These characters belong to Random House. I do not own anything, the idea came to me while I was watching "Raise Your Voice." Good movie, but seriously sad, I recommend it.
Your Time to Fly
by Funshine
Part I
"Trixie, c'mon! We'll be late for the last day!" Mart yelled to his little sister.
"Coming!" Trixie yelled to her brother who was only eleven months older than her.
The two Bob-Whites headed out their door and went to school.
In a moment
Everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulders
For a minute
All the world can wait
Let go of your yesterdayCan ya hear it calling?
Can ya feel it in your soul?
Can ya trust this longing?
And take controlAfter school, Honey and Trixie were talking. Tad Webster walked up to Trixie and handed her the tickets. "You owe me big time, Belden."
"Thank you, Tad!" She hugged him. He grinned at her, and ran to catch up with someone.
Mart ran up to Trixie, "Hey, Trix, could you please tell Moms and Dad I'll be late?"
"Yeah, but this is your graduation dinner," Trixie said, confused.
"I know, but I have something I need to do, can you catch a ride home with Honey?"
"May I, Honey?" Trixie asked.
"Of course, we'll see you in a little bit, Mart." Honey smiled, and winked at Mart before hurrying Trixie out to her car.
"See ya later, Hon, thanks for the ride."
"No problem, Jim and I'll be down soon, okay?"
"Yeah."
Fly
Open up the part of you
that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons
why you can't in life
and start to try
Cause it's your time
Time to flyAll your worries
leave them somewhere else
Find the dream you can follow
reach for something
When there's nothing left
And the world is feeling hollowcan ya hear it calling?
Can ya feel it in yourself?
Can ya trust this longing?
And take controlTrixie stepped into the brightly lit kitchen and turned to hug her eldest brother Brian, who had gotten home from college that afternoon.
"Brian! It's so good to see you!" Trixie squealed.
"How's it going, little sister?"
"Well there's this place I want to go, but I doubt I'll get in." Trixie blushed.
"Oh yeah, you were telling Jim and me about it the other night. Trixie, you have as a good a chance as anyone, even better after all those cases you solved."
"What are we talking about?" Peter Belden asked as he walked in.
"Trixie was just telling me about The Harold Tremain Police Academic School she was hoping to go to."
"You aren't going," Peter said.
Trixie ran over to her father, "Please, Dad?"
"No."
Mart walked in, he knew what they were talking about. "Dad, why won't you let her go? She's good enough to get in."
"I know she's good enough."
"Then why can't she go?" Mart persisted.
"I've seen more things than you have, Martin."
"Oh yeah? Like the farm?"
"Mart!" Helen Belden screeched at her second oldest.
"No, Moms, that's why Dad won't let her go, he couldn't leave this town, and he doesn't want anyone else to."
"That's it, Mart, one more thing and you are grounded. Now help me go start the grill."
They worked at starting the grill for some time, soon the rest of the Bob-Whites were out back with them.
"That is it! This stupid thing won't light!" Peter screamed.
"Try this," Mart said as he sprayed liter fluid all over the coals. A fire sprang up, almost burning Peter and Mart.
"That's it! You're grounded!"
Mart glared at his dad and went inside. Trixie was already in her room. He hadn't known.
Fly
Open up the part of you
that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons
why you can't in life
and start to try
Cause it's your time
Time to flyAnd when you're down
and feel alone
Just wanna run away
Trust yourself and
don't give up
You know you better
than anyone else
Two weeks earlier
Mart listened to his sister try think of something to write, so she could get into the school. He quietly grabbed the photo album his mother had made. He made a video of Trixie solving her cases. He worked endlessly on the video, even taking pictures of her working on the recent case she was solving. He sent it in on the last day of school, and hurried home.
In a moment
everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulders
For a minute
all the world can wait
Let go of yesterday
That Night
The Bob-Whites not related to the Beldens left after the party, with happy wishes and calls of seeing them tomorrow at the ceremony. Mart and Brian were out on the porch. Bobby, their little brother, was inside helping their mother with the dishes. Trixie was around, probably trying to get her father to reconsider. "Brian, I'm gonna go to Iowa. You have to help Trixie get out of here. She can't stay trapped in Sleepyside forever. Honey and Di, they know the score, and they have every chance of getting out."
"I know. And I couldn't agree more. I don't know why Dad is acting like he is."
"So you are on my side, right?"
"Of course, little brother."
Trixie walked outside, smiling. "What are you two talking about?"
"Iowa."
"Oh." Brian left to go in to the den. Mart went upstairs to work on his speech for the next day.
Fly
Open of the part of you
That wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons
Why you can't in life (can't in life)
and start to try (start to try)Trixie stared at the stars, then, all of a sudden she remembered! She still had Mart's present. She walked up to his room grinning.
"With everything earlier, I forgot to give you your present." She presented the tickets Tad had given her earlier.
Mart took the tickets and looked, "You got me tickets to go see The Mystery Fright Night marathon at the Cameo? When?" He was smiling gleefully.
"Tonight." Trixie was grinning happily.
Mart's smile faded slightly, "Oh, didn't you hear? I'm grounded."
"Well, then I guess I'll have to sneak you out."
Mart's mouth dropped open. "Okay." He agreed.
Soon the two were pushing Mart's old car out of the driveway. From his window, Brian saw the two. "Good job, Trixie," He murmured, and went to play with Bobby.
Mart and Trixie were driving along in companionable silence. "Trix?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you really want to go to the academy?"
"More than anything."
"Then tell Dad. Tell him, pout, throw something at him, set the house on fire, or don't talk to him. Do something."
"I couldn't throw a tantrum, it wouldn't be worth it. It doesn't matter, I'll spend the summer with you. You'll be heading off to Iowa at the end of the summer."
"Trixie, I can't stay here. I'm going next week."
"Mart, please stay?"
"I can't, you see, Dad and me, all we do now is fight."
"Okay."
Mart pulled into the parking lot, and found it jammed. The two hurried inside. Trixie smiled at Tad who was taking tickets. "Have fun guys."
"We will."
Tad rolled his eyes as Trixie walked ahead of Mart to get in. The marathon was great and as they drove home that's all they talked about.
Fly
Forget about the reasons
why you can't in life (can't in light)
and start to try (start to try)
It's your time
time to fly"Oh my gosh, Todd was such a dope. He should've known not to get his fingerprints on anything." Trixie went on berating the character.
Mart agreed.
They turned a corner, a red Bus came barreling into Mart's little car. Mart looked at his little sister, his head was illuminated by the head lights.
"Mart!" Trixie screamed at their little car drove into a street post. Darkness surrounded them like a cloud. No one could here her scream.
In a moment,
everything can changeA Huge round of applause to my amazing editor, Amber!
Woo hoo! Thanks Amber!
Okay I am so ripping this off Raise Your Voice. I am changing it a little bit though. The academy Trixie wants to get into doesn’t exist as far as I know. I hope you like it so far. Please no one come after me with lawyers because I am ripping off this movie and the song Fly, by Hilary Duff.
Forever. That’s what you promised.
Trixie awoke to the strange sounds of the hospital.
Her mother was kneeling at the end of her bed, asleep. As Trixie let out a pent up breath her mother opened her eyes and started crying.
“Moms? Moms I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault. Will he be okay?” Trixie asked unable to stop the flow of tears.
Earlier
The ambulance screamed into the parking lot just as Spider jumped out of his cruiser. “Spider! What’s the story?” Gary Roysan asked his colleague as he jumped out of the ambulance.
“I’m no--That’s Mart Belden’s car!” Spider yelled.
“What?” Gary was in shock.
To the side was a nervous-looking kid. “I didn’t mean to, I just, I wasn’t, wow. Will they be okay?”
“They?” Spider asked. He smelled the scent of alcohol on the kid's breath. It wasn’t that hard; he didn’t even need to give the breathalyzer.
“Yeah, there were two blondes in there.” The kid was getting shifty.
“Oh God, not Trixie, too.”
The boys from the ambulance were already at work.
“Kid, how old are you?” Spider demanded.
“Eighteen.”
“Graduation party?”
“Yeah. The ceremony’s tomorrow. I better get home.”
Spider looked shocked for a second. “Hold on there, buddy, the only place you’re going is with me.” Spider grabbed the kid by the upper arm and firmly escorted him to his car.
Molinson pulled up with three other cars and Spider filled him in on what he knew and left with the kid. Now he had the horrible job of calling Peter and Helen.
Peter and Helen were at the hospital with Brian and Bobby before the ambulances arrived with Mart and Trixie.
You promised you’d never leave.
How could you go back on your word?
Present
“Moms, will he be okay?”
“We don’t know yet,” Helen told her daughter truthfully.
“I’m sorry, Moms.”
“Shh, baby, it’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is. He was grounded and he shouldn’t have been out. It was my faul! Me and my dumb mysteries. I was being selfish. I wanted to see the movies, so I got the tickets so I could see them. I knew Mart would have liked to go with Di a lot better,” Trixie moaned.
“He had as much fun with you as he would have had with Di,” Helen told her.
Peter walked in.
“Oh Daddy! I’m sorry, so sorry.”
“I know, Princess, everything will be okay,” Peter said with more confidence than he felt.
Brian poked his head in, “Moms, Dad? Can I talk to Trixie alone?”
“Of course. We’re going to see if there’s any change in Mart.” Helen decided firmly.
“Brian, he’s dead ,isn’t he? Tell me, please?”
“He’s not dead, Trix, he’s just not awake,” Brian explained.
“Is he going to be okay?” Trixie clutched Brian’s shirt.
“Well,” Brian wished he could tell his little sister that Mart would be bounding around in no time, and that he was taking a nap, “I’m not sure.” Brian felt that Trixie needed to know the truth, not be sheltered from it.
“Brian, I have to tell you something. I give up the mysteries.”
“Trixie, you can’t do that,” Brian gasped.
“I have to. It’s my fault. So, until Mart wakes up, no more mysteries,” Trixie said forcefully, but the look on her face was apprehensive.
“Trixie, you are aware that there is a chance that Mart may never wake up?”
“I don’t care. How is it fair that Honey and I have been held at gunpoint and have been kidnapped and all that’s happened to us is a scare, but all Mart does is go for a drive while grounded, and he has a chance of never making it home? It isn’t fair. No mysteries.”
Moms opened the door and Bobby walked in. Brian started to leave, pausing to speak to his parents.
“Moms, Dad, I need to go tell the gang.”
“Okay, be careful,” Moms said. Impulsively, she threw her arms around her eldest and kissed his cheek.
“I’ll be all right, Moms.”
I know it’s my fault, you don’t need to tell me.
You told me you’d stay, forever.
How could you go back on your word?* * *
At the graduation, the rest of the Bob-Whites were worried about the absence of their three friends.
“Where do you think they are?”
Honey Wheeler was standing out in the parking lot with Di Lynch.
“I don’t know.”
Just then Jim and Dan walked up.
“I can’t believe Mart missed his own graduation,” Jim said.
“Didn’t you all hear?” Tad Webster asked as he walked by.
“Tad, don't,“ Spider warned.
“What?” Dan demanded.
“Mart and Trixie got hit last night,” Tad blurted.
“Oh my God, are they okay?”
“I don’t know. Hey, look, there’s Brian.”
“Brian, are they okay?” Jim asked anxiously.
“Trixie is.”
“What about Mart?” Di wanted to know.
“Listen guys, maybe we should go talk at Wimpy’s.”
“I think that is a good idea,” Mrs. Belden said from behind Brian.
“Moms! What are you doing here?”
“I thought it might be time for a Bob-White meeting, parents included.”
The Bob-Whites looked. The Wheelers, The Lynch parents, Regan, and, of course, Moms, were there.
At Wimpy's, the group grabbed a table and were able to squeeze all of themselves around it.
“What happened?” Madeleine Wheeler demanded worriedly.
“It’s pretty straightforward. Mart and Trixie were driving home. Some drunk person hit them,” Helen told them.
“Trixie is, or will be, okay. Mart was hurt the worst. He has a one in ten chance of recovery.” Helen ran off the news the way it had been explained to her.
“He’ll be okay, Moms, he’s Mart,” Brian told his mother firmly.
“How is Trixie? I know you say she’s okay, but how is she really?” Madeleine asked suddenly.
“She blames herself. She wouldn’t say anything, except that it was all her fault. At least that’s all she said to Peter or me. Brian?”
“She blames herself. She says no more mysteries. She’s lost all faith in the good left in the world, and she’s madder then a caged bird at being alive while Mart battles with death. If she could, she’d probably go down to the town jail and beat that--that--”
“Brian Andrew Belden, don’t you dare say it,” Helen warned.
“--jerk to a bloody pulp,” Brian finished lamely.
I’m sorry. I know it’s all my fault.
How could you lie like that?“We can’t let her do that. If there is one thing Mart wants, it’s to see Trixie happy. That’s all Mart’s been trying to do this last year. I think it’s because he’s leaving and he doesn’t want there to be a void when he comes home,” Honey said thoughtfully.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Dan said.
“Well, it isn’t like Dad wants her to go anyway. What is his problem, Moms?”
“Well, back when your father was younger, he and his friend, Dick, solved quite a few cases. Well, they both had a chance to go to the school your sister wants to go to. Your grandparents got sick, and Peter was the one who had to stay and take care of the family business while they were ill. Dick got to go. Eventually I met your father, and by that time your grandparents were well enough to take care of the old place by themselves. Your father and I were married. We lived in the city. Gramps and Grams got sick again, so we moved back with them. Your father sold the business when they died.”
“What about Dick, Moms?”
“Well, yes, Dick went to the school. He dropped out of the college.” She explained to the other parents, “Trixie just wants to go to the summer program,” she explained to the parents. They nodded and she continued, “Dick lost quite a bit of money gambling and eventually was arrested for robbery.” She pointed at Honey, Jim, and Brian. “You three have met Dick.”
“Moms, um, I don’t think I--”
“Dick the Dip!” Honey screeched.
Helen Belden nodded sadly.
“Mr. Belden knew him?” Jim asked incredulously.
“This is, wow, too much information, whoa.” Dan put his head in his hands.
“Well, this is a shocker,” Brian said at length.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Belden, but what does this have to do with Trixie going?” Di wanted to know.
“Well, Peter believes that Trixie will end up like Dick. He thinks it was luck that kept him from going. He believes he would have ended up the same way as Dick. Personally, I think not. I know Peter would never end up like that. And Trixie? She’s just like him.” Helen smiled fondly.
“Um, Mrs. Belden? May we go see Mart and Trixie?” Di asked.
“Yes, go ahead. I know they would love the company.”
The Bob-Whites got up to leave. Helen, Madeleine, and Anne Lynch stayed at the table. Matthew and Edward strolled the streets and decided to stop at the hospital to see Peter.
You told me you’d stay forever. How could you leave?
“How are you, Helen?” asked Madeleine Wheeler.
“I’m so scared.” Helen broke down sobbing. “Everything was going so well! There had been no dangerous mysteries, no school problems, everyone was relatively happy. Everything was perfect! How could this happen to us?”
“I don’t know. Everything had been simply splendid, wasn’t it?” Anne said.
“Helen, everyone will be okay. For the past four years, I have studied the way you Beldens behave. None of you gives up without a fight,” Madeleine said.
“But, Maddy, he looks so helpless. He doesn’t look like my little boy.”
“He’ll be okay.”
The discussion was closed and the three women headed towards the hospital. They all prayed desperately that Maddy was right.
I know it’s my fault you’re not here anymore.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
You did lie, though, you told me you’d never leave.
You said you’d stay forever.
Forever.
Two days later, Trixie went home. Mart remained the same: fighting for his life.
Honey and Di tried several times over the past few weeks to get Trixie to act more like her old self, but it wasn’t going to well. “Guys, I’m sorry, but I just can’t do this, not yet.”
“Okay, Trix, whatever you say,” Honey said.
What I’m standing on is sinking in
And I don’t have a clue how to get off of it
But when I look at you there is hope
It’s like you see the sadness in my eyes
You read the blue between the lines
You could be the one to hold me when I wanna cry
“Trixie! Will you please get the mail? I have to go to town; I’ll be back in a little bit. There are cookies in the kitchen,” Mrs. Belden said as she walked to her car.
“Where are you going, Moms?”
“I’m bringing in some things for your brother. Oh, Bobby is at Di’s.”
“Okay.”
Trixie, Honey, and Di headed down toward the mailbox and Helen went off in the direction of town. Trixie sorted through the letters. “I got one.”
Trixie held up the envelope.
“What is it?” asked Di.
“It’s from The Harold Tremain Police Academic School.”
“Well, open it!”
“No.”
“Why not?” asked Honey.
“Because what if I got in?” Trixie asked. Seeing their blank stares she continued, “Three weeks ago, this would have been a dream come true, but now it’s a nightmare.”
“Trixie, if you don’t open it, I will,” Di told her friend seriously.
“Go ahead, do you guys want cookies?” Trixie tossed her dark-haired friend the letter and went into the kitchen.
“Trixie, you got in!” Di exclaimed.
“Yipee,” Trixie said without emotion. “Hey, do me a favor, just throw it away.”
“No, I won’t.” Di took the paper and put it in her purse.
“Di, we’ve been over this one million times!”
“I don’t care. I’m keeping it.”
“Fine, have fun with it.”
The girls spent the rest of the afternoon outside, not really doing anything. Brian and Jim had left for the city the week before. Brian had hated going. Dan had left for the city, too; he was staying at Brian and Jim’s apartment for the summer.
Honey and Di went to the city for the day the next day. Trixie stayed in Sleepyside, right next to her still-unconscious older brother’s side.
“We have to do something. Trixie can’t mean that for real,” Honey reasoned to the group. The group was assembled around the kitchen table at Jim’s and Brian’s.
“Well, what can we do? She says no mysteries, and Trixie is pretty stubborn.” Dan wasn’t optimistic about getting his friend to the school.
“Yeah, and anyhow, how are we going to convince Dad to let her go?” Brian demanded.
“I got it,” Di exclaimed. The group looked questionably at her. “Well, the school is here, isn’t it?” The group nodded. “It might be a good idea to send Trixie out here to stay with you guys for the month of August, since Honey and I will be here, and it will be good for Trixie to get away for a bit.”
“Well, that still doesn’t explain how Dad will--“
“Your dad won’t have to know. We can just say she’s going to stay here.”
“Well, I don’t know, what about Moms? She’ll never agree to it.”
Di and Honey looked at each other, “Well, actually, Moms was the one who thought of the plan.” Brian’s mouth dropped open, “My mother’s plan?”
“Yeah. It was surprising to us, too.”
“Okay, well that solves one problem, now what about convincing Trixie?” Jim asked, running a hand through his red hair.
“It shouldn’t be too hard, Trixie really does want to go, but we were thinking if we had to, we could just trick her into it.”
“I don’t think that would work,” Dan vetoed.
“Well, then, let’s just tell her she has to do it.”
“She can’t be bossed.”
“Guys, do you really want her to go?” Honey asked in exasperation.
“I do, I just want to know how,” Brian admitted.
“We’ll think of something.”
Underneath this smile
My world is slowly caving in
All the while
I’m hanging on
Cause that is all I know
Could you be the one to save me from every bad habit that has helped me dig this hole?
I’ve been hiding out for miles
Underneath this smile
The next day when Honey and Di went back to Sleepyside, they called an emergency meeting of mothers and daughters.
“Trixie, please! Just go, if you don’t like it you can come back home, I just don’t want you to waste your life here,” Mrs. Belden begged her daughter.
“Moms, it’s not like I’ve never been out of Sleepyside...anyway, Dad won’t let me go.”
“Trixie, I love your father but he is being pigheaded. Trixie, you have a chance to do something great. Please go.”
“Well, I don’t know. Mo-Moms, I can’t, I promised myself that I wouldn’t, because of Mart.”
“Trixie! You can’t keep blaming yourself for that! It was Michael Creak’s fault. It was his fault when he got in his car when he was too drunk to drive. It was his friends’ faults for letting him drive drunk. It was their fault, not yours.”
“But I snuck him out! He was grounded!”
“Well yes, you shouldn’t have done it. But, if I were you, I would have done it done it, too. Now, will you go?”
“Moms, I don’t think I can.”
“Trixie, you can do it. I know you can,” Honey piped up.
“We all believe you can, Trix,” Di agreed.
“But I won’t have you guys there. I’ve never done it alone.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t.” Madeline pointed out.
“Trix, please?”
“Well, what are we going to do?” Trixie asked with a shaky smile. She valued Mrs. Wheeler's praise very highly.
“Well here’s the plan...”
I have walked this earth with broken bones
I’ve been keeping secrets under all these lights
But when you’re around my defenses go
You don’t let me run away from you
You don’t let me twist and turn the truth
It feels as if I’m naked when you’re standing in the room
“Are you sure you’ll be okay in the city?” Peter Belden asked his daughter for the hundredth time.
“Dad, please, I’ll be with the Bob-Whites. Nothing’ll happen to us,” Trixie reassured her father. She hated lying to him, but she knew her friends and mother were right.
“I know, but I still worry,” Peter told her.
“Well, that’s what makes you Dad, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, Brian says he’ll be there waiting for me at the train station.”
“I know, I still don’t know why we can’t just drive you down.”
“Dad, you have to go to work.”
“I could have taken it off.”
Trixie kissed her father and hopped into her mother’s car. After a a good-bye at the station Trixie was on her way to fulfilling her dreams.
At the station no one was waiting for her, this was part of the plan, though. Trixie hailed a cab and managed to get to the academy just after ten o’clock in the evening. Lucky for her, the doors were locked.
“This is just terrific. Why did I let them talk me into this?” Trixie moaned as she knocked on the door.
The school was actually next door, but the dorms were like apartments. Trixie cheered as she saw a boy with dishwater blond hair walking toward the door. “What’s the password?”
“Listen, I don’t know the password. I just got here.”
“Well, no password, no entrance.” He started to walk away.
“Wait one gosh darn minute! My train got in late, and then I had to spend half a freaking hour trying to get a cab, and while I was trying to get that cab some car drove and splashed me in the face, and then my cell’s battery died, so I couldn’t even call to beg a pity ride from one of my friends, and it’s late and I just want to come in and get dry clothes on and go to sleep! So you had better open this door now!”
“Okay, sorry. My name's Cambell. And the password was banana.” He told her while opening the door with a mischievous smile.
“Uh-huh.” She walked in. “Thank you.” She told him stiffly and walked away.
“Hey wait a minute, what’s your name?” He asked following her. He was interested in the new kid. She wasn’t from any of the old gang that came during the summer months.
“Trixie.”
“Trixie? I like that name.”
“That’s great. Excuse me, please.” She turned off into the room where she was to stay. Her roommate was all ready sleeping. She found that out by turning on the light.
“Shut off the light!” Amber Nelson snapped.
“Sorry, I’m new and I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay, just please, shut off the light.”
“Okay, sorry.” Trixie quickly changed clothes and left the room. She had a call to make.
“Hello? Brian?....Yeah it’s me, I’m here. But I gotta go, I’m tired....well, tell Dad the train was late, then we all went to a movie...I don’t know....yeah sure...Love you too.” Trixie hung up.
“Well, at least today’s over.” She looked up at the sky, “Please let him be okay.” She didn’t notice the figure in the shadows. She ran down the hall into her room, she shut the door, and buried herself in her blankets and sobbed quietly into her pillow.
The next day, Trixie woke up early, grabbed some clothes and took off in search of the bathrooms. They weren’t that hard to find. After taking a shower and doing whatever she needed to do. She went to the cafeteria. She was surprised; there were a lot of people here. Trixie scanned the room for anybody, she spotted her roommate, Amber and put a questioning look on her face, and walked over. Amber smiled and motioned for her to sit down.
“Hi, welcome to the Academy. I don’t think we’ve really met yet, I’m Amber.”
“Trixie Belden. Sorry about last night.”
“No problem, I just don’t take to kindly to being woken up.”
“Sorry,” Trixie said again, she looked around the room. “Who’s that?” Trixie asked pointing to the boy who left her in the other day.
“Cambell Kirk. He’s one of the regulars, he’s been coming here since he was twelve. So have I.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, he’s a jerk sometimes.”
“I saw that last night when he wouldn’t let me in.”
“What a freak, he wouldn’t let you in? Goodness!
That was mean of him.”
“Oh, I thought he was trying to be funny, but I wasn’t in the mood.”
“Sounds just like him. Oh, we’d better hurry, class starts soon.”
“Right.” Trixie hurried through her breakfast. Amber, unfortunately, didn’t have the same classes that Trixie did, so Trixie felt very alone.
Cambell had some with Trixie, though.
Underneath this smile
My world is slowly caving in
All the while
I’m hanging on instead of letting go
Could you be the one to save me from every bad habit that has helped me dig this hole?
I’ve been hiding out too long
Underneath this smile
Underneath this smile
Oh, yeah
“Hey, you, new kid.”
Trixie turned on her heel at the sound of her ‘name.’ That was all anyone was willing to call her. At least since her first class, her teacher’s name was Mr. Popple. He was an ex-something or other- agent. Mr. Popple seemed like an okay guy. He was definitely better than Mr. Brunswick. Mr. Brunswick had been an ex-FBI agent, or so he said. Trixie wasn’t sure if she believed the stern teacher.
“What can I do for you?” Trixie asked coolly of the voice.
“Well, I just wanted to apologize for the joke the other day. I’m sorry.”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Trixie told him, she started walking away toward the cafeteria.
“So, how do you like it here?” he asked, falling into step with her.
“Uh, it’s fine, but it does seem that the people here have record-breaking short memories.”
“Meaning?”
“I believe I’ve been called ‘New Kid’ twenty times since Popple’s class.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, Trixie.”
Trixie rolled her eyes, and found a place to sit, which was hard. She ended up sitting by herself. Amber also had a different lunch.
Trixie was not used to being new. She did not enjoy it. She felt as if though she had no friends, except Amber, but Amber’s schedule was different from hers. Trixie had already found out who the school’s ‘in crowd’ was, it wasn’t that hard. You just had to find follow the lines of groveling students to get to the center. Kathryn Knutilla. Cambell, was also in the ‘in crowd’.
“This is just great! Why on earth did I let them talk me into coming here? I should be home, with Mart,” Trixie muttered to herself.
“Hi,” Cambell said, sitting down.
“Hello,” Trixie said, allowing herself to be pulled out of her conversation with herself.
“I hope you don’t mind my sitting here?”
“Um, no, it’s fine by me.”
“So, where are you from?” He was trying, Trixie could give him that much. She hoped that his trying wasn’t for some sort of, be nice to new kids, thing.
“Sleepyside.”
“Oh really? I know someone who knows someone who’s from there.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, his name, let me think, uh I think it starts with a T. Oh Yeah, Tad, Tad Webster.”
“Oh, I know Tad. He’s a nice guy,” Trixie said.
“So I’ve heard.”
Trixie glanced down at her watch, “Oh, I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“Oh hey, are you going to go out tomorrow, it’s the day we get off.”
“I might.” Trixie hurried away to phone her father, who should’ve been getting home right about then.
“Dad? Hi! It’s me, Trixie...Yeah, sorry. We got in late. I knew you’d be home for lunch. How are you all? Bobby’s been feeding my chickens!” Trixie laughed.
“Trixie, he wants to talk to you,” Peter Belden told his daughter.
“Okay. Hey, Bobby.”
“Trixie, you’re not mad at me, are you?” Bobby asked.
“Uh, no, should I be?”
“No. Okay, good. I gotta go.”
“Bye. Oh, hi, Moms. Why should I be mad at Bobby....he was in my room? Oh well...I’ll live. It’s terrible here. I have one friend. She’s not in any of my classes...How’s Mart? They think there’s a better chance now? Oh, thank goodness!...Oh, I’ve got to go. I don’t know, I’ll probably call them up and see. We have tomorrow off. I really have to go now, though. Bye! Love you.”
Trixie quickly ran to her dorm and grabbed her things before heading off to her last class of the day.
At dinner she found Amber already chowing down on the food. Trixie quickly sat with her. The two girls discussed their day.
“You ate lunch with Cambell?”
“Well, he ate lunch with me.”
“Wow. Last year, he would only think about eating with Kathryn. You’ve got some sort of spell on him, that’s for sure.” She nodded in the direction of the boy who sat staring at them.
“Really? Oh hey, do you go out on the days off?”
“Well, sometimes. I’m thinking about staying here for tomorrow’s, though.”
“Oh, I was going to call up my brother. Hang out with him and the gang.”
“Oh. Tell me about your family and friends.”
“Okay, well, we started this club, called the Bob-Whites...”
Trixie was up at dawn the next day. She called Brian. They were busy. Too busy to hang out with Trixie. Trixie had smiled brightly at Cambell when he sat down next to her. Amber had not been up yet.
Cambell might have acted dumb, but he knew that wasn’t a real smile. He had seen her frowning only seconds before as she begged someone by the name of Brian to bring someone named Honey and Di over, at least is what she had said.
“So, Trixie, you going to hang out today then?”
“Well, I don’t know, I might go look around. I haven’t been to the city in forever.” Trixie tried to be perky and upbeat, which is what she was known to be all over the country.
“Well, if you want you can come hang out with me and my friends.” Trixie glanced at the pack of people and mentally decided not to, no matter how lonely she was.
“Thanks for the invite.” Cambell left with his group of friends and told her they’d be at the closest mall if she wanted to join them.
Trixie walked the lonely sidewalks of New York City with her head down. She saw a penny. It wasn’t head side up, so she turned it over and left it. As she straightened up, she came face to face with Cambell.
“So are you just naturally sort of strange or--?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.
“Well, when I sat with you, you were talking to yourself, and now you’re putting pennies on the ground.”
“Ha-ha. No, I’m leaving a penny head side up. Maybe someone’ll find good luck with it.”
“You know, some people believe you can make you’re own luck.”
“I guess I’m not one of those people.”
“I guess.” He seemed to be searching for something to say. “So, you want to take a walk or something?”
“Sure.”
“I’m Cambell Kirk. I’m in all of your classes. I’ve been going to this school ever since I was twelve, and I’m from California. Oh, and I’m an only child.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“So we can be friends.”
“Okay, well, I’m Trixie Belden. I am in all of your classes. I just started here. I am seventeen. I have three brothers. Two of them are older.”
“What do your brothers do?”
“Brian goes to college here. And Mart,” her voice caught on the name Mart, “Mart graduated this year.”
“Oh. What do you like doing?” he asked, trying to avoid the look of pain cross over her face.
“Isn’t it obvious? I like mysteries. I even got my brother tickets to go to a marathon of mystery movies.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“It was,” Trixie said quietly.
The two walked in silence for a moment. Cambell was about to comment when two hands clamped over her eyes.
Underneath this smile
My world is slowly caving in
All the while
I’m hanging on instead of letting go
Could you be the one to save me from every bad habit that has helped me dig this hole?
Underneath this smile
Could you be the one to save me from every bad habit that has helped me dig this hole?
I’ve been hiding out for miles
Underneath this
Underneath this
Underneath this smile
What I’m standing on is sinking in
Part IV
Trixie screamed. Cambell, without looking, smacked the person in the nose. The man had to let go of Trixie to grab his nose.
“Ow! Geez! Trixie, this is the last time I try to surprise you. I, I, I think you broke my nose!” The eighteen year old boy with black hair screeched.
“Dan! What are you doing here? I thought you guys were ‘busy’.”
I’m so scared that
The way that I feel
Is written all over my face
When you walk into the room
I wanna find a hiding place
We used to laugh
We used to hug
The way that old friends do“Ah, well, I ditched the gang to come surprise you. Last time we talked you weren’t having such a great time. Ow, this really hurts. Dan Mangan.” Dan held out the hand that was NOT covered in blood to Cambell.
“Gee, I’m really sorry. I thought you were one of those attackers. I actually don’t think I broke your nose, but I’m sorry. They taught us what to do in my first year here. I just never mastered it. I’m really sorry though. Here take this, it’ll help stop the bleeding. Oh, I’m Cambell, by the way.”
“Thanks. Ah, don’t worry about it, I’ll probably live. Uh, I’m going for ice, want to join me?”
“Oh, come on, Dan, come back to the Academy with me, they’ll have ice there.” Trixie volunteered. Then she broke into a fit of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Cambell demanded.
“It’s just, oh, Dan! This reminds me of that time Regan walked up behind Mr. Wheeler, and Mr. Wheeler clothes-lined him.”
“Why does this remind you of that?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe because Regan thought he broke his nose, and it turned out it wasn’t even bruised or anything, didn’t bleed or... Must be in your blood, huh?”
“Funny. Where is this place? I wanna see it.”
“We’re almost there. Where is everyone else?”
“Probably at Jim and Brian’s. Wow, you and Mart must be the ones that liven up the party. Everything is just dull, dull, dull without you guys,” Dan said, then he stopped. “Sorry,” he whispered.
Cambell was trying his very best to act like he didn’t care what they were talking about. “So, oh hey, look there the old place is. Well, I think I better go find everyone else. You guys have fun now.”
“Nice guy,” Dan remarked watching Cambell jog away from the two.
“Yeah, he’s okay,” Trixie agreed. “C’mon inside.”
But now a smile and
A touch of your hand
Just make me come unglued
It’s such a contradiction
Do I lie or tell the truth?
Is it fact or fiction
The way I feel for you?
That evening, after Dan left, Trixie sat down to eat dinner with Amber, when Cambell walked up, hoping to sit with them.
“So is your friend okay?”
“He’ll live,” was Trixie’s prognosis.
“He’s nice. Is he the one that graduated with your brother?” Amber asked.
“Yeah, that’s Danny.” Trixie smiled.
“So, what are you two lovely ladies doing tomorrow?” Cambell asked, suddenly switching gears.
“Well, I’d planned on attending classes. What about you, Trixie?” Amber said.
“Classes.”
“Oh, I suppose that would be the reasonable thing to do,” Cambell agreed.
It’s so complicated
I’m so frustrated
I wanna hold you close
I wanna push you away
I wanna make you go
I wanna make you stay
“Mr. Belden? You can go see your son now.”
Peter Belden thanked the nurse and walked into his son Mart’s room.
It was no secret that the two had been fighting about things for the past couple of months.
“Oh, Mart, I am so sorry. I’m sorry for everything; the arguing, the punishments, everything. I don’t even know why we’ve been arguing anyway. Maybe I was just separating us so it wouldn’t be so hard to see you go off to school. But, that’s no excuse. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Peter Belden kneeled at his son’s bed and cried the tears he had been so desperately hoping to cry for the last two months.
Should I say it
Should I tell you
How I feel?
Oh, I want you to know
But then again I don’t
It’s so complicated.
“Trixie, telephone!” Trixie looked up from the book she was buried in.
“Who is it?” she asked her roommate.
“Do I look like your secretary?” Amber threw her friend a look.
“Sorry, thanks. Hello...WHAT! Brian, please tell me this isn’t a joke. If it is, it isn’t funny!” Trixie flung at her old brother. “JIM’s coming here? No, it’ll be okay. I’ll change, I can be ready in five minutes. Thanks, Brian!” Trixie smiled as she hung up the phone.
“What happened?” Amber asked.
“That was Brian! Mart’s finally woken up! Dad was there. Jim’s coming here to get me so we go back.”
“Will you be coming back to school?”
“Yeah, I think so, I have to go talk to Mr. Andrews.”
Mr. Andrews was the head of the school.
When Trixie came back, she just had time to grab an overnight bag before Jim phoned to say he was at the building, but some guy wouldn’t let him in because he didn’t know the password.
“Cambell’s being mean again,” Trixie laughed to Amber.
“Surprise, surprise,” Amber laughed.
Trixie jogged down the stairs where she could hear Jim yelling that he did know someone in the building.
“...I’m telling you man, I know her! We’ve been friends forever. Will you please just let me in so I can help her with her luggage, like the honorable gentleman thatI am.” Jim’s red hair was getting the better of him.
“I don’t need help, but thank you, Jim,” Trixie told him, opening the door.
“Trixie, it’s been months.” Jim hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Oh,” Cambell said. “Sorry. I didn’t know you knew TRIXIE. I woulda’ let you in if I’d known that.”
“That’s okay. C’mon, Trix, your brother’s gonna think we eloped or something.”
“Again? Remember when they thought we were secretly dating?” Trixie giggled. “Oh, yeah. That was funny, until Mart and Brian tried to drown me in the lake.”
“Dan tried, too. Good thing Honey and I stepped out of the boathouse. Oh, let’s go, Jim, I’ve missed everyone so much!”
So Jim and Trixie walked out, not glancing back to see Cambell sitting there.
At the hospital, Brian and Mart talked. Well, Brian talked while Mart seemed content to listen.
“She’s really at school. Dad doesn’t know, though. So, uh, don’t tell him.”
“You’re kidding right?” Mart’s voice, so long not used, sounded new and awkward, “My responsible, respectable friends lied to get Trixie to go to school. And to DAD no less. What is the world coming to?”
“I guess you’re right,” Brian agreed.
Just then Trixie burst into the room. “Oh Mart, you’re okay! I was so worried and, oh, I’m so glad.”
“I know, the feeling is reciprocated.”
“Not even up for a full day and already using words like that,” Dan said, sliding into the room.
“Hey, say, what took you guys so long to get here?”
Brian asked suddenly.
“What took us so long? Why, Jim must’ve broken thousands of speeding laws!” Trixie yelped.
“Then why were Honey, Brian, and I here so long before you?” Di raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, I admit it. Trixie and Jim eloped , and I was best man before we came. Sorry, guys.” Dan looked apologetically at Trixie and Jim. “The jig is up.”
“That’s okay, Danny,” Trixie said graciously.
“No, really, guys. Where were you?” Honey asked.
“Some guy wouldn’t let me in, so I couldn’t go get Trixie,” Jim muttered darkly.
Trixie rolled her eyes. “That was Cambell, he likes messing with people like that.”
“Cambell?” Mart asked.
“This guy at my school.”
“Oh.”
“Hey! That was the guy that broke my nose!” Dan exclaimed.
“He didn’t break your nose,” Brian told him.
“Well, it hurt enough.”
Just when I think
I’m under control
I think I finally got a grip
Another friend tells me that
My name is always
On your lips
“So, you like it there, Trixie?” Mart asked her later when it was just the two of them.
“Oh, yes. It’s just wonderful. I didn’t always think so, but then....Oh, Mart I was so worried.”
“Why?”
“Because, you were stuck here, and nothing was going right. Everything goes wrong when you aren’t around.”
“Ah, I’m sure you did an okay job of keeping everything under control.” Mart told her sleepily.
“Thanks, big brother.” Trixie kissed him on the cheek and left the room.
Just when I think
I’m under control
I think I finally got a grip
Another friend tells me that
My name is always
On your lips
They say I’m more
Than just a friend
They say I must be blind
Trixie went back to school two weeks later, but it was only to say she wouldn’t be coming back. Maybe next summer, but the rest of this summer she wanted to stay with her brother. Mr. Andrews was very sorry to hear that, but said he understood. Amber cried as she hugged her friend good-bye. They promised to keep in touch, and Trixie was determined to keep that promise.
Cambell didn’t understand, though he said he did.
Trixie tried to explain, but he wouldn’t listen and told her to go back to her redheaded boyfriend. He wouldn’t listen to any of Trixie’s explanations. So Trixie went back home.
Well I admit that
I’ve seen you watch me
From the corner of your eye
Oh it’s so confusing
I wish you’d just confess
But think of what I’d be losing
If your answer wasn’t yes
It’s so complicated
Two weeks later, she got an invitation in the mail.
“Come see the graduating classes of The Harold Tremain Police Academic School.”
“Who would have invited me to see this?” Trixie wondered.
“Maybe someone at the school?” Honey suggested.
“Yeah, okay. Maybe I’ll ask Moms,” she mused.
Peter, home on his lunch break, found the invitation on the table. “Helen, what is this?” Mrs. Belden didn’t even get one word out before he yelled, “Trixie!”
“Well, Peter, you were just being too difficult!”
Helen explained later while the family was arguing about it.
“So you all went behind my back?”
“Dad, Trixie really wanted to go! It was the onlyway! You wouldn’t listen to reason!” Brian ‘calmly’ explained.
“Yeah, Dad, Trixie’s a really good detective. She deserved the chance,” Bobby piped up.
Peter ran a hand over his eyes, “I know she is, Bobby. I just didn’t want her to- to-”
“Dad, she won’t end up like Dick. Trixie’s too smart for that.”
“I know. Trixie, I’m sorry. It’s just hard to let you go. I can’t believe you are all growing up so much. It seems like just yesterday, Trixie and Bobby came running up to meet me after I got off of work.”
“Dad, that’s because it was yesterday,” Mart told him dryly.
“Dad, I’m really sorry, you can punish me if you want, but I want you to know, if I had the chance, I’d do it over again.”
“I know. You won’t be punished, in fact, why don’t we all go to the graduation? Let’s make it a Bob-White, plus parents, trip.”
“You mean it, Dad?” Trixie said excitedly.
“Of course.”
“I’m going to go call Honey!”
“You’re here!” Amber said excitedly.
“Of course I am. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
But, you’re my age, why are you graduating?” Trixie had been dying to know.
“Every year, everyone graduates. The real graduating class just goes last.” Amber rolled her eyes.
“You brought everyone. You must be Honey, and you have to be Di.” Amber shook hands with the two girls.
I’m so frustrated
I wanna hold you close
I wanna push you away
I wanna make you go
I wanna make you stay
Should I say it
Should I tell you
How I feel?
Oh, I want you to know
But then again I don’t
It’s so complicated.After everyone went to sit down, Amber went to go talk to Mr. Andrews.
“Ah, it’s so nice to have everyone here. It is such a pleasure to be able to work with so many of the brightest young people in America.........”
Finally the graduation commenced. “I was just informed, right be fore we started, that one of our pupils, who dropped out for family reasons, was here today. She was one of our best. She was the brightest, and had the most personality I have seen in a long time. I wondered if she might like to walk with the rest of her classmates. Trixie Belden? Come on, I know you’re out there.”
Trixie looked shocked, but Mart gave her a shove and she stood and ran up to the stage. She went to sit next to Amber. “What did you do?”
“I just said that you were back,” Amber said innocently.
“Thanks.” Trixie whispered.
After the graduation, parents stood talking to each other, and the Bob-Whites clustered around Trixie and her friends from school. “Oh, Trixie we missed you!” One girl hugged her.
Cambell walked solemnly over to her. “Hey, can we talk?”
“I don’t know, are you going to listen?” Trixie asked him warily.
“Yeah, I’ll listen.”
“Okay.”
So the two took a walk. “I’m sorry that I didn’t listen.”
“It’s okay.”
“Well, congrats. You passed.”
“Thanks. You passed too. Congrats.”
“Thanks. So, well, I’m an idiot.”
“What?” Trixie asked, startled.
“I mean, it’s just, I can’t , I just can’t tell this one girl I like her, a lot.” Cambell stuttered.
“This girl you like, do I know her?”
“Yeah. I mean, Trixie, I like you, I really do. That’s okay if you don’t like me or anything I just thought I should-“
“Cambell, shut up and kiss me.”
I hate it ‘cause
I’ve waited so long
For someone like you
Should I say it
Should I tell you
How I feel?
Oh I want you to know
But then again I don’t
It’s so complicatedThe End
Okay, so that’s that. I hope you guys liked it. Oh, I’m not getting any money for this, and all that jazz. The characters were used without permission, and do not belong to me. That song is Complicated by:
CAROLYN DAWN JOHNSON. The idea originally came from the Movie Raise Your Voice, but I have made it into my own. In a way. Thanks to Amber, for her Amazingly fast, and wonderful editing skills! Thank you so MUCH!
Ummmm, not my song, it’s Hilary Duff’s, again, The idea for this came from Raise Your Voice, starring Hilary Duff. The song title is Underneath this smile. A Huge round of applause to my amazing editor, Amber!
Thank you so much Amber!
Okay I am so ripping this off Raise Your Voice. I am changing it a little bit though. The academy Trixie wants to get into doesn't exist as far as I know. I hope you like it so far. Please no one come after me with lawyers because I am ripping off this movie and the song Fly, by Hilary Duff.