I Remember

Auditions

At Mesa Grande, the students were auditioning for the orchestra. Right now, Zoe was on stage, playing her dulcimer.

"Thank you, young lady," an agent said.

When Miguel went up for his audition, Beebe and Cusco told their family what they did.

"Great job, kids," Valerie smirked.

"This will totally teach Lucia a lesson in letting Sunny show up my daughter," Lorelei smirked. Then she saw Sunny and Bernardo coming. "Sunny, Bernardo, so glad you could make it."

"Hello, Lorelei, Valerie," Bernardo said flatly.

"Next," another agent called.

Cusco went up onstage and played his cello. After him, Beebe played her flute. Many students played their instruments, and Sunny was last. She went up onstage and played "This Little Light of Mine" on her violin. The music mesmerized everyone, including Bernardo, whom Sunny reminded of her grandmother. But Beebe, Cusco, Valerie, and Lorelei were shocked.

"How's that possible?" Cusco gaped.

By the time Sunny finished, everyone clapped.

"Thank you," an agent smiled. "Well, it looks like we have our five musicians for the Albuquerque Junior Orchestra: Sunny Bishop, Miguel Sanchez, Cusco Chowdhry, Beebe Chowdhry, and Rupert Finnegan. Our first chair will be Sunny Bishop!"

Everyone cheered loudly, but Beebe, Cusco, Valerie, and Lorelei were shocked.

"That's my sunshine!" Bernardo cheered.

"It can't be!" Valerie screeched.

"What do you mean?" Sunny frowned.

"How do you play that viola so well?" Lorelei asked.

That's when it got through to Sunny. "Oh, in other words, it was either Beebe or Cusco who swiped my violin and replaced it with the viola in my practice room," she frowned.

Lorelei realized what she just said.

"How did a hottie like you figure that out?" Cusco asked, looking at her with a smug smile.

Sunny replied, "Two things: I can tell the difference between a violin and a viola, and the viola you put in my practice room is red violet—my violin is more bluish purple with a sun crest on it. Did you really think I'd mistake that for my violin?"

"Oh," Beebe gulped.

"Valerie, I can't believe you got those bratty grandchildren of yours to mess with my granddaughter like that!" Bernardo snapped.

"And they trespassed through the staff area of Music to My Ears," Sunny pointed out.

"Well, what are you going to do about that?" Beebe scoffed.

Suddenly, everyone heard a siren, and it sounded like a police car had pulled up outside the school. They all ran to the door to find Derek carrying a laptop and two policemen were by his side.

"There they are!" Derek pointed out.

The policemen grabbed Beebe and Cusco and cuffed them up. 

"You're under arrest," one of them frowned.

Everyone was surprised—they wondered why this was happening.

"Derek, what's going on?" Bernardo asked.

"The security cameras in the shop caught Beebe and Cusco trespassing through the staff area of Music to My Ears," Derek replied.

"Security cameras?" Beebe and Cusco gasped.

"We had those security cameras installed last week," Sunny pointed out.

Derek turned on his laptop and installed a flash drive, showing the footage the security camera caught.

"Why didn't I think about that?" Beebe sighed.

"You're both going to be in jail for the rest of the weekend," the other policemen said. "Your parents can bail you out tomorrow evening, but afterwards, you're performing 300 hours of community service."

"I told you fretting over Sunny wasn't worth wasting your time," Mr. Chowdhry said to Lorelei smugly. He turned to his children and said, "You're both grounded for a month, and that means you're not allowed to participate in the AJO."

Beebe and Cusco were dismayed, and they were locked in the police car and taken to the police station.

"Why didn't we listen when you said not to waste our time trying to show up Sunny?" Lorelei fretted.

"Because she reminds you of Lucia," Mr. Chowdhry declared.

"Okay, since Beebe and Cusco Chowdhry won't be in the AJO, we'll have to replace them," an agent said.

Bernardo, Sunny, and Derek left the building.

"I can't believe they would do that," Bernardo declared. "Valerie and Lorelei are even worse than I remember, trying to get me to send Lucia to a boarding school and trespassing just to try to sabotage Sunny's audition."

"Did they sabotage your audition, sunshine?" Derek asked.

"No, I didn't know they were the ones who swapped my violin with that red violet viola, but I didn't fall for their little plot," Sunny replied. "I made first chair."

"That's good," Derek smiled.

"This is worth a celebration," Bernardo smiled.