Chapter One: Footloose

I can still hear it.

" Two, two, one, two. Mic check one, two. One, two." The people all gathered to the empty lot, were Bobby Moore had bought his little sister, Gabrielle and his friends every time the football team won a game. Dancing and Jumping. Gabrielle, or "Energizer" had ADD, her brother and his friends were the only ones who treated her like she wasn't made of glass, they knew her and they were lucky for that.

They were all dancing in the empty lot behind Wilkerson Place, the keg was nearly tapped, and red cups littered the stick ground. But it didn't matter to us, it was perfect. The DJ spoke again, "Oh yeah, Y'all know what's coming up, don't you?" Of course they did. "Come on, I got it right here. I got it right here."

Get on with the song DJ. "Bomont High School, where you at?" They all screamed "Here!" Now Gabrielle was only a freshman, but she did still count. Bobby gave her that award-winning smile as his girlfriend gave her a hug from behind, an insanely dazzling girl. Kelly.

"We got something to celebrate!" Everyone whooped as Gabby felt Bobby watching her in the way older brothers did. It was like he was happy when he saw her like this. She wasn't the way with him, the way she was with everone else. If that makes any sense. It's been three damn years, so problably not.

" Bomont Panthers, 31! Bayson Bulldogs, 17! We killed 'em, y'all! Yeah! All right, I want everybody on the dance floor!" Kelly grabbed Gabrielle's hand and pulled her foreward. "Come on! What? What? Y'all ready to party? Get up, get up! I though this was a party! Let's dance!" Everyone screamed as the haunting opening notes to footloose played, leading into the song

Been working so hard

I'm punching my card

Eight hours for what?

Oh, tell me what I got

I've got this feeling

That time's just holding me down

Gabrielle's dark hair shined from the flash as she leaned in with her only friends as someone took a picture of this exact moment. It was the happiest she'd ever been, and thought it was the happiest she'd ever be, as Engergizer, the mascot of my brother's group of friends, and not Gabrielle Moore, the freak preacher's daughter. She loved them. They loved her.

I'll hit the ceiling

Or else I'll tear up this town

Tonight I got to cut loose

Footloose
Kick off your Sunday shoes

Please, Louise

Pull me off of my knees

Jack, get hack

Come on, before we crack

Lose your blues

Everybody cut footloose

"Hey, Robert!" Gabrielle called to the missing member of the party, "Yeah!" he lifted her up and swung me around, She knew she was a tiny person, and Robert loved teasing me.
" Bomont High, where are you at now?" The DJ called again as the song drew to a close, Gabrielle couldn't really remember what they were talking about, but she hopped up to my big brother, lights from the party reflecting on his dumpy car. He grinned at her. "We're heading to Mama's, need a ride?" Mama's was the local diner. Best waffles in the state. It went out of buisness after the events of the night. Gabrielle shook her head at my brother," Nah, Katie's taking me, see you there?" He noddded," Love you, stay safe Bunny." She smiled, energetic as ever, "Love you dork!" all the friends piled into the car as she waved, "Bye guys!" Robert and their friends stuck their hands out the open windows, "Bye energizer!"

Gabrielle could barely stop crying at their feunerals. And now that the one thing that actually made the girl comfortable in her own skin was illegal, what was left? Arielle? Arielle hated her sister, but tolerated her for an unknown reason. Her parents? They didn't even see her anymore. They didn't even care.

What was left?

What was left?

XX

What was left?

The words echoed as I awoke in a cold sweat, like I did every day for three years. You'd think the dream would stop surprising me. It was 4:00 AM in the morning, and the entirety of Bomont, Georgia was quiet. This was as good as it would ever get. Everone who judges you and hates your guts is asleep.

It was oddly beautiful. I was an athlete now, I had to be, because my Dad didn't beleive in pills. Bobby's problably laughing his ass off in heaven, I'd wanted to be a ballerina all my life, and I was now stuck like this.

Now that dancing was still Illegal, I had to have other ways to burn off all my extra energy. And with all the people that called me Energizer and treated me like an actual human were 6 feet down, I had to have something to keep me from jumping out of the window like I did the day after the last funereal.

And 'Accident' I assure you.

My room was made a light shade of purple as the light came through my small, rectangular window. I groaned as I thought of church at eleven, and I was somewhat happy that I had decided to put my faith elsewhere. Putting on the silver ring that the gang bought me for my birthday one year, I changed into the racerback orange tank top and black athletic shorts before grabbing my boxing gloves and my bag and quietly heading out the door.

I jogged the thirty miles to Bayson in one hour before I unlocked the town's boxing club and used it without fee before anyone was awake. I could feel myself get to the point where I needed to move on from my routine. I jogged the perimeter of the town and passed the many shops that I never thought i'd try, but somehow new so well. Each house I passed had a green, even and well- manicured lawn

It was 7AM when I jogged home to Bomont, I had to control me pace and keep my eyes ont he road, as there were no sidewalks and I could get hit by a car at anytime. Eh. who cares? I'd go listening to Men at Work, The Cure, or Quiet Riot anytime I got back to Bomont when I usually do, at around eight in the morning,. My mom and pop, as well as Arielle are problably awake by now, having breakfast or something. Never was one for breakfast, preferred lunch instead.

I made a jog-beeline for the Bomont high school practice field and began coreographing new cheers for the cheer squad. Bobby'd of laughed his ass off about that too. I can pratically hear Robert making fun of me. Kelly would squeal and call me a mini-me as she did most of the time. Little mannerisms did make the comparison quite uncanny. "5 . . . 6 . . . 7 . . . 8 . . . " I performed a herkie- hurtle and a pike as I heard Katy Perry's Part of me ring through me head. You see, this ISN'T dancing, it's cheering. I blew of some more super-cheery steam as I made a note to get new tennis shoes. The usual. I was so damn bored. The grass is even boring here in Bomont. It reeked of pesticide.

Something needs to happen. I'm losing my mind. Maybe I can babysit the Warnicker girls again. I can go to the Snack Bar and dance with the football team. I'm not going to jump. I will not jump again. I went through the motions and did several laps on the running track, going all out. Running. Always running.

It was about 10 when I decided to head home, bag hanging from my shoulder, pink boxing gloves hanging around my neck. I couldn't wait to get home and shower. Passing several of my middle-school teachers, selling their wares at a craft fair I stopped and took in the air.

I didn't know what it was at the time, because I'd never felt it before. But it was change, and it would lead to some of the happiest times of my life. A stranger was hugging the Warnicker girls, he definetly wasn't from around here.

For once, it looked like life around here would get interesting.

Wes smiled at me in the pity-filled way people did as I passed soundlessly, unoticed as I had learned to do flawlessly. There was a feeling in the pit of my stomach as I let out a small grin. The pavement heated up as I ran home, and finally took that shower.

XX

It was Church. In it's most essential form, it should be okay, getting closer to god an all that. But since I've decided to put my faith elsewhere, I've seen only more and more passive-agression. But because I'm one of the preacher's kids, I can't exactly say such thing, thought it does allow a twisted kind of freedom. Just start crying and Bonnie Fife the police man'll let you right off. I'd rather be more involved with the town's charity fund, too many kids got displaced when the music programs got cut. I'd like to do something that would get a better program that would keep everyone, ya know, occupied. Maybe work up an idea that buys ambulances for people who have to commute from farms too far out of town.

"Progress." No not this again, I tugged on the hem of my cream-colored dress, and tapped my matching flats, antsy. "What does progress mean to you?" Absolutely everything except Bomont. "We have computers in our pockets, telephones in our automobiles, and money on a plastic card." My Dad went into his speech about Progress Ariel and I heard all the time at home. I stewed more about the idea I was hatching for a town charity.

I shifted next to Rusty as the ancient church pews were making my butt a new kind of numb. I wish I could just be atheist, that'd probably mean I'd get burned at the stake, along with Slaughterhouse Five and Fahrenheit 451 surveyed the church as my dad said his usual speech we heard all the time at home, "Who here today remembers a time when you had to go inside the bank to get your money?" Nope. "Remember old Mr. Rucker down at the Bomont State Bank?" Everyone Fifty and over laughed in remembrance.

"Every time you made a deposit, he'd give you a piece of Bazooka gum. Now, I haven't yet met an ATM machine that would give me a piece of Bazooka chewing gum, let alone make me feel special, like Mr. Rucker did. Now, is that progress?" Now I'm not exactly a people person, but I did volunteer at the animal shelter most of the time after school, when I wasn't hanging out at the snack bar.

I was lost in thought, but brought down to earth as Rusty gave me a sly grin as Arielle was texting on her iPhone. She elbowed me in the side as I glared at her, my friend whispered in my ear quietly as my dad talked about tuning people out. "Don't look now, but the new guy's checking you out!" She dragged out the last word excitedly.

I looked over discreetly, and sure enough the guy I saw with the Warnicker family was looking at me. He was cute too, brown hair, dark eyes. Damn. I shot back a small smile and lowered my eyes down to my shoes. 'Shake it off, you don't need a crush,' I mentally scolded myself. I was looking at a dance scholarship to Julliard, and I was not about to get a reason to stay in this tiny town.

I felt myself blush as Rusty whispered; "He's cuuuuute," she dragged out the words as she knocked me as we sat, playfully. "You think everyone's cute." I shot back, smiling "He's still cuuuuute." I smiled and let out a small giggle while avoiding the attention of my dad as he finished his sermon.

XXX

Rusty and her brother Dusty dragged me outside before I literally started bouncing off the walls of the beautiful building. They know me so well! I Quickly fell into the group with Dusty, Rusty, and Ariel. But I wasn't really participating, but writing down the ideas I had for charities. I was brought down from my ramblings of a madwoman as I caught a bit of the Moore-Warnicker conversation. Already caught playing music too loud? Amateur hour, he'd get caught beating curfew, or dancing. All he needed was a forged signature and a job to pay off the debt of the tickets, and like me, he'd be fine. He looked like he was the type to dance. 'Nah, too good to be true.' Things weren't that way around here.

The cop stared at Ren warily and I rolled my eyes. What a great welcome, at least give the guy a warning, he is new here after all. My mom's beautiful dark hair flipped in the Georgia wind as she called Ariel and I from the conversation.

"Ariel, Gabrielle!" She turned back to the new guy. "I want you to meet my daughter, she goes to Bomont. You're going to need a friend on your first day." She pushed him slightly towards Ariel. "This is Ren McCormack. He'll be attending school with you tomorrow." Mom turned back to her conversion as Ren eyed Ariel warily as she batted her blue eyes. "This is my other daughter, Gabrielle." She breaks curfew, dances, and had plans. She's not as pretty as Ariel. She's sweet thought. Yeah. Sweet. I practically felt the unspoken words as she went back to talking with the Warnickers.

"Hey." He said in a low voice, to Ariel. "Hey!" she replied perkily. I don't know why I was feeling jealous, but I attempted to shake it off when Ariel immediately went to talk to our Dad with her latest scam. "Hey Daddy?" "Yes Honey?" "Rusty, Gabby, and I have that science project due tomorrow, we're going to be working on it pretty late. I was thinking Gabby and I could stay over. Is that okay?" I clenched my jaw as I new what the code was for. She wanted to see Chuck. Chuck the trash. He'd been hitting on me since Ariel and him had started dating, she knew I hated it, yet she kept putting me in these situations. She hates me. I know it. Can't she just leave it alone? Dusty's crazy in love with her anyway!

"On a school night? Is that necessary?" Dad questioned protectively as Ariel put on her best doe eyes and called to Rusty "Don't you think it's gonna take us all night" Rusty looked at me, then Ariel. "Yeah, sure?" Dad replied uncertainly "Okay, I guess it's okay." Ren just stood there, taking in the conversation.

"Thanks, Daddy. Bye, Momma!" The moment they looked away, she ordered, "Come on, let's go." I'm not, nor ever will be a dog. Ariel jogged off to get in the car with Rusty and yelled back, "Gabby, let's move!" She giggled with Rusty about something as I replied, "Just a second!" I turned back to Ren and uncertainly, "It was nice to meet you Ren." Ariel yelled again, "Gabby!" I didn't want to keep the Queen waiting, "See you at school." I felt everyone's eyes on me as I got into Rusty's car. 'There goes the freak' I heard someone mutter as I shut the car door behind me.