"I can't believe your cousin is coming from New York City to visit for the first time!" said Rocky as she walked up to her locker that Wednesday morning. "I'll finally get to meet her. Isn't she a dancer, too?"
"Yeah. She's a background dancer on Shake It Up, New York!," Cece replied. "Gary heard and is giving her the Spotlight Dance this week."
"But don't you have to be 13 to be on Shake It Up!" Rocky asked. "You told me Zoe is only 12."
"Here, you have to be 13 to audition. The host anywhere can give the Spotlight to whoever they want, and Zoe says you can audition when you're 11 in NY," Cece replied as she slammed her locker. Then she turned around to see Gunther and Tinka walk up.
"I am Gunther!" Gunther said, striking a pose.
"And I am Tinka!" Tinka struck the same pose.
"And you should shut up!" Cece mocked.
"Well, someone is in a worse mood than usual," commented Tinka. "What is up?"
"She's just mad her younger cousin from New York is visiting and getting the Spotlight Dance," Rocky replied.
"Well, if she dances anything like Cece, I'm mad too," Gunther said.
"Hey!" Cece half yelled. "Well, she's arriving tonight, you can see for yourself."
Just as Cece finished her sentence, the bell for first period rang, and they all scrambled off to their classes.
Cece, Flynn, Rocky, and Ms. Jones stood outside their apartment building waiting for Zoe's cab to pull up.
"I hope she doesn't bring her pet lizard," Cece groaned. "He tried to eat me the last time we visited them."
"Eat you!" Flynn replied. "You may be small, but you wouldn't fit in his mouth. I would be #1 on the lizard menu."
"Relax. Only Zoe is coming and the lizard is her mom's," said Ms. Jones. "Speaking of which..."
A bright yellow cab pulled up. A door opened and Zoe stepped out. She had dark brown hair and bright green eyes.
"Cece," she said coolly. "You are exactly the same as you were when you visited five years ago! Same height, same hair, same height..."
Cece shifted her position, obviously mad at her relative's comment on her shortness. Zoe sensed her discomfort and switched topics.
"And Flynn, you haven't changed much either." Zoe paused. "Wow. The intensity of how much I sounded like an old lady right there is frightening. Oh well."
Zoe ran over and hugged her cousins and aunt.
"Who is this?" Zoe asked, gesturing at Rocky.
"Oh," Rocky answered "I'm Rocky, Cece's friend. It's a pleasure to meet you, Zoe."
"Hey," Zoe said, and gave a slight wave to Rocky.
Then the door to the apartment building opened and Gunther and Tinka came walking out.
"Tinka, as much as it pains me to admit this, there may be, just may be, such a thing as too many sparkles," Gunther said.
"No, Gunther. There..." Tinka stopped mid sentence. "What the heck are you too wack-a-doodles doing here, and who's that?"
"We're greeting Cece's cousin, Zoe. She is the one we were talking about getting the Spotlight Dance earlier," Rocky said with false sweetness.
"Well, it seems everyone is doing great, so I'm going to do some laundry," Ms. Jones said and walked inside.
"Hello Zoe, I'm Gunther." Gunther nodded his head slightly as he introduced himself.
"Hi Gunther," Zoe replied with a faint smile.
After everyone stared at each other for about a minute without talking, Rocky broke the silence.
"OK, this is officially awkward," she noted.
"Yes," Tinka agreed. "Very awkward. Well, Gunther and I were going to the café to get muffins. Gunther, let's get our muffins."
"And Flynn, Rocky and I should go upstairs and get Zoe unpacked," Cece said and walked inside.
Tinka grabbed Gunther at the elbow and yanked him into the café. Zoe then walked up the stairs following her cousins and Rocky to the Jones' apartment.
Rocky yanked the nozzle of the air pump out of the air mattress.
"All finished," she said. "How do you like your living room gone bedroom Zoe?"
"It's really nice, but I was just planning on sleeping on the floor with my sleeping bag," replied Zoe.
"Well," Cece snapped. "You could've told us that before we blew up the air mattress."
"Sorry?" Zoe said with a faint look of guilt on her face.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"I'LL GET IT, MOM!" Flynn screamed and came barging out from his room.
"Does he do that... often?" Zoe asked, slowing removing her cupped hands from around her ears.
"Sadly, yes." Cece removed her hands from her ears, too. "And you never really get used to it."
"Gunther?" Flynn said. "We don't have you scheduled to babysit until tomorrow."
"Oh, I must have misread," Gunther replied. "Well, as long as I'm here..." and he smiled at Zoe.
"I was busy. Bye!" said Flynn as he ran off to his room.
"Have you guys finished helping Zoe unpack, because I'd love to assist," Gunther said.
"Um..." Cece questioned. "Who are you, and what have you done with Gunther?"
"So now I can't be helpful?" Gunther questioned in return.
"You've never been helpful," pointed out Rocky.
"I guess it's never too late to start!" Gunther said and opened up one of Zoe's duffels. "Then again, it wouldn't be too late tomorrow." Gunther stepped back and darted out the door.
"Future tip," suggested Cece, "Put those at the bottom of the suitcase."
"What?" Zoe asked, looking genuinely confused. "Oh... yeah. Well, I'm still secure."
Cece, Rocky, Gunther and Tinka all watched in awe during Friday rehearsals as Zoe finished her routine to 'Bring the Fire'. She stepped off the stage and pushed her hair out of her face.
"What did ya think?" she asked, a small smirk-like grin on her face.
"I did a dance to that song once, too, but it was nowhere near as good as that," Gunther complimented. "I'm sure you are the best dancer on Shake It Up, New York, nothing like your klutz of a cousin."
"Hey! I take major offence to that," Cece stated. "One, because I am an amazing dancer, and two, because I was in that dance you were talking about, too, and you said I was awesome!"
"Technically," Rocky interjected, "That could've been an insult. Awesome just means to inspire awe, not to mean something is great or even good."
"Stop making me look stupid!" Cece huffed.
"You already look stupid," Tinka noted. "Especially if you chose your own haircut."
"Well, for starters, thanks Gunther!" said Zoe. "Second, I like Cece's hair. It's bold and daring."
"Yes. If Cece has anything has anything nice about her, it's her hair," Gunther fake complimented, a cheesy- yet small- smile on his face.
Ugh, I can't believe everyone here is so blind!" Rocky scoffed.
"I think I have vision in both my eyes. What are we supposed to be seeing?" Zoe retorted. "Am I about to get knocked out by a tiger?"
"Yes Zoe. A tiger is in the studio about to eat you. Run for your life!" Rocky said, sarcastically. "No! It's obvious that Gunther likes you and is trying to impress you by helping you unpack, agreeing with you and complimenting you!"
"Did you get this idea from a book too?" asked Cece. "Because the last time you took dating advice from 'Pride And Prejudice', I got grounded for two weeks."
"OK, this idea is from a book, but this time I'm right." Rocky turned around and looked at Gunther. He nodded.
"Oh," Zoe said, stretching the one syllable out to four. "Then, there is a teen dance club just a few blocks away from our apartments. We should go tomorrow night, it's my last full day here."
"Yes." Gunther smiled.
Zoe walked into the dance club. She wore a pink satin dress that glistened in the strobe lights. Her earrings were studded Z's. She had black glossy flats on her feet.
"Wow," Gunther said.
"Yea, yea. I'm pretty. Let's dance!" Zoe said, grabbing Gunther's arm and dragging him to the dance floor. After a while , the DJ put on a slow song.
"Part of me still wants to dance," Zoe said.
"What about the other part?" Gunther asked.
"It wants to murder the DJ. I say we don't pick the latter."
Gunther laughed and they danced for the length of the song.
"How many times did I step on your foot?" Zoe asked.
"Weird question," Gunther replied, "But the answer is one."
"Sorry! I can barely walk slow, let alone dance slow. I tried it once, slipped, and sprained my wrist."
"Ouch! Wait, tried dancing or walking?"
Zoe laughed a quick but hearty giggle. "Dancing."
"But you are so good at fast dancing."
"I guess I just prefer things fast. It's harder to psyche yourself out in a split second." Then, Zoe stood on her toes so her face was level with Gunther's. Then she kissed him. After a few seconds, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Like in that one." She then got off her toes, pulled out her phone, and checked the time, all with a small yet clear smile on her face. "It's 10:00. Cece wanted me back by now so her, Rocky and I could have a 'Bye!' sleepover. I'll see you tomorrow morning when I leave, right?"
"Of coarse," said Gunther, a massive grin on his face. "Goodbye bay-bee!"
"Bye!" Zoe said, and walked out the door.
Sunday morning came around, and Flynn, Cece, Rocky, Gunther, and Ms. Jones stood outside to say bye to Zoe before she got in her cab to the airport back to NY.
"Bye Cece. You're my fave cousin." Zoe hugged her cousin.
"Bye Flynn. You're my fave dude cousin." She messed up his hair.
"Hey! That takes two hours in the morning!" Flynn said, trying to smooth his hair back.
"Bye Rocky. Great meeting you!" Zoe hugged her new friend.
"And Bye Aunt Georgia." She hugged her aunt.
"And bye Gunther," Zoe said. "Best for last." She hugged him. "Well. I have to go. NY is calling!"
Zoe walked over to her cab and got inside. She rolled down the window.
"I'll visit again in two years!" she called as the cab drove away.