Sunny Side Up

The weather is hot, we're out of popsicles, and everyone is complaining.

Ahh, the normal joyous symptoms of summer.
I've been spending my days so far sitting around, licking ice cream cones and reading blog posts. Would you call that lazy? Because I call that L-A-Z-YYYYY.
But to spoil my summer break, all I can think about is that darn gorgeous RUTHIE. Since a certain Liz blocked Beth's blog from my computer a few days ago, we're still figuring out how to get it back and I am in a major Just Me Again Down Here-withdrawal and it sucks. So I have no idea what is going on, and I am just DYING to know what that Ruthie is up to now. I bet she's going all sweet on Bethie and sending Julie emails full of love.

Gah.
What is going on inside me?
I'm not normally a hateful person.
As I said, gah.

Ruthie's been handing out popsicles like theres no tomorrow, and Julia has been begging Erin to lend her the bathing suit so she can go...well... bathing, or tanning, for lack of a better word. But Erin wags her finger and says, "Tut, tut, Julia, didn't you know tanning can give you skin cancer?" and walks away. And then other times she will say "NO!" to Julia and then walk over to me or Chrissa and say, "Would you like to borrow the grande bathing suit?" in an english accent, kinda like a british butler, and that just sets Julia on fire.
School's out, and now I have a whole summer to improve my singing before Glee Club starts. I'm a little sharp - so Ruthie, who has years of voice training but doesn't like to sing in public (only for pleasure), is giving me lessons.

I hope Bethie gets to come this summer. And she can bring Ruthie along. And we can set up the two-people tent in the backyard and bring our flashlights so we can joke around with scary stories. And Ruthie can see how close we are. :)

-Sonali

Change

Since Grace put away half our doll room into the closet (I know, I know, it sucks), we have to divvy up the beds and furniture more carefully.
Julia unwillingly gave up her gorgeous bed (temporarily) to Chrissa, Erin, and I. If you ask me, I'm sorta uncomfortable. Since Chrissa and Erin are the two "it" best friends now, they're going to have all their inside jokes, and giggles, and art projects, and blueprints, and I'm going to have nothing to contribute in their crazy conversations.
I checked up on our new room this afternoon to find THIS:



It was as if they had known all along that we'd move in together, and already had all the plans and arrangements ready! Jeesh. Not that the room isn't absolutely fantabulous, though.


Later, whilst sitting on my new but not new at the same time bed, I opened my laptop to check my emails. There was one from Bethie, and I squealed. But as I read through it, a ball of jealousy started in the pit of my stomach. Gah. I had wished all my life to be with Bethie, and this Ruthie chicki gets exactly what I want in a nanosecond? How unfair. But of all people, I should already have learned that life is unfair. But when I looked at Bethie's latest blog, and saw she was looking forward to a "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful friendship" with Ruthie Luna, I felt like punching the computer screen. I have never gotten to be there to hug Bethie, or to help her through her troubles, or to laugh at boys with her... so why does Ruthie get to?


So not fair.

Oops, here come Erin and Chrissa. I should go greet them. Did you know they both joke around, calling each other "Lady Artemis" all the time, because of their hate for boys? Artemis is a Greek Goddess who vowed never to be married, date a boy, or use boys, or whatever. Thats so... weird.

-Sonali

Monster

The house was silent.
Kit was sitting in on the couch, her hand under her chin, deep in thought.
Ruthie stood in the middle of the room, looking around.
Kirsten and Julia sat beside each other on an opposite couch, staring at nothing, hands folded on their laps.
Felicity sat criss-cross-applesauce with Erin and Chrissa on the rug.
I hugged my knees on the lazy chair.
Elizabeth looked out the window at the other end of the room.

All was quiet.

"Um.." Ruthie started. "So I guess..."
But thats where her sentence ended. We all knew what was silencing us all, but nobody wanted to say it.

Kit stood up. "I have.. to walk the dog." And then she slowly left, clicked Grace's leash to her collar and hurried away.
"I have orange cookies to wash." Felicity blurted, then ran away.
"Y-y-yeah, I gotta scrub the family peacock." Chrissa said, then grabbed Erin's hand and they skipped away sadly. Is it possible, to skip sadly? Whatever.

Everyone left, one by one, until it was only me and Elizabeth, at opposite ends of the room. Elizabeth refused to turn away from the window. She put her hands up to the glass and I swear I saw a tear trickle down her cheek.
"What have I become, Sonali?" She said quietly, voice full of sorrow and regret.
"I..I don't know." I said. I got up gently, and tip toed over to Liz's chair next to the window. I sat down beside her awkwardly. "Um..." I mumbled.
"I'm so sorry, Sonali." Liz said. "I just.. I don't.. " She put her head in her hands. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
"Its okay. Its all good." I hugged her.

Spotlight IS on me.... :O

I sat behind the mirror, my stomach doing somersaults.
This was really happening.
I was about to sing in front of Emma's family, Bethie's family (which consists of 11 dolls, might I remind you), MY family... I had been dreaming about proving to my family that I had a purpose for so many nights, I had imagined myself opening the curtain and introducing myself in grandeur, in a beautiful dress that was never forgotten.

But I couldn't get myself to move an inch, squeak a word, sing a line. Nothing.

"Sonny! Time to shine!" Bethie cried, rushing in and fussing with my hair. I sat there in front of the mirror, not moving. I couldn't.
"Ahh, I see." Bethie cooed. "Its okay, I was this nervous before my first performance. But you'll love it, I promise!" She heard Ruthie calling then made a final tug with my hair and hurried off, calling, "Toodles! I have to go now, but I know you'll do great!" She blew an air kiss then hurried off to her seat.
I gulped.

Finally I took a good look at myself in the mirror. I looked as if I had just come straight out of a Glee performance. Seriously.




I twirled a piece of my hair, going over the song in my mind.
It took a lot of courage, but I finally stood up, convinced that I was ready.

I swished open the red curtains. I faced an audience of people who I had dreamed and dreamed of showing that I could sing. A dose of energy flared in my chest and I suddenly couldn't wait to start.
"Hi, hello, hey." I waved feebly, barely gripping the mike. "I'm Sonali, and this is my performance for my beautiful sister Ruthie's Award Show." At this I gestured to the now blushing Ruthie. "I hope you enjoy!" And with that, I turned around, back to the audience. The beginning notes began to play.

"I am in love, with what we are... not what we should be. And I am, I am starstruck, with every part of this whole story. So if its just tonight, the animal inside, let it live and die! Like its the end of time, like everything inside, let it live and die!"

Animal by Ke$ha blared on the speakers. It was dramatic. Suspenseful.

I spun. I did the best dancing I could, I'm not that strong of a dancer. But I think I got the message across to the audience.

"This is our last chance, give me your hands, cause our world is spinning at the speed of light! The night is fading, heart is racing..."
I grinned at Bethie. She was pumping her fist in the air. It was everything I hoped it would be.

Liz was staring at me though my head was on fire. I bet she WISHED my head were on fire right then. Because I had just won.

I hit the last notes. The audience burst into applause. But it was too much for me. I ran off the stage blushing and ran into my room and locked the door.
How could I have thought that I was being 'professional'? That was so embarrassing. They probably thought I was a little kid who thought I could make it big time. I hid my face in my pillow.

There was a knock on my door.
"Sonali's not here." I said, muffled by the pillow.
"Its me." Emma gently opened the door, closed it behind her, and sat down beside me on the bed. She smiled.
I lifted my head and frowned. "Have you come to tell me Liz should have sang?"
"Haha, you're funny." Emma shook her head, laughing. "You were amazing, Sonny. They loved you! I can't believe you didn't soak it in. Whenever I perform, I make the most of it. Get back out there. They want to see you."
Before I could respond, Emma has pushed me through the door and was propelling me to the stage. I was rubbing my eyes, wondering what was happening, so I didn't notice a woman coming up to me and accidentally bumped into her.
"Sonali!" Ms. Pike smiled.
"Uh oh..." I said under my breath.
"Uh oh? Not so! You were wonderful." Ms. Pike beamed.
I blushed and tried to hide behind Em. She moved before I could hide my face in her shoulder. She winked at me and left.
"Um..." I fidgeted. "Why are you here, Ms. Pike?"
"I came to see what the buzz was about. And after hearing you sing, I have made a last-minute decision. I want you to join the Glee Club." She grinned so wide I swear it was like an elastic band stretching around a basketball [a basketball that was much prettier and sweeter and better at singing - do basketballs sing, anyway?!].

-Sonali

Take that, Elizabeth!

It might sound like a cruel title, but its true.

I got revenge. La la la la la. :D

Soon after Elizabeth hung up on Kristy, Ruthie stomped over to the living room couch and demanded to know exactly what was happening between Liz and Kristy. Liz gasped in shock and looked around wildly - when she saw me smirking she knew. She must have known. Because she narrowed her eyes and cried, "YOU!" threateningly. I just smiled.

"Elizabeth, you have been a terrible person lately... to everyone. Your sisters, me, Bethie, even YOUR BEST FRIEND." I pointed at Felicity, who was sitting off to the side, arms wrapped around her knees. "You needed this."

Liz looked around in defeat. "But...but..."

"No buts, Elizabeth Lee Cole. You almost demolished Sonali's life and Bethie's as well, not to mention. How could you listen to Kristy like that? We can not have people like this in our house. If you think that you are going to be a terrible person, I'm going to have to ask you to move in with Kristy."

I gasped.
Elizabeth squirmed, then stomped off to her room.









Awards are tomorrow.

Spotlight On Me? Think Again.

I stood there, my mouth gaping open as Elizabeth showed Ruthie her whole presentation on 'Why Sonali Should Not Sing At The Awards'.

I wouldn't have originally been so surprised. But I was surprised because Liz's presentation has good reason.
"Sonali is the one in the AGMA." Elizabeth was saying. "She is in Grace's YouTube background, she is Grace's YouTube icon, and she has the most photos of herself on Flickr. She has a blog, and everyone adores her. Why should she be able to sing, too? She has loads of spotlight already." Liz sent me a nasty smirk as she said the last line.
Ruthie fidgeted. She was obviously seeing some sense in Elizabeth's presentation. I frowned and walked away silently to my room. I needed to be alone.

Was it true? Was I actually stealing the spotlight? Because if I was, I never realized it. Was I the star of the family? I had eventually had enough sense to realize I was one of Grace's favorite dolls - but I never thought I was a star, in that way. Elizabeth's speech took me by total surprise and sent me into a state of shock.

But I shook my head to clear my brain. I needed to sing at the Awards. The very thought of belting out a song in front of an audience in Ruthie's honour made my body shudder with excitement. I was not going to let Elizabeth steal that chance from me, the chance to prove to my family that I wasn't dull and that I had a purpose.
But .... but.... but how? How could I stop Liz?


Later that day Erin, Gracelynne, Emma, Bethie, and the two Kit's had found out of Elizabeth's evil plan. I could tell that some of them were agreeing with her words in their minds, even though they couldn't admit it out loud. But I could deal with that later. Right now, all I wanted to do was be able to sing.
"So first.. this is what you do, Grace..." The Kit's were going over a plan with us. We all nodded vigorously and got ready for the first step of action. I rushed off to Kristy's room that she shared with Liz. I searched the desk. It had to be there... it had to be there... I had to believe that. Finally, my hands came across the list I'd been looking for: Kristy's Pure Torture List.

I handed it to the Kit's and they raced to Ruthie's room. They laid the list on her bedside table, and my sister Kit used a very accurate imitation of Kirsten's voice to draw Ruthie's attention to her room.
Soon after, Ruthie was in her room reading the list, unaware of us watching, and when we were convinced Ruthie understood what the list meant, we tiptoed off. Bethie took Liz and Kristy's cellphones out of their room and laid Elizabeth's right next to where she sat on the living room couch, and then Kristy's cellphone right next to where she sat at the kitchen table.

Kristy spied her cellphone first, and quickly was talking to Liz about her Pure Torture List and Pure Torture Plan. Little did they know, there were baby monitors in both rooms, transmitting all the things they said to a baby monitor set up in Ruthie's room, where she was still reading the list, letting it all soak in.

"So how is the plan going, Kristy?" Liz said, giggling.
"Oh, fine fine... Did you get Ruthie to give you the performance?"
"YES!" Liz squealed.
I flinched.
"Next thing to do is fill Bethie's stomach with sugar and pop, and get her to spill some dirt on Sonali -- and make sure you record it. Remember, this is just in case Ruthie decides to give Sonny the performance AGAIN... that way you can depress Sonali enough so she won't be able to perform." Kristy snickered.
"Okay, okay - gotta go. I think I hear Ruthie coming." Liz said, and quickly hung up.

Get Down On It

I shouldn't be letting Glee get to me, because I'm wasting my time with two awesome people wishing fate had let my life be different. I wish I could stop thinking about that neon pink list, but I just can't.

The fact that Glee's (the real show) season finale was amazing and looked awesome to film didn't help at all. It just made me want Glee Club even more. I sang at Beth's club, and that was amazing, but it didn't have the satisfaction of showing Liz how well a black girl can sing.

Bethie and Emma are great morale support - and I believe in them. :)
I just wish I could believe their words, too.

COUNTDOWN TO AWARDS: ONE DAY!


-Sonali