Friday Night Stage Lights Read online

  I hadn’t been here for a long time, but I’d found a true friend in Jayden. I missed my partner, and it wasn’t going to be easy to let go of my dream to go to TSOTA.

  But that’s what I was going to have to do, right?

  I didn’t have any other choice.

  I took a deep breath and pretended to suck in a bunch of courage. I squared my shoulders and headed over to where Mary Rose put away the equipment we’d used today for stretching.

  “Do you think we could talk for a minute?” I asked.

  “Of course, honey, what’s up?” She sat down and patted the spot next to her, which was one of the reasons I loved her. She made sure you always felt important.

  “Now that Jayden can’t dance with me, I won’t be able to be a part of the All-City Showcase anymore.”

  “Of course you can,” Mary Rose said. “You can still dance a solo.”

  Obviously, she was going to say that. That was everyone’s solution. To just dance my solo. And it made sense. Well, if you weren’t me. Because here’s the thing: For most people, the idea of dancing a solo meant you’d made it, you were good. But I wasn’t most people. At least, not after my horrible, awful recital. Now, the thought of dancing a solo and only a solo stopped me dead in my tracks. It made my hands sweat and my stomach twist. I was terrified I’d blow it again, just like I did the last time I danced alone.

  “My solo won’t wow the judges the way our dance would have. We had those lifts down. They were perfect, and not a lot of people my age can do them. You said it yourself that the potential I showed from those lifts might be enough to get me a spot in the school. There’s no way I have time to learn something as good alone.”

  “I think a solo would be enough. Plenty of people only dance a solo in the Showcase,” she said and as I protested, she held up her hand. “But if you have your heart set on also doing a pas de deux, that would help. Your form is incredible when Jayden has you in a lift, and I think the judges need to see that. I might have a solution for you. What if I told you there is someone else at the studio you could partner with? He’s good, and I’m pretty sure he’d be able to support you in all the lifts if we start practicing right away.”

  “There is? Who?” I asked, confused. I knew everyone at the studio, and there wasn’t anyone close to Jayden’s talent. Boys in dance classes were few and far between, and boys who were as good as Jayden were even harder to find.

  “I’ve been watching the football players during the conditioning classes, and I’m thinking that’s the answer to your problem.”

  “What is?” I asked, skeptical of anything that involved the football team.

  “Having one of them learn the routine. Specifically Logan. He’s good. He might not have the training, but he’s catching on fast, he has the positions down, and if we make the steps a little easier for him, he can probably pull it off and showcase your talent. What do you think?”

  What did I think?

  Um, that she was crazy.

  Certifiably crazy.

  There was no way Logan would agree to her idea. The team wasn’t exactly into ballet classes. And how would it look if I came crawling back with my tail between my legs after everything I’d said against football? I’d look like such a fool. And I was not a fool.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I doubt Logan wants anything to do with ballet if it’s not connected to football.”

  “You never know unless you ask,” Mary Rose said. “I can see that he’s trying to do well. I have a feeling something is motivating him to do better, so that’s the key. Practicing with you would be a mutual thing. It would help his skills on the field. If you sell it to him that way, I bet he’d be willing to help.”

  “You really think so?” I asked, not believing it for one minute.

  “I do. Let the idea settle in your mind, and if it sounds like something you might want to try, talk to him. You could be surprised at his response.”

  I wanted to say no. I wanted to refuse, but at this point, what did I have to lose?

  I didn’t have a partner, and if I decided not to dance with him, I’d still be without a partner.

  However, if he said yes, then there just might be the chance.

  “He won’t agree to this,” I said out loud to Mary Rose. “He isn’t going to want to help me.”

  “People can surprise you,” she said.

  But Logan agreeing to be my partner wouldn’t be a surprise. It would be a miracle.

  Chapter 19

  Friday night came and I found myself at the last place I wanted to be.

  Another football game.

  Leighton High was destroying the opposing team, Mom was in full-out football mode, and the stadium was going wild for their University of Texas–bound star quarterback, Tanner. As if they needed another reason to love him. Going to these games seemed like déjà vu: the same night over and over again, with Tanner scoring touchdown after touchdown.

  “I wonder what would happen if we lost a game. Just once. Do you think the world would end?” I asked Mia, as she scanned the crowd and recorded everyone with her phone.

  “You stop that talk right now,” she scolded. “You’ll jinx us.”

  “I’m just saying, it might add a little excitement to things. Winning gets boring after a while.”

  “You’re impossible,” she said and turned her phone on me. “Let’s talk about more interesting things. Like are you going to ask Logan to help you with the All-City Showcase?

  “I really don’t think that’s the best option,” I told her and made a face.

  “I mean, I’m not going to lie. I’d rather you stay at Leighton, but you’ve heard me tell you that a million times. If your heart is set on leaving me, then I think you absolutely need to ask Logan. And I think you need to let me record it,” she said.

  “That’s never going to happen. No way, no how,” I told her.

  “Think about the hits we’d get.”

  “I’ve given you enough footage for the next hundred years. That camera isn’t going to be anywhere near the two of us if I ask him.”

  “So you’re going to do it?” Mia asked.

  “I said if I ask him. Because what if he says no? I’ll be mortified, and then how could I show my face at conditioning class again?”

  “He won’t,” Mia assured me. “He not as bad as you think; he’s actually really nice. I have math with him, and when he’s away from the rest of the team, he’s cool. He’s helped me with my problems when I’m stuck, and he’s smart.”

  I thought back to how seriously he always took the class, and what Mia was saying made sense. “I could totally see that,” I told her.

  “So you are going to ask him?”

  I couldn’t believe I was agreeing to this, but I threw my hands up in the air as if I surrendered.

  “I guess. Maybe? I don’t know. Ugh! It’s too much to think about. I mean, I’d have to figure out what to say, when to ask him, what to do if he says no.”

  “How about right now?”

  “What?”

  “Right now. He’s over there, and there’s no time like the present. Go talk to him. All you have to do is ask him to be your partner, and if he says no, you can walk away and I’ll help you drown your sorrows with anything you want from the concession stand. Either way, you’ll have your answer instead of waiting around and wondering what he’s going to say.”

  Mia was right. Logan was a few sections over, with the middle school team. They had their practice jerseys on and studied the game intently. But then, as I watched them, something happened on the field and the stands erupted in cheers. The boys pounded on each other’s backs and jumped up and down.

  “It’s ridiculous how worked up people get about a stupid sport,” I muttered, but cheered along with everyone so no one could accuse me of not having school spirit.

  “Kind of like all those people who go to watch ballets and clap at the end of each dance number?” Mia asked with a sneaky look in her eyes.r />
  “That’s not the same,” I told her.

  “Oh yeah, you’re right. Didn’t the football team say that ballet dancers aren’t athletes? I mean, if it isn’t a sport—”

  “Okay, fine, you’re right. Point made.”

  “Thank you,” Mia said with a smug look. “And you know what else I’m right about? Asking Logan to be your partner. He’s heading up the bleacher steps right now, and if you go follow him, you won’t have to talk to him in front of the team. Go, go, go!” she cheered and sounded like the rest of the fans in the crowd.

  And maybe it was the electric atmosphere or that little voice in the back of my mind telling me that maybe Logan would say yes, we’d rehearse together, I’d find out that he is good, we’d rock the All-City Showcase, I’d get into TSOTA, and all would be perfect in the world. Whatever it was, it was enough to encourage me to get up and follow him.

  Which is exactly what I found myself doing, as I dodged around people like I was a private eye trailing Logan. He got in line for the concession stand, so I did the same. There were a few people in front of me, which made it impossible to call out to him without getting the attention of everyone around me. Could you imagine how embarrassing that would be if he turned me down? The whole school would be talking about how pathetic I was.

  The woman behind the counter gave him a hot dog, and he walked over to the condiment bar. Now was the time to make my move.

  “Can I have a bottled water?” I asked the girl taking orders when I got up to the front. I kept my eye on Logan, who seemed to be on a mission to add pretty much every topping there was to his hot dog, which worked to my benefit, since it meant that it kept him there.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “No, just that. And fast,” I told her, worried I might miss him. When she eyed me up like I was being super rude, I added, “I don’t want to miss the game. I have to get back to my seat.”

  “Of course,” she said, and I hated how once I mentioned football she was understanding.

  As soon as I got the water, I headed over to Logan. I took a sip so it seemed as if I was doing something. The problem was, something in the air tickled my nose, and I let out a giant sneeze. The water I’d taken a sip of went down the wrong way and started a major coughing fit that was pretty much impossible to stop.

  “Are you okay?” Logan asked.

  I held my hand up and waved him away. “I’m fine,” I said in between coughing fits. My mouth was burning, my eyes were watering, and I must have looked like a complete idiot.

  He tilted his head and studied me. “You sure about that?”

  “Yeah, it’s all good. It just went down the wrong way,” I said and instantly felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

  He took a giant bite out of his hot dog. Ketchup and mustard oozed out and barely missed falling on his shoe.

  I tried to muster up the courage to ask him about the dance, but the words seemed stuck in my mouth, so instead, the two of us stood there awkwardly.

  “Okay, well, I’m going to go back to the team,” Logan said and began to inch away.

  “Wait!” I yelled way too loud, panicked I was going to miss my chance.

  Logan stopped.

  “I have a question to ask you, and you’ll probably think I’m crazy, because believe me, I’m wondering if I am, but I have to ask,” I said in a rush, one word tumbling out after the next. I talked so fast that I wondered if he could understand me.

  “Sure, what is it? I like crazy. My dad and I root for the Cleveland Browns.”

  “The Cleveland who?”

  “You don’t know who the Browns are? Wow, you really don’t care about football. They’re pretty much the worst team in the NFL. They never win a game. Everyone makes jokes about them, but my dad is from Cleveland and I grew up watching them.”

  “Yeah, I’m not really much of a football fan,” I admitted. “It’s not my thing.”

  “How do you survive in this town? And your family? They’re about as football as it gets.”

  I gave him a very solemn look and pretended to be all serious. “It’s hard, I’ll admit it. Very hard, but somehow I’m still standing. In fact, the city is thinking of giving me a special medal for courage.”

  “How very brave of you,” he said.

  “Right? Luckily, there’s ballet. And that keeps me going.”

  “You really do love ballet, don’t you?” he asked.

  “More than anything,” I said. “But that’s the problem.”

  “How is that a problem?”

  “Because my biggest dream in the world has been destroyed. I planned to go to Texas School of the Arts for high school. I’ve been practicing my Showcase piece with Jayden for weeks now.”

  “And Jayden broke his leg,” Logan said.

  “Yep, it’s pretty much the worst ever.”

  “I’ve seen him all over school on his crutches. It’s a tough break.”

  “Literally,” I said, even though there was nothing funny about it. “He’s not going to be able to dance with me at the All-City Showcase, and my chances of getting into that school are pretty much gone. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. You might be able to help.”

  “How could I help?” he asked.

  “Well, according to Mary Rose, she thinks you can do a lot.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip and shifted my weight from foot to foot. I wanted to ask him my question. I needed to ask him my question. But I was too darn nervous. Go ahead. What do you have to lose? a little voice inside of my head reminded me, so I pushed forward.

  “Now that Jayden isn’t able to dance, I need a partner. And Mary Rose said you’re good for someone who doesn’t have any formal training. She thinks you could learn the dance I was supposed to do with Jayden. I know you’re busy with football, but she promised to help us, and it would only take a little time each week. And it wouldn’t be just for me. It would help you with football, because you’ll get more one-on-one help and you can use those skills on the field.” I was at it again, my big mouth dumping all the words at once, and it felt as if I wasn’t just trying to convince him to be my partner, but I was trying to convince myself that he’d make a great partner.

  He didn’t answer right away. In fact, he said nothing for what seemed like a thousand minutes.

  “Forget I asked,” I told him, because it was a stupid idea. He obviously didn’t want to do it, and I couldn’t force him to.

  “Okay,” he told me.

  “Yeah, it was stupid to ask.”

  “No, I mean okay, I’ll help you. I’ll learn the routine so you can dance with a partner.”

  “You will?” I asked, and it was seriously as if I’d fallen into the rabbit hole like Alice in Wonderland.

  “Sure. At first I thought ballet was a crazy idea and pretty much had to be dragged there, but it’s helping. Coach Konarski has noticed it too, which is exactly what I need to happen. Coach Trentanelli always picks a few eighth graders to start training with his high school team in the off-season. I have to be one of those players. So yeah, sure, I’d love to work with you and use it to help me land one of those spots in the off-season.”

  “You’ll really be my partner?” I asked, still not quite believing this was true.

  “Yep, but on one condition.”

  “Sure, anything,” I said, still stunned at how easy this had been.

  “Well, you’ve made it clear that you don’t like football. At all. And I can tell by the way you look at us that you don’t like the team.”

  “It’s not that—” I started to try to make things better, but he cut me off.

  “It’s okay. I figure it’s because you don’t have true Texas blood.”

  “True Texas blood?”

  “Yeah, football flows through us from the day we are born. You can’t help that you didn’t get the privilege of living in our great state your whole life. It’s actually a bit tragic, if you think about it.”

  “I’d hardly call it
tragic,” I said as I thought about all the people who walked around in cowboy boots and blasted country radio in their cars. If that was Texas blood, no thank you.

  “Don’t worry. I can help you. In fact, it’s my duty as a Texan to help you. So the deal is, I’ll be your dance partner if you promise to give football a chance.”

  “Give it a chance?” I asked, confused.

  “Yep. All you have to do is let me show you that the sport isn’t that bad. Teach you a little bit about the game and what it’s all about. I’m not asking you to fall in love with the game, but to respect it and the hard work we put in.”

  Respect football? A sport where everyone chased a ball around and tackled each other? That was about as far off as my piloting my own rocket ship to Mars or discovering ancient dinosaur bones in Mom’s flower garden.

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I told him.

  “You don’t even want to give it a try?”

  “What is there to try? Football just isn’t my thing.”

  “Well, it looks like getting into Texas School of the Arts is going to be impossible too, because that’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”

  And I wanted to leave it. Oh, how I wanted to leave it.

  “It’s never going to happen,” I told him.

  “That’s for me to figure out. Let’s give it a shot. If I can’t make you see that football actually involves some strategy, planning, and discipline by the time the Showcase happens, we’ll call it even. All I ask is that you give football an open mind and a chance.”

  “You’re crazy, do you know that?”

  “Maybe, but if I have a shot at making the one person in this whole entire town who doesn’t like football change her mind, I have to try, right? It’s my Texan duty.”

  “And if there’s a chance that you can learn Jayden’s dance well enough that I have a shot at getting into Texas School of the Arts, I have to try, right? It’s my ballerina duty.”

  Logan grinned. “Sounds like it.”

  I grudgingly stuck my hand out. “Okay, you have a deal. Here’s to giving things a try.”