Sorta Like a Rock Star(17)

“Ricky Roberts sees a bag!”

“Why don’t you go see what’s in that bag.”

Ricky stands and walks over to the bag. He picks it up and shakes it like a Christmas present. He even holds it to his ear. A hand finally goes in and comes out full of camouflage. “Ricky Roberts gets a shirt.”

“What does it say on the shirt?” Donna says, fork in hand.

Ricky holds the shirt above his head and reads the words written in hunter orange. “Franks Freak Force Federation!”

It is the coolest shirt I have ever seen.

“How many are in that bag, Ricky?” Donna says.

Ricky counts. “Seven!”

“One for every member involved in the mission.”

I swallow hard; I love Donna so much. She was in court all day—a murder case—but she still got us team shirts for the mission. She rocks!

“There are FIVE members of Franks Freak Force Federation. Mommy Roberts brought SEVEN shirts. Seven.”

“Well, your attorney needs to dress the part. And I thought Franks might want one, so I had my assistant make up seven. What the hell, right, Amber?”

I nod dumbly. I want to have an assistant someday who will make freaky teens cool T-shirts so that they can do good things in style. I want to be Donna. So frickin’ much.

Donna winks at me, and then eats some more of my stir-fry.

Ricky strips off his Utley jersey and puts on some camo. “Franks Freak Force Federation!”

“You like?” Donna says.

“Ricky Roberts likes very much!”

“Amber?”

I nod fifty times, like a moron.

“There’s one in there for you,” Donna says.

I sprint to the bag and find that there is a fitted girly tee in there for me, so I go into the other room and put it on, checking myself out in the hallway mirror. The cut makes my boobs look perky, and the coloring makes me look dangerous—sorta like Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer or maybe Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Vol. 2. I feel so ready to fight for good tonight.

I walk back into the kitchen and Donna says, “You look like a knockout. How am I going to wear a fitted tee if I need to stand next to young sexy you?”

“Amber Appleton is sexy!” Ricky says.

“True?” I ask, and then blush like a moron.

“True,” Donna says, and nods in this killer gangsta way that makes me believe her.

BBB barks once in agreement. “Rew!”

“Cool,” I say, smiling.

I eat my dinner, and then Ricky and I clean up the dishes while Donna answers a bazillion e-mails on her Blackberry. Her thumbs move at the speed of light, and I dig how she mouths the words she is typing, like a little kid would.

Jared shows up with his brother Chad strapped to his back like a toddler in a baby backpack. Chad never really grew, and his head is almost as big as his body. We told him to leave Das Boot at home for dramatic effect. Ty is right behind the Fox brothers, and all are totally psyched to put on their new shirts.

The boys talk about Halo 3 while I take BBB out to pee and Donna gets changed.

After I have B Thrice locked up in his room and listening to classical music, I hear Donna calling my name so I walk upstairs and into her bedroom.

She has a frickin’ king-size bed even though she is thin and single. It is very kick-ass. When I enter, she’s checking her makeup in the mirror and wearing her fitted camo tee with a black skirt and knee-high leather boots with blocky two-inch heels.

“Sit,” she says to me, so I sit on the edge of her bed. “Those boys downstairs, would they be doing what we are about to do tonight if you weren’t around to lead them?”

I shrug. My heart is beating like mad.

Donna looks me in the eye. She is a goddess.

“They wouldn’t be doing anything tonight if they didn’t know you. They’d be playing video games or jerking off or doing whatever teenage boys do when left to their own devices.”

I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing.

“I see something in you that I like very much, Amber. You’re not like most people. You are going to do something very special with your life. You’re going to do something very special tonight, because it’s what you were born to do.”

I almost crap myself, and I can feel myself shaking a little.

“Here’s a little secret between old friends,” Donna says, and then bends down to whisper into my ear. “Most people—even adults, even grown men—are like teenage boys, only they pretend they are not.” Donna stands up and winks at me. “People like you and me need to tell them what to do, so that the world won’t get too messed up. They want you to give them instructions. They need you to do this. And you know what needs to be done, because you have a good heart—and you have courage. I’ve seen your good heart at work time and time again over the years. You’re all good. One hundred percent. So trust your instincts, and speak your mind tonight. Be brave. Those boys look up to you. You’re the shepherd. Herd the sheep. Understand?”

I nod thirty times in ten seconds and blink back a few tears, because no one really talks like this to me ever, and I think I understand what Donna is saying, because I get this feeling in my chest sometimes, and I’m not really like other people.

“Let’s do this,” Donna says, and I follow her out of the bedroom.