi is standing to my left, and Aqua and Angie are together, next to Chanel.
    “May the Force be with you,” I tell Chuchie. This is something mystical, from a Star Wars movie, I think, but my mom always says it. I say it over and over again to myself.
    Chuchie squeezes my hand. “Your hands are freezing, Bubbles,” she whispers.
    I almost wish Mom was here, because I am so scared.
    I’m definitely on my own now. With my crew. Not in Mom’s shadow. Me and Chuchie have followed the Yellow Brick Road just like we said we would. We made that promise to each other when we were seven years old. We would follow the Yellow Brick Road until we were independent and on our own—and, yes, had money of our own in our cheetah purses. We are never gonna work at Mikki D’s.
    “We’ll always be crew. No matter what happens,” I whisper to Chuchie, winking at her. I really do love Chuchie, my ace
señorita.
My fairy godsister.
    Do’ Re Mi is sniffling. “Do’ Re, you’re not crying, are you?” Chuchie asks her.
    “No!” she giggles. I swear she cries more than the Tin Man. (I’m not supposed to know this, but Chuchie told me.)
    My heart is pounding through my ears. At least I know I have one. Deejay Doggie Dawgs is lowering the music. That means it is definitely show time. No turning back.
    “Are y’all ready, girls?” Mrs. Bugge asks, sticking her head behind the curtain.
    “Ready for Freddy!” Aqua quips. “Freddy Krueger, that is.”
    Aqua loves her horror movies—and her horror-scope. I can’t help but laugh. Freddy is probably out there. And Aqua probably invited him.
    “Kats and Kittys. It’s show time, and we have a very special treat for you tonight,” Mrs. Bugge announces to the crowd. “It’s Halloween. How many of you are scared out there?”
    The crowd boos. She is so corny.
    “Well, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m scared of the girls that I’m about to introduce you to. You may know them as Galleria Garibaldi, Chanel Simmons, Dorinda Rogers, and those singing twins from Houston, Aquanette and Anginette Walker, but tonight they are THE CHEETAH GIRLS, so give them a hand!”
    I want to remember this night, forever. Absolutely forever. That is all I keep repeating to myself as the curtain goes up.
    The strobe lights blind me in the face if I look too far back into the crowd. Now it is all about the beat. On three, we begin to sing, as if we’ve done this a hundred times—and the truth is, we have, in rehearsals.
    “
Don’t lox me out the box, baby
,
because you’ll never know what side I’m buttered on.
    My taste is sweet.
    I can feel the heat
…”
    The Kats and Kittys are live. They are clapping along to Kahlua’s song, and we are really getting into it. Everything is going just as we planned. They won’t stop clapping. We wait before we go into the next song, and I try not to look into the audience. There are too many people, and I will lose my concentration.
    It’s time to sing “Welcome to the Glitterdome.” On this song, we are facing the curtain, then we are