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  Betty and Nancy arrived together in good moods and giggling. “You guys,” Nancy said as soon as they put their instruments down, “Betty’s been writing a song for The Candy Hearts, and I think it’s pretty good.”

  “Really? You write?” Tina asked.

  Betty’s face turned red. “I write a little,” she confessed.

  “Great!” Tina exclaimed. “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”

  Pulling out her guitar, Betty strummed it a few times and tuned the strings. Veronica couldn’t help but notice that her best friend’s face was still bright red. She got the feeling that all of Betty’s fussing with the instrument was just stalling. “Oh, come on, Betty. It’s just us girls. Let’s hear it,” she encouraged.

  “Okay, fine.” Betty cleared her throat and strummed the opening cord. “Right now I’m calling it ‘BFF.’ ” And then she sang:Finally hit the weekend

  Hanging with my best friend

  Listenin’ to the radio

  Talking fast and cruisin’ slow

  Doesn’t matter where we go!

  Cause you’re my best frie . . . hend!

  You’re my best frie . . . hend!

  You’re my best friend!

  “Wow,” Veronica said. She was truly impressed.

  “Hey, that’s pretty good,” Tina added. “If we pepped up the beat, that could be The Candy Heart’s first song.”

  It was hard to imagine that Betty could get even redder, but she did. “You think so?” she asked. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Yes!” everyone agreed.

  Having a good song idea was one thing, but then getting all four girls to play it together was more difficult than Betty anticipated. Tina kept clouding the song with fancy drum fills, and Nancy repeatedly started playing on the wrong fret. Betty showed Veronica her part on the keyboard, but Ronnie wanted to try several different alterations before finally concluding that Betty was right with her original chords.

  The first time they made it all the way through “BFF” as a group was a triumph.

  “Okay good,” Betty said. She set down her notes and readjusted her golden locks in a high ponytail.

  “Let’s play it again,” Tina said eagerly. “I know I can do it better this time.”

  Veronica sagged behind the keyboard. “Let’s take a break first. I’m thirsty.”

  “Yeah,” Nancy agreed.

  Suddenly a loud thud came from outside the pool house. The girls all jumped. Then they heard a muffled voice. “Quiet, Jughead.” It was Archie.

  “I’m hungry,” Jughead grumbled.

  “We’ll grab a burger later,” someone else said. Betty and Veronica were sure it was Reggie.

  The girls all looked at one another. “Who’s that?” Tina asked. Veronica quickly held a finger to her lips, signaling to them all to be silent.

  “Come on,” Veronica mouthed. Gesturing for the other girls to follow her, she ducked down by the large window at the front of the pool house. The venetian blinds obscured the view.

  The others moved in behind her. In a slightly raised voice, Veronica said, “Hey, Betty, that song is really great. We definitely sound better than The Archies. Let’s try it again.”

  Quickly picking up on her friend’s scheme, Betty responded, “Thanks, Veronica. Okay, let’s start again from the top. And a one, a two, a one, two, three, four!”

  As soon as she said the word four, Veronica yanked on the cord and the venetian blinds zipped open.

  A surprised Archie, Reggie, and Jughead were caught crouching down on the lawn in front of the window. Archie quickly tried to stand, but lost his balance and knocked into Reggie, who stumbled and fell into Jughead. All three of them tumbled over one another and ended up in a heap on the ground.

  Veronica opened the pool house door and looked out at them. “How’s it going, boys?” she asked, unable to hold back a laugh.

  “Um, fine,” Archie said, disentangling himself from the other boys and getting to his feet. “We were just . . . you know . . .”

  “Dropping by to spy on us?” Betty suggested as the other Candy Hearts exited the pool house.

  “No!” Archie protested. “I mean . . . why would we want to do that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Betty replied. She tossed her blond ponytail and eyed him with suspicion. “Maybe to find out if we’re any good.”

  “Hey, we’re not worried,” Reggie scoffed. “I’m sure you girls sound just fine. I mean, for a chick band.”

  Tina shoved her way to the front of the girls. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Oh nothing,” Reggie replied. He turned to his friends and gave them a little smirk. Looking over at the other girls, Tina asked, “Do you guys know these jerks?”

  “Yeah, we know them,” Veronica sighed. “And they’re not really that jerky. At least,” she added, “not most of the time.”

  Tina looked skeptical. “If you say so.”

  Veronica made the introductions. “Tina, this is Archie, Reggie, and Jughead. Guys, Tina is our drummer.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Archie piped up, extending his hand and smiling.

  Veronica rolled her eyes as Tina and Archie shook hands. She should have known that Archie couldn’t help but flirt a little with a new girl. And, after all, Tina was pretty cute.

  “So how’s practice going?” Archie asked after finally releasing Tina’s hand.

  “Good. Really good.” Betty nodded her head several times to show she meant it.

  “Great! Let’s hear what you guys got,” Reggie said.

  “And then order a pizza,” Jughead added.

  “Well . . . ,” Betty hedged, “I don’t think so. I mean, you know, we’re not quite ready to go public.”

  “Because you stink?” Reggie asked in as innocent a voice as he could muster.

  “Reggie!” Veronica shouted. “Stop being such a jerk in front of our new friend. We just need to practice a little more and then we’re going to be great. You don’t always have to be so threatened all the time.”

  “I’m not threatened,” Reggie said.

  “Really?” Veronica looked him over with one eyebrow arched. “You could’ve fooled me.”

  “Come on, guys. Let’s not fight,” Archie said, coming to stand between them. “Okay, I admit we came over here because we heard you guys were practicing today and we wanted to hear how you sound. What are you calling your band, anyway?”

  “The Candy Hearts,” Betty told him.

  “Cute name,” Archie said with a nod of approval. “So were you being serious? You’re actually good?”

  “We’re really good,” Betty insisted.

  “Way good,” Nancy added.

  “Once we get a gig, you guys are going to be completely impressed,” Veronica boasted.

  “Right,” Reggie said. He winked at them.

  Archie shoved Reggie a little with his elbow. “Relax, Reggie.” Then, turning back to the girls, he said, “Well, I’m really looking forward to hearing you guys play. The Archies are playing Riverdale’s annual Fourth of July beach party.”

  “Yeah, we know that,” Veronica said. “I’m the one who set up that gig. Remember?”

  “Sure, I remember,” Archie smiled. “Seems a shame you won’t be playing it.” Then, he brightened with an idea. “Hey, I know. Why don’t The Candy Hearts open for The Archies at the beach party? I mean, you’d only get to play two or three songs, but at least you’d get to play.”

  “Oh?” Betty said, her eyes growing round.

  “Uh,” Veronica stammered.

  “Unless you think you won’t be ready,” Reggie taunted.

  The girls hesitated. It was already the end of June. There was no way they could be ready by the Fourth of July.

  Tina stepped forward. “We’ll do it!” she said.

  Chapter 4

  The Candy Hearts made their way back into the pool house and flopped onto various lounge chairs and couches. Everyone expect Tina, that is. She wa
s so excited, she was practically bouncing off the walls. The boys had left for the pizza parlor, but Archie’s invitation of a gig hung in the air.

  “You guys! You guys! You guys!” she cried. “We’ve only been in a band together one day and we’ve already got our first gig!”

  “That’s right. We’ve only been a band for one day,” Betty replied.

  Nancy lay back on her lounge chair and flung her hand up over her eyes. “What are we going to do?” she wailed.

  “What do you mean?” Tina was confused. She didn’t understand why her bandmates were anything but excited.

  “We don’t know how to play anything,” Nancy said, her dark eyes full of worry. “We’ve barely made it through one song.”

  “Yeah, but it’s only June twenty-eighth. We’ve got tons of time!” Tina insisted.

  “We have five days,” Veronica corrected her. “Five and a half, tops, if we keep practicing today.”

  Tina put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you guys see? That’s plenty of time. All we’ve got to do is get some equipment, write a few songs, plan our outfits for the show, and practice a whole bunch, right? Who’s with me?” Her voice was filled with excitement and encouragement, but she received only a collective groan of despair from her new friends. “Come on, you guys! This is a big opportunity for us. I thought you wanted to be in a band? And here we are being offered a cool gig first thing and you’re ready to surrender. We should at least try.”

  Betty sat up. “You know, Tina’s right,” she said. “I have a couple of other songs that I’ve sort of worked out. I’m sure if I put some effort into it, I could finish one or two of them tonight.”

  “I guess I could go shopping tomorrow morning,” Veronica added. “I mean, if we figure out all the amps and other stuff we’ll need.”

  Tina bounced up and down again. “Sure! I know all about band equipment. I’ll help you.”

  Then she turned her eyes to Nancy. “Well? What does our bass player have to say about all this?”

  Hauling herself to a sitting position, Nancy said, “Well, Chuck’s working on some big oil painting, so he’s going to be busy for a few days. I usually babysit for my neighbors on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I can always ask Kim to cover for me.”

  “She can entertain the kids by playing the water glasses,” Veronica whispered to Betty with a wink.

  “So . . . we’re doing this? We’re really going to go for it?” Tina smiled hopefully, looking from one face to another. All the girls smiled back at her. “Yea!” Tina shouted, jumping up and spinning around. “Let’s get back to practicing right now!”

  XOXO

  The five and a half days flew by. The Candy Hearts practiced for at least four hours every day. They worked around summer job schedules and family obligations. And when they weren’t working together, they were working on their own: perfecting songs, memorizing chords, and planning fabulous outfits.

  Still, even with all their hard work, they still sounded wobbly at best.

  Betty and Veronica put a lot of effort into their harmonies, but they weren’t very tight. Tina’s beats continued to be inconsistent, which made it hard for the others to follow. And Nancy usually lagged behind on every song although she practiced until her fingers throbbed.

  “Let’s face it,” Veronica said the night before the big beach party. “The Candy Hearts stink. We’re going to make fools of ourselves in front of the whole town. I say we cut our losses and tell Archie we can’t open for him at the show.”

  “What?!” Tina yelled. “We can’t do that!”

  Veronica gave her a perplexed look, knitting her perfectly tweezed eyebrows together. “Why not?”

  “Because . . . ,” Tina started, then paused. She didn’t know what to say. She knew the band still needed to iron out some kinks, but she didn’t want them to give up. They were so close. “Because the show must go on,” she finished with a firm nod.

  Veronica couldn’t help but laugh. “You mean we have to make fools of ourselves in front of the entire town because of some old cliché? How does that make sense?”

  “Yeah,” Betty agreed. “I’ve always kind of wondered about that expression. I mean, why does the show have to go on? I really think that’s just propaganda started by theater owners to keep the actors from walking out after tickets have been sold.”

  “You guys,” Tina protested, “I can’t believe we’re actually talking about not playing the beach party. Didn’t you actually form this band to . . . what was it? To prove to The Archies that you weren’t just frosting or whatever it was they called you?”

  “Actually,” Betty said, “we formed the band because we wanted to have some fun with friends and . . . well, okay it was also to kind of prove to Archie and Reggie and Jughead that we could do it on our own, I guess.”

  “Then let’s just do it. Please, please, please,” Tina begged. “I swear it’ll be fun. And I personally don’t think we sound as bad as you guys do. I mean, I honestly think we sound almost good. All we need is a little confidence.”

  “Fine,” Veronica finally said. “I’m in if you guys are in.”

  Tina turned to look at Betty and Nancy. If Veronica was in, she knew the other girls would come around . . . she hoped. She held her breath as she watched Betty and Nancy mull it over. Finally, after seconds that felt like days, Betty and Nancy nodded their agreement. Tina whooped with delight.

  XOXO

  It felt like the entire town of Riverdale had gathered on the beach for the annual Fourth of July celebration. Parents, teachers, classmates—everyone was there. Even the mayor.

  “So how’s it going?” Archie asked as he helped The Candy Hearts unload their equipment. “Are you girls ready for your first gig?”

  “Sure,” Veronica said. But she didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “I mean, we’re only playing a few songs so it’s not that big of a deal. I think people are more interested in hearing The Archies, anyway.”

  “Listen, Ronnie,” Archie said as he set the speaker down. “I wanted to apologize for, you know, not listening to you and stuff. I feel bad that you and Betty left the band.”

  “Oh?” Veronica was caught completely by surprise. “Um, thanks. It’s really . . . nice of you to say that.”

  “Anyway,” Archie continued, “I’m impressed that you girls were able to put a band together so quickly and I’m really, you know, kind of proud of you. I know The Candy Hearts are going to blow the audience away.”

  “I wish I shared your enthusiasm,” Veronica mumbled under her breath.

  “Pardon?” Archie cocked his head and looked at her.

  “I said, I hope everyone shares your enthusiasm,” she replied, a bright smile plastered across her face.

  Archie looked around. “Where’s Betty? I want to apologize to her, too,” he said. He gave Veronica’s shoulder a squeeze, then headed off to find Betty.

  As Archie walked away, Tina came running up. “Veronica!” she called. She stumbled under the weight of a large cardboard box. “They’re here! The costumes made it!”

  “Ooh! Let’s see!” Veronica said excitedly.

  Tina plunked the box on the ground and tore open the lid. She reached inside and yanked out a plastic bag filled with fabric.

  Veronica tore away the plastic, revealing a trim navy-blue and white sailor’s jacket with the traditional flap collar and matching highwaisted navy-blue short shorts.

  “These are adorable!” Tina shouted.

  “What’s adorable?” Nancy asked. She set down her bass and walked over to see what was causing the excitement.

  Tina held the outfit up against herself and whirled around. “Look! Veronica’s dad bought us these matching outfits for the show! I found this lady online who does custom work and she agreed to do a rush order.”

  “But I thought we agreed we were all going to wear red, white, and blue,” Betty said as she walked up to the group.

  “I know,” Veronica said. She held one of the outfits under her ch
in and looked down at it. “But Tina found these sailor suits and we thought they’d be supercute.”

  “They are cute,” Betty had to admit. “But you should have told us. I mean, we’re a band. We should vote on these kinds of things.”

  “Sorry,” Tina mumbled. “It’s not Ronnie’s fault. I told her we should make the outfits a surprise.” She looked hopefully at Betty. She didn’t want to make anyone mad, not on their big night.

  “Oh,” Betty said. She held up the modified sailor’s suit. She had to admit they were adorable and would give the band a nice, unique style. Then maybe people wouldn’t focus so much on how they sounded, she thought to herself. “You guys,” she finally said. “I can’t afford this. I’ve got to save all my money for college.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that.” Veronica squeezed her shoulder. “They’re on me. I mean, maybe they’ll give us the confidence we need to actually perform as a band.”

  Betty felt terrible. Custom-made outfits on a rush order must have cost a fortune, and it wasn’t fair that Mr. Lodge should have to foot the bill. Especially after he had paid for almost all of their equipment. But she didn’t know what else to do. The show would begin in just a few minutes. “Okay,” she finally relented. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure,” Veronica replied.

  “But in the future,” Betty continued, “we need to talk about stuff like this. No more expensive surprises . . . even if they are supercute surprises.” She smiled at her friend.

  “I promise.” Veronica held up her hand as if she were making a pledge.

  “Uh, you guys,” Nancy interrupted, “we’re up pretty soon. We’ve got to get ready.”

  When The Candy Hearts took the stage, the crowd burst into a friendly, encouraging cheer. The girls exchanged nervous looks. Veronica awkwardly leaned in toward the microphone and said hi.

  The shrill wail of feedback momentarily split the air and everyone covered their ears. When it faded to a low hum, Veronica stepped back up to the mic. “Uh . . . ,” she hesitated, expecting more feedback. But this time, everything seemed to be working. “We’re The Candy Hearts and this first song is called ‘BFF.’”