“Give it up,” Emerson said. “We both know it’s not true. But thanks for trying.”
Sophie linked her arm through Emerson’s. “You’re going,” she said.
“There is absolutely no way,” Emerson answered. Even thinking about it made her feel hot and itchy with humiliation. She wasn’t showing up where no one wanted her.
“You can’t let them bully you out of the group,” Sophie insisted.
“I won’t. This isn’t the group. It’s pizza,” Emerson told her. “I’ll be here for the next class. And the next one. And the next one.”
Even if I hate every single second.
Sammi took a careful bite of veggie pizza—she didn’t want that thing to happen where a string of cheese connects the slice to the mouth—and studied ill papi. He was chatting away to Rachel about some alternative band that Sammi had never heard of.
Maybe when she went home, she should go online and research the band and—no. She’d just end up with a repeat of that Aqua Teen sticker fiasco. She needed something else. Something different. Something bold.
And until she came up with whatever it was, she needed to just act like a normal human being. She tried to focus all her attention on the conversation going on around the table. “. . . the competitions,” M.J. was in the middle of saying. “Last year we had some fierce ones. I was thinking there were ones we lost that we might be able to win with Devane in the group.”
Her eyes drifted over to ill papi. What is my problem? she thought. It’s not like she hadn’t been around cute guys before. They’d never turned her inside out like this.
And some of those cute guys . . . they had liked Sammi. A lot.
“But there are lots of great dancers in the group,” Sammi said, mostly to get her brain off ill papi for one single minute. “I mean, you’re amazing, M.J. Don’t you think the Hip Hop Kidz group can take down those other crews even without Devane?”
“A couple of solos from the right dancers make a massive difference,” Becca said. “You saw Devane at the show. She lit up the audience. I even saw a couple of people asking her for her autograph afterward.”
“We need Devane,” M.J. stated firmly. “And even if we didn’t, what went down with her wasn’t right.”
“Are we here to have pizza? Or are we here to talk about Devane?” Chloe complained.
“What do you have against her?” Max snapped.
“Nothing. But we have other things to talk about. Like Disney World. We should come up with a plan,” Chloe answered. “Which rides to hit, in what order and all that. It’s a big place, and there are long lines for a lot of stuff.”
“Space Mountain,” ill papi said.
Great, Sammi thought. He likes roller coasters. And they make me want to heave.
“No.” Ky shook his head. “That one with the water. What’s it called? It’s the—”
“We’re not done talking about Devane,” Fridge interrupted. “We haven’t decided what to do.”
“We can’t do anything. Get real,” Chloe said. “Devane quit. End of story.”
“But she might want to come back if a certain person wasn’t in the group anymore,” M.J. said.
“A person named Emerson,” Max agreed.
Sammi sat up a little straighter. They were talking about the girl who was, like, her sister’s best friend in the group. Sometimes Sammi felt like Sophie liked Emerson more than she did her own sister! Sophie hadn’t come to the pizza place because no one had asked Emerson.
“Right. Let’s bump her off,” Ky joked, rolling his eyes.
“All we have to do is keep on with what we’re doing,” Fridge said. “She’s not going to keep showing up if she knows no one wants her around.”
You haven’t done anything wrong, Emerson told herself as she hesitated in front of the rehearsal room. Just get in there.
She couldn’t believe it was already time for class again. It felt like it had only been a day since the last nightmare, not a week. And Sophie had given her the heads-up that M.J. and company were going to keep on freezing her out.
Let them, she thought. She’d already lied to her parents to be here. She wasn’t going to let a few kids force her to leave. She sucked in a deep breath. If only her plan had worked out. She’d wanted to get settled in the classroom before anyone else got there. Somehow she’d felt like that would give her an advantage. But through the window, she could see that Max, M.J., and Fridge were already inside.
Emerson forced herself to open the door. She could feel the stares, like those laser beams they used for surgery. If eye-shaped holes had appeared in her skin, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
“Hi,” she said from the doorway. She wasn’t going to slink in there like a criminal. No one answered. But just speaking had made her feel slightly better. After all, you should never enter a room without acknowledging the others present. Her mother had taught her that.
Emerson strolled over to her usual spot and began doing some stretches. Her muscles were tight with tension. Her lungs felt a third of their normal size. She couldn’t get in a deep breath. This was making her crazy.
“It’s not my fault!” Emerson burst out suddenly, her voice echoing in the mostly empty room. “I know you think it is. But all I did was tell Devane off for busting in on my solo. That’s it. I didn’t know Maddy and Gina were listening. I wanted Devane to hear me. I didn’t care who else did. Because that’s how mad I was.”
Sophie and Chloe slammed through the door. “Hey,” Sophie said, breathless. “We heard there was a party goin’ on. My invite must have gotten lost in the mail.”
You deserve so much more than a thank-you note, Sophie, Emerson thought. Even a thank-you note with a home spa gift basket like the ones Mom always sends to the women on her committees wouldn’t do it.
“Your friend got Devane kicked from the group,” M.J. told Sophie. “Are you okay with that?”
“Devane quit.” Sophie said each word slowly and carefully, like she was talking to a preschool kid.
“Only because she got slapped with probation—after Emerson threw a hissy,” Max said.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “You all know Gina. How can you be surprised she wanted Devane on probation after what she did? She dragged you out in the hall and lectured you for five minutes for drinking 7-Up in class, remember, Fridge? She wants every rule followed.”
Fridge nodded. “She said if I wasn’t willing to follow all the Hip Hop Kidz rules, I shouldn’t be there. Said if she saw me doing it again, I’d have to go home.”
Muscles in Emerson’s back and shoulders began to relax a little.
“Devane said—” M.J. began.
Sophie didn’t let him continue. “Devane thinks Devane is perfect. Devane’s head would melt and run down her neck if she had to accept that she’d actually done something stupid.”
“What are we playing this time?” ill papi asked, joining the group gathered around Emerson. She wished they’d all take one giant step back. She’d even be willing to say, “Mother may I?”
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Sophie told him. “The question is: Why is Devane no longer in our group? A: Emerson told Gina and Maddy to put her on probation and they do everything Emerson says. Because this was so unfair, Devane quit. B: Gina and Maddy wanted to make the group a little worse, so they decided to put one of the best dancers on probation just for fun. Because this was so wrong, Devane quit. C: Devane pulled a diva at the show, and Maddy and Gina—all by themselves—decided she deserved probation. Devane pulled another diva and quit when they told her. D: Devane was actually a secret agent and her mission was over.”
“This isn’t a joke,” M.J. muttered.
“Yeah, it is,” Sophie shot back. “It’s a joke to think there’s anybody to blame for Devane not being in the group but Devane.”
How does she always know what to say? Emerson wondered. Sophie never seemed to get mush brain.
“She did pretty much do it to herself,” ill papi a
greed. “She didn’t have to quit. Maybe we should just tell her we want her to come back—just suck up the probation and come back.”
Chloe shook her head. “You think Maddy and Gina are just going to let her prance back in here like that?”
“She’d probably have to—” Adam began.
“Apologize big time,” Allan finished for his twin.
“Do we even want her back?” Chloe asked. “If she’d hijacked my solo . . .” She shrugged.
“She’s the best dancer we’ve ever had in this group,” M.J. insisted.
“Best girl dancer,” ill papi corrected.
“Yeah,” M.J. agreed. “We need Devane if we want to win more competitions this year.”
“But if she was going to try and come back, she would have done it by now,” Chloe said.
That made sense to Emerson, but she didn’t chime in. She felt like she was still on probation.
“Like I said, we need to tell her we want her back,” ill papi said.
“And that she has to apologize,” Rachel added.
“If we want her back,” Sophie told him. “Here come Ky and Becca. We should vote or something. If people want her back, we come up with a plan to get a person who thinks she’s incapable of error to apologize. And you know Gina and Maddy will know if she’s not sincere.”
Chloe glanced at the clock. “If we’re doing this, we gotta do it quick. Gina’s going to be here in a few.”
“Get over here, you guys,” M.J. called to Ky and Becca. “We’re taking a group vote. Do we want Devane back in the group or not?” He shot a glance at Sophie. “Like it takes a vote. So who thinks we need to get back someone who’s one of the best dancers we have?”
M.J., Max, and Fridge instantly raised their hands. Ky, Becca, and ill papi raised their hands a moment later. Then Adam, Allan, and Rachel. Emerson raised her hand, too.
“Are you mental?” Sophie demanded.
“I don’t have a problem with her being in the group,” Emerson said. People had falsely believed she’d been responsible for Devane getting kicked out. She wasn’t going to actually be responsible for keeping her out now.
“I don’t care if she comes back as long as she doesn’t screw up again,” Chloe said.
“She didn’t,” M.J. protested. “She made the show better. The two of them”—he nodded at Emerson—“tore up the place.”
Emerson blinked. She couldn’t believe those words had come out of M.J.’s mouth.
“Because Emerson didn’t panic when Devane decided to be a hog,” Sophie said. “Devane could have ruined the show.” She shrugged. “But if Emerson’s willing to give her a second chance, I am, too.”
“Okay, then. M.J., you should talk to her,” ill papi said.
“I think Emerson should do it,” Becca suggested.
“What?” Emerson and half the rest of the group cried.
“Look, if Emerson tells Devane that everyone wants her back, Devane will have to believe it because Emerson is the person who has the most reason to want Devane to stay gone.” Becca used both hands to shove her long red hair away from her face.
“She’s right. You do it,” M.J. told Emerson.
The muscles in her shoulders and back—the ones that had been getting looser and looser—all tightened back up. So did muscles in her neck and jaw. So did muscles in places she didn’t even know she had muscles.
“Devane hates me,” Emerson protested. “She’s not going to want to hear anything I have to say.”
“What Becca said makes sense to me.” Ky gave the basketball he still held a bounce.
Emerson glanced at Sophie. “They could be right,” Sophie told her. “But that doesn’t mean you should do it.”
“No, I will.” This was a team. And she was a team player. Even if Devane wasn’t. “But I don’t know where she lives or anything.”
The door opened and closed. Gina? Emerson jerked her head to the entrance. No. Sammi.
“Am I missing something important?” Sammi asked.
“Nothing you need to know about,” Sophie said. “I can tell you later if you want.”
“Gina always brings the class list with her.” Max shifted her weight from foot to foot as she spoke.
“So someone needs to distract her while Emerson gets a look at it,” Ky said.
Everyone—including Emerson—immediately turned to Sophie.
“You think you could do something to get yourself yanked out of class for a lecture?” Chloe asked.
Sophie laughed. “I guess I could come up with something . Right near the end of class, okay? All of you get into whatever it is I do. That will draw the wrath of Gina.”
“Sophie is excellent at drawing the wrath.” Sammi put an affectionate arm around her sister’s shoulders.
“I’ll help you look through Gina’s stuff,” Ky told Emerson.
Going through a teacher’s stuff behind her back. Emerson’s mother would be so proud. Emerson couldn’t help smiling a little at the thought.
“Thanks, Ky.” The words were barely out of her mouth when the door swung open and Gina came in. The group scattered. Gina gave them all a long I-know-something’s-up look, but since she couldn’t figure out what, she started the warm-up.
Emerson tried to keep her focus on the dancing, but her eyes kept wandering to the clock. She needed to be ready when Sophie did . . . whatever it was Sophie was going to do. Emerson would have only one chance to get Devane’s address. And if she got caught, she was sure she’d end up on probation herself.
Here it comes, she thought about five minutes before class ended when Sophie stopped cold in the middle of a routine and raised her hand.
“This better be good, Sophie,” Gina said.
“I have something to confess,” Sophie began. “It’s something I’ve been doing. Something that’s not fair to the team.”
“What?” ill papi demanded, already getting into the scenario.
“I’ve been foot synching,” Sophie told him, blinking rapidly, like she was trying not to cry.
“So-phie,” Gina warned.
“No, it’s wrong. It’s something no real dancer should do. I’ve just been footing the moves, not actually doing them,” Sophie continued.
“Like lip synching for feet!” Chloe burst out. “That’s an insult to all dancers.”
“Sophie should be kicked out!” Max exclaimed.
“Enough!” Gina cried. “For the last time, I want quiet, and I want it now.”
The noise in the room stopped almost instantly. “Sophie, we’ve talked about your comedy routines before,” Gina scolded. “Not in the classroom. They waste time. And we need every moment to get ready for our performances.” Her eyes swept over the group. “That goes for the rest of you. You act like you’ve decided to become an improv group. If I see this again, maybe that’s what you can do with yourselves. But you won’t be in my class, I can tell you that. Now please remove yourselves.”
“It’s just that I needed to cleanse my sole about the foot synching,” Sophie insisted. “Get it? S-o-l-e.”
Gina closed her eyes and sighed. “I want to talk to you outside, Sophie,” she finally said. Then she opened her eyes and led the way to the door.
You’re awesome, Soph, Emerson thought as Gina and her friend stepped into the hallway. There was only one problem. Gina was standing facing the window. Which meant that she had a full view of the classroom as she talked to Sophie.
Emerson and Ky exchanged a worried look. Was the plan going down in flames?
Can I just grab Gina by the shoulders and turn her around? Sophie wondered.
No, that would be just too psycho. Sophie was willing to help with the whole get-our-diva-back plan—especially because Emerson was down with it. But Sophie wasn’t willing to get put on probation herself. Or get taken away from the dance studio by the men in white coats.
“I’m having trouble understanding, Sophie,” Gina continued. “I stood right in front of you and told you to quit me
ssing around and you wouldn’t let it go.”
Sophie got an idea. She bit down on the inside of her cheek—hard. Hard enough to get some tears going. “I’m sorry, Gina. Sometimes when I’ve got everyone laughing and everything, it’s hard to stop.” She brushed her hand across her eyes, trying to draw Gina’s attention to the tears, and gave a tiny sniffle. She didn’t want to blow it by being too dramatic. “Sorry,” she said again, and turned away from Gina.
Come on, Gina. Come on, Sophie thought.
A moment later she felt Gina’s hand on her shoulder. Now Sophie and Gina were both facing away from the window into the classroom.
You better go for it now, guys!
Ky caught Emerson’s eye, and they quietly moved to the front of the class. Gina had the class info in a folder stuck behind the CD player. Ky slid it free, and they stood shoulder to shoulder, studying it.
Emerson kept shooting glances at the window. Yeah, Sophie still had Gina facing away.
“Right there,” Ky said.
Emerson whispered Devane’s address a few times until she thought she had it down. Then she nodded to Ky, and they blended back into the group. Just in time. Gina opened the door a second later. “That’s all we have time for today. See you next week. All dance, no comedy. Got me?”
She got a bunch of yeses and nods in reply. Emerson hurried out into the hall and over to Sophie. “Sorry you had to get in trouble. Was it horrible?”
“No worries. Gina just talked—loud and a lot,” Sophie answered as they headed to the locker room. “We needed a team effort. And I’m the goofy one on the team.”
It had felt good doing something as a team. Especially after feeling like half the people in the group were against her.
But Emerson wouldn’t have the team with her when she faced Devane. She was on her own now.
Devane usually loved being on her own in the apartment. No Tamal to pluck her nerves. But today it felt too quiet.
She flipped on the TV. Three different judges on three different channels telling fools how big of fools they were. Dr. Phil saying, “What are you thinkin’?” Cartoons. Shopping. She turned the TV off. None of that was going to hold her attention.
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