Trolls Prequel Novel Read Online Free Page B

through that way. Hair back, dance across, hair back, dance across.
    DJ Suki conducts a symphony of sounds that mix to create a buzzing tempo, and the crowd, small as it is, goes crazy.
    When Trolls hear music, they’re drawn to it like Poppy is to Cooper’s cupcakes, so it’s not at all surprising when whole squads of Trolls wander into the pod to join the dance celebration. In the span of five minutes, the pod’s floor is thumping from the stomping feet of frenetically bopping Trolls, arms flung to the disco-balled ceiling and torsos wiggling to DJ Suki’s animated beats.
    Poppy crowd-surfs overhead—her body stretched flat and passed effortlessly along by waves of Troll hair—and when she calls down, “I AWARD THIRTY RAINBOW STICKERS TO DJ SUKI,” my chest thumps from something other than the epic bass that DJ Suki drops.
    As long as I’m not absorbed in a new painting—which usually means I’m tuning out anything and everything around me—I’m all for joining in on a dance party. I love the pounding pulse of a new tune just as much as the next Troll, and DJ Suki can always be counted on to bring it and bring it hard.
    But although it’s fun to shake to the tunes, the fact remains that music, while most
definitely
an art form of its own, won’t cover the blank walls surrounding us. Sure, it can fill the space, but in an entirely different way than I had pictured. I think, anyway. It’s still fuzzy in my head, but the gallery opening I have in mind has something for people to look at, something that will last beyond that first night. Something
tangible
and…visible.
    Oh, I don’t even know anymore. DJ Suki’s music is so good and Cooper’s treats were so tasty…maybe
I’m
just envisioning this all wrong. Is that a possibility?

Harper
    T here are no signs of this impromptu dance party stopping, even though it’s been A LOT of songs so far. The morning is fading fast, and time is ticking away for us to pick an exhibit.
    The only thing winding down at the moment is the disco ball DJ Suki hung above the gallery, and even that’s just temporary, because I can see a whole fresh batch of butterflies getting ready to put new wings on the task of holding it in place.
    It seems like Suki’s notes are sending coded messages throughout the village, beckoning more and more Trolls to join in the dance fest. The pod is filled to capacity, and outside there are even more Trolls waiting for their turn to come in.
    I should be thrilled for all the publicity the gallery is getting, and part of me is, but a bigger part of me is feeling restless to move things along. I still have tons of entries to see and only one day to do that.
    Or
we
do,
I should say, because my trusted friend Poppy is supposed to be helping out—but where is she?
    “Poppy!” I call, but my words get swallowed up by the noise of the party.
    I pop up onto my tiptoes to try to see over a sea of waving hair. No luck. I’ve got to talk to her. I shimmy my way through the swarm of dancing Trolls, hugging and fist-bumping my way into the center. All the while I’m searching among the sea of Troll colors for Poppy’s telltale shades of pink and her blue flowered headband.
    Finally, I spot her in the middle of a circle of Trolls who have their hands linked. They’re chanting, “Go, Poppy. Go, Poppy. Go, go, go, Poppy!”
    I may be stressed, but that doesn’t stop me from smiling as I shake my head. Why am I not surprised to find her here, in the center of the party? I nudge my way through the crowd and pop up in the center next to my friend, who is upside down and executing a perfect spin on the ends of her hair. It’s classic Poppy.
    “Hey, Harper,” she calls to me from the ground. “You look very whirly!”
    “Whirly?” I have to yell so she can hear me over the thumping music.
    “Yes. Probably because I’m rotating so quickly.” She stops suddenly, arches her back, and flings her legs to land perfectly on her feet, right-side up