Stepping Up

by Maggie M. Larche

  “It is the first snow in forever,” said Rita. “And who knows when it’ll happen again?”

  “I’ve never even made a snow angel,” said Pam. “Or a snowman.”

  “Or a snow woman,” said Mary. The girls giggled.

  “Oh, my gosh,” said Jenna. She’d just spotted the clipboard. A family left it sitting on a bench as they gathered their belongings to leave. “There it is. The signup list.” The family walked away, but Jenna couldn’t move. That list would make or break her dreams of continuing to dance. What if there weren’t any names on it? She’d never be able to pay her tuition bill.

  Rita took one look at Jenna’s face. She stood up and went to get the list herself. She retrieved the clipboard and walked back to them slowly. She stared down at the paper.

  Jenna tried to read her expression but couldn’t. “What? What does it say?” She closed her eyes tightly. “Just tell me. I can take it.”

  “Jenna,” said Rita. Jenna cracked one eye open. Rita grinned. “You’ve got some names. You’ve got a lot of names.” She turned the list around, and all the girls gasped. The page was filled!

  Jenna jumped to her feet and grabbed the clipboard. “Woohoo!” she shouted. “We did it!”

  At least twenty kids signed up to start dance lessons. She’d be able to make her tuition payment, be able to keep dancing, even be able to keep up her competition with Moira. It was everything she’d hoped for.

  Chapter 13

  The remainder of the afternoon passed in a whirlwind. The girls donned their warmest coats and rain boots and headed out into the snow.

  Jenna fashioned the biggest snowman she could manage, though she found it to be harder than it looked in cartoons. Packing all that snow made her fingers tingle, and the middle ball of the snowman turned out to be too heavy to lift.

  “I’ll just make him lie down,” she mused. She figured the snowman had earned some time off just like the rest of them.

  Later, Jenna and her friends challenged Steven and Edward to a snowball fight, which turned into an all-out war.

  By the early evening, Jenna was numb in her toes, had snow down the collar of her shirt, and felt like she couldn’t take another step.

  She collapsed into bed that night, fully expecting to pass out from exhaustion. But for some reason, sleep eluded her.

  It had been quite a day, from her first panicked discovery of the snow to the final triumph at the recital. Everything had ended well. So why did she feel so unsettled?

  Jenna thought that she would feel light and carefree with the weight of her dance tuition finally off her back. With all the kids who signed up, Jenna would earn enough from the next week’s lessons to make her tuition bill, and then she could begin to save for future payments. At this rate, she could stay in dance by paying her own way even if it took months for her dad to find a new job.

  But somehow, the thought of dancing wasn’t enough to excite her like it usually did. She was preoccupied, thinking of all the people who helped her to this point.

  She’d come a long way from the girl who was too embarrassed to tell her friends about her dad’s layoff. Thank goodness she finally put her shame aside and enlisted their help. She knew the recital never could have happened without them.

  She shifted onto her side and thought back over the sacrifices her friends made for her. She thought of the hours Pam spent working with the little girls. Of Mary and Rita tromping through the snow to find an audience for the recital. Of her brother and Edward dragging kids in the wagon. Her parents, bringing the hot chocolate without being asked.

  They all did it for her, so she could continue with Step It Up. Even Moira helped out. She never realized that she was surrounded by such generous people.

  But what about me? Have I been as good to my friends as they deserve?

  Finally, she drifted off into a fitful sleep, the beginnings of a plan forming in her brain.

  ***

  When Jenna’s family returned from church the next morning, Jenna put her plan into motion. First, she texted all her friends and asked them to come over after lunch. Once she’d received affirmatives from each one, she moved on to the next step in her scheme.

  In her room, Jenna pulled out the envelope with her earnings and the big red thermometer that Rita drew for her. The thermometer stayed stuck on $37.00, the sum of her starting balance and the $20 she earned from Mrs. Ryley.

  Slipping open the envelope, she pulled out a few bills. Then she went to her brother’s room and knocked on the door.

  It swung open a crack.

  “Oh, no, you don’t have more work for me to do, do you?” Steven rubbed his shoulders. “I can’t take it.”

  “Stop it. I’m not here to make you work. Again.”

  Steven pulled the door open wider. “In that case, you can come in.”

  “I’ve got something for you.” She held out $20, all the earnings she received from lessons with the Ryley girls.

  “Whoa. What’s that for?”

  “For all the help yesterday.”

  “Really? Don’t get me wrong. I’d be happy to take your money. But we told you we’d do it for free. What gives?”

  Jenna sat down on Steven’s bed. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’ve been a lot better about Dad losing his job than I have. Buying dinner and being supportive and all that… I should have been that way, too.”

  Steven puffed his chest out. “It’s because I’m the wise older brother.”

  “Spare me. Just take the money, ok? Before I change my mind.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice. Edward’s going to be mad at me, though.”

  Jenna suddenly felt very self-conscious. “Why?”

  Steven gave her a look. “You know why. He’s got a thing for you.”

  Jenna grinned. “He does?”

  “Gross. Get out.”

  “Ok, ok. Just make sure you share that with him, ok?”

  “Share the money? Or share that you love him?”

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  “Just don’t kiss him, ok? That’s too much. It’ll make me puke.”

  Jenna’s face turned bright red. “Seriously going to kill you,” she muttered. She stalked out of the room. “Don’t you dare say a thing!” she said over her shoulder before she escaped down the hall.

  Next, she searched out her dad, eventually finding him in the garage. He was tinkering with his old two-speed bicycle.

  “Hey, pumpkin,” he said when he saw her.

  “Hi, Dad. Whatcha doing?”

  “I’m fixing up my bike. I thought with all this time on my hands, I might try to get in a little exercise.” He patted the seat. “But this baby hasn’t been out in a while. It needs some TLC.”

  Jenna perched on the edge of the workbench and watched him. “Listen, Dad, there’s something I want to tell you.”

  He squeezed the handbrakes and checked the brake pads. “What’s that?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He looked up in surprise. “For what?”

  Jenna took a deep breath. “When you lost your job, I wasn’t exactly supportive. I was mad that I had to quit dancing, and I only thought about myself.”

  “Oh, honey.” Her father stood and wrapped his daughter in a hug. “It wasn’t all that bad.”

  “Yes, it was. I was the worst, and I’m sorry.”

  Her dad kissed the top of her head. “No problem, honey. We all have times when we’re not at our best. I hate that I failed you guys with my job, but –”

  Jenna broke in. “You haven’t failed us in anything. After all, this was a chance for me and Steven to step up ourselves.”

  “Which you did beautifully.”

  “With a whole lot of help.”

  “Hey, now. That’s not a bad thing. Helping each other is what we do.”

  When Jenna finished her conversation with her dad, she threw on a coat and boots and crunched through the snow to Step It Up. Although there were no classes on Sunday
s, she knew that Ms. Colette went in to the dance school almost every day.

  Jenna was pleased to see her teacher’s car out front.

  “Ms. Colette?” she called as she knocked on the front door. “It’s Jenna Marlow.”

  Seconds later the door opened, and Ms. Colette stuck her head out.

  “Goodness, Jenna, come in out of the cold. What can I do for you?”

  “Thanks,” said Jenna, savoring the warmth of the dance school. “I wanted to talk to you without the other students around. It’ll just take a second.”

  Ms. Colette looked concerned. “Sure. What is it?”

  Jenna took a deep breath. “My dad lost his job a few weeks ago. We can’t afford to pay for all of my lessons anymore.”

  “Oh, dear, I am sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s ok,” said Jenna, surprised to find that she actually meant it. “We’ll be fine. I just wanted to ask you if I could cut back my classes to just one until he finds work again.”

  Ms. Colette gestured for Jenna to join her on the entryway bench. “Jenna, of course you can cut back classes, if you wish. But I think we could work out a reduced tuition rate until your family is back on its feet. You’re one of my best students.”

  Jenna would have loved to hear those words a few short weeks ago, but now she found that she didn’t want the special treatment. “Thanks, Ms. Colette. Really. But I think I’d rather pay the same tuition rate as everyone else.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She stood. “Thanks, Ms. Colette. You’re a great teacher. I’m going to model my own classes on yours.”

  Her teacher stood to hug Jenna. “Thanks, dear. Go make me proud with those students of yours.”

  “I will.”

  Jenna walked home with a light heart, occasionally jumping into the drifts of snow that were just beginning to show signs of slush. Now for the final phase of her plan.

  ***

  When her friends arrived at her house an hour later, she brought them all to her room.

  “I can’t believe the snow’s already starting to melt,” complained Mary. “We didn’t even get a day off from school!”

  “We knew it wouldn’t last,” said Rita. “It’s a shame though.”

  Jenna looked around at her friends. Time to match their generosity with some of her own.

  “Thanks for coming, guys,” she said.

  “You sounded so serious in your text,” said Mary.

  “Everything ok?” said Pam.

  “Everything’s better than ok. Listen, first I want to thank you guys for all your help with the recital.”

  “Not this again,” said Rita. “We told you, it’s fine.”

  “I know you did. But I want to really thank you.” She paused for dramatic effect. “After all your help and hard work, I’d like to invite you to be my partners in the BFF School of Dance.”

  “BFF School of Dance?” Pam asked. “What’s that?”

  “It’s my dance school. And I want you guys all to be a part of it. Pam, you can help me teach, just like you’ve been doing. Rita, since you’re so organized, you can handle the bookkeeping stuff. Make sure kids have paid and that sort of thing. And Mary, you can be in charge of recruitment. We’ll split the money four ways.” She looked around the room. “Well?”

  Her friends were silent.

  “But what about your dance tuition?” asked Mary finally. “Wasn’t that the point of all of this?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” said Jenna. “And it seems kind of selfish of me to spend all that money on dance when my family could probably use the extra help right now. Plus, I want you guys to be a part of this as well. You helped build the dance school, so you should have some of the benefits.

  “I’ll just cut back on my Step It Up classes for a little bit. I don’t really need to do four classes at a time, although I’m not going to quit completely.” She thought of Moira’s admission that Jenna helped keep her sharp. “After all, I can’t let Moira completely take over. But that will cut my dance bill by a lot, and I can always add classes back when Dad gets a new job.

  “Plus we can all do this together. Wouldn’t it be fun to run our very own business?”

  Jenna felt a little nervous at the way her friends stayed silent. “What do you say?” she finally asked.

  Pam, Mary, and Rita all looked at one another. Jenna sensed an unspoken communication sweeping through the group. She bit her lip as she waited for their answers.

  Rita was the first to speak. “I say – I’m in!”

  Mary spoke up next, “Me too!”

  Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. “Pam?”

  Pam’s eyes shone. “What can I say? I love working with those kids. I’m in!”

  Chapter 14

  Three months later, Jenna hung her dance bag up at the door. She checked her phone. One message from Rita.

  Remind Sarah to pay her tuition today. Everyone else is up to date.

  Will do, texted Jenna.

  She stretched her arms above her head. It had been a great class at Step It Up. She was down to only one a week, but that one session served as stress relief and workout all in one. It was also the center of her rivalry with Moira, a rivalry that was much friendlier than it used to be, but still there all the same.

  The BFF lessons were going well. Thirty-two kids currently were enrolled, including some students who were even old enough to take classes at Step It Up. The BFF School had emerged as the low-cost alternative to a formal dance school, and, after worrying about tuition for all those weeks, Jenna could understand why.

  Interest was so high now that Jenna was considering adding another class, and she hoped to talk Moira into teaching it. She knew Moira’s excellent dance skills would translate well to the more advanced students.

  Moira and Jenna had forged an unlikely friendship since the recital, though they solidified it on the day of the final bridge testing in Shop class.

  After dramatically redesigning the bridge – and shortening it, just as Moira had suggested – the girls managed to build a structure that held up to several weights. Although they hadn’t built the best or strongest bridge in the class – that honor went to Mary and Brandon – theirs was far from the worst. Jenna and Moira celebrated their rise from last place after school when Jenna spent some of her precious dance money on two milkshakes. Over their desserts, they discovered a shared love of Eleanor Finley, something that had never come out in all their years of bickering together.

  ***

  That afternoon, Jenna found her parents in the kitchen.

  “Hey, darlin’,” said her mother. “Good class?”

  “The best. You should see Pam. She is so much better now.”

  “I could believe that,” said her mother. “There’s nothing like teaching to make you better at something yourself.”

  “That’s the truth,” said her dad. He looked trim and healthy from his months of bike riding. “Now, who wants some sparkling grape juice?”

  “Huh?” asked Jenna. “Seems fancy.”

  “You bet it’s fancy. We’re celebrating.”

  Jenna caught her breath. “Celebrating? Celebrating what?”

  “Dad’s new job,” said Steven, walking into the room. “Duh.”

  “You got a job!” Jenna ran to her dad with a big hug. “I knew you could do it.”

  “Thanks, sweetie,” he said, lifting her off her feet. “I got the news this afternoon. You’re looking at the new chief engineer at Bard Designs.”

  “Chief engineer. As in, in charge?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s awesome.”

  “And you both will be glad to hear that we can add back in some extracurriculars,” said Jenna’s mother, placing a bowl of spaghetti in the middle of the table.

  “You mean I can take more classes at Step It Up again?”

  “And you’ll pay for my karate again?” Steven sighed. “Finally. I’m ready to send Y.M.A.W. the way of the d
inosaur. I have walked enough dogs and cut enough grass to last a lifetime. Or at least a few months.” He frowned. “And people still keep calling us yu-maw.” He glared at Jenna. “I wonder where that came from.”

  Jenna laughed. “Well, I doubt Edward will mind. He told me he never wants to scoop poop again.”

  “Enough of that,” said Steven. “If you have to talk to him without me – fine. But I don’t need to hear about it.”

  “But I just said –”

  He held his finger to his mouth. “No talking.”

  “What about you, Jenna?” asked her mother, changing the subject. “Will you keep up the BFF School?”

  Jenna thought of the teamwork of her friends and of all the kids they were introducing to dance. She thought of Pam’s growing proficiency, and her own pride in running her own business.

  Jenna smiled. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

  Stepping Up is the third in the True Girls series, stories of girls with heart and intelligence, with just a touch of romance!

  Did you enjoy Jenna’s story? Then please go online with a parent and leave a review!

  Reviews help other kids know which books to try. Tell the world why you liked Stepping Up and earn a BIG thank you from Maggie M. Larche!

  HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW

  If you need a little help, here are some questions you can answer in your review. I can’t wait to read your answers!

  1. What did you like about the book?

  2. Did you have a favorite character? Why were they your favorite?

  3. How would you describe the book? Was it funny? Inspiring? Silly? Exciting?

  4. Who would you recommend the book for?

  Next, read on to find more books in the True Girls series!