"Jan, do you have any homework?" Marcia asked.
"Yes," replied Jan. "Do you?"
"Yup," I groaned,"social studies and math. What do you have?"
"A science project," Jan replied.
"Cool, what are you doing it on?" I asked.
"I'm doing it on volcanoes," said Jan.
"Don't do that," Marcia said. "Then Peter will want to help."
Jan replied, "That's why I chose that subject. I want Peter to help! Remember that volcano he made that exploded all over the place?"
"Do you REALLY want to get all covered with muddy clay stuff like I did?!" Marcia sounded surprised.
"Well, I still think he would be helpful," said Jan. "After all, Peter's model did do what it was supposed to-explode...well, after all the false starts."
"Jan, are you sure? I DO NOT want something like what happened last time-when it got all over me and my 'friends'.
"Marcia, they weren't your friends! And I'm going to go work on it!" Jan said.
"What's this for, Jan, a class project?" Marcia said.
"No, a science fair!" Jan said dramatically.
"Who's it open to?" Marcia asked.
"The whole school!" Jan said, not realizing what Marcia was going to do.
"I'm going to enter!" I said.
"What? No!" cried Jan, "ugh! Marcia! Marcia! Marcia! It's all about Marcia!"
_________________________________________________________________
Marcia and Jan walked in silence the rest of the way home. They were NOT happy with one another! Marcia ran upstairs to think about what to do for her science project; and Jan, who still wanted to enlist Peter's help with her project, went to go find Peter. "Where's Peter, Cindy?" asked Jan, as she plopped her schoolbooks on the kitchen table.
"I don't know," Cindy replied. "But why do you need him?"
"I want him to help me with my science project about volcanoes," Jan replied.
"I'll help!" Cindy exclaimed. "Me and Bobby had lots of fun helping with Peter's volcano! Are you going to build a model, Jan?"
"I don't know yet," said Jan. "But I know I want to make a cool detailed poster."
"Well, ok," answered Cindy. "I'll still help, but I'd rather make a volcano."
Marcia raced upstairs to her room, angry at Jan. She passed Greg on the way, and she stopped. "Hey Greg, do you know what the best project for a science project would be?"
"Planets," replied Greg, "a model."
"Great!" Marcia cried, "so like a model with a little about each planet?"
"Yes," said Greg.
Suddenly Marcia heard Jan march up the stairs, headed straight toward her. Marcia did not want to talk to Jan just then, so she shut the door to the room she shared with Jan and Cindy. Jan knocked on the door.
"You can't come in!" shouted Marcia.
"I can too! It's as much my room as it is yours!" Jan shouted back as she walked in. "Why do you have to enter the science fair too?"
"Why can't I?" Marcia shot back. "You did say it was open to everyone!"
"Because I want to do something by myself!" said Jan. "I'll bet my project will be better than yours. Peter and Cindy are helping me. Peter got an 'A' for his volcano."
MEANWHILE:
Cindy was very pleased Jan was letting her help with her science project. Cindy decided to go tell Bobby Jan was letting her help, and also to go find Peter, who Cindy knew wouldn't mind building another volcano. Cindy walked to go tell Bobby, who was in the middle of an argument with Peter. "Bobby, guess what?" Cindy cried.
"What?" Bobby said, stopping to listen.
"I'm helping with Jan's science project, and so is Peter!" Cindy said proudly.
Peter nodded. Bobby grinned. "I'm helping with Marcia's," he said gleefully.
"You are?" Cindy asked in wonderment.
Bobby grinned and nodded.
This was not the news Cindy had been hoping for. She'd been hoping to enlist Bobby's help along with Peter's. "Oh, really?" Cindy said to Bobby. "I don't think Marcia should enter the contest. Jan's going to win and I'm going to help her!"
"Oh, yeah?" Bobby said.
"Oh yeah," Peter said. "What is Marcia doing for her project anyway?"
"Ummm...I'm not sure," Bobby stammered. "Something about planets. It was Greg's idea."
Cindy giggled, "um, if it's Greg's idea, why doesn't he do it himself?"
"Well!" cried Bobby, "why is Jan copying Peter?"
They began to argue, until Alice walked in. "Cindy, Bobby, Peter? What in the world is going on?" Alice cried. The kids explained while Alice listened. Suddenly, arguing began upstairs.
______________________________________________________________________
Marcia and Jan were still arguing, but much more quietly, since they didn't really want Alice to hear them. But Greg, who'd been in his room that he shared with Peter and Bobby, heard everything that was going on. Greg was not pleased that his casually mentioned idea about the planets was just causing trouble. He walked over to the girls' room and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Jan called.
"It's Greg," Greg responded.
"OK, you can come in," Marcia said.
"Why did you need my idea about the planets?" Greg asked. "Was it for that science fair thing?"
"Well, yes," Marcia said.
"YOU gave her that idea?!" said Jan a bit loudly.
"Yes, but I didn't know why she needed it," Greg said. To Marcia, he said, "I don't think I want you using that idea."
"You gave it to me!" Marcia said.
"Not for that!" Greg said.
Just then, they heard Cindy's voice floating upstairs. "What's going on up there?" Then Jan, Greg, and Marcia heard Peter, Bobby, and Cindy thumping upstairs.
"Look," said Greg, "if you use my idea, you must give a little credit. Put 'Inspired by Greg Brady' ."
"Fine," I agreed. Jan walked in, and stuck her tongue out at me. "Stop!" I cried. "Jan, why are you so angry about this?"
"Because you do EVERYTHING perfect! You always win!" yelled Jan.
"I never knew you felt that way," I said. "I'm sorry, but I really like competition."
Jan scowled, "You'll be sorry."
"Sorry how?!" Marcia shouted down the stairs.
"What's this all about?" Peter said as he walked into the girls' room, with Cindy, Bobby, and Alice following.
"Jan's upset because Marcia wants to enter the science fair too," Greg said. "And I'm annoyed because Marcia wants to use my idea for her entry."
Alice said, "You can enter if you want to Marcia, but give Greg a little bit of credit, and don't enter if you're just trying to bug Jan. Is this settled now?"
"Yes," everyone said.
"Let's go find Jan and apologize," Cindy said. "I want to help her with her volcano!"
______________________________________________________________________
As Marcia got a science book and started to research the planets, Jan walked in singing. Loudly, may I add? "Stop, Jan, I'm trying to work!" Jan stopped and began to whistle, and while Marcia was working, Jan picked up her AG doll and took her out. She put it in the bathroom under the sink. "Marcia will sure be sorry when she hears Julie has gone missing! That's it! I'll put it under Bobby's bed so she'll think he did it and not let him help." Jan giggled and walked in.
"Jan, what are you doing?" Cindy called.
"Ummm...nothing," Jan said quickly.
"You were, too!" Cindy said. "What are you doing with Marcia's Julie doll?"
"Nothing!" Jan said.
LATER:
"What's this doll doing under my bed??!!" Bobby shouted.
"Whose is it?" asked Peter.
"I think it's Marcia's," said Bobby. "Who could have put it there?"
"Maybe Marcia put it there for a joke," Peter suggested.
"No," said Bobby, "Marcia treasures her dolls. She would never do that. But you know who would, Jan! She's always hiding things."
"Yes," agreed Peter, "but Jan only has two, and that's not hers. She has a JLY and Felicity."
"Oh," said Bobby,"why don't we go put it back?"
The boys agreed and marched back to the girls' room. Nobody was there.
"Hmmm," said Bobby. "Let's just set it on Marcia's bed."
They set Marcia's doll on her bed and left the room. When Marcia came beck to her room later, she wondered how Julie had gotten on her bed. She hadn't put her there! "I know who might have," she thought to herself. "Jan!" But when Jan came in two seconds later, she looked genuinely surprised. "Did you put Julie on my bed?" Marcia asked.
"Well, no," Jan answered. "I did hide her, though. I don't know how she got on your bed."
Cindy barged in and said,"Peter and I want to help you with your science project now."
"Ok," Jan replied. "Let's go."
So she and Jan went downstairs, leaving Marcia to puzzle over how Julie had gotten on her bed.
Marcia sat down and got back to work, as she quickly got info on every planet, including the sun. "Everything is going great!" cried Marcia. She looked out the window and saw Jan with Cindy and Peter, adding ingredients to the volcano.
"I think my project is going great," Marcia thought to herself. "But maybe I WAS mean to Jan earlier...I should apologize." She still wanted to enter the science fair though.
MEANWHILE:
"I don't want to ONLY do a volcano model," Jan was telling Peter. "I want to have a poster and a written report too!"
"You don't need to do all that stuff," Peter said. "The model can explode and then everyone will see what a volcano does anyway."
Jan responded, "Well, that is nice, but I think the teachers would like a poster and a written report. After all, it is a science fair, not an experiment."
"Why don't we just do all three?" Cindy suggested.
They all agreed that was a good idea, and went back to building the model.
_________________________________________________________________________
Back upstairs, Bobby was in his room trying to make a model of each planet for Marcia's project. In the girls' room, Marcia had just finished writing the written portion of her project. Marcia walked downstairs and outside to apologize to Jan. She walked outside (and unfortunately, at the moment Jan was testing her volcano...) "Jan, I'm really-" right as Marcia began to speak, red gushy stuff exploded out of the volcano, RIGHT onto Marcia!! Marcia screamed. "Oh, no, sorry Marcia!"cried Jan. Marcia began to laugh, "It's okay, I was coming to apologize. If you want, I'll drop out."
"No," said Jan. "It's fine, don't drop out, may the best Brady win." They smiled and shook hands. "There are two second places and three third places, I forgot to tell you," said Jan. Marcia nodded and walked back to her project.
Now that no one was angry at each other, Marcia's and Jan's projects were going much more smoothly. With help from Peter and Cindy, Jan's model volcano and the written report were finished. All that was left for Jan was her poster. With help from Bobby, Marcia's model planets and most of her written report were finished.
__________________________________________________________________
Soon the day of the science fair dawned. It was a Saturday, and the girls woke up early to practice. Marcia worked on giving her presentation to Cindy, Carol, and Alice; while Jan gave hers to Bobby, Mike, and Greg. Everyone clapped and enjoyed the presentations as they had finished.
Little did Marcia and Jan know, Cindy had secretly entered a project, too. (She was going to do a project on different kinds of plants and how they grow!)
Carol and Mike rushed them out of the house, in their nicest clothes, eager to arrive on time. The contest started promptly at 1:00 PM.
On the way, when they got caught in traffic, Marcia, Jan, and Cindy were getting very worried that they would not arrive on time. "How much longer is it?" Cindy asked for the tenth time.
"Will you please STOP asking 'How much longer is it?' !!?" Bobby exclaimed.
"Actually, Dad, how much longer IS it going to be?" Peter asked. "I'm tired of sitting on the car."
"Well, if there was no traffic, 5 minutes. The way this is going, it could be 20 minutes," Mike replied.
"I hope we can get there on time," Jan said worriedly.
Finally they arrived with minutes to spare. When they got there, Marcia and Jan raced out of the car to put their science projects on display, but Cindy slowly got hers out, careful that Carol and Mike did not see her!
After enjoying refreshments, the presentations were ready to begin. Cindy put hers last, so it would be a surprise. Soon, it was time to present their reports. Jan went first, followed by Marcia, some other kids, and last but not least, Cindy. Although Cindy had helped Jan with her project and wanted her to do well; Cindy also wanted to win herself. She thought her project about plants and how they grow was pretty good, but not as good as Marcia's and Jan's. When the principal began to announce the prizes, all the Brady kids crossed their fingers even though they knew it didn't do anything. "And the winner is...Cindy Brady!" the principal announced. "Followed by Jan Brady and Marcia Brady in second place!"
"Wow!!!" Cindy shouted. "I won! I won!"
"I didn't even know she entered," Marcia whispered to Jan.
"Neither did I," Jan whispered back.
Carol walked up to Cindy. "Cindy, dear, your project was amazing!"
"Groovy!" cried Greg.
Cindy nodded in pride as she took the winning trophy and the $100 she had won! Marcia and Jan received $50 and a second place trophy. "Hurray for the Bradys!" called Alice. On their way home, they stopped for ice cream. While they were there they saw a poster advertising an audition for a talent show. It said the prize was $500 if you won!
"We could enter!" Bobby said.
"Far-out!" said Jan. "We came in third in that other talent show we entered."
"Yeah, let's!" Cindy agreed.
So all the kids decided to audition for the talent show.
____________________________________________________________
LATER AT HOME:
"What should we sing?" Marcia asked.
"Why don't we sing 'Time to Change' for the audition?" Greg suggested. "We'll still need to choose a song for the actual show if we got in though."
"We can decide that later," Peter said. "We don't even know if we will get in."
"Let's go out to the garage to practice!" Cindy said excitedly.
"OK," everyone agreed.
So they all went out to the garage to practice.
When they got to the garage and were halfway through the song, Cindy began coughing. Everyone stopped. "You ok, Cindy?" Peter asked, looking worried. Cindy nodded and they got back to work. Again, Cindy began coughing. "I better get Mom," Greg said, running to get Carol. Carol ran out and said, "Cindy, are you coughing?"
Cindy nodded, "All day, mother."
"Ok, we better get you into bed," Carol said, rushing Cindy in. "Alice, could you get Cindy's bed ready for her?" Carol called.
"Ok," Alice said.
A couple minutes later, Cindy's bed was all ready for her. Carol tucked Cindy into her bed and went downstairs to call the doctor. "Cindy's been coughing all day," Carol informed the doctor. "Can you come over and check on her?"
MEANWHILE UPSTAIRS:
The other kids went upstairs to check on Cindy. "How do you feel?" Marcia asked Cindy.
"My throat's all scratchy," Cindy whispered.
"Why are you whispering?" Bobby asked.
"I don't know," Cindy replied. "I'm not trying to."
"Oh no!" Peter said suddenly. "I'll bet Cindy's got laryngitis!"
Jan exclaimed, "How are we going to practice 'Time to Change' if Cindy can't even sing?"
Everyone froze for a minute. Cindy broke the silence. "It's not my fault!"
"No, it's not your fault," Greg reassured Cindy. "But we still can't practice if you can't sing."
Carol walked in. "The doctor's here," she announced. "Will all you kids please leave the room?"
Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, and Bobby filed out of the girls' room into the boys' room.
"What are we going to do?" Jan asked dejectedly. "We only have a week."
"I don't know," Greg said. "The only thing we know is that Cindy can't sing. We probably won't know whether she can or not till about the day before the audition."
"What are we supposed to do in the meantime? We can't just leave Cindy out," Marcia said. "After all, Cindy's the one who saw the sign in the first place."
"I have an idea!" Peter said. "A good one!"
"And what might that be?" Bobby asked.
Just that second, Carol walked in. "The doctor checked Cindy over, and said she's got laryngitis. She may or may not be able to sing by the audition. I just thought you might want to know," Carol said. Then she left.
"I told that was probably what Cindy had!" Peter said.
"What was that great idea you had?" Jan asked.
Peter replied, "Why don't we go ahead and give Cindy her part?
She can look at it and memorize it. Hopefully, she'll be able to sing by next week. But if she still can't, she can just lip-synch with the rest of us."
"Hey, yeah!" Marcia exclaimed. "That is a great idea, Peter."
"But don't you think the song will sound strange without Cindy?" Greg said. "The song is written for all 6 of us-including Cindy."
"I guess we'll just have to risk it. I think we have a better chance going along with Peter's idea than coming up with another original song," Marcia stated.
"That's true," said Jan. "I don't think we should come up with a new song. If Cindy IS able to sing, she'll feel left out."
"I agree," replied Bobby.
"Well, ok," agreed Greg.
"Let's go tell Cindy the plan," Peter suggested.
So they went over to the girls' room and told Cindy the plan. "You mean I still get to be with the group if I can't sing?" Cindy asked happily.
"Yup," Bobby said.
"Here's your part," Greg said as he handed Cindy her part.
All the kids were happy that they had come up with a plan that pleased everyone.
___________________________________________
The kids got back to practice, as the doctor gave Carol tips on what medicine to give Cindy, and such. "She'll need fluids. Feed her soup, ice cream, water, nothing too hard," said the doctor, "after every meal she may have the medicine." Carol nodded, as the doctor left. Carol got some chicken noodle soup and ice cream for Cindy and took it to her room.
"Mom, do you think I'll be able to sing by the audition?" Cindy asked.
"Honestly, I don't know," Carol said.
"But I have to," Cindy said emphatically.
"Don't worry about it right now," Carol answered. "Just eat your ice cream and soup."
MEANWHILE IN THE GARAGE:
All the kids except Cindy had gone out to the garage to practice. "When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange who you are into..."
"It just doesn't sound right without Cindy," Marcia complained and stopped singing.
Everyone else stopped singing too.
"We're lucky we hadn't chosen 'It's a Sunshine Day'," said Greg. "Cindy had a solo in that one."
"But it DOESN'T sound right," Peter responded. "The song sounds like there's something missing."
"Cindy just has to get better!" Jan replied, "cross your fingers!"
Two days later, Cindy was still sick. She stayed home from school, coughing. For lunch every day, Cindy either had soup or toast. She was getting tired of it. Cindy really hoped she would be able to sing. It was almost like when Cindy had to get her tonsils out a couple of months ago!! Boy was that icky (to Cindy ;) ). Cindy sat up and heard the other kids rehearsing downstairs. She sighed and went back to sleep.
Downstairs, all the other kids were becoming annoyed. "The song sounds awful," Greg stated emphatically.
"Oh, come on, Greg, it doesn't sound that bad," Bobby said. "But it doesn't sound too good either!"
"Cindy just has to get better," Marcia said.
"Why don't we go see how she's feeling?" Jan suggested.
So they all went upstairs to check on Cindy.
When the kids got inside, Cindy was sitting up in bed playing with her doll, Kitty. "Hi, Cindy!" Marcia said, "feeling better?"
"Yes," Cindy said groggily, "but not too good."
"Try to sing," said Peter.
"No!" cried Greg. "She could make herself sicker!"
"I'm going to try to sing tomorrow," Cindy said firmly.
"Only if you feel better," Greg said. "I don't want you to make your throat feel all weird all over again."
"OK," Cindy said.
"The song sounds terrible without you," Bobby said. " So get better quick!"
"I'll try," Cindy replied. "Maybe I should sleep some more. That's what started making me feel better."
"I know! Let's all practice up here starting tomorrow!" Peter exclaimed. "That way Cindy will hear the song and won't have to learn it when she can sing."
"That's a great idea," Marcia agreed.
"Shhh," Jan whispered. "Cindy's asleep."
They all tiptoed downstairs to practice in the garage so they wouldn't wake up Cindy.
__________________________________________________________
When the next day dawned, Cindy felt a lot better, but her throat still felt groggy. She decided to wait and see if she could sing tomorrow. The kids all ran to Cindy's room, to ask how she felt. "Better," said Cindy, "but still too groggy to sing."
"That's great!" said Bobby, "well not great because you're sick, but we just found out the talent show was moved back a week!"
"Really?" Cindy said. "That means I'll be able to sing for sure!"
"Exactly," Bobby answered. "We;ll have plenty of time."
"Wel, not 'plenty of time', but enough that we'll be able to get the song really good," Greg said.
"Does Mom and Dad and Alice know?" Cindy asked.
"Actually, I'm not sure," Jan responded. "DO they know? We've been talking about it while they're in the room but I don't think we ever explicitly told them."
"Well, let's go tell them," said Peter.
They all went downstairs, except Cindy, who was looking at her part in her bed.
___________________________________________________________________
The next few days, Cindy began to feel better. Soon, she could talk normally, but she couldn't sing! The kids had practiced hard, and then Marcia remembered! "We forgot to tell mom and dad about the change of date!" she cried. They walked in, and Jan told her parents the date was changed to the 26th.
"The 26th!" Carol cried. "That's the day we're going to the Grand Canyon again!"
"Oh no!" all the kids cried in unison.
"Couldn't we leave to go to the Grand Canyon on the 27th instead?" Greg suggested.
"I'm not sure," Carol said. "We'd have to change reservations and a whole bunch of other things..." she trailed off.
"Please?" Cindy made her puppy dog face.
"Well...we'll think about it," Carol said.
"But we're not making any promises," Mike added.
The kids looked at the new flyer again.
"Look!" Bobby cried. "There was a smudge on the 6 part!" Everyone looked at Greg. It was pizza sauce, and Greg had been eating pizza the night before. "It's actually on the 28th!"
All the kids sighed in relief, and went to go tell Carol and Mike.
____________________________________________________
Two days later, on the 26th, they were driving to the Grand Canyon. The kids discussed the audition on the way.
"Do you think we have a chance?" Jan asked.
"We have as good a chance as anybody in my opinion," Greg said. " I think our song is unique annd since Cindy can sing now, we don't have anything to worry about."
"Better not get too cocky," Peter warned. "Then if we don't win, we'll be even more disappointed than if we hadn't expected to."
"I agree," Marcia agreed.
"Let's practice our song instead!" Cindy said. "I want to practice."
"Mom, Dad?" Greg asked. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all," Mike said.
"We'd love to hear it," Carol added.
So they all began...
1-2-3...
"Autumn turns to winter, and winter turns to spring
It's not just the seasons, you know, it goes for everything
It's even true for voices when boys begin to grow
You gotta take the lesson from mother nature and if you do you'll know
When it's time to change, then it's time to change
Don't fight the tide, go along for the ride, don't you see?
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
Who you are into what you're gonna be.
Sha na na na na na na sha na na na
Sha na na na na na na sha na na na
Day by day it's hard to see the changes you've been through
A little bit of livin', a little bit of growin', it all adds up to you!
Every boy's a man inside, a girl's a woman too
And if you wanna reach your destiny here's what you've got to do
When it's time to change, then it's time to change
Don't fight the tide go along for the ride, don't you see?
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
Who you are into what you're gonna be
Sha na na na na na sha na na na
Sha na na na na na sha na na na...."
"Well, what do you think?" Greg asked.
"It sounds great," Carol responded.
"I think so too," Mike agreed.
Since they still had a ways to go before arriving at the Grand Canyon, all the kids fell asleep.
"We're almost there!" Mike announced a couple hours later.
"How much longer?" Marcia said as she yawned.
"About 15 minutes," Mike said.
"Wake up, wake up!" Marcia shook her brothers and sisters. "We're almost there. Only 15 more minutes!"
"Cool!" all the kids exclaimed.
_____________________________________________________
That night. they stayed in a fancy hotel a stone's throw from the canyon. The girls shared a room, the boys shared a room, and Mike and Carol and Alice shared a third room. The next day, they all had fun exploring the canyon. So the kids could still enter the audition, Mike decided to leave that night (the 27th) and drive all night so they'd be back the morning of the 28th. "Thank you so much, Dad" Cindy said. "I'm so excited about the audition now that I can sing!"
___________________________________________________________________
Early in the morning on the 28th, Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy left the house and went to the audition. (It was close enough that they could ride their bikes.) It had been decided that since Mike had driven all night and would be tired, the kids could ride to the audition by themselves.
"Is this place ever big!" Cindy commented as they parked their bikes outside the building where the audition was to be held. When they got there, they rushed inside. Auditions had started. Someone was singing opera on the stage. Cindy giggled, "They sound weird!" Soon, it was time for the Bradys to audition. They walked onstage and began to sing 'Time to Change'. After they sang, they went backstage to wait for the results.
"Oh, I hope we win," Bobby whispered excitedly.
"Or at least place," Cindy whispered back.
"Shhh!" Marcia told them. "Let's wait and listen."
"And first place goes to..." the announcer started to say.
"The suspense is killing me!" Peter commented.
"....to the Brady Six, who performed 'Time to Change'."
"We won! We won!" Cindy shrieked.
"Come on out and accept your prize of $500 and a trophy!" the announcer said.
Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy walked out on the stage to accept their prize.
_____________________________________________
Afterwards, the Bradys went out for pizza. "I'm so proud of you!" Mike said. "Let's give a toast!" And so they did, and everyone cheerfully ate the rest of their pizza.
Yea!! You posted it!! LUV your blog so far
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