“You lock your bike up in the garage at night, right?” I said, trying to sound casual.
“Not usually,” Leah said. “I just leave it in the backyard, inside the gate. Why?”
I hesitated. “Oh, I was just wondering if maybe some kids were out goofing around and thought it would be cool to mess with your bike.” I sounded pretty lame, even to myself.
Leah looked at me sharply. “Kids?” she said. “Or some of your dance team vandals?”
Her voice rose. “You think someone did this deliberately?”
Olivia and I exchanged glances. “No,” I said slowly. “I honestly can’t imagine anyone doing something like this. You could have been really hurt!”
“Did you get hurt?” Olivia asked. “Did you skin your knees, pull any muscles?”
Leah shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said shortly. “But if I find out anyone did this on purpose …”
I was quiet for a minute. “Do you still want to go for a ride?” I asked. “We could do something else if you want. Or we could just go home…”
“No!” Leah said. “Don’t go home. Probably I just bumped the brake release when I was fixing my seat. I can’t believe it could have happened any other way. I’m not hurt, and I don’t want to spoil our afternoon. We don’t get to see each other enough, Izzy. I really don’t want this whole dance competition to wreck things!”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t want the competition to wreck things either. For the rest of the day, we didn’t say another word about dance team.
B
efore I knew it, regionals weekend had arrived! Dad drove Olivia and me to Austin early Saturday morning. Olivia’s parents would bring Mom over later in the afternoon, to see our performance.
“I’m so nervous I could barely eat breakfast,” Olivia said as we picked her up.
“Me too,” I said. “Do you think Cate and Trez and Camilla still get butterflies?”
“Probably,” Olivia said. “Just maybe not as bad.” She held up her hands. “What do you think of my manicure?”
“Whew! For a minute I thought you’d gotten color. Camilla would’ve killed you if you had!”
Olivia tossed her head. “I’m nervous, not crazy,” she said. “I know we need naked nails for performance. And I like French manicures better than color anyhow.”
I did too. But I’d done my own nails, using my palest neutral polish. Camilla was a stickler about us not having clashing colors during performances.
“Can you believe we’re really going to regionals?” I asked. “It doesn’t seem real. Wasn’t it, like, yesterday that we were auditioning for the team?”
“I was just about as nervous then,” Olivia giggled. “Think how far we’ve come, Izzy! It’s not just your pirouettes that have improved. Everything about you as a dancer is more polished and, well, just better than last fall.”
That was true. I was a much better dancer than I’d been six months before. But in the weeks before regionals, I’d been so worried about the whole Camilla-Leah thing, I hadn’t really been thinking about my own dancing. I felt a spurt of anger. It wasn’t fair, having my first time at a big competition spoiled! I wished I could enjoy the day without having to worry about what Camilla might or might not be planning for Leah, or about whether Leah and I would still be friends at the end!
“Thanks, Olivia,” I said. “You’ve gotten a lot better too. Of course, you were always a better dancer than I am!”
Before we knew it, Dad was pulling up to the campus where regionals was being held.
“Break a leg, girls!” Dad said cheerily as he dropped us off at the big university field house. I’ve never liked that expression, but my dad used to be in plays in college, and there’s no stopping him from saying it.
“You bet, Mr. Coleman,” Olivia answered. She thinks he’s funny—but then, he’s not her father.
“Thanks for the ride, Dad,” I said. I leaned in the car window and gave him a quick kiss. “And if there are any broken legs, I’m holding you responsible!”
T
hings were crazy inside the field house. We found Southside’s designated corner of the dressing room and dumped our stuff. Every girl was responsible for her own outfit and makeup, and Ms. Geiger was there to be sure nobody had forgotten anything.
“Olivia, Izzy,” Ms. Geiger said, checking off her clipboard. “Leggings, tunic, headband, shoes. Here —you each get a wristlet to match the headband. Put it with the rest of your costume on the rack over there. And you’re good with makeup?”
We were. We hung up our outfits and then squeezed onto the bench in front of the long mirrors. Everything seemed too real as we put on our eyeliner, mascara, blush, lip gloss, and sparkly turquoise eye shadow to match our tunics.
I liked the new regionals outfit almost as much as the black-and-yellow halftime clothes. We wore tight black leggings, soft black ballet slippers, and flowing electric turquoise tunics. Judges at regionals don’t like anything too sexy, but the tunic’s dipping neckline and fitted waist added a touch of flashiness.
“Okay, now I’m officially nervous,” Olivia announced. “Is it too late to drop out?”
Trez was sitting next to her. “You’ll be fine, Olivia,” she laughed. “You look gorgeous! And once you get onstage and hear the music, everything will fall into place.”
“Do you promise?” I asked, smoothing my eye shadow.
“I promise,” said Camilla, coming up behind us. “This is what we’ve been working for all year! A little bit of nerves is a good thing. You need that extra adrenaline!”
She actually gave Olivia and me quick hugs. I guess Camilla knew that for performance day, encouragement was better than criticism.
“Izzy!” I turned to see Leah hurrying towards me. “I’m glad I found you! I wanted to say good luck at your first regionals!” She dropped her dance bag on the bench next to me and gave me a huge hug. “Ooh—I like your eyeshadow!”
Camilla smiled at Leah and me. “Do you want to show Leah your costume, Izzy?” she asked.
“Sure!” I said, a little surprised. Usually Camilla’s so top secret about anything involving regionals. But I guess by that point, it was too late for secrets.
“Thanks, Camilla,” Leah said. “That’s nice of you.”
As Leah oohed over the slinky, glittery turquoise tunic and shiny black leggings, I glanced back at Camilla. She was hovering over Leah’s dance bag. Wait—was she actually fiddling with it? In the crowded dressing room, I couldn’t be sure.
Camilla picked up my bag, then Olivia’s, and moved them so that she’d have room on the bench to sit and apply her makeup. Maybe my suspicions were getting the best of me, I thought. Camilla probably just moved Leah’s bag for the same reason.
“Okay, Izzy, I’ve got to get ready myself,” Leah said. “What was it your dad always used to tell me? Break a leg!”
We both laughed. Seeing Leah calmed me down. I’d watched her perform so many times that talking to her for a bit made everything seem almost normal.
Camilla watched Leah leave. Then I saw her give Amelia a tiny, secret little thumbs-up sign. What was going on?
I didn’t have much time to wonder. “Somebody, help!” Olivia wailed. “My hair’s so frizzy! I can’t get my ponytail right!”
“Can you help her, Izzy?” Camilla said. “You’re always so good with hair.”
Flattered, I turned my attention to Olivia. Since I keep my hair short, I don’t need to spend much time getting it ready. Throughout the season, I’d helped Olivia and Cate get their ponytails sleek and smooth. But I never knew Camilla had noticed.
“Relax, Olivia,” I said soothingly. “You just need more hairspray. Here—let me!”
When I was finished, Jaci asked me to do her hair too. In the rush of helping the other girls and finishing my makeup, I forgot all about the dance bags. I just wanted our squad to be perfect for regionals!
I
don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous as I
was while we got into position and waited for the judges to give us the go-ahead sign. Waiting is the worst!
But Trez was right. Once the music started and we started dancing, it was great! We had chosen a sassy jazz routine with lots of big leaps and flashy turns. We started out in a single straight line, with our backs to the audience, tapping our toes back and forth to the music’s beat. Then we turned to face the crowd, three at a time, in perfect synchronization. After that, we moved into our opening formation.
The crowd loved our routine. It gave us lots of cheering support as we moved from one formation to another. And we deserved it, if I do say so myself! We were tight and in sync, and our energy levels were out of this world. Everyone hit their turns, our leaps were huge, and we didn’t have to pretend-act to get our excitement across to the audience.
By the time we hit our final turn combination, people in the audience were flashing their own jazz hands back at us.
Afterwards, we all clustered around, congratulating each other. Even Camilla was beaming. “That was the best ever,” she said, throwing her arms around whoever she could find. “You guys are stellar!”
Once we were finished, we could relax and watch the other routines. Some good teams had shown up to compete, but I didn’t think any of them performed as well as we did. I was feeling pretty excited about our chances of winning—until Northside came up. They were the last team to perform, and they were good. Really, really good. Maybe not better than we were—but close.
Everyone from Southside got quiet as we watched them. The Northside girls were dressed all in black. They performed a hip-hop number that was as fast and edgy as it was fun to watch.
Hip-hop isn’t as technically difficult as jazz. It’s more about style and keeping the audience entertained. But Northside totally nailed its number. The dancers stayed close to the ground and hit their tricks hard and fast. They moved effortlessly from windmills to hand-stalls to kip-ups, and their freezes were textbook perfect. The crowd went wild. It was pretty clear that the real competition was going to be between us and Northside.
The girls from Northside were just taking their bows when I saw Camilla slip away from the group. I didn’t think anything about it—she probably just had to go to the bathroom. But then I saw her talking to one of the officials. The two of them headed toward the dressing room.
And then everything blew up.
N
orthside’s team had barely made it off the stage when one of the judges announced that there was a problem. Final scores would be delayed. We were to return to the changing area and wait for further instructions.
“What’s going on?” hissed Olivia as we were herded back to the dressing room.
“I have no idea!” I said. “Something bad, that’s for sure!”
My heart sank when we went into the dressing room. Leah was arguing with two of the judges, tears streaming down her face. One of the judges was holding Leah’s dance bag. He had something in his hand—it looked like a pill bottle.
Pretty soon we heard the official explanation. Performance-enhancing drugs had been found in Leah’s dance bag. Instant grounds for disqualification.
The room buzzed with talk following the announcement. I searched the crowd for Camilla. Sure enough, she was standing by an official, the same one she’d gone to talk to in the auditorium. Her face didn’t give anything away. But I knew what had happened. I just knew. And when Camilla came back to our group, I lit into her.
“Camilla! Did you put those pills in Leah’s dance bag? I saw you fiddling with it when I was showing Leah my costume!”
The team was shocked into silence.
“Izzy!” Olivia whispered. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Camilla playing dirty tricks to get Leah disqualified!”
I was sure I was right. Words tumbled out of me. The escalator, the breakfast at Pancake Corral, the graffiti, the bike brakes—all the ways I was sure Camilla and her friends had been trying to get Leah out of competition.
Camilla let me finish. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Izzy,” she said. “Honestly, you sound a little crazy. I’m sorry your precious friend Leah isn’t so perfect. But there’s no reason to blame me because Leah takes drugs.”
The other girls looked shocked.
“Izzy?” Cate said. “Camilla’s right. This does sound a little … far-fetched.”
“But it’s true!” I insisted. “Camilla wanted me to make it so Leah couldn’t compete. She was willing to hurt Leah to win regionals. I’m going to tell Ms. Geiger!”
Even Olivia looked troubled. “But Izzy, you don’t have any proof! You’re just going to stir up trouble and make everything worse. We need this win! Our whole team might be lost without it!”
I looked at the rest of the dance team. I could tell that nobody believed me. And really, why would they have? I didn’t have any proof.
But I didn’t care. Even if I couldn’t get anyone else to believe me, not even Olivia, I owed it to Leah to try to set things straight. I knew—with no doubt—that Leah would never use illegal drugs.
So I marched over to Ms. Geiger and spilled out everything. First, she looked confused. Then she looked concerned. Then she looked sad and grim.
Things happened pretty fast after that. Officials and team advisers went team by team, searching bags and backpacks for drugs or other “incriminating evidence.”
And they found it. Camilla had an identical bottle of pills in her backpack. At first, she denied knowing anything about the drugs.
“They must have been planted!” Camilla spat. “Probably by Leah Velasco!”
“Well, Camilla,” said Ms. Geiger. “You got the steroids for something. If they weren’t to plant on Leah, were they for your personal use?”
Camilla drew herself up proudly. “No! I don’t need steroids. I’m a dancer! I don’t abuse my body! I work for what I do!”
And then she broke down and owned up to everything. The mall, the graffiti, even the bike brakes. When none of those worked, she got her cousin Alex to use his connections to get some steroids for her. The idea was that Camilla would slip one bottle into Leah’s dance bag and one bottle into her backpack. But in the end, she was only able to get the pills into the dance bag. She held onto the second bottle as insurance, in case she could sneak it into the backpack later.
Camilla’s confession was enough. Southside was disqualified from the competition, and Northside was awarded first prize at regionals for their fourth year running.
“The sad thing is that you girls had a really good chance of winning this year,” Ms. Geiger told us. “I don’t know what the final decision would have been, but I’ve been to enough competitions to know that you and Northside were neck and neck.”
She sighed. “But the worst part, of course, is what Camilla felt driven to do. Trust me, I know how hard she’s worked for dance team these past four years. It’s just a terrible, terrible shame that she couldn’t trust your skill, your determination, and your hard work to win the trophy.”
And that was how regionals ended for us.
W
e were a pretty subdued group as we changed out of our regionals outfits and gathered up our dance bags. The rest of the team seemed to be avoiding my eyes. Even Olivia didn’t seem to know what to say.
Leah did, though. She came barreling through the crowd and gave me a tight hug. “Thank you, Izzy,” she said. “I’m sorry if I ever, ever doubted you. You’re a true friend. And a good dancer. When all this blows over and Southside gets on its feet again, you’ll win a regionals trophy. I’m sure of it!”
I laughed a little shakily. “Somehow, wanting to win seems a little dangerous right now.”
“No!” Leah said. “Winning legitimately is the best feeling. You deserve that feeling, Izzy!”
She hurried off to join her family, and I was left with my own team again.
Cate was the first one to break the silence. “This is too hard to belie
ve, Izzy,” she said. “I don’t know who to be madder at, you or Camilla!”
Jaci snorted. “I do,” she said. “And it’s not Camilla! We deserved to win this! We would have too, if it weren’t for Izzy!”
A troubled look crossed Trez’s face. “Or if it weren’t for Camilla,” she said. “I for one don’t want to win by cheating. Why couldn’t Camilla have believed in us as much as she made us think she did?”
“Why couldn’t Izzy have minded her own business?” said Amelia.
Cate gave Amelia a steely look. “Maybe you should have minded your own business,” she said. “It sounds like Camilla’s not the only one who has something to apologize for!”
I couldn’t keep silent any longer. “I really am sorry for all of this,” I said. “I never wanted to ruin our chances. Maybe it would be better for everyone if I just resigned from the team.”
“Yes!” said Jaci and Amelia.
“No,” said Trez. “That’s no solution.” She laughed faintly, but it wasn’t like she thought anything was funny. “Right now we don’t even know if we have a dance team for you to resign from! We’ll have to wait to see what Ms. Geiger and Mrs. Nuñez say on Monday.”
S
unday was a long day. I spent it at home with my family. Mom and Dad were especially nice to me, but all I wanted to do was sleep and try to forget the whole mess. I didn’t even see Olivia. I had no idea whether or not she even wanted to be my friend anymore.
I didn’t feel any better by Monday. For once, Mom and Dad let me stay home from school. I slept most of the day, so maybe I really was sick. I spent my time away from Southside High lying on the couch in the family room and flipping from channel to channel on TV.
As soon as school was out, Olivia called. “Joel and Eli are here. Can we come over?” she asked.
I didn’t feel like I could blame Olivia for questioning my suspicions about Camilla. They were pretty wild, after all. We don’t expect people we know—our friends—to act, well, like TV bad guys.
Dance Team Page 4