Fearless Read Online Free

this…”
    “And nobody else has any,” Robin
volunteered. “We already asked.”
    Lana squeezed her shoulder. “Okay, we can
fix this. I think there’s a Walgreens on the corner.”
    “It’s snowing again, though,” said a kid
whose name Lana didn’t know.
    “That’s okay,” said Lana, “I brought my ski
jacket.”
    “You’ll walk me to the Walgreens after
rehearsal?” Alexis’s face looked like the sun peeking through
clouds.
    “Of course. We can’t have you missing your
concert! Not after all that work!”
    “I was afraid to ask Madison’s mom,” said
Alexis. “She’s the one chaperoning me and I’m honest to God scared
of her. She would yell at me and it’s not even her money.”
    Lana brushed her hair out of her face. “I’ll
be here during the rehearsal, and then afterward just come up to
the room with us so I can get my jacket, okay?”
    “Thanks so much, Ms. Novak. You are
seriously the best.”
    “My mom’s a rock star,” beamed Robin.
    A few hours later, Lana led a gaggle of
teenage girls back to her hotel room. “Oh, wow, Ms. Novak, that
coat’s amazing!” Alexis exclaimed when she saw Lana’s shimmery blue
ski jacket. The fabric was metameric, and it shone green and purple
in some places when the light hit it just right.
    “I know, isn’t this great?” Lana checked the
jacket’s pockets to make sure her gloves and scarf were still
there, then grabbed the hat Robin had knitted her for Christmas off
the dresser. “I hope you brought a good jacket. We can hit your
room for it on the way down.”
    Alexis looked distraught. “But what about
Madison’s mom? She’s gonna… like…”
    “She’s not your mom,” Lana shook her
head in frustration. “She doesn’t really have any right to talk to
you like that, anyway. She can just… Look, I’ll be with you. Just
run in, get the jacket, and leave. If she asks where you’re going,
tell her the truth and remember that no matter how she responds,
it’s none of her
business . I’ll be in the hallway in case
anything happens.”
    “Okay.” Alexis looked sick, but gave Lana a
half smile.
    “Not you, Robin.” Lana realized Robin was
putting on her own coat. “I don’t want you out there in the snow,
not the day before a concert. Your lungs are part of your
instrument.”
    “Can we go to the dealer’s room?” Robin
asked.
    “You mean the exhibition
hall? Yes, but stay together and keep your phones where you can
hear me so I can call when I’m on my way back. Stay together .”
    Robin clamped her hand on Blanca’s wrist.
“Buddy system!”
    Amazing how much easier it
is to tell other people not to be scared of
things , Lana observed as she rode the
elevator with Alexis down to the other floor, than to convince yourself not to be scared . And honestly, a cranky snob with a hair-trigger temper like
Mrs. Woods did sound scarier than picking up a violin again. So why
was she so nervous about it?
    Her mind flipped to a memory of the year
she’d taken dance as a youngster, starting later than the other
girls. It was hard to erase the awkwardness of being the biggest
elf in the Christmas show—even though it wasn’t her fault she was a
beginner at ten instead of five like everyone else. She might have
stuck with dancing if more of the girls at her level were her
age.
    Was that it? Was she reticent to pick up the
bow again and then be the forty-three-year-old woman who sounded as
halting as some of Mel’s students—the ones who weren’t good enough
to be here at All-State?
    Maybe she was just afraid of looking inept
in front of Mel. Luckily, Mel was the kind of universally friendly
person who didn’t seem like she’d make a big deal out of
mess-ups.
    She waited in the hallway outside Alexis’s
room, giving herself the kind of pep talk she’d have given one of
the girls.
    Alexis finally emerged, bundled into a puffy
coat with a university logo, and grinning. “She’s not there!”
    “Phase one, complete,” said