Dance of a Lifetime

by Frank Downey

  "Hi, all," Warren took the mic. "I'm Warren Kelleher and this is Sophia Daniels. Amongst this crowd of World Medallists, we're the scrubs. I've known Jack for years, over the internet, when he was still a junior, and I was still a singles skater who didn't compete because he couldn't jump. We became good friends, though, which is why he asked Sophia and I to share this ice. And made us follow our idols, Anya and Gennadi, for which we will never forgive him." Jack cracked up laughing. "We were the silver medallists in Juniors this past year in Ice Dance. We'll be competing in the junior Grand Prix this fall, but, this year at Nationals, we'll be competing in seniors. Today, we've got our new senior free dance, and our exhibition. We are one of the few classic ballroom holdouts left in ice dancing today, and we swing dance as a hobby, so our free dance is to Glenn Miller. Our exhibition is something else entirely. We hope you like them."

  Sophia grabbed the mic. "Oh, and some people who don't know us well asked us last night if we were a couple off the ice as well as on. Well, if the exhibition leaves any doubt in anyone's mind, then we're not doing it right." She smiled at the laughter around the rink, then handed the mic back to Jack, as she and Warren took their starting position.

  They realized something right off. They needed an audience. Although they didn't consciously reach out to an audience-they focused on each other-the audience gave them strength. They had only done the Glenn Miller free in front of their small family group. There were a few hundred people watching them do it now, and it was damn near perfect. They flew around the ice, swinging and grooving. It was a crowd-pleasing program, they knew that, and even their competition-jaded skating friends responded to their unbridled enthusiasm and obvious skill. When they hit that final thirty seconds, they could sense their friends getting into it. Christine even let out a war whoop as Warren swung Sophia's hips back and forth.

  They hit their ending pose, and their friends erupted. It was very satisfying. "Hey, who choreographed that?" Gennadi yelled from beside the boards.

  "We did," Warren yelled back. "We do all our own choreography."

  "WHAT?" someone yelled from the stands. Gennadi looked stunned. "I think they like our choreography," a beaming Sophia whispered to an equally beaming Warren.

  As the skaters chattered about these two kids doing their own-great-choreography, Sophia and Warren worked themselves back to their starting positions for "You'll Be In My Heart."

  The music started, and so did they. On an occasion to celebrate love-their friend's wedding-they took their love for one another, and, in front of their friends, put it on vivid display. They wrapped themselves up in their love, in this music, in dancing with one another, and showed it to all that cared to watch. And it was magic.

  And, as they left the ice, they got two compliments that they would treasure forever, more than any medal they would ever win. The first was the sight, up in the stands, of their dear friend Liz Cushman having been moved to tears by their skating. The second, as they stepped off the ice, was Gennadi Boranachenko's words of quiet admiration: "Just like us. Exactly like us."

  Chapter 48 - Little Sister

  School had started. The good thing was that Warren was now with license and with car-his mom's old minivan, to be precise--so he didn't have to take the bus anymore. He drove in. With him was a friend, David Linnet.

  Warren had met David on the bus last year, and they had occasionally chatted on the phone or done something together. David was only a sophomore-and Warren a senior, now-but Warren never worried about stuff like that. He liked Dave. When he mentioned to Dave that he was going to be driving in, Dave asked if he could join him, offering to split the gas money. Dave hated the bus. Warren readily agreed.

  It was the second week of school. During the first week, Warren and Dave had started a little ritual-they made sure Warren picked Dave up early enough to swing to the Dunkin Donuts for some coffee. That's where they were headed now, when they saw two girls walking out of a side street.

  "Hey, it's my Pookie! I forgot, her car is in the shop this week. It's not a long walk, but let's pick them up anyway."

  "That's Sophia, I take it?" Dave asked.

  "Yeah, the one with the straight black hair." He pulled over, and leaned over Dave and yelled out the passenger side window-"Hey Gorgeous, need a ride?"

  Sophia looked up. "SNUGGLEBEAR!" she exclaimed happily, and ran over to the van. She pulled the sliding door open and climbed into the back seat, accompanied by Kate. "What a wonderful surprise, sweetie," Sophia said, kissing Warren on the cheek. "Hi Warren," added Kate.

  "Ladies, this is my co-pilot, Dave. Dave, this is my girlfriend Sophia, and her sister Kate."

  Dave shook both their hands. "Nice to meet you." Then he looked at them again. "Sisters?"

  Sophia laughed. They did not look like sisters. "Stepsisters, actually. Kate's Dad married my Mom this summer. But she's my sister, as far as we're concerned."

  "Cool," Dave said. "You guys go to Oceanview?"

  "Yeah. I'm a senior, and Kate's a freshman. And I know you go to St Mike's with Snugglebear over there."

  "Yeah, I'm a sophomore."

  "Hey, we were gonna get coffee," Warren interjected. "You ladies up for it?"

  "Sure." Sophia said.

  "Yeah", agreed Kate.

  They pulled into the parking lot, and all got out. They had enough time to go in and sit for a few minutes, so they did. Warren and Sophia got into a discussion about their first Grand Prix event, in Kiev in a couple weeks. David and Kate were both shy, so they spent a lot of time just kind of sitting there, stealing glances from one another.

  "Is Kate short for something?" David asked.

  "Katherine. With a K."

  "I always liked that name." Dave sipped his coffee. "Did you live in Oceanview before you moved into Sophia's house?"

  "Yeah. You?"

  "Yeah. I live up off of Lawrence Street, near Kingston Park."

  "That's not too far."

  Dave looked at the girl in front of her, and, he realized she was really cute. She had great eyes and a wonderful smile, and he liked her style. She was wearing a light blue long skirt and a dark blue shirt, had about thirteen bracelets on, and some sort of floral-design wire headband in her hair.

  Unbeknownst to him, Kate was looking at him with just as much interest.

  They repeated the same thing on Tuesday, except that Kate and Dave talked a little bit more. Dave found out that Kate liked basketball-and Kate found out that Dave not only liked it, he played it.

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. I was on the freshman team last year. I'm a guard."

  "Cool!"

  Kate noticed that Dave was always holding doors for her and stuff. She also noticed his warm smile. Dave, for his part, noticed her offbeat style and unique way of looking at things.

  Wednesday, they did the same thing. Kate was dressed in an ankle-length purple floral print dress, with a matching floppy purple knit hat with a pink flower on the front. Plus her customary bracelets. They were talking about basketball, and then started telling each other about school-he cracking her up with his imitations of some of his teachers, and her cracking him up with her witty observations about hers. Both shy, they both realized the other was really easy to talk to.

  At one point, Kate leaned over on the table, resting her chin on her hands, smiling. The image burned itself into his mind. When he got to school, he was still 20 minutes early, and went to find a corner where he would not be disturbed.

  Warren was in Sophia's room, that night, when Kate asked if she could come down.

  She plopped in a chair, and looked at the floor, kind of twirling her hair. Then she looked up at Warren and said, "Warren... tell me about Dave."

  Warren cracked up laughing. "Now, where have I heard that song before?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "'Hey, Warren, tell me about Kate.'"

  "Really?" Kate lit up in a big smile.

  "Really. What, you haven't noticed that he can't keep his
eyes off you?" Warren smiled at her. Kate blushed.

  "No, I don't think I noticed, because I was too busy not being able to keep my eyes off him."

  Sophia interjected, "I certainly noticed that!"

  "Well," Warren said, "This I'll tell you. He's a good kid. He's a bit of a loner, has his own attitude about things, doesn't make friends very easily. He got teased a lot on the bus last year, because he was always in a corner, lost in whatever he was doing."

  "Boy, does that sound familiar," Kate smiled.

  "I know. He's very gallant. We've talked about girls and stuff, and he's never had anything even remotely resembling a girlfriend. And he's got some definite ideas about how a guy should treat a lady, and knows that it would take a special girl to appreciate it. He's into chivalry."

  "Chivalry?"

  "Notice how he always opens the door for you? That kind of thing. He's also a sensitive soul. He's very gentle."

  "It almost sounds like your describing my dream date, Warren. I hate macho guys. I hate guys that have to show off. I hate guys that aren't sensitive. Now you've got me even more intrigued than I was previously."

  Warren just laughed. "I also happen to know that you guys have something very important in common, but you will just have to figure that one out yourselves. I didn't spill those particular beans to him, either."

  "Aw, come on!" Kate begged. But Warren wouldn't budge.

  Dave got in the van the next day and jumped into the back seat. "We're picking up the girls, right? I just thought you might appreciate having Sophia up front with you."

  Yeah, riiiiiiiiigggght, Warren thought to himself with a smile. All he said was, "Why thanks, Dave."

  They pulled up in front of Sophia's house, and the girls came running out. Sophia looked quizzically at the seating arrangements. "Dave just thought you should have your customary seat back, Pookie." Sophia just gave Warren a smile.

  Dave got out and opened the door for Kate. "Thank you, kind sir," she said with a giggle. The long wraparound skirt was red today, with a floral arrangement, as was the cotton shirt. The beret was black. Beret? Dave thought to himself. This girl has got style.

  They rode mostly in silence to the coffee shop, Dave and Kate sitting right close together. Dave was trying to work up his courage for something. They pulled into the coffee shop and decided to do the drive through today.

  On the way to Oceanview High, Dave finally screwed his courage on and reached into his bookbag. Kate, curious, watched him. He withdrew a piece of heavy paper and handed to her. "Here," he said, his voice a bit shaky. "This is for you. I did this yesterday morning."

  Kate looked at it. It was a pencil drawing. Of her. It was a very, very good pencil drawing of her, wearing the hat she had had on yesterday, resting her chin on her hands and smiling, bracelets running down her arm. She remembered sitting like that at one point yesterday. He did this from memory, she thought to herself, amazed. "KATHERINE" was written on the top. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. He made her look beautiful.

  "Wow," was all she trusted herself to say.

  "So, do you like it?" Dave asked hesitantly.

  "Like it? I love it! It's wonderful. I can't believe how good it is." She reached over and wrapped him in a hug, startling him. He recovered quickly enough and returned the hug. It felt very nice. "Thank you so much, this was unbelievably sweet," she whispered in his ear. They broke the hug and settled back in their seats, a little afraid to look at one another.

  "Well," Kate said after a minute, "now I know what Warren was talking about."

  "Huh?" said Dave.

  "He told me last night that you and I had something important in common, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. He said that we would have to discover what it was ourselves. Now I know." She pointed at the drawing, and then looked at Dave and smiled. "Mine's not drawing, so much, though-it's painting."

  "You paint?" Dave asked, delighted.

  "Oh boy does she paint," Warren interjected from the front seat.

  "Yeah, we have a Katherine Thompson original on my wall in my room, of us ice dancing," Sophia added. "It's stunning."

  Kate just blushed.

  "Wow," Dave said. "Another obsessed artist?"

  "Yup.

  " Do you know how many kids-especially girls-think I'm some sort of freak because I'm apt to go in a corner and ignore the world when I have an idea for a drawing?"

  Kate smiled. "Believe me, I completely understand. I locked myself in my room for a day and a half doing that painting for them." They both laughed.

  By that time, they had arrived at Oceanview High. Dave got out of the door and held it open for her. She looked at the drawing one more time, and tucked it into her bookbag. She smiled at Dave, leaned into his ear, and whispered, "Thank you again. I'll treasure it," and kissed him on the cheek.

  Dave got into the front seat, looking rather stunned, to Warren's great amusement.

  "Nice opening gambit, you romantic," Warren teased him.

  "Ah, shut up," Dave said, but he was smiling. "That wasn't really what it was. I saw her sitting there like that yesterday and I had to draw her. And when I was done with it, I had to give it to her."

  "Yeah, and tell me you weren't secretly hoping she'd react exactly the way she did."

  "There is that," Dave agreed. "And I didn't know she was a fellow artist, even. If she's an artist, she understood what that drawing meant to me, and what it meant to me to give it to her. Which is a little overwhelming, when I think about it."

  "Well, here's more overwhelming for you. Sophia's car gets fixed this weekend. Tomorrow is the last day for our little coffee klatch, unless we arrange to meet or something, but they won't be in the car with us."

  "So?"

  "So, if you want to ask Kate out on a date-which you do-tomorrow's the day to do it."

  "Oh God," Dave moaned.

  "Come on, Dave-you think she's going to say no?"

  "I don't know. You can never know. Dating is not my strong suit, Warren. I don't think I've ever had a real date."

  "Neither has she, Dave. She's as nervous as you are, trust me. Ask her. She's gonna say yes."

  "Hmmmmm."

  Dave didn't sleep much that night, thinking about it. When he got in the car, he jumped into the back seat. Sophia and Kate came into the car, and Dave got out and held the door for her. "Good morning, kind sir," she said to him with a warm smile. "Good morning, my lady Katherine," he said, surprising himself. Kate just giggled.

  They got to the coffee shop and pulled into a space. "I'll go fetch it. Hey, Soph, come with?" Warren shot her a look, which she caught, and said, "Sure, sweetie, you can borrow me."

  Thanks, Warren, Dave thought to himself. Thanks a whole hell of a lot. Oh, well, if I'm gonna do it, now's the time.

  "Katherine?"

  She giggled. "Nobody calls me that. I like it when you call me that."

  Dave smiled. "You look more like a Katherine to me. Listen, I was wondering. Next Friday night, would you like to go out with me? We can grab supper, and then walk down to the movie theatre and see what's playing." There. He said it. And was afraid to look at her.

  She was smiling. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot." She reached into her bookbag and tore out a small piece of paper, and grabbed a pen. "Here. Here's my phone number. Call me?"

  "I'd like that myself." He smiled.

  Warren and Sophia got back in, and noticed Kate and Dave looking at each other and grinning. The guys dropped the girls off, and Dave opened the door, as always, and Kate gave him another kiss on the cheek.

  "Will you be home tonight?" he asked her.

  "Yes."

  "Can I call you."

  "Yes." Smiling, she walked off with Sophia.

  At the same time that Dave was telling Warren "SHE SAID YES!", Kate was telling Sophia, "HE ASKED ME ON A DATE!!!!"

  They talked on the phone almost every night for the next week, just getting to know one another, and t
hey found it easier and easier to talk, much to their delight. And Kate realized he was something special when they talked on the phone-or, rather, didn't talk on the phone-on Tuesday. The phone had rung, and she had picked it up, and heard his voice on the other end. And she said, more exasperated than she meant, "Hi, Dave, I'm right in the middle of a canvas."

  "Understood," he said, and she could hear the warmth in his voice. "I'll talk to you later, then. Good night, my lady Katherine."

  "Good Night, sir David," she giggled. And hung up the phone. And looked at it, amazed. He understood.

  He really understood. She shook her head in wonder.

  And went back to her canvas.

  Friday came, and Dave went to pick Kate up. One of the good things about Oceanview's downtown area is that lots of stuff to do was in walking distance-perfect for a date between two young kids that didn't have driver's licenses. Dan gave Dave a bit of the third degree, but it was relatively painless-Warren having already told Dan that Dave was a good kid. They discovered they both loved Chinese, so they went to the Chinese place downtown for supper. They found that the week of phone conversations had burned off a lot of their shyness-at least with each other-and they talked happily and easily. They talked about art, painting, what it was like to be a bit of a misfit, basketball, lots of things. Kate told him about Warren and Sophia, who were in Kiev, Ukraine competing and were in first place after the original dance. They talked about their families. Kate even told him about her mother. It was so easy to talk to him. He felt the same way.

  They walked to the movie theater, hand-in-hand, and found a sweet romantic comedy to watch. They both enjoyed it-Dave bought her popcorn-and had a good time. He opened every door all night, and he took her hand in his again for the walk home.