The following morning, Justin woke to a bright morning. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, staying in bed for a few more minutes. He quickly jumped out of his sheets, suddenly remembering Trace had spent the night.
“Ahh! Trace!” he screamed, waking his friend up.
Trace opened his eyes and yawned, “Hi, Justin. What happened?” He looked at his friend curiously, getting out of the large bed.
Justin shook his head and began to fix his sheets, “Nothing. I just forgot you slept over.”
“Well, I’m hungry. I hope your mom made those special pancakes she makes whenever I sleep over.”
“You’re always hungry. Let’s go.”
Once they reached the kitchen, the boys were greeted warmly by Justin’s parents, as well as a table full of bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, and Justin’s favorite cereal. Randy was sitting across from Lynn, reading the paper.
“I see pancakes! Yummy!” Trace said sitting down and piling some onto his plate.
“I made ‘em just for you. Did you boys sleep well?” Lynn asked, spreading strawberry jam over a slice of toast.
“Yeah, but we slept pretty late last night,” Justin said pouring milk into his bowl, “but Trace kept snoring.”
“I do not snore!”
“Whatever. So dad, are you going to come to my game next week? You know, Conner Wilkins will be playing, and his dad is going to be there. You know they always try to beat us, but with you there the team will be a lot more…what’s the word?”
“Motivated?” Randy said, eating some crisp bacon.
“Yeah, that. So you coming?”
“Sure son, I’ll be there.”
“Th-that’s if he can come.” Lynn said suddenly.
“What do you mean?” Justin asked. “Dad always comes to my games.”
“I guess he forgot to tell you he has a meeting to go to next week. And he won’t be home until later on that night.”
“I have a meeting?” Randy asked, looking at Lynn, who shot him a look while sipping on her coffee. “Oh, yeah I remember,” he said clearing his throat, “I have a meeting buddy. Sorry.”
Justin felt disappointed but figured that his dad would make it up to him somehow. “It’s alright Dad. But do you think you can take me and Trace to the park today?”
Lynn coughed and bowed her head.
“I… sorry son, I’ve got somewhere to go today,” he said from behind the paper, “maybe some other day?” Randy felt uncomfortable and stood up to place his dishes in the sink and disappeared up the stairs.
“I guess we’ll just go over to Cassidy’s later on. Is that okay Mom?” he said, spooning some cereal into his mouth.
“Well, sure. I guess it’s fine if she wants to see you.”
“Huh?”
“Well last night she came running down the stairs asking me if she could go home. So I called Joyce and she came and picked her up. I told you to not play so rough with her. She’s a girl Justin and-”
“She was crying? I forgot! Trace, she never came back to my room!”
“Maybe she was crying cause of what you said.” Trace said, stuffing his mouth with pancakes.
“I didn’t say anything though!” Justin said shaking his head.
“Sure you did. Remember, she’s stupid, ugly,” Trace said, waving his fork around in the air, “she’s not your best friend cause she’s a girl.”
“Justin, did you say those things about her?” Lynn asked, surprised her son would say such things about Cassidy.
“I… I didn’t mean to. I just…” he trailed off, “Trace, we gotta go find her!” Justin stood up and tried pulling Trace off the chair.
“Man, these are good,” Trace said stuffing a few more bites into his mouth.
“Trace, now! C’mon we gotta go!” Justin said, tugging on his arm.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Trace stood up as Justin ran out the front door. He shoved more pancake into his mouth as Justin yelled, “TRACE!”
“Coming! See ya Mrs.T!”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Five, six, seven, eight!” Cassidy heard, and began to move to the music.
It was her first dance class, and to her surprise, it was a lot easier than she thought it’d be. There was a whole variety of girls there, but for the most part they all seemed friendly. Her teacher, Sally Cohen, was a short lean woman in her late 30s with dark brown wavy hair, fair skin, green eyes and a tight smile. The song ended, and Sally began to talk to the large group.
“That was good for the first try, but I think you can all do better. On the last eight counts it looks a little sloppy so let’s work on that before we move on to the chorus.” Sally moved to the front of the class and demonstrated the dance moves. “Five, six, seven, eight!”
The class repeated the dance, moving and turning and swaying like flowers all being blown in the same direction.
“Better, I only saw one flaw, but we will fix it later and move on to the chorus.” Sally said, as she began to dance and count slowly, looking behind her ever so often.
‘Spin, arms, feet, pound, sharp arms, head down, hips…’ Cassidy thought, as she danced. ‘Gosh, this is easier than I thought. I wonder what Justin is doing…’ Memories of the night before filled her head, Cassidy tried to block them out and focus.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Knock, knock, knock. Trace and Justin, who was impatiently waiting for someone to answer the door, were outside on Cassidy’s porch.
“Justin, Trace, hello boys. How are you?” Joyce said, wondering why they were at her door.
“Hi Mama Joyce, we’re fine. Is Cassidy home?” He said quickly.
“I’m sorry, she isn’t. She’s off at dance class, but she should be home in about an hour. You can come by later if you’d like.” She smiled.
“Dance class?”
Joyce nodded, “Yeah, didn’t she tell you? She just started today.”
“No she... wait, she did! I forgot!” Justin said, raising a hand to his forehead.
“Don’t worry sweetie, she’ll be home soon. By the way, if this is about last night then don’t feel guilty,” she smiled.
“She told you what happened?” Trace asked.
“Well sure. I don’t want either of you thinking that her stomach ache was your fault. All that candy must’ve gotten to her. She’s fine now anyways.”
“Stomach ache? But-”
“Thanks Mama Joyce. We’ll be back later.” Justin said, pulling Trace down the steps.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“I want to see how well you all work as a team. Sometimes in dancing, you need teamwork to make the dance look more professional, more effective to the audience. I am going to put everyone into a group of four; you shall rehearse the entire song for twenty minutes. Then, we will see who really knows what they’re doing. Sound good? Alright, let’s-”
“Oh, Ms.Cohen, can you please not pair me up with someone really… well, you know… embarrassing and weird this time around? Last time you paired me up with that freak with the braces,” said Mandy Portneil, cringing.
Cassidy had learned from Tammy Shukens, a girl from dance class her age, that Mandy was the snobbiest girl in the entire class. She was in the 8th grade, with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and she even wore a bra… whatever that was.
“Miss Portneil, please do not speak of others in such a way. Respect is very important, you know that.”
“But Ms.Cohen, did you see the way she looked? That loser stepped on my toes last time and ruined my $50 pedicure!” Mandy said crossing her arms.
“Amanda, please, I must ask of you to not discuss this any further. Now, let’s see… Courtney, Stephanie, Kristie, and Roxanne will be group 1. Group 2 will be Jessica, Miranda, Nadine, and Shannon. Group 3…”
Cassidy’s thoughts began to drift from what Ms.Cohen was saying, to Justin.
“I wonder if he knows I heard him last night,” she said to quietly to herself, “I can’t believe I mean nothing to him. This whole time-”
“Uh, hello! Think you can move a little? I’m standing here!” Mandy yelled at Cassidy.
‘What is her problem?’ Cassidy thought.
“S-sorry,” Cassidy said.
“Whatever. Just stop talking to me twerp,” Mandy said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
“…and finally group seven will be… Andrea, Stacey, Cassidy and… ah, Mandy!” Ms.Cohen smiled, turning to the tall blonde girl, “It seems to me you are already making friends with Miss Cassidy.”
“Friends? Ms.Cohen, please,” Mandy said stepping forward, “mature, sophisticated, popular young women such as myself do not ‘make friends’ with immature, naïve, unpopular GIRLS like… her.”
“Miss Portneil! I beg your pardon; do not speak of others, especially new members like Miss Sullivan in such a rude manner. Now, I demand an apology from you to her, for she is anything but the things you claim her to be, I’m sure. And if you are to be as ‘mature’ as you had put it, then I suggest you start proving it to me.” Ms.Cohen lectured walking off, then clapped her hands, “Chop, chop.”
“Ugh, whatever. Look, let’s just get this over with, okay?” Mandy said to Cassidy, walking to one of the corners of the room to stretch. The other two girls just rolled their eyes and shrugged.
‘Don’t have to tell me twice,’ Cassidy thought, as she began to stretch as well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“She probably forgives you, Justin,” Trace said, tossing a small blue football at Justin.
“Yeah right. She hates me,” he said, catching it and throwing it back at Trace.
“No she doesn’t. She just doesn’t know that you are sorry for what you said last night.”
The boys were spending the afternoon at the park until Cassidy would be home. Justin was still nervous to talk to her and Trace was trying to calm him down.
“What do I tell her? I don’t think she wants to even talk to me anymore.” He caught the football and stared at his friend, “What if we’re never gonna be friends again?”
Trace walked over to Justin and put a hand on his shoulder, “That’s never gonna happen. You guys have been friends for too long. Six years! That’s when we start to lose our baby teeth.” He opened his mouth and showed Justin a gap in his mouth, making him laugh.
“Yeah, I guess your right. I just don’t know what to say.” The joyful tune of an ice cream truck started to sound nearer and nearer.
“C’mon, how about some ice cream? My treat.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Maybe if you bend your knees a little more, Stacey, it would be easier to turn after,” Cassidy said, helping her new friend.
Stacey was a pretty girl, a year older than Cassidy with short brown hair and deep blue eyes; she was very polite and sweet to Cassidy.
“Hey, Cassidy, do you mind helping me with the thing we do on the floor and then get up? I feel like my timing is way off,” Andrea said, with her hand on her hips.
“Sure,” Cassidy positioned herself on the floor and demonstrated for Andrea, “for me, I go more with the music than I do with the numbers. Maybe you can try it like that instead… play the song in your head.”
Andrea was a girl who was about 12 years old, and although her figure was almost too thin, she was still very appealing. She had shiny black hair and bright brown eyes. Not to mention a killer smile.
The class had been practicing now for a good thirteen minutes, and Mandy had neglected to practice with her group.
“Wow, you’re right. It feels a lot easier and fun. How long have you been dancing Cassidy?” Andrea asked, impressed.
“Well… actually this is the first class that I’ve ever taken. I’m not really all that great, I hope I can learn a lot more so that when I sing, I can make my performance better with dancing,” Cassidy blushed, afraid that she sounded as if she were bragging.
“Not that great? Are you kidding me? You can do things even I can’t do!” Andrea laughed.
“And you sing too? You mind singing something for us?” Stacey asked.
“Well…I…don’t know…maybe next time?” Cassidy offered, hoping they wouldn’t think that she was lying that she sang. She was just feeling too crummy to sing.
“Sure, no problem,” Stacey smiled.
“Oh great, look who’s coming,” Andrea rolled her eyes in disgust.
Mandy approached the group with her arms crossed over her chest, “Look, I just came over here to see if you guys knew what you were doing. I’d hate to be embarrassed in front of all these people just because you guys don’t know how to do the dance correctly.” Andrea crossed her own arms over her chest as Mandy continued, “So, I’m going to show you how it’s done. Now, pay attention so I don’t have to repeat it again.”
Mandy then positioned herself in front of the group sporting a great big fake smile. “Five, six, five, six, seven, eight,” she said, as she began to move.
Step, arms, turn, crouch, hips… wait, that’s not right… turn, step, small kick… ouch, that look like it hurt… feet, right, left, forward, back…wrong order…
Cassidy didn’t really want to be the one to say it, but she wasn’t really sure Mandy knew what she was doing. Her timing was off, her head was kinda stiff and her facial expression was stuck on that weird smile.
“Umm… Mandy I don’t think that’s how you do it,” little Stacey spoke up.
Mandy stopped in the middle of the routine, shocked that someone so small would question her “talent”.
“Oh, and I suppose you know how to do it?” Mandy laughed.
“Well, we aren’t so sure but Cassidy here knows pretty well,” Andrea said, putting her arm around the tiny girl. Cassidy couldn’t help but blush and feel scared; she didn’t want Mandy teasing her anymore.
“Yeah, right,” she scoffed, “what can she do that I can’t?” She stepped up to Cassidy with her hands on her hips, “Alright, hotshot, let’s see what you got.”
Cassidy wasn’t sure whether she was actually supposed to listen to Mandy or not, so she stood still.
“C’mon, what are you waiting for?” Andrea scooted Cassidy in front of the group.
“I… uhh… don’t… I don’t think…” she began to say, but remembered what her Grandmother had once told her; ‘Never let the opportunity to show your talent slip away. Because maybe one day, if it is in God’s plan for you that He shall take it away, you will look back and realize that you let it go by.”
Sighing in defeat, Cassidy positioned herself as she began to play the first beats of the song in her head. Then suddenly as if a shriveled, old rose coming back to life, she began to dance. Within a matter of minutes, Cassidy finished the dance.
Cassidy opened her eyes and looked around. The whole class (minus Mandy, of course) was applauding and had been watching her the entire time. How could she not have noticed?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“That’s the forty-seventh bird that wouldn’t take the bait,” Justin said, taking another bite of his turkey sandwich.
“It’ll work, trust me!” Trace said, shaking the string he was holding, his tongue slightly sticking out of his mouth.
“Trace, are you sure that birds even like sausage?” Justin asked.
“I think they do. Maybe they just don’t see it’s sausage. Trust me, once we get one of them hooked, we’ll be able to fly!”
Justin wasn’t sure how, but Trace came up with the crazy idea that if he were able to get a bird hooked on the bait on the other end of the string, he would be able to fly with the bird. Justin finished the last of his apple juice, dumping it back into the brown paper bag, tossing it all in the trash.
“Hey, Trace, I’ll be right back okay?”
“Uh huh, sure. But make sure you don’t miss it when a bird finally comes to bait!”
Justin made his way from the bridge to the large chestnut tree. He remembered that whenever he and Cassidy played hide and seek, they would always make that tree the safe spot. He remembered the many afternoon naps they shared under that tree. He remembered the one time in spring they saw a beautiful butterfly shed itself from its cocoon in amazement.
“I wonder what she’s doing,” he said to himself, his fingers tracing the roughness of the dark tree bark, “I hope we’re still friends. I hope she’ll talk to me when we go to her house later. Maybe…”
“Hey Justin! Come here!” Trace called.
Justin sighed, “Coming.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Cassidy titled her head back even more, enjoying the feeling of the cold water swish around in her mouth, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but if you think you can just show me up like that again your wrong,” Mandy said, walking away.
Shrugging it off, Cassidy gathered her things into her small pink Barbie backpack and made her way towards the door, as her dance mates greeted her with more compliments.
“Miss Cassidy, before you go, may I see you?” Ms.Cohen called from behind her office, “have a seat, please.”
“Y-yes ma’am?” Cassidy asked.
“I just wanted to compliment you today on your outstanding performance. I’ve never seen such young talent. Such determination, such emotion, such… brilliance! I hope you consider seeking further into you abilities. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you next class. Have a good day.”
“Thank you ma’am.” Cassidy smiled and left the office.
“Hey, Pumpkin how was dance class?” Jim asked, holding his daughter’s hand.
“Good, I guess.”
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