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way you think,” Keegan said.
    â€œYou mean you like the way I scheme.”
    â€œThat’s what I meant.”
    â€œWe have two weeks before the festival, two weeks to put everything together,” I said.
    â€œAnd two weeks for the secret to get out.”
    â€œOnly way to keep it secret is to keep it between us. We can’t even tell David or Sam.”
    â€œThey keep their mouths shut.”
    â€œWe’ll tell them the day of the festival. The less people who know, the better. We tell nobody...not even old girlfriends.”
    â€œCome on, give me some credit. I’m not completely stupid...not completely.”
    â€œWhen you’re around her, I’m not so sure. Nobody. Agreed?”
    â€œAgreed.” He gave me his famous smile. “This is going to be so cool.”

chapter five
    When the singer hit the last note of her song her voice broke. Across town dogs were hiding under beds, paws pressed to ears. The audience clapped and cheered as the music ended. I didn’t think they were impressed with her voice, just glad it was over. She bowed and waved as she bounced off the stage.
    â€œLet’s give it up for little Melissa Ellis!” the announcer yelled into the microphone, and people cheered some more.
    I clapped as well—it would have been mean not to cheer for a six-year-old brave enough to get up on a stage and sing in front of hundreds of people. Of course it would have been better if she was the only six-year-old who was trying. It was like they’d cleared out a whole elementary school and brought them all here to perform.
    â€œIs this getting worse every year or is it just me?” Keegan asked.
    â€œSome of the singers are still really good, it’s just that it seems like there’s more that are worse.”
    â€œDon’t they hold auditions, or do they just let anybody in?”
    â€œPretty well anybody,” I said.
    â€œNext up,” the announcer said, “is a regular here at the Leamington Idol contest, Bert Conroy and his accordion!”
    â€œI’m outta here,” Keegan said as he got to his feet.
    I followed as the audience cheered and Bert started playing. Bert was a teacher at our school and, thank goodness, he was a better teacher than accordion player.
    We shuffled through the crowd, out of the tent and into the display area. There was booth after booth selling crafts. Just how many dream catchers, necklaces and black velvet pictures of Elvis did anybody want or need?
    â€œI can’t believe how crowded this place is,” Keegan said.
    â€œPretty sad. Not much here that I want.”
    â€œWell, I can see one thing I definitely want.”
    â€œAre you thinking about the ribs?” I asked, pointing to where they were holding a rib-off contest. “Actually, her ribs aren’t even close to her best feature.”
    Up ahead I saw Kelsey walking along eating an ice cream. What I didn’t see was her boyfriend, Owen, but I knew he wouldn’t be far away.
    â€œI’m going to talk to her,” Keegan said.
    I grabbed him by the arm. “How about if we just go for ribs instead? My treat.”
    â€œTalk first. Eat later.”
    I let go of his arm. There was no pointin fighting this unless I was going to drag him away.
    â€œCome on, Keegan, what’s the point? She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
    â€œI’ll talk. She can listen.”
    â€œOwen isn’t going to like you doing this.”
    â€œI don’t care what he likes.”
    The smart thing would be to walk in the other direction. I wasn’t that smart.
    She moved toward us along the path. As she walked she talked to different people—like everybody else, she knew more than half the people in the park. I watched as she walked, laughing, smiling—Kelsey did have an incredible smile. Of course that smile would shut down pretty quick once she saw Keegan on the path and—she saw him, saw us.