Ye olde disclaimer: "My Life as a Teenage Robot" and all of its characters are copyright Nickelodeon and Rob Renzetti. I in no way claim ownership of either. I'm just using them without permission for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

Chapter Two: Dancing Queen

At the arcade, Brad and his younger brother Tuck were competing against each other in a racing game while Jenny watched. Tuck was at a major disadvantage, having the shortest legs and no driving experience. He was barely able to see the screen, reach the pedals and turn the steering wheel at the same time, and kept steering off the road, crashing into every wall and tree around.

"You're in last place, Tuck!" Brad teased as he lapped Tuck yet again. "You should just give up now and declare me the winner!"

"Not a chance!" Tuck snapped back. "There's still two more laps to go! If I'm gonna lose, I'm gonna lose right, doggone it!"

"Have it your way, then!"

Jenny just shook her head. On any other day she would have laughed at Brad and Tuck's bickering, but today it was just annoying her. She was also still sulking over being brushed off by Brit and Tiff yet again. What was the problem with them, anyway? She'd always tried her best to be nice to them but they were always so rude back to her. And it wasn't just Brit and Tiff, either. She'd tried to make friends with other people, but most of them ignored her or whispered about her. Few of them even spoke to her, even after she'd saved their lives.

Jenny's mom had told her before school started that the other kids would need some time to get used to having a robot around. Jenny hadn't listened, of course, but she was starting to see that maybe her mom had been right. She'd been hopeful about making friends at first, but it was beginning to seem more and more like Brad would be her only friend at high school.

Jenny's thought process was suddenly interrupted by a shout. It was Brad, reveling in his victory over Tuck. "Ha, ha!" he cheered. "Once again, I have whooped your heinee, little brother!"

"Curses!" Tuck growled, smacking one small fist against his steering wheel. "I demand a rematch!"

"So be it!" Brad announced, reaching into his pocket for a quarter. "Prepare for yet another heinee-whooping!"

Jenny rolled her eyes. The two of them would be at this for hours, and she didn't want to watch it. She began looking around at the other game machines, wishing there was something for her to do.

"Hi, Jenny!"

Caught completely by surprise, Jenny whirled around to see a skinny boy with slumping posture, pimpled skin and crooked teeth grinning at her. "Sheldon?!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"I always come to the arcade after school!" Sheldon explained, still grinning like crazy. "This place has all of my favorite video games!"

"I should've known." Jenny mumbled under her breath. Even though she and Sheldon had agreed to keep their relationship platonic, he was still a bit too eager for her to feel comfortable. It didn't help that he kept popping up when she least expected it, either.

Sheldon's cheeks began to flush as he cleared his throat. "So, um, do you wanna play 'Zombie Shoot Out' with me?" he asked nervously. "It's a two player game, and I've got fifty bucks in quarters!" As if to convince her further, he held up a huge bag full of coins.

Jenny became extremely embarrassed and glanced around quickly to make sure nobody was looking. Just then a flash of light caught her eye. Curious, she looked again and saw that it had come from a game machine she hadn't seen before. It was bigger then the others and had a wider screen. A pulsing beat emanated from its huge speakers and bright lights flashed around it rhythmically. A few people were gathered around, watching a blonde girl dressed in lavender jeans jumping up and down on a platform in time to the music.

Jenny was fascinated and intrigued. "Wow!" she said aloud. "Hey, Sheldon! What's that?"

Sheldon looked. "Oh, that's a new game they just put in today." he explained. "It's called 'Dance Fever.' Everyone's nuts about it."

"Why is that?" Jenny asked, not taking her eyes off the machine.

"Because it's the first of its kind!" Sheldon went on, happy to share his extensive knowledge of video games. "It's a dancing simulation game! Instead of using controllers like buttons and joysticks, you use your feet!"

"Oooh." Jenny breathed in fascination. "I'm gonna go check it out!" With that, she zipped off in a blur of blue and white once again.

Sheldon blinked in surprise. "Hey!" he called, running after her. "Wait for me!"

Jenny didn't hear him and came to a stop directly in front of the machine. The crowd took no notice of her, and Jenny watched the blonde girl as she continued dancing. As she watched, she was impressed by how well the girl was doing. She got every single step right, hopping lightly from one square to the other as if she'd already memorized their order. Occasionally she would show off by crouching down and using her hands, tap dancing or doing a disco move, drawing a few ooohs and aaahs from the crowd. Just then, Jenny noticed Sheldon come up next to her, huffing and puffing from his run.

"That girl rocks!" Jenny exclaimed. "Who is she?"

"Huh?" Sheldon replied, still trying to breathe. Jenny pointed to the blonde girl, who was now doing an Irish step-dance on the foot pads. "Oh, her?" he answered. "I dunno. I've never seen her before. And that's really saying something, since I come here all the time. She just showed up and started dancing."

"Maybe she's new here." Jenny guessed. "At any rate, she's really good at this game!"

At that moment, the song ended and the girl stopped dancing. The small crowd immediately burst into wild applause. Wiping the perspiration from her forehead, the girl turned around and bowed to the audience with a big smile on her face. "Thank you, thank you." she said gratefully, stepping down from the platform. "Who wants to go next?"

"I do! I want a turn!" Jenny shouted quickly, throwing her hands up in the air. "Hey, Sheldon," she added, looking cute as she could manage. "Could you be a sweetie and lend me a few quarters? Pleeease?"

It took everything Sheldon had not to melt into a puddle of sticky lovesick goo on the floor. Face burning red, he reached into his bag and pulling out a big handful of quarters. "Anything for you, Jenny!" he said, grinning at her adoringly.

For a moment, Jenny felt somewhat guilty about mooching off Sheldon like that, but her guilt quickly vanished when she saw all the quarters he was offering her. "Thanks, Sheldon!" she said, snatching them up eagerly. "I owe you one!" With that, she bounded up to the game like a pleased child, leaving Sheldon behind to watch with a goofy grin on his face.

The blonde girl's eyes grew wide as Jenny mounted the platform, seeing her clearly for the first time. At this distance, it was clear that she wasn't human. Jenny towered over her by a full head, and was completely made of metal.

"Are . . . are you a robot?" the girl asked hesitantly.

Jenny's motorized heart nearly stopped. What could she say? If she said 'yes', the girl might reject her, just like Brit and Tiff. But if she said 'no,' everybody would think she was stupid and laugh. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Becoming nervous, she began shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Um . . ." she began. "Well . . . uh-huh."

To her surprise, the girl smiled. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "That's so cool! So, robo-girl, have you ever played 'Dance Fever' before?"

Jenny blinked out of her state of shock and shook her head. "Well, I know that you're supposed to step on foot pads, right?"

"That's part of it." the girl replied and pointed down at the platform. Jenny saw that it was divided in half, with four squares on both sides. All of the squares had arrows on them pointing forward, back, left and right. "You only step on a pad when an arrow comes on the screen." the girl explained. "Step on the right pad at the right time and you get a point. If you get enough right, you pass and go on to the next level."

"That sounds easy!" Jenny grinned. "Here, let me try!"

She inserted two of Sheldon's quarters into the coin slot and chose a song. As it began to play, Jenny stared at the screen as hard as she could, waiting for the arrows to appear. Suddenly a single arrow began rising up from the bottom of the screen. She lifted one foot and was about to step on a foot pad when the blonde girl stopped her. "Not yet!" she said. "Wait for it to get to the top first!"

Jenny obeyed and stepped on the appropriate pad just as the arrow reached the top. The word "Good!" instantly appeared on the screen. "I got it right!" Jenny exclaimed happily. "Did you see that? I got it right!"

"Don't stop yet!" the girl directed. "There's more coming!"

Jenny looked back at the screen just in time to see two more arrows floating up, pointing left and right. She made a little hop and landed on the left and right squares simultaneously, getting another "Good!" and causing the platform to quake a bit from her weight.

As the song progressed, more and more arrows appeared, scrolling up from the bottom to top of the screen. With some direction from the blonde girl, Jenny was able to get each one of them right. Soon she was comfortable enough to get fancy, using her robotic powers to show off on the footpads. Everyone watching, especially the blonde girl and Sheldon, was amazed when she leaned over backward to touch the back square with her pigtails, did a handstand on the side arrows and returned to her feet in one fluidly mechanical move. No one seemed to notice, however, that with every step she took, the platform would shudder and groan just a bit more.

Before Jenny knew it, the song was over and the music stopped. She was overjoyed when the word 'Passed' appeared on the screen. So overjoyed, in fact, that she jumped six feet and did a somersault in midair. Unfortunately, her celebration was ended abruptly when she came back down again.

With a loud and sickening crunch, Jenny's heavy metal feet smashed through the 'Dance Fever' platform, leaving a huge, gaping hole.

If her body were capable of producing sweat, Jenny would have been drenched in it. Stunned and completely mortified, she could do nothing but remain frozen in place. All sound and movement seemed to vanish, as if time itself had stopped. She could feel every eye in the arcade staring at her as she stood there, standing in the middle of the destroyed machine like a metallic statue. The blonde girl, Sheldon, even Brad and Tuck, still seated at the race car game, were gaped at her with wide eyes.

Slowly, Jenny turned her head to face the gawking crowd, face bright blue in a humiliated blush. Not knowing what else to do, she lifted one hand and rubbed the back of her head, chuckling nervously.

"Oops."

To be continued . . .