The Boy And The Red Panda (Turning Red)

Raising Money

It took some convincing, but I decided to help Mei and the girls raise money for 4-Town tickets. They told me how a few girls caught a glimpse of the panda in the bathroom and fell in love. I helped them plan some photo shoots with Mei's panda with some technical skills of mine. I recorded the girls with my camcorder. "Alright, troops. Listen up." Mei explained. "Operation 4-Town Shake Down is about to commence. The boys are coming to the SkyDome May 18th. Our goal, 4 tickets. That's 800 bucks! Step one, neutralize the empress. Step two, spread the word. And step three, hustle this panda and squeeze every last loonie out of those kids.

Mei called Aunt Ming and lied to her about joining mathletes. "Mathletes?" Aunt Ming asked. "Isn't it a little dangerous to join an after school club right now?" "What's dangerous is an academic record with a lack of extracurriculars." Mei replied. Aunt Ming was hesitant, but she allowed it.

Abby passed a note to one of her classmates about the plan, leading to a school wide text message. The students walk in to Mei revealing herself as the red panda. Abby, Priya, and I helped with the lighting as Miriam took the pictures of Mei with the students. What went from photo ops also gave us the idea to sell red panda merchandise.

After days of hard work, the girls raised almost enough money for the concert tickets. Although the concert was this weekend, I still helped make some more keychains for the sales. "Check out Number 12." Miriam pointed out. "He's got delts for days." "Forget that. I need lunch. I'm starting to black out!" Abby raged, lying on the bleachers. "I think I'm getting carpal tunnel." Priya groaned. "No pain, no gain, Priya." Mei said. "Come on, chop chop!" "Mei, relax." I reassured her. "Yeah, we're doing our best." Abby added. "It's not enough!" Mei snapped, releasing some of her panda. "The concert's this Saturday and we're still a hundred short! I knew we should've charged more for photos! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" "Mei, breathe. It's in the bag." Miriam said. "What's the point of getting to the concert if you're too exhausted to enjoy it? Now take a break and help me appreciate some boys." A few of the boys waved to Mei. "Are you a triangle? Because you acute!" Mei complimented. "You guys are so weird." Tyler said from underneath the bleachers. "Hey!" Miriam retorted. "Are you spying on us?" Mei asked. "That's creepy." I commented. "I want to talk to you, Lee." Tyler said. "Forget it." Mei scoffed. "Fine. Wonder if your mom knows her precious little Mei Mei has been flaunting the panda all over school." Tyler bluffs. Mei goes behind the bleachers full panda. "That's none of your business!" Mei snapped. "One more step and I'm telling her everything." Tyler warned. "Now put that thing away and hear me out." "What do you want?" Mei grumbled, turning back to normal. "I want to throw a sick birthday party. An epic one." Tyler explained. "It's this Friday. If you're there, everyone will come. Simple as that." "A party?" Mei asked. "Look, I've done you a favor keeping my mouth shut." Tyler sighed. "All I'm asking for is one back." "I'll do it, but it'll cost you one, no. 200 bucks." Mei agreed. "Okay." Tyler said. Mei ran back over to us on the other side. "Are you serious? You can't trust him." Miriam warned. "It's a trap." Abby said. "This sounds like a boy-girl party." Priya commented. "Are we allowed to boy-girl parties?" "What if Ming finds out?" I asked. "Guys! Two hundred bucks will put us over the top!" Mei exclaimed. "We have to do this. We'll meet at Tyler's, I'll do my thing, and then we'll bounce. Easy peasy." "Like I said, what about your mom?" I repeated. "Forget my mom." Mei replied. "We'll be back before she even knows we're gone." "But..." Miriam and I began. "Hey, dorkbag. We're in. But you only get the panda for an hour, and we're not bringing any presents." Mei said. "Deal." Tyler agrees, shaking hands with Mei.