Blandview High Musical

25. Raising Money to Raise Hell

"So, here's the list of all the stuff we'll need." I said, handing my mother the list. "This looks expensive, Gill." She said, disapprovingly. "Yeah, I know but—" She quickly cut me off. "There's no way we can afford all this. The insurance company is dragging their feet with our payout and we barely skidded by on the deductible. There's no way either of us can afford $25,000 to fix everything!" She hissed. "Would you shut up and let me talk?" I snapped. She raised a brow. "Look, I'm sorry but I'm trying to explain to you how this will work and you're totally negating me." I said. "Alright, I'm listening." My mother said, folding her arms and sitting back.

"The girls and I are planning on doing several things to get this going. We're going to run a car wash all weekend down at the beach. It's still pretty warm out, so there shouldn't be any problem." "And exactly who will be doing these car washes?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at me. "The cheerleaders and football players." I said. "Oh, really?" "Yes, really. As a matter of fact, Jade and Caylie should be at the school recruiting them right now."

"I'll handle the cheerleaders if you can handle the football players." Caylie said. "Why do I have to deal with the football players?" Jade questioned. "Because you're super hot and they're super dumb. They'll be easily convinced." Jade just frowned. "I'm sure it's not a nice thing to say, but we both know it's the truth. Given your current status with Anna and Courtney, it would be better if I handled that." Caylie offered. "Fine. What are we pitching again?" "Car washes. It's $20 a wash. If we can reel in 50 cars a day, that's $2,000 dollars for a weekend." She said. "Seems like a far stretch from the original $25k we need." "I'm betting we'll have business all day long." Caylie said.

The two of them walked in the direction of the locker rooms. The cheerleaders were out on the field practicing, while the football players were taking a break. "We could do two car washes. Don't you think we'd make more money like that?" Jade asked. "We don't have enough hands." Caylie said. "What about the wrestlers and the powerlifters?" "And what? You'll get Tony to appeal to them?" Caylie asked. Jade's eyes went wide. "Oh, please don't." "Just think, we can make way more money!" She shouted. "Okay, we'll talk about it after we reel in these people."

The girls went their separate ways to speak to the two teams. "Boys locker room, you're not welcome in here, Tondre." One of the football players said. "It's the locker room, not the showers, Andrews." She pushed past him walking into the locker room. A couple of the boys started jeering and cat calling. Jade just stood there waiting for them to stop. "Now that you've given me a real Wildcat-esque entrance, I have a favor to ask from all of you." She said. It started in again. "Shut up, all of you!" She shouted. "Spit it out, Tondre. We've got practice and we don't have time for this." "I want your help hosting a car wash. We're trying to raise money for Frankie's Diner." The boys exchanged glances.

"Now, if you don't want to help, that's fine." "How much money do you need to raise?" One of them asked. "The total goal is twenty-five thousand." Jade said. Some of them started laughing. "You'd need fifty car washes to raise that kind of money." "Shut up! All of you!" A voice shouted. It was Mason. "We can all give $100 extra." He proposed. The guys started groaning. "Quit complaining or I'll make it $200 extra from each of you." He stepped forward. "Do you think you've got enough hands?" He asked. "If we can get the cheerleaders on board. We might have enough for one carwash." "You could do a second one on the opposing side of town just to double your money." "I was hoping to talk to my friend about that." Jade said.

"Can we talk outside for a second?" Mason asked. "Sure." He turned to the football players. "Break's over, guys. Suit up and get back on the field!" He shouted. They all gave a collective groan. Mason stepped outside into the sunlight. He ran his fingers through his hair as they stood there. "Listen, I wanted to let you know that I have some friends on the wrestling team who'd want in on this car washing thing. They'd be willing to put in to help." "That's very sweet...but I'm not sure if we'll have enough equipment." Jade said. "Maybe I can get Coach Escobar to handle it." "I thought he only worked with the volleyball girls." "He does, but if anyone would sponsor, he'd sure do it." Mason said, flashing a smile. "If you'd talk to the wrestlers, I'd really appreciate it." Jade turned to walk away when he reached out and grabbed her by the arm.