by Sara Leach
The girls moved into their circle. Melanie made a point of turning her back to Jasmine and Shira. Would she never give it up? Exactly what had Jasmine done to her? Nothing, other than being chosen by the teacher to play a role in the dance. How childish to be so jealous for so long. Jasmine looked away from Melanie. She didn’t want to give Melanie the satisfaction of knowing she was bothered by the nasty looks.
“We’re going back to the original idea of moving in a circle,” Miss Carina said.
“But that didn’t work!” Shira said.
“Shira!” Miss Carina screamed. “I have told you hundreds of times not to talk back. Show respect for your teacher!”
For the first time ever, Shira looked affected by Miss Carina’s words. Her face flushed and she shrank back, taking a step out of the circle.
Jasmine could understand why. Miss Carina’s whole body was rigid and leaning aggressively over Shira. Something inside Jasmine snapped and she said, “If you want respect, then why don’t you treat us with respect instead of yelling at us like we’re a bunch of dogs? In fact, I wouldn’t treat my dog the way you treat us!”
There was a collective gasp from the circle. Jasmine gulped. She stood frozen, horrified by what she’d said. Should she run away now?
Miss Carina stared at her with an open mouth. Jasmine waited for her to blow. Surely she was going to kick her off the team.
Miss Carina took a deep breath. Jasmine held hers. She could feel her cheeks burning. It looked as if her teacher was gearing up for the scream of a lifetime. But then Miss Carina let her breath out again. “Fine,” she said in a surprisingly calm voice. “If you think you can do a better job, you finish the dance.” And then she spun around, strode to her office and slammed the door.
There was a moment of stunned silence as the girls looked at each other. And then chaos erupted.
“Nice work, Jasmine. Now we only have two classes left, no dance and no teacher,” Melanie said.
“I can’t believe you said that to her!” Felicity said.
Darveet pressed her hand to her forehead. “What are we going to do?”
“Thanks for standing up for me,” Shira said. She squeezed Jasmine’s hand.
Chelsea clapped her hands in a way that sounded eerily like Miss Carina’s. “We need to get going on our routine. We’re running out of time. What should we do?”
“Let’s try the circle again,” Robyn said. “Miss Carina thought we could make it work.”
Chelsea nodded. “Okay. Everyone hold hands the way she showed us.”
They did as Chelsea told them.
“Now chassé to the right.”
They tried to chassé, but they had the same problem as before. They all banged into each other.
Robyn fell to the floor. “Shira, you pushed me!”
“No, I didn’t!” Shira said. “You banged into me and fell!”
Robyn got up and stood face to face with Shira. “Don’t stick your foot out so far!”
Chelsea clapped her hands. “Let’s try it again.”
“No!” Shira said. “This move doesn’t work.”
“Well, what else do you suggest?” Chelsea asked. “You some kind of choreographer or something?”
“I’m sure I can come up with something,” Shira said. “Who said you got to be in charge anyway?”
“Nobody did, but we need to figure it out,” Chelsea said. She looked at Jasmine and added, “Since you chased our teacher away.”
Jasmine stepped forward. “All I did was tell her what she needed to hear. She’s been treating us like dirt all week. Who can say they’ve enjoyed class?”
There was silence.
“And doesn’t anybody else care that our team has completely fallen apart?”
Again there was silence.
Finally, Robyn stepped forward. “I care. We used to like each other.”
Jasmine nodded. “Exactly. We used to work together. I used to love coming to dance. But for the last few weeks, the only reason I’ve come is so I could prove that I wasn’t going to quit.”
“It’s true,” Felicity said. “Class hasn’t been any fun lately. It’s all Miss Carina’s fault.”
“No, it isn’t,” Jasmine said. “It’s mostly our fault. We’re the ones who are being so awful to each other. We’re never going to beat InMotion if we can’t even get along as a team.”
“Or if our number isn’t finished,” Chelsea said. “Why don’t you finish it, if you’re so smart?”
So much for being a team, Jasmine thought. “Fine. I will.” She looked around the circle.
“What are you waiting for?” Chelsea asked. “Tell us what to do.”
“I’m thinking,” Jasmine said. “I need to know what to do first. Why don’t you all take a break? Have some water.”
“Yes, Miss Carina,” Darveet said. But at least she had a smile on her face and not a sneer.
Jasmine walked over to the corner and closed her eyes. She figured she had about two minutes to figure this out before she lost her chance and they started bickering again. Think. It needed to be something that was a celebration and not too hard for them to figure out in such a short time, but also something that would make them all feel like a team again.
She thought back to being a little kid, dancing with her friends. What had she loved about dance back then? Being with friends. Listening to music. Creating new steps.
When had she last loved dance? When she was goofing around with Will.
What if they all did whatever made them happiest? Someone could do a split leap. Someone else a pirouette.
Except this celebration was about everyone working together.
“I’ve got it!” Jasmine called.
The other members of the team were in the corner of the studio, stretching, talking or drinking from their water bottles. The whispering petered out as they looked over at her.
“Come get in line where we were after the triple pirouettes and axels,” Jasmine said. “Please.”
The girls stood up, put their bottles down and sauntered over. Jasmine was dying to tell them to hurry but decided to keep her mouth shut.
“This part of the dance is supposed to be a celebration, right?”
Chelsea nodded.
“I think when we celebrate we should do something that makes us feel good,” Jasmine said.
“Meaning what?” Robyn asked.
“Well, that’s just it. We probably all have a favorite move, right? I mean, Chelsea, you have the most amazing split leaps, and Shira, you used to be a gymnast and you can do side aerials.”
Both girls smiled.
“That’s what I mean!” Jasmine said, almost jumping up and down. “I want us all to do something that makes us happy!”
Chelsea and Shira looked at each other. They saw the grins on each other’s faces and burst out laughing.
“Everybody, think of one move you can do that makes you smile. It doesn’t have to be fancy or hard.”
There was a moment of silence as the girls thought, then an eruption of noise.
“Sissonne!”
“Chaînés!”
“Double pirouette.”
“Okay, okay!” Jasmine said. “I think you’ve all got the idea. The timing should work perfectly if we finish our axels, then move down the line, with everyone doing their move one after the other. As soon as you’re done, jazz-run behind the line and start a really big circle.”
The girls were all nodding, clearly liking the idea. Jasmine felt a shiver of excitement. They were working like a team again. Nobody was bickering. And it had all been her idea. If only Miss Carina were here to see it.
She counted them in. “Five, six, seven, eight.” Darveet, who was farthest left, started with a straddle j
ump. Jasmine was amazed at how high she could go. It looked like her legs were beside her ears.
As soon as she landed, Shira did an aerial. Then Felicity did a double pirouette, Chelsea a split leap, Robyn some chaînés. It was Jasmine’s turn. She leaped into the air, throwing her head back and tucking her legs behind her. She didn’t know what the move was called, but she’d been practicing it all her life, ever since she’d seen it done in The Lion King musical when she was five. She ran to her spot in the circle, followed by Melanie.
“That was so much fun!” Melanie said.
Felicity nodded. “I think we need to work on our timing, but this can definitely work.”
“Let’s try it with the music,” Jasmine said. “Let’s start with the axels this time.”
They ran back to their spots. Jasmine’s heart was pounding, but not from exertion. She was so excited. It felt like she was back in grade one, making up dances with her friends.
She found the right spot in the music and counted them in again. They did their pirouettes and axels, then began their celebration moves, as Jasmine had started calling them in her head. With the music, they were able to keep their timing. When Melanie arrived in the circle, Jasmine ran to turn off the music.
“Hey,” Chelsea called. “We’re only a few beats away from the layback.”
“Normally, we’re facing out before the layback,” Melanie said. “Should we turn around?”
Jasmine paused. Melanie was looking at her for direction. She took a deep breath. She didn’t want to wreck the moment. “No. But we need to do something for three counts before we walk together.”
“Let’s hold hands in the circle,” Shira said.
Robyn groaned. “Not that move again!”
Everybody laughed.
“Shira’s right,” Jasmine said. “We won’t go as close together as we did with Miss Carina. Take only one step forward.” Everybody did, making the circle a bit smaller. “Hold hands.” She was about to tell everyone to chassé in a circle but realized that that would really look like they were in baby ballet. There was a reason Miss Carina had told them to link arms behind each other, even if it hadn’t worked. They needed two beats of doing something with their arms linked.
“I need to listen to the music again,” Jasmine said. She let go of Melanie’s and Robyn’s hands and pressed Play. She listened hard to the words and the beat. “When we get to this circle, she’s talking about belonging. And the music slows down for a bit before it rises again on the layback.”
“Why don’t we sway?” Robyn suggested.
Swaying wasn’t very fancy. Jasmine was about to shoot down the idea. But then she remembered how everyone had given her a chance. Besides, swaying could look pretty. “Sure, let’s try it. Left first, for one count each.”
They grasped hands again and swayed left and right.
“That’s not bad,” Melanie said. “What if we exaggerate it a bit more, tip our heads to the side and fully transfer our weight?”
Jasmine nodded. She’d been thinking the same thing. For once, Melanie was working with the group. “Let’s try it again and go right into our layback.”
They did it again. Melanie was right. The swaying looked better that way. Jasmine stepped forward two steps and grasped Chelsea’s arm across the circle. They smiled at each other before leaning backward and making their sunflower shape.
Everyone came back up with no falls.
“We rock!” Shira said into the circle. The girls burst into laughter as they raised their arms and then fell onto the floor.
They jumped up and ran to their final pose. “It works!” Jasmine cried. “We’re finished!”
“Let’s run it from the top,” Chelsea said.
Jasmine nodded. When all the girls were in their opening spots, she started the music and sprinted for her place. They ran the whole number. It was strange doing it without Miss Carina calling instructions to them. They weren’t perfect, but they made it through the whole piece, including the new section Jasmine had choreographed, without any major problems.
“Yahoo!” Shira called as she got up from the floor. “That was awesome!”
Chelsea walked over to Jasmine. “Thanks. That was great.”
Jasmine smiled. “We’re a team again.”
Chelsea nodded. “And we’re gonna kick butt at finals!”
“But first we have to clean our dance,” Shira said. “How’re we going to do that without a teacher?”
The girls fell silent.
“You’re not.” Miss Carina strode into the middle of the room.
Chapter Ten
Jasmine gulped. Here it came. Miss Carina was going to yell at them again and change the whole thing.
The teacher looked straight at Jasmine. “That was good. Very good.”
Jasmine sucked in her breath.
“And I owe you an apology.”
Jasmine let her breath out in a gasp. Surely Miss Carina had never uttered those words before in her life.
“Sit down, girls. I’d like to talk to you.”
Miss Carina’s eyes looked puffy.
“I let the stress of preparing for competition get to me,” Miss Carina said. “That doesn’t excuse my behavior. I never should have yelled at you like that, Shira.”
Shira’s eyes were huge. “It’s okay.”
Miss Carina shook her head. “No, it isn’t. Jasmine was right. I should have treated you with respect.”
Nobody said anything.
“I was sure you would fall apart without me,” she said. “But you proved me wrong. You reminded me of why I teach dance in the first place.”
“What?” Jasmine asked.
“You mean pardon,” Miss Carina said.
Jasmine smiled. Miss Carina might treat them with respect now, but she was still strict. And a lot like her grandmother. “Pardon?”
“I teach dance because I love dance, and because of all the amazing students that walk through this door. You girls have so much talent and so much drive. You work hard every day that you’re here.”
Jasmine couldn’t believe she was hearing this from Miss Carina’s mouth. Their teacher had never given any indication in the past that she thought they were amazing. If she’d thought about it, Jasmine would have said that Miss Carina was a dance teacher for the money. But really, how much money could she make running the studio?
“I watched you run the dance just now. You’ve shown me exactly what this dance is supposed to be about. Coming together as friends.”
The girls looked at each other. Jasmine hadn’t thought of it that way. Obviously, none of the other girls had either.
“And you’ve also reminded me that there are more important things than beating InMotion.”
Shira shot her hand up.
“Yes, Shira,” Miss Carina said with a smile. “Thank you for raising your hand.”
“We’re glad to have you back. But there’s one thing.”
Jasmine’s face tensed. Was Shira going to ruin this moment?
Shira broke into a grin. “Beating InMotion might not be the most important thing, but we’re still gonna kick their butts!”
Everybody laughed, including Miss Carina. “Then let’s get to work. We’ve got one and a half classes left to get this dance in tip-top shape.”
Jasmine sat in the back of the car, fiddling with the zipper of her hoodie.
“Stop worrying,” Will said. He reached over and batted her hand away from the zipper.
“I’m nervous!” Jasmine said. “We’ve worked so hard. What if we fall apart up there?”
Her grandmother turned around in the front seat. “You not fall apart. You know all steps. Remember what we talk about. Be like your great-grandmother. Have so much fun onstage that you forget every
thing else.”
Jasmine nodded. She’d done it in practice. But could she do it onstage, in front of her friends and family? In front of a bunch of strangers? In front of the judges? What about her duet? What if she got stuck halfway through her back roll like she had in practice?
“Don’t worry about the judges,” Will said, as if he were reading her mind. “If you get nervous, look at me. I’ll make you smile.” He stuck out his tongue and squished his nose up with a finger so that Jasmine had a view up his nostrils.
She burst out laughing. “Don’t you dare do that while I’m dancing! Laughing onstage will definitely not help!”
“We’re here,” Jasmine’s mom said. She pulled into a parking spot and they all got out.
Jasmine grabbed her garment bag and cosmetic case out of the trunk and they walked into the front foyer of Centennial Theater. Dancers were milling about with their families. Jasmine couldn’t see anyone from Moondance. A line had formed at the table where entry tickets were being sold. A fluorescent yellow sign pointed to the dancer change rooms.
Jasmine’s mom leaned in to give her a kiss. “You’ll be great. Break a leg. And have fun!”
Her grandmother pecked her on the cheek. “Your great-grandmother would be proud of you.”
Will pulled the funny face again.
Jasmine smiled and gave him a high five. He caught her hand and held it.
“Don’t worry. The team is amazing. You are amazing.”
Jasmine’s cheeks flushed. “Thanks.” She tried to pull her hand away, but Will held on. He stepped closer to her, staring into her eyes. “Don’t worry about the judges. Imagine that it’s just you and me in the room.”
Now Jasmine’s whole body was flushed. Will released her hand and stepped away.
“See you later,” Jasmine squeaked. She spun around and pushed through the door to the change room. As she followed the yellow signs down a corridor, her mind spun. Did Will like her? Did she like him that way? Apparently she did, based on the lightning bugs zinging around in her stomach and the way her hand felt like it was on fire where he’d touched it. She was so lost in thought that she almost bumped into a group of girls huddled together, blocking the way.