Link very carefully and attentively cycled through his mental list.
First and foremost, he had wanted to make friends with Tracy's friends. This meant putting a hand out to Penny, of course, but specifically it meant getting to know this Stubbs boy. Tracy was thrilled that he was taking an interest, and he was thrilled to see her thrilled, but he was also aware that Seaweed thrilled her, too. It wasn't quite jealousy, because he knew Tracy was all his, but he did want to see what it was about the other that had her so utterly charmed.
Another one was that he wanted to show his peers that skin color didn't mean nothin'. He wanted to make a stand with Tracy, do something of meaning for the first time in his life. He wanted to show by example that it was cool to hang out with the black kids, that he wasn't any less cool for it. Some of them had taken the hint, but for the most part, his old friends had started giving him a wide berth. But he found he didn't miss their company—they were the Nicest Kids In Town in title only, after all.
Oh, and for the show. Seaweed could do things the white kids had never seen before, really cool and hip things. He'd wanted to support that, to encourage the others to learn this new stuff, so that the show's collective dancing skill would skyrocket. But change was not as quickly received as he had hoped, so when he had shown up at the Stubbs' house for dance tips, he had been (not so) surprised to find it a private lesson.
But he knew how to make the most of that. Because even if the others were stubborn, he had still wanted to learn what Seaweed had to teach. So he showed up at the small house in the wrong part of town, and danced, and loved every minute of it. Because that's what they had in common (besides Tracy, of course), and that's how they understood each other.
There was one more, though, the one that almost didn't make it onto the books. Because, if he was being truly, completely honest with himself, he couldn't get enough of watching Seaweed dance. He had known it that first day, when they had adventured out to that dubious part of town, when he had been entranced by the movement and rhythm of this black boy. In fact, it was actually Tracy who finally pointed out his moon-eyed stare with a laugh. He'd instantly wiped it away, red-faced, and redoubled his efforts to concentrate on Tracy as they danced.
But Tracy wasn't here to distract him now. She wasn't here to keep him from staring awe-struck at his new friend, and she wasn't here to keep him from being so obvious about it. And so Seaweed had noticed. And it was his smoldering gaze that had Link so ardently re-evaluating his motives.
Because, Link gulped heavily as Seaweed began another intoxicating dance in his direction, it had become apparent that maybe not all of his reasons for getting to know this boy had been so noble. Maybe the only thing he wanted was to have this all to himself.
"It's like I said, Larkin, all things are equal when it comes to love," Seaweed drawled, finally closing the gap between them.