ACT ONE

Scene Seven:

"The Cha-Cha Ballet"

Underneath the bleachers, the rosy lights from the dance floor streamed in from the slits of the bleacher seats. Standing at two ends of the gym, they could see each other fully.

Among extra folded-up collapsible chairs, and boxes of streamers and left-over decorations, Caitlyn and Vi walked closer, coming to stand face to face with each other in the middle of the darkened sanctuary. Neither knew what to do or say.

The music slowed down, fading to a soft waltz. The trumpet was replaced by a flute.

Vi leaned against the structure of the bleachers, eyeing the young lady up and down. Vi wanted to send her interest with clarity.

Then the young woman raised her arms out on either side of her, stepping forward, then back, in a little dance, following the light music.

Vi stared, suddenly put on the spot and a little perplexed.

Is this a waltz? Is this flirting? she wildly thought.

Vi had no clue. But she found it kind of charming, in its own way.

Balancing on her tiptoes, the young woman circled around her in the dance. Vi turned to keep facing her, watching with curiosity. The girl held up her arms again, then dipped down, circling her hips, then stood up and snapped her fingers twice.

Starting to catch onto the pattern, Vi obliged her, mirroring her dance steps. She raised her arms, then dipped her hips, following the girl in front of her.

This time, the young woman snapped her fingers once, then ducked under Vi's arm, standing back where she had started. She stood silently, waiting for her.

Vi smiled, cocking her head to the side with curiosity.

Not one to back down, Vi raised her arms again, just as the girl did, ready for the next verse.

Vi side-stepped to her right, and so did the girl, furthering the distance between them. Then they side-stepped to the left, passing in front of each other.

Vi circled around the young woman this time, coming up behind her, raising her arms just as the woman did. The midnight beauty looked over her shoulder at Vi, both of their arms were raised as they dipped down, circling their hips, standing up and snapping their fingers twice, then dipped their hips again, snapping once, all in unison.

For a moment, Caitlyn couldn't breathe.

This is a bad idea, she thought.

So, she hurriedly stepped away to leave, but stopped as she felt a gentle grip holding her hand.

Caitlyn looked back and saw the pink haired woman's blue eyes looked a little worried, a face with eyebrows sloping upward, silently asking her not to go.

Without hesitation, Caitlyn fell back into dance step with her. She didn't know why. But she wanted to.

The pink haired girl smiled, pulling her close to waltz for two steps.

She smirked as they slid back-to-back past each other. Then it turned into a competition of them circling around the other. They laughed.

Vi threw her presence with a step forward, making Caitlyn back up. Then Caitlyn answered with her own confident step forward, Vi stepping back. Almost like animals playing.

The game finished, Vi stared into her eyes, slowly stepping closer. Caitlyn didn't back away.

They raised hands together, twirling them, circling around each other. Vi held her arm above her head and Caitlyn spun under it, once. They stopped as they held each other's hands, standing arm's length apart as the music slowed to a close.

They were silent for a while before Vi made her voice work.

"It's funny. I wasn't planning on showing up, tonight…"

The girl cocked her head to the side, and her turquoise eyes sparkled in the light. "You don't like dancing?" she asked.

Vi answered automatically, "No…"

Then she blinked herself out of her stupor.

"I mean, yes!" Vi corrected herself, shaking her head, blushing. "I like it. I like it a lot… dancing with you. It's just, uh…"

She glanced at the ground and smirked, subconsciously tucking one of her hands in her pocket as she leaned on her other arm against the underside structure of the bleacher.

"You caught me at a disadvantage in those heels of yours. You're tall."

"Oh!" she smiled, her cheeks glowing a little pink as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She glanced down at her shoes, chuckling, "Yeah, I know."

In truth, the difference between them was only a couple inches, but Vi was relieved to find something to talk about, or else she was afraid she would look stupid for continuing to stare into her eyes without conversation.

Almost copying her, Caitlyn leaned against the bleachers, touching a beam above her head, half conscientious that she might hit something.

"And you're not," she teased back.

Caitlyn was glad the girl didn't seem offended. She laughed with a shrug.

"You're not Puerto Rican?" Caitlyn asked, noticing her accent.

She shook her head, adjusting her arm on the bleachers above her head. Her tie dangled in front of her.

"You just figuring that out?" she asked with a gentle smirk, leaning a tad closer toward her.

Caitlyn chuckled, "Well, from up here, I wasn't so sure."

"Is… that okay? That I'm not?" Vi asked, hesitantly.

Cocking her head in mild curiosity, Caitlyn analyzed her, measuring her face at every angle. Vi controlled her breathing, allowing her.

"I don't know…" she finally answered, "Creo que sí, pero como yo nunca… Since I… I never seen you before. This is my first time dancing in New York City, so… you tell me. Is it okay?"

Her face edged closer. Vi thought she saw her eyes glance at her lips for a second.

Vi kept her cool, keeping her voice working, "Well, there's not much I can do about it, so –"

Her eyes went wide as she felt soft lips press against hers. Startled, Vi stumbled back a bit, holding her away at arm's length.

Caitlyn stopped, looking sheepish and confused.

"I'm sorry," Vi apologized, breathing heavier, "You just… caught me by surprise, is all." Her heart was pounding. Vi flustered for an answer to tell her. "I'm just a by-the-book type, so…"

"'By-the-book'?" she asked in such a cute way. It made Vi smile again.

"Try me again," she said.

Caitlyn was slower this time, inching closer as Vi parted her own lips to meet her.

Just before she could, a voice suddenly cut through the din of the music, "Caitlyn! ¿Qué haces? ¡Sal de ahí ahora mismo!"

Caitlyn recognized it as Sky, hissing at her from outside the bleachers.

A second later, she heard Jayce calling, "¿Dónde está mi hermana?"

Caitlyn froze. Oh no, how long had I been gone?

Vi turned to look at what had gotten her attention.

Caitlyn stammered to her, "I-I have to go…" before rushing past her.

Vi was too stunned to react. The midnight haired woman looked once more at her, then exited the bleachers, reemerging into the light of the dance.

Vi stared after her, almost not sure if she had just dreamt what happened. But a name latched into her brain. A name that wasn't there before.

"Caitlyn…" she murmured to herself.

…

Jayce looked around, swiveling his head, but couldn't find his sister's familiar hair color. In all the dancing, they somehow got separated from each other.

Surely, she was okay, right? But he couldn't be too careful.

His face lightened when he saw her at the edge of the gym. She seemed fine. But something wasn't right.

Caitlyn emerged from under the bleachers, wringing her hands. She tried to move past Jayce, not looking directly at him. Before she could leave, he took her by the arm, concerned at how she wasn't looking directly at him.

"¿Esta bien?" Jayce asked his sister, eyebrows sloped.

"Sí, yo estoy bien. ¿Y Mel?" Caitlyn answered quickly, trying to shake off her nerves.

Jayce gave her a look like he didn't quite believe her. But before Caitlyn could add more to sway his doubts, she saw his gaze move behind her, toward someone approaching. Caitlyn turned to look.

Vi came out from under the bleachers. And she stared at the two of them standing together.

It hit Vi like a bolt of lightning.

Oh boy. The girl she kissed was Jayce's sister.

Caitlyn and Jayce stared in equal shock, eyes getting bigger as the pink haired woman seemed to pull herself together and try to walk a little taller. Toward them.

Caitlyn's blood froze like ice.

Oh no. Please don't come over.

But the pink haired girl approached, anyway, despite the heads that were starting to turn in their direction. A foolish act of bravery. It was like static electricity in the air, the ozone smell just before a storm, when lightning would strike.

The white girl held out her hand for a friendly handshake toward her brother. "I'm glad to meet you, I'm –"

Jayce grabbed Vi by her jacket collar and shoved her away. She tripped against the bottom step of the bleachers, falling backward in a tangle.

"What were you doing under there with my sister?!" he snapped, looking down at her.

Caitlyn quickly put herself between Jayce and Vi as others started to converge. "Jayce, no!"

Jayce glared at her. "Caitlyn!"

Caitlyn argued in Spanish, "Ella no me hizo nada."

Jayce argued back, "¿Tú conoces al pendeja ese?"

Vi stood back up, dusting herself off, looking between them. She was lost in translation, but she knew this was about her.

"I wasn't doing nothing," she tried to interject, explaining, standing up to him for snapping at his sister.

Jayce turned on Vi, his eyes burning from Caitlyn to her. "¿Tú no sabes lo que ella quiere?"

Cutting through the crowd, Officer Krupke suddenly put himself between Vi and Jayce, pushing a hand in front of the Puerto Rican boy much larger than him.

"Back up, there, Jayce," he ordered, surprisingly intimidating now.

"¡Oye! ¡No me toques! ¡No me toques!" Jayce exclaimed in frustration, only backing away to clearly avoid touching the officer.

With a bit of space between all of them, Officer Krupke then turned on Vi, pointing a finger at her chest.

"You ought to know better. Ain't you learned nothing?" he said, pushing her back, too.

Vi held her breath, but the longer she stared at him, the more she realized his eyes didn't widen with recognition. He only glared at her with annoyance. He still didn't remember her. Or at least… he wasn't mentioning it.

Vi took a breath and looked over the officer's shoulder at Jayce. He was standing further back, surrounded by his friends, glaring at her.

"I didn't mean no disrespect," she called out to him, trying to sound sincere.

Caitlyn stared at the scene in shock, frozen, until Mel emerged from the crowd and shook her shoulder. "¿Estas bien? ¿Estas bien?" she asked her.

Lost, Caitlyn looked into her hazel eyes and managed to nod. Grounding herself, she made her voice work, to explain to her friend briefly what had happened.

"I just wanted to dance with her," Vi continued to say to Jayce, a hand to her chest.

She tried for a friendly smile, but Jayce obviously didn't take it too well.

Jayce growled, "She don't wanna dance with you, American."

Then Heimerdinger approached underfoot, trying to chime in, "Aw, come on, we're all Americans, right?"

No one listened to him, least of all Jayce. A former expelled student of his.

Pushing Heimerdinger out of the way, Jayce took an intimidating step toward Vi, wrinkling his nose, getting in her face.

"Keep away from her, putana!" Jayce spat.

Vi kept her chin up, sealed her mouth shut, standing very still. She knew enough Spanish from prison to know what being called a whore was.

Officer Krupke quickly got in between them again. "Hey, hey! Now that sounded kinda rough, Jayce, and I ain't having it."

Just then, Mel pushed herself to the front, at Jayce's side, pulling on his arm to bring him aside.

"Tranquilo, que no pasó nada," she told him, cupping his cheek.

He looked in her eyes and seemed to calm a bit.

With Jayce occupied, and Vi not moving, Krupke glanced around the gym. "Youse gonna fight or youse gonna dance?" he asked, addressing the whole group of onlookers gawking.

"I wanna dance, God damn it!" Roe exclaimed loudly. Cocking her head, she turned on Jinx. "God damn it, Jinx, you swore to me you wasn't startin' nothing! You promised me that we could dance first and then you was only gonna challenge 'em –!"

"I am here to dance, girly girl," Jinx said, with an underscore of warning, squeezing her arm, nodding to the cop, "Isn't that what we've been doing?"

Roe could feel the officer's breath behind her neck. "Challenge who to what?" Krupke glowered.

Roe quickly changed her glare to a playful smile. "Like I know. Like she tells me anything," she giggled, playing with one of Jinx's braids. Jinx hugged her closer, playing the intimacy. Smiling at the cop.

Viktor had been watching the scene silently from a distance. He stepped closer, watching Caitlyn thoughtfully as she stared off into space in shock.

"Caitlyn," he said gently, getting her attention. "¿Te quieres quedar o te llevo a la casa?" he asked.

Caitlyn blinked then nodded minutely. She looked from him and saw someone else approaching her. It was the pink haired woman, again.

She was sheepishly smiling, hands in her pockets, her ears almost as pink as her hair. She opened her mouth but wasn't sure what to say.

Caitlyn decided to speak first, to preserve the momentary peace around them.

"Gracias por bailar conmigo. Thank you for the dance," Caitlyn said to her.

The pink haired girl nodded a little sheepishly, searching for the words to reply, "Sure. No, I mean, thank you for the dance and for –"

Seeing them talking, Jayce grimaced, snarling at the enchanted look on Vi's face.

In two quick steps – to Mel's alarm – Jayce slipped out of her grasp and lunged toward Vi with a clenched fist.

Vi came out of her dreamlike state with Caitlyn a beat too late to notice Jayce lunging at her.

Just before Jayce could shove his fist in Vi's face, or Vi could react to protect herself, Jinx suddenly showed up next to Vi's side, getting in between them. She clasped her hand over Jayce's fist in mid-swing, stopping him.

Vi wasn't sure who was more surprised, herself or Jayce.

With a flick of her eyes, Jinx glanced at the cop, enough of a signal to Jayce to get his attention. Thankfully, her grabbing his arm had been subtle enough to avoid detection in front of the cop. Roe was still talking his ear off.

"Let's say…" Jinx grinned, stealthily whispering in his ear. "Let's say we visit the head and we'll pow-wow friendly-like?"

Jayce and Jinx shared a look with each other. Vi watched carefully, listening to the exchange.

"You, me, and my troublemaking sister, here," Jinx finished, nodding subtly to Vi.

Jayce glanced at Vi, at his friends, and around the gym. He knew he was at a disadvantage here. His hotheadedness could lead to a fight that would only get interrupted. The cops would no doubt arrest anyone caught up in the brawl. Then where would Mel or Caitlyn be?

Jayce grimaced, meeting Jinx's gaze and nodding.

He wrenched his fist out of Jinx's grip, sharply. He glared once more at Vi as he backed away, picking up his jacket and hanging it over his shoulder. He motioned to his friends, Braulio and Quique, who left with him toward the bathrooms. Krupke watched them suspiciously as they left the gym.

Jinx stood nearby, ready with her chosen Jets to come with her. She was waiting for the perfect moment to be heading toward the bathroom, avoiding Krupke's attention.

She stopped long enough to see that Vi had drifted away, returning by Caitlyn. Vi and Caitlyn couldn't keep their eyes off each other.

Mel gracefully got between them, sweeping Caitlyn by the arm. "Do you want to start World War III?" she jeered at Vi.

As she took Caitlyn's arm, Mel shot Vi an appraising glance, liking what she saw. She murmured to Caitlyn, "¡Ay, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, me quedo boba!"

Mel guided her out of the gym double doors with Viktor trailing behind them, leaving Vi standing by herself, smitten.

The few Jets waited for their former leader a short distance away. Jinx tossed her own jacket over her shoulder, looking to Vi, staring at the doors.

"Vi. C'mon."

When Vi didn't respond, Jinx repeated.

"Vi? You coming?"

Vi nodded absentmindedly. She looked back to Jinx, then back to where Caitlyn exited. Her mind somewhere else.

"Yeah, I… I'll see ya later."

Jinx blanched as her sister hurried out the gym door. "What? Vi! You walking away? Hey! C'mon, man!" she called, but her sister was already gone, the doors swinging behind her.

Jinx cursed under her breath.

She had no idea what had gotten in her sister's head. She seemed very distracted, unlike herself. Even more than usual.

And Jinx couldn't help but think… perhaps Vi left as payback for how she bailed on her from the drugstore earlier that afternoon.

As soon as the thought came, she shook it off, denying it.

Whatever, Jinx breathed, I can do this alone.

…

Outside the gym, Vi hurried down the hallway and pushed open the double doors leading outside the school. She dodged a few people standing around in the warm night air, smoking on the stone steps.

Jumping over the last few steps and ignoring the disgruntled looks of the people she bumped shoulders against in her hurry, Vi turned in a circle at the bottom of the stone steps, looking for the head of midnight blue hair in the parking lot. But Vi didn't see her.

She was gone.

Vi stood rooted in place. She glanced back at the school building for a moment, then bit her lip.

She tugged her tie, loosening it and stuffing it in her pocket. With a shake of her head, her hair fell back into its usual place.

She wanted to think. She needed to go for a walk.

/

"Creo que sí, pero como yo nunca…"

"I think so, but since I never…"

"¿Qué haces? ¡Sal de ahí ahora mismo!"

"What are you doing? Get out of there right now!"

"¿Dónde está mi hermana?"

"Where is my sister?"

"¿Esta bien?"

"Are you alright?"

"Sí, yo estoy bien. ¿Y Mel?"

"Yes, I am fine. And Mel?"

"Ella no me hizo nada."

"She didn't do anything."

"¿Tú conoces al pendeja ese?"

"You know that asshole?"

"¿Tú no sabes lo que ella quiere?"

"You don't know what she wants?"

"¡Oye! ¡No me toques! ¡No me toques!"

"Hey! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"

"¿Estas bien? ¿Estas bien?"

"Are you alright? Are you alright?"

"Putana"

"Whore"

"Tranquilo, que no pasó nada."

"Calm down, nothing happened."

"¿Te quieres quedar o te llevo a la casa?"

"Do you want to stay or I'll take you home?"

"¡Ay, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, me quedo boba!"

"Oh, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, Caitlyn, I'm dumbfounded!"

/