author's notes: i think the chapter title is self-explanatory. :-)

"He is one of the best dancers I have ever seen!" Amber Von Tussle was nearly wetting herself with joy. Not that Corny had ever paid attention to anything Amber had said, but this time – she may have been on to something.

Of all the boys auditioning, he was the only one singing along with his superb dance moves. Even Velma seemed to be impressed and it was on very rare occasions, she was moved by anything.

He kicked his legs from side to side, swiveling his hips, and keeping all eyes on him. His slick hair and swinging hips were sure to get more female viewers on the show. He looked from right to left, threw an arm at Doreen, the other at Noreen and both girls screamed embarrassingly. Corny looked at the both of them and took in a deep breath.

Link belted out an Elvis tune, imitating the king to perfection. Corny knew that if Amber had anything to do with this audition, Link Larkin was definitely going to get that new, open spot on his show.

"He's great, isn't he?" Brenda stood next to Corny admiring Link's great dance moves.

Not that he didn't mind attention, but the attention Brenda threw in his direction was almost unsettling. She never really hung around the other council members or even attempted to let them grow on her. He understood her not associating with Amber Von Tussle, no in their right mind would but Shelly was an okay gal.

When Link finished and it was the longest two minutes of sighing and swooning Corny had ever witnessed, applause went up in the air with many acknowledgments from Link's male and female admirers.

The boy could move.

He still wasn't as great as the kids on Negro Day but damn if he didn't come awfully close.

Other people auditioning for the spot had long disappeared upon finding out that Link would be their competition and apparently, Amber had discovered him one day in their homeroom class. Corny knew where this was headed long before Amber had even knew Link existed. She would get him on the show and they would start dating and soon Miss Teenage Baltimore would be dating the best male dancer on the show.

The idea made him sick to the stomach. So much for trying to dump Brenda on him.

Everyone turned to Corny and he looked around from face to face. Velma had a hand on her hip, none too impressed by everyone's dependency on Corny. In a sick way, he loved that small bit of power he had over here.

"Let's have a chat in my office, kid."

Corny put an arm around Link's shoulder and the pair of them walked down the hall. He could hear Amber grumble and Velma order everyone else back to their place.

Link walked alongside Corny eagerly, nervously running his hand over his chin.

"Nervous?" Corny asked, hiding the amusement in his voice well. "Look, you've got nothing to worry about; you're definitely going to be on the show. Your dancing is ace. I just want to discuss the terms of your contract and talk about when you'll be starting."

Link smiled at Corny and held out his hand for Corny to shake it. Instead, Link slapped him five and that nervous, stiff walk immediately changed to a cool stride that made Corny turn to the left and look at Link confused.

Maybelle and Seaweed never had a reason to watch the Corny Collins Show. Only lately, had Maybelle begun to watch it and that was to curve that insatiable hunger recently growing in the pit of her stomach.

No, it was always Inez and she watched it usually to catch a glimpse of Corny Collins, although the feelings towards him had slightly changed. She kept that crush she had on him a deep secret and now, the crush seemed to steer into something else since she'd seen him kiss her mama … on the lips!

It was so hard to keep that secret and she had wanted to tell Seaweed, but he was always doing his own thing and lately, too busy to be around her so she decided to try and keep this one to herself.

So far, it was working.

Usually, she would be outside, playing with Melanie but today, something told her to catch the Corny Collins show instead.

She had passed up her mama's booth, Maybelle had been so busy dancing along with Jackie Wilson that she barely noticed her. Inez's footsteps clicked and clacked in her black shoes up the steps and into the kitchen, where she stopped to make herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and into the living room. She turned on the television and stood in front of it, swinging her hips to the introduction music and sung along.

"The nicest kids in town!"

She danced the same moves as the girls and the flash of black hair caught her attention. She turned so that she could still dance and keep her eyes on the television.

"R-r-r-roll call!" She shouted along with the kids.

Knowing all the names, Inez sang along with them, dancing a little move she'd created for them. Her red dress flew around her little legs as she moved and when Amber introduced herself, she stuck out her tongue at the television.

And then she nearly died…

"And I'm …. Link!"

Inez stopped dancing and stared at the screen. Why, he was the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen before in her life, even more gorgeous than Corny! And that was saying a lot!

He moved his knees from side to side and Inez could feel her heart stop. She put a hand to her chest and walked backwards until the back of her knees hit the couch. Falling back, she picked up her sandwich and took a bite.

Corny started singing again and Inez was starting to tune him out. All she saw was Link dancing from side to side … with Amber and while that bothered her, it didn't surprise her. Mama had told her about Velma Von Tussle, had told her about Amber Von Tussle, too. Of course Amber would be dancing with Link. It only seemed like the proper scheme of things.

"But she better watch out for me!' Inez protested and tore piece of her sandwich with her teeth hotly, ever her mother's daughter.

She fell back against the couch and watched positively fuming. It wasn't until Corny started talking about Negro Day that Inez completely forgot the one-sided battle with Amber Von Tussle.

Corny flashed his megawatt smile at the cameras and leaned on the podium.

"Don't forget to tune into Negro Day, which shows on the last Tuesday of every month." Amber stood right next to him on the podium, flashing her own smile and Brenda was on the other side. Inez wasn't sure why but Brenda made her nervous.

"Negro Day is hosted by Baltimore's own Motormouth Maybelle, the hippest and most swinging DJ this city has ever seen."

Inez smiled brightly at the television while Corny continued on with his Negro Day promotion. Too bad they weren't integrating; she could dance Link right away from Amber and show him some real moves.

"And this is Motormouth Maybelle signing off, telling you to check in and check out Frank's Jazz Club on Park Avenue Road. If you love your singing like you love your food, then Frank's is the place to be!"

Maybelle shut the microphone off and hit the button, letting WEDD take over. She turned everything off and stretched her arms high over her head.

"Now, Maybelle, you know you gonna' have to come down and sing a number for us. You know how long it's been?"

Maybelle looked over at Frank, rubbing the crick in her neck and rolled her eyes. "Frankie, the last time I sang, I didn't even know these hips could push out a baby. I'm probably rusty now."

Maybelle had been friends with Frank since she had learned how to walk. It was Frank that drove her to the hospital where she eventually gave birth to Seaweed and it was Frank that had delivered the news of her husband being killed on the job when she was just five months pregnant with little Inez.

The years had done Frank justice, he was slightly older than Maybelle but she was sure that he was something like a fine wine. She always joked with him and his wife Lois if she knew he was going to turn out to be so handsome when they were growing up, she would have chased him like every other girl had been doing.

Frank had built a club from the bottom up and named it Frank's Jazz Club, figuring it was best to just tell people up front what was to be expected.

Through all the musical changes, Frank's club still survived and looked like it was going to keep on kicking through the Motown Era as well.

"Oh come on Maybelle!" Frank's own toffee hands reached over and gave his friend a playful shove, "Saying that you're rusty is making Lady Day roll over in her grave."

Maybelle shot him a stern look and he chuckled. The only thing that changed about Frank was his age. He was still the same, still trying to get her to sing Billie Holiday tunes in his jazz club. When Maybelle married she had decided altogether to put the club singing in a little shelf in the back of her mind. Even when her husband encouraged it, she reminded him that she "these kids" to be singing to now.

Now, the idea of singing didn't sound all too bad.

Seaweed could keep Inez company and she'd have the opportunity to get out of the house and visit a place that didn't remind her of work.

Frank could sense her temptation because he leaned in and said with a little glint in his eye, "All you have to do is come out and sing. You won't have to pay for drinks, dinner, everything's on me. It'll be just like old times. Ain't that how you snagged Harold?"

Maybelle rolled her eyes and couldn't help but laugh. Frank joined in and they were soon laughing at nothing together. She realized then that she had been working too hard for the past ten years. From job to job, she traveled. And she loved her job, she made sure she would love something if it was going to drive her to the ground and make her dog tired day in and day out.

"All right, Frankie. Now, honey, I want you to get all my favorite pieces. Let's do it big, hell, I'll even buy a new dress. God knows I can't fit in the ones I was wearing when I performed there before my babies." Frank couldn't help but laugh a little at that.

"One night only, all right? Look at you, turning all red in the cheeks. You act like it's actually Billie Holiday performing for you."

"Well, Maybelle, you the closest thing we have in Baltimore to her. I'm going to get the fellas and we're gonna' have everything ready. You know Spinner asks about you all the time. You're doing me a favor, too. Folks know Maybelle is gonna' be singing, they're sure to turn out and pay Frankie good money!"