My Seventh-Grade Life in Tights (25 page)

T
he stage creaked under our weight.

Nearly every dancer was crammed behind the announcer. We were stuck standing in the corner. Every time my shoulder touched Kassie’s, it made me jump. I forced my eyes straight ahead, out to the audience. I tried to find Austin or DeMarcus, but it was impossible. There were a million spotlights pointed at us and all I could see in front of me was the outline of the guy with the mike. I looked across the stage, where the other older groups were. A flash of a red ponytail caught my eye. The Barbies. Sarah was standing right beside them, her head up a little higher than usual.

But she wasn’t wearing the better-than-everyone look she usually had on.

No, right then she just looked proud of herself.

And after the way she had danced, she totally should’ve been.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer said. “We’re going to open our ceremony tonight with the showcase awards.” The crowd went crazy.

When it got quiet, he started reading the winners from categories like Best Costume (080—the cowboy routine), Best Use of Props (031—one of those exercise balls painted up to look like a giant ball of yarn), and the one I thought should’ve gone to us, Best Music (053—a techno version of “Rocky Top”).

Next were the scholarships. Heartland awarded some of their own to soloists in the different age divisions, and four studios had their own to hand out. Dance-Splosion was last. The announcer looked down at his paper. “And finally, the winner of Dance-Splosion’s three-week scholarship is…Avery Yates!”

The audience applauded as Avery walked out to stand beside him. Carson put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I saw Sarah clapping, getting even more dirty looks from her Barbies. She glanced across the stage at me and we shared a quick smile. Part of me wondered if my name had ever been on that certificate. The same part of me was worrying about it less and less. My mom and dad would have a million questions about the scholarship. But I also knew I finally had all the answers to them.

The lobby door opened and I caught Kenton walking out. I imagined him pitching a fit outside. Maybe he’d even do one of those clear-the-entire-table-with-one-swipe-of-the-hands routines. Then maybe he’d get arrested and thrown in jail for being a jerk.

The announcer finally moved on to the dance awards. He began with the winners in the Mini Division. The crowd cheered like crazy for every winner. Ours would be the last one, which meant there was more time for the stomach-tied-in-a-knot nervousness to grow.

About the award.

About whether or not Mom and Dad had noticed I hadn’t worn my tights.

Most of all, though, about the Kiss.

I tried to pull my thoughts away, but I couldn’t. Every time I’d glance over at Kassie, she’d look away.

The announcer called off the awards in the Junior Division.

“Guys,” Carson whispered, “I think we actually have a shot at this!”

“Like winning? You mean a trophy?” I asked.

“Why not? We were top-five material at least.”

Kassie and I glanced at each other, the awkward tension frozen between us.

“Ladies and gentlemen, now for our last round of awards,” the announcer said. “The Teen Division.”

A rumble of polite claps from the audience. Solo and duet winners were announced first, fifth place and working backward up to first. Trios and small-group awards were next.

“Remember, guys,” Carson said, eyes closed. “This is our first big competition. Fifth place is like first for us.”

The announcer raised the mike. “Our fifth-place winner is…number 68,
Winter’s Playground
!”

Carson squeezed my hand harder.

“Our fourth-place winner is…number 49,
The Moment It All Began
!”

My breathing sped up. We’d blown some minds with our routine, but could we have actually placed in the top three?

“Our third-place winner is…number 55,
Running Forever
!”

Sweat beaded up on my forehead.

“Our second-place winner is…number 81,
Because of You
!”

Sarah’s group. I couldn’t believe it didn’t win. We clapped—Carson louder than all of us. The Barbies strutted upstage in front of Sarah.

“And, ladies and gentlemen, now for our last award of the evening.”

My stomach tightened. I looked at my crew. I could tell they were thinking the same thing I was. That this could be it. That we could be the next ones called up. That we might’ve beaten every odd, dancing a totally improvised routine with no costumes and a middle school quarterback singing our song for us. I played the movie version of the moment in my head, hearing the judge call our number, seeing Kassie hold the gigantic golden trophy over her head, feeling her lips touch mine one more time.

I took a deep breath and trained my eyes back on the announcer.

“Our overall high-scoring routine in the group and line production category is…”

The beat of silence that came next lasted forever. The entire stage was frozen still like everyone was holding their breath. We all waited. That agonizing moment where the announcer teased our patience, dangling the name of the winner in front of us just out of reach.

And then he raised the mike and spoke. “Number 84—”

My heart stopped. My mind screamed,
That’s us! That’s our number!

“Out of This World!”
the announcer shouted.

But that wasn’t our routine. What was going on? I glanced down at the sticker on my shirt and I was judo-chopped back to reality. We were 83.

We’d lost.

T
he stage rumbled under the stampede of dancers.

Loud music blared over the speakers as everyone made their way back into the audience. The edge of a trophy caught the spotlight and reflected it right into my eye, like a slap across the face to say,
Neener, neener, you can’t win me.

Austin threw a pudgy leg over the edge of the stage and climbed up. “Hey, guys,” he said, out of breath. “You were totally robbed.”

I let out a long breath. “If—”

“Nope,” Kassie said. “Not gonna hear it.”

My eyebrows tensed up. “What?”

“I know what you’re going to say, Dillon.
If I were a better dancer, we would’ve won.
”

“Who cares if we lost?” Carson said. “We got out there and rocked their little worlds with our routine.”

I lifted my hand, ready to speak, but Austin jumped in. “Plus that trophy looked pretty lame anyway.”

“See,” Kassie said, grabbing my shoulders. “We don’t care. So no more excuses. You’re as good a dancer as anyone else in this auditorium.” She ended her speech with a quick nod, crossing her arms.

I pushed my hair away from my eyes and hid the smile creeping up my mouth. “Actually, I was gonna say if Carson wants to go ahead and change, I’ll take my tights back.”

They looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“But thanks anyway. And thanks for letting me back in. And for not hating me for acting so crazy this year,” I said. “Thanks for everything, actually. If it wasn’t for you all, I probably wouldn’t even
be
a dancer.”

“Yeah you would,” Kassie said. “You were born to dance. And I have to admit, your technique was looking pretty good out there.”

My ears got warm all of a sudden. I tried to shove my hands in my pockets, but my football pants didn’t have any. So I just stood there, red-faced and goofy, smiling at her.

But the smile jumped off my face when I spotted DeMarcus talking to Sarah at the edge of the stage. He was holding her hands. For a second I thought maybe he was apologizing for something. The way he was shaking his head as he talked told me a different story. They were breaking up. But not your typical angsty-teen-movie breakup. No screaming. No arm flailing. No tears. She just gave him a hug.

When Sarah walked back toward the wing, her dad was standing there, holding her jacket. I don’t know how, but I knew she was going to be okay. She’d told her dad exactly what she needed to onstage.

DeMarcus planted a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, guys. First of all”—he held out a finger—“we were totally robbed.”

“Exactly!” Austin yelled, tossing his hands in the air.

“I know, right? That part with the jump? Man, that was like—” He put his hands beside his head and mimed his brain exploding.

Carson clapped. “Good. Totally my idea, if you remember.”

“Definitely.” He held out another finger and turned to Kassie. “Second, do you think I could talk to you? Just for a minute?”

“Sure.” She walked off with him. He whispered something in her ear.

My insides turned to ice. What was happening? I was almost totally sure he’d just broken up with Sarah. And now he wanted to talk to Kassie?

I may not have had the movie moment I wanted during the awards, but I wasn’t about to let this one get ruined. “Wait!” I yelled. Kassie and DeMarcus turned around. “I have to talk to Kassie, too. About something. It’s important.”

“I’ll be right back,” she said, laughing.

“Yeah, but—I can’t— It’s important, Kass.”

“So is this, Dillon. Give me like one minute, okay?” She turned back around and they continued to talk, too soft to hear. Not that I’d
want
to.

It was over. My stomach knotted up so hard I nearly fell. Carson caught my attention with a little wave. He put his hand to his mouth and pretended to lock the corner.

What?
Why was he telling me to shut up? I couldn’t. Not now. He rolled his eyes, twisting the imaginary key again. And then opened his mouth. No, he wasn’t locking—he was
un
locking.

Austin shoved his face right next to my ear, whispering, “Dude, just get over there and tell her how you feel.”

They were right. I’d done enough waiting. My heart sped up.
Don’t just stand there, dummy. Unlock before she’s gone forever.

Before I could figure out how, Austin pushed me forward. My feet planted and a grunt pushed its way out past my lips along with three words.

“I like you!”

Kassie’s head shot around DeMarcus. “What?”

I looked back at Carson and Austin. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, nodding like a pair of bobbleheads. Carson had his arm latched onto Austin’s.

When I turned back around, DeMarcus was staring at me, too. My fingers wrapped themselves in the end of my shirt. “I’m sorry I’m saying this now, but—no, I’m not sorry, actually.”

I took a step forward. Kassie and DeMarcus gave each other a quick look.

“DeMarcus, you’re an awesome guy. You helped me out in football and you pretty much saved our crew today, but I can’t let you do this. Not yet.”

His eyebrows shot up, surprised. Kassie glanced around nervously, her eyes finally stopping on me.

“I should’ve said this sooner. I know I may have already lost my chance, but I don’t care. Maybe I’m too late and you’re already DeMarcus’s girlfriend now, but that doesn’t change anything. I like you, Kass. Like,
really
like you. And I think I have for a long time, too. I just never had the guts to say anything until tonight.”

She looked away. Maybe embarrassed. Maybe shocked. I couldn’t tell. I took a deep breath, waiting for more words to come together in my head.

“You’ve always taught me that every time we dance, we’re making up some new world we wanna live in and sharing that with everyone. And it’s our job to come up with the perfect story.”

My arm weighed a ton, but I forced it up, holding my hand out to her.

“I think we’d make a pretty good one.”

Behind me, someone let out a breathy
Awww!
And they should’ve, because that came out a lot smoother than I thought it would. I was feeling pretty good, but it didn’t last long. Kassie bit the edge of her lip. She looked at DeMarcus. Not me, but him. I swallowed a gigantic lump in my throat. I understood.

Kassie had made her choice.

DeMarcus beamed a warm smile at me. I hated it. Part of me wanted to reach up and tear it off his face. But I wouldn’t. If there was one guy besides me who deserved to be with Kassie, it was him.

“Actually I was talking to her about…” He glanced past me. The skin around his cheeks darkened. “Okay, so for a while now I’ve liked someone, too. And I wasn’t sure how to tell them, either. But since I met you guys and saw how you all did your own thing, it sort of gave me, I don’t know…confidence, I guess.”

Seriously? Sunnydale’s star quarterback needed some confidence to steal Kassie away from me?

My hand was still stretched out to Kassie. I pulled it back. “Glad we could help, I guess.” My feet felt like they were buried in concrete, but I managed to turn. As I did, I forced a smile at Kassie and whispered, “I hope I didn’t embarrass you.”

I’d only taken one step when DeMarcus breezed by me. Without Kassie in his arms. He walked right up to Carson and said something to him.

My entire body went rigid. The same way it does when I see a stink bug in my house. But this wasn’t fear. It was that moment your body tenses up right before the feeling of pure relief kicks in.

Carson’s entire face had gone even paler than it usually was. His eyes were bulging and his jaw was hanging open. Then a smile formed on his mouth and he nodded.