The Year We Became Invincible

by Mae Coyiuto

  “Don’t ruin my cover. I’m trying to blend in.”

  “Bloody hell! They have eight courses!” Gabby said as she looked at the menu.

  “No way. They have onion rings!” Felix exclaimed.

  Rica came to the table and sighed when she sat down.

  “Anything wrong?” I asked.

  “I overheard one girl saying that her date stood her up. I wanted to get an interview from her, and she almost threw my video camera away!”

  “I wonder why,” Gabby snickered.

  “How’s the documentary going?” Felix asked.

  “Besides that interview, I’m getting a lot of good footage. I’m thinking of naming it ‘The Nightmare Before Graduation.’”

  “That sounds cool,” Felix said.

  “You think so?” Rica asked.

  “I’d watch it. I can’t say I understand a lot of the films you show us, but I like them,” Felix said, and I could’ve sworn that I saw Rica blush (or maybe it was the make-up).

  In the middle of the eight-course meal, more and more people were going to the dance floor.

  “Jesus. They’re playing Taylor Swift,” Rica said.

  “I love this song,” I said.

  “You should dance then,” Gabby said.

  “Oh no…I shouldn’t…”

  “Why not? What’s stopping you?” Gabby asked.

  The fact that I wasn’t confident and perfect like you.

  “Camille, you’re the gutsiest person I’ve ever met. If anyone can take on that dance floor on her own, it’s going to be you,” Gabby said. Felix and Rica looked at me like they agreed with her.

  “Oh, come on. We’ll all dance together!” Gabby said as she pulled me up. “Rica, Felix, up!”

  If you were on the ceiling looking down at the dance floor, you would see a sea of couples slow dancing. The only exception would be three girls and one boy in the middle.

  “How do we dance to this?” Felix said.

  I laughed, “Just dance like you do!”

  I did whatever moves I knew and screamed along to the lyrics of my favorite song. The three of them danced, too, and we couldn’t be more off tempo. We didn’t need to jump twenty feet high or fly an airplane. I guess with the right people, even the simple things feel like an adventure.

  Senior Ball # 3

  Food: N/A

  Music: B+

  Theme: A+

  The third ball we went to was so…cool. Even Rica was impressed. The theme was “Old School Hollywood” and the pathway to the school auditorium was a replica of the “Walk of Fame.” There were stars, and you could sign your names on them with chalk. It was too bad that all of them were taken.

  All the décor was in black and white. Everyone’s outfits followed the same trend. The guys were in black suits while the girls were in white dresses. The screen showed snapshots of the students' home videos. It was cool to see them morph from babies to the people in the auditorium. All the tables had Polaroid cameras, which we abused very quickly. There wasn’t any food by the time we got there, but we were all full from the last ball anyway. We danced to the music of upbeat songs from the 80s, which Gabby really enjoyed.

  “I need to take a break,” I said after a good hour of dancing.

  “Same here,” Felix said.

  “Me, too. I need more footage,” Rica said.

  “I’m just getting started!” Gabby laughed.

  We left Gabby on the dance floor and grabbed a table.

  “I think this is our best adventure yet,” Felix said.

  “Really?” I said.

  “Even Rica’s having fun,” Felix said.

  Rica scoffed and tinkered with her video camera.

  The music stopped, and the DJ announced, “To all you superstars, this is the last set of the night. If you haven’t asked that special someone to the dance floor, this is your last chance.”

  The first slow song of the night played.

  Felix was fidgeting. He was fidgeting a lot.

  “Um…Rica?”

  “Yeah?” Rica said without taking her eyes off her video camera.

  “Do you want to…uh…dance?”

  Rica’s eyes widened, and I thought she was going to drop her camera.

  “Oh…uh…sorry Felix, it’s not really my kind of thing. You know?”

  “Oh yeah…I get it.”

  Suddenly, a girl tapped Felix on the back.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” Felix said.

  “I know you don’t know me, and you might think this is weird, but I was wondering…do you want to dance?”

  “Oh…yeah…sure.”

  Felix and the girl went to the dance floor and they swayed together.

  “She’s cute,” I said.

  “She’s not my type,” Rica grumbled.

  “Are you okay?”

  “It’s all a lie, dances like these. You think you would have the perfect evening with the perfect someone, but that’s true for maybe one person in this whole room. No matter what happens, the night ends in disappointment because it never reaches your expectations.”

  “I don’t think that’s true.”

  “Really? So you’re telling me that you’re not disappointed that you’re not over there dancing with Ian?”

  “I am… but…”

  “See? Nights like these make women weak.”

  “I was going to say that I do wish that I could’ve had a night like this with Ian, but I didn’t need him to have fun. Tonight is not about that perfect someone. It’s about you, me, and the celebration of this crazy rollercoaster experience we call high school.”

  Rica smirked and said, “I wish I caught that on tape.”

  She started taking videos of the auditorium. She took shots of the stage, the tables, the ceiling. But when she turned to the dance floor, I noticed that she wasn’t looking at the video camera anymore. She was staring at Felix.

  “You know Rica…dancing with a boy doesn’t make you weak.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Rica looked at me like I said the craziest thing in the world. Then she put her video camera down. She stood up and said, “Stupid school dances.”

  She went straight to the girl that was dancing with Felix. The girl immediately backed off (I would too if I were in her place). Rica put her arms around Felix’s neck, and he put his arms around her waist. I snapped a Polaroid picture of them and inserted it in Rica’s camera bag. I had a feeling she might want a souvenir, even if she’ll never admit it.

  We didn’t even go to the school, and we were the last ones to leave.

  “Cheers to Madame Camille for a tremendous adventure!” Gabby exclaimed with her fake British accent.

  “Cheers!” Rica and Felix said.

  “Thanks you, guys. Oh, I almost forgot…I have this dance recital in a few weeks. It’s not a big deal or anything…I’m not sure if you guys even like ballet…”

  All of them said, “We’ll be there.”

  “Hey! We missed one. This star is blank,” Felix said.

  Rica grabbed some chalk lying on the side and wrote “INVINCIBLES” in huge block letters.

  We all walked down the “Walk of Fame” with our arms around each other’s shoulders. People may judge us and give us all sorts of labels. The It-Girl. The Jock. The Art Freak. The Smart-Ass. The Ballerina. But Ian was right—we are so much more than that.

  Looking forward to meet you,

  Camille

  Dear Future Partner,

  The rest of the tickets were still in my bag. I kept on putting off telling my family about the recital, and now it’s only a few days away.

  Things at home were better, but it wasn’t the same. My dad and I only talked out of necessity. Our longest conversation in weeks was about fixing the TV cable. I knew I had to tell them over dinner tonight.

  “So what is new with all of you?” Mom asked.

  “School, art class, nothing much,” Nikki said.<
br />
  “How about you, Camille?” Mom said.

  “Ballet!” I spat out. I really need to learn how to stop doing that.

  “Ballet? Are you practicing again?” Mom said.

  I nodded.

  “Wow. Isn’t that great, Henry?”

  Dad grunted.

  “Yeah…we actually have our recital this Saturday. I don’t have a big part, but I got tickets for the family…”

  “Of course, we’ll be there!” Mom said.

  “Yeah, seeing you in a tutu is always entertaining,” Nikki said.

  Dad didn’t take his eyes off his plate.

  “I have to go in for work that day.”

  “Henry, please…”

  “No, no, it’s okay, Mom. I’m only going to dance for a couple of minutes anyway.”

  But it wasn’t okay. I woke up in the middle of the night, and I knew it wasn’t okay. My dad never missed any of my recitals; and no matter what was going on between us now, I didn’t want him to miss this one.

  I snuck into my parents' room. Both of them were sound asleep. I placed a ticket to my recital on the dresser next to my dad’s side. I kissed him on the cheek before I crept out. I hope he sees the ticket. I really want him to be there.

  As I got back to bed, I scrolled down my messages until I saw Ian’s name.

  “Hey. If you’re not doing anything this Saturday, I have this dance recital…”

  I decided not to send it.

  Looking forward to meet you,

  Camille

  Dear Future Partner,

  There was one more person I wanted there for my recital. It was my first time in that part of town. I walked to the door, backed out, walked to the door, and backed out. This cycle lasted for a while before I finally decided to ring the doorbell. I didn’t know why I was so nervous.

  Annie opened the door.

  “Camille!”

  “Hi. Is my sister here?”

  “Yeah, she is. I’ll call her. Please come in.”

  I went inside, and the place was filled with cardboard boxes. All the furniture was wrapped in plastic.

  “Did you just move in?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. I’ve had this place for years. Sorry, it’s a mess, but make yourself comfortable. I’ll call Lea.”

  She went up the stairs, and I saw that there were suitcases tucked behind the staircase.

  “Camille, what are you doing here?”

  Lea came down, and she hugged me.

  “Mom told me where you were.”

  “Sit, sit. Don’t mind the plastic cover.”

  I sat down on one of the couches, and Lea grabbed a chair and sat in front of me.

  “So how are you?” she said.

  “I’ve been good. It’s been crazy with school and ballet lately.”

  “I bet. Annie actually danced in high school. I think you two would get along.”

  “Yeah…anyways, I have a recital thing; and I know you’ve been to tons before, but I’d really want you to come. Oh, I actually have an extra ticket so you can bring Annie if she wants to watch, too”

  I handed her the tickets.

  “Oh. I really want to go, Camille, but I can’t make it this Saturday. Annie and I are going to New York.”

  “Wow. When?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow!?”

  “Yeah, we’ve been thinking about it a lot, and we decided to finally go through with it. Annie is from there, so she knows how to get around. She is going to try and expand her fashion line there, and I might go back to school. I’m not sure…”

  “Until when are you going to be there?”

  Lea went on like she didn’t hear me.

  “We’re not going to live in the city per se, but I think it’s better that way. We can take a break from the crazy city life…”

  “When are you coming back?”

  “I don’t know,” she said quietly, and she bowed her head.

  “Do Mom and Dad know?”

  She shook her head.

  “Were you going to tell us?”

  Nothing.

  “Were you going to go without saying goodbye?”

  All she did was shrug. Lea couldn’t even look at me. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. I was mad. I was really mad. I was surprised at how mad I was.

  “Don’t you care about us anymore? Do you know how much hell you put us through? Do you know how much Nikki and I need you?”

  Her hands were trembling and she kept apologizing over and over again.

  “I’m so so sorry, Camille…I…I just can’t live a life where I feel guilty for loving.”

  We sat in silence for a long time. I didn’t know a lot about what was happening to Lea. I didn’t know what made her feel so guilty. I didn’t know why escaping was the solution. But I thought, sometimes you didn’t really have to know in order to understand. I knelt in front of her and held her hand.

  “Your little sister will always look out for you.”

  We didn’t talk about her leaving or New York for the rest of the visit. I had dinner with her and Annie. I had not felt that close to Lea in a long time. I didn’t want to think about the fact that this might be the last time I was going to see her for a while. I got to be with my big sister, and I made the most out of every minute.

  Looking forward to meet you,

  Camille

  Dear Future Partner,

  Some whole families are not that whole, and some broken families are not that broken. That was what went through my head when I looked out at the audience.

  “I heard it’s a full house,” Jenny said.

  “Seriously? This place is huge.”

  My heart was beating out of my chest. My leotards suddenly felt like they were too tight for my legs. The bobby pins in my hair felt that they were too loose. I knew I shouldn’t psych myself out, but I had to see how many people were out there.

  There was so much to take in. All my senses were processing a hundred things at the same time. I heard the murmurs of the people seated in the audience. I saw the lights illuminating the stage. I smelled the very strong and not-very-pleasant cologne of someone in the front row.

  Then I saw them—and nothing else mattered. They were all there: Nikki, Mom, Dad, and Lea. Lea was sitting beside Dad on the left and Annie was on her right. Behind them were Felix, Gabby, and Rica. The place didn’t seem so big anymore.

  Just when I was about to go on, I saw someone barge in through the doors. A security guard was running after him. It was Ian.

  He almost reached where my friends and family were when the guard grabbed his arm.

  Then my dad stood up and said, “Is there a problem?”

  “Nothing, sir. This boy snuck in here without a ticket. This section is strictly for family only.”

  “He’s with me. I’ll take care of it later.”

  The guard let Ian go. My dad went back to his seat and didn’t look at Ian.

  Before Ian sat down, he looked at exactly where I was standing. I saw him, and he saw me. He raised his fist, and I could see the letters “Invincibles” flash on his bracelet.

  “Ready,” he mouthed to me.

  I danced for a lot of people that night. I danced for my dad, my mom, my sisters—but most of all, I danced for myself. I felt truly, utterly, and completely invincible. What happened that night was magical.

  After the final number, I held Jenny’s hand as we took the final bow. When the curtains fell, we turned to each other and laughed at our faces with smudged mascara.

  “That could have been our last recital together,” I said.

  “Teacher Jessie is backstage crying with joy,” Jenny said.

  “Maybe, she’ll finally get committed dancers in the studio.”

  “Was that him in the audience?”

  I nodded, and Jenny practically pushed me off the stage. “What are you doing wasting all this time with me for? Go!”

  I ran down the steps, and my mom almost strangled me
with a hug. “I’m so proud of you,” she said. There was no need for a translation. I knew that she meant what she said. “Oh, Camille, your mascara is all over the place.” She meant that, too.

  “This was your least boring recital yet,” Nikki said. That was the highest praise you could get out of her.

  Lea gave me a hug, and I whispered, “What happened to New York?” She pulled away and shook her head. I squeezed her shoulders, and she said, “I’m looking out for you, too.”

  Once I thanked Annie for coming, I saw my dad waiting in the middle of the aisle. I did what I should have been doing my whole life. I walked up to him, gave him a hug, and said, “I love you.”

  Felix, Rica, Gabby, and Ian were standing near the exit. Felix and Gabby gave me their thumbs-up while Rica pointed to her video camera. “I got it all on tape!” she called out. I really wanted to talk to Ian.

  “Let’s go home and have dinner to celebrate,” my dad said. I think my dad saw me look at my friends, so he said sternly, “Family only.”

  Lea and Annie started to walk away when my dad said, “Lea, aren’t you joining us?”

  I think my mom’s jaw reached the floor. Annie said, “Go. I’ll be fine.”

  It was like nothing changed. Our dinner was like the thousands of family dinners I had sat in every night. My dad didn’t bring up Ian, Annie, or any of the chaos that went on the past few months. But I could tell he was happy. We all were.

  I guess my mom was right when she said that my dad needs time. My dad needed more time to accept what was going on with Lea. Nikki needed more time to get out of a toxic relationship. Ian needed more time to forgive himself. I need more time to figure out my future. I think it’s unfair to assume that everyone operates on the same timeline. From everything today, my dad was moving light-years per second. How could you not be grateful to have a dad like that?

  Looking forward to meet you,

  Camille

  Dear Future Partner,

  I’m the type of person who likes planning. When you have a plan, it says if you follow this one direction, everything’s going to be okay. The problem is life doesn’t have one direction. Sometimes, you never know where to go or even how far you’re going. Maybe instead of planning my life, it would be better to add life to my plan.