Trolls Prequel Novel Read Online Free Page A

that’s
exactly
what DJ Suki is doing. She’s bopping around the clearing, totally absorbed in whatever tunes are surging through her yarn-wrapped headphones.
    I wave my arms to get her attention but have no luck. After a few fruitless seconds of manic arm-flailing, I give up and pop out into the sunlight. I slip down the tree trunk to tap my friend on the shoulder from behind.
    She jumps at least eleven feet into the air. Whoops!
    Luckily, when she drops back down, she lands perfectly in my hair, which I’ve swished into a net, and I only a stumble backward a little bit, then use my locks to lower her gently to the ground.
    DJ Suki nudges one ear free from the head-phones. “You scared the hair off me!”
    Not true. She’s definitely still got her orange-felt dreadlocks, which are swooped up into a beehive ponytail and held in place with a single purple band.
    DJ Suki is nothing if not stylish. Her electric-pink skin is the perfect backdrop for wrists full of jangly bangle bracelets and a jeweled belly button, not to mention her funky crocheted crop top and cut-off pants. I highly approve of her whole look, which is happy and energetic, just like her beats.
    I cringe. “Sorry, Suk. I
did
try to get your attention other ways first.”
    She blinks up into my eyes. “No worries, Harper!”
    “You’re up, if you want to show us what you brought to display.”
    I glance around the clearing a little more now, and I can’t keep my forehead from wrinkling because I don’t notice anything there other than, well, my friend. “You did bring something, right?” I ask.
    DJ Suki pats her hair. “Everything I need is right here.”
    I relax. I don’t know what she’s hiding in there, but I’m more than prepared to be wowed.
    We enter the pod to find Poppy eagerly waiting. (Well, and also sneaking a snack or two from the tray of Cooper’s treats she’d tucked aside for “later.” Technically speaking, it
is
later, I
guess.
)
    “Hi, Suki!” she calls, and is greeted with a wide smile in return. “We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us.”
    DJ Suki smirks. “Well, we can’t do that, exactly.”
    I take my seat behind the table next to Poppy. “What do you mean? You said you had everything you need to show us your entry.”
    Another smirk from DJ Suki. “I do have everything I need for my entry. But not for you to see. For you to
hear.
”
    Poppy jumps up and claps her hands. “Ooh, yes! A new song—I can’t wait. Can you wait, Harper? DJ Suki’s songs are the best!”
    “I— Well, yes, they are, but—”
    I should have known to expect something musical from Suki.
    She gets right to setting up her equipment, which consists primarily of two turntables on top of her Wooferbug. Poppy is back on the table, ready, feet positioned hip-width apart and knees bent slightly, just waiting to bounce to the grooves.
    As a final step, DJ Suki pulls a disco ball from her hair and offers it to a waiting butterfly, who transports it to the ceiling and hovers it in place with rapidly flapping wings.
    “Hit it!” DJ Suki says, and instantly the music begins—a mix of reggae and pop that melts into a summery jam not even the most lead-footed
ho-hum
-er would be able to resist.
I
definitely can’t. My hands start tapping on my thighs to the rhythm.
    “Yes! This!” squeals Poppy above the jam DJ Suki is mixing.
    The disco ball above sends a kaleidoscope of light rays bouncing around the pod and sparkling across the cushy felt floor.
    And now my hips are swaying.
    A curious Troll with a mischievous smile peeks into the opening of the pod, and Poppy notices him instantly. She gestures for him to join in, and he turns and motions to someone behind him. Four more Trolls bop into the pod in a wiggling, snaking conga line. I can’t help smiling at their moves as the one in front flings his hair back to form a bridge for the last one to climb across. In seconds the line has a new leader, and they just keep cycling