A/N: The time has come to issue a couple of apologies.
1) I apologize that the mentioning of menstruation has, apparently, bothered some of you. The celebration of a girl's first menstruation is actually one of the Sixteen Samskaras (rites of passage) of Hinduism; this specific samskara is known as Ritusuddhi (on the flip side, there is Keshanta, which celebrates boys' first time shaving). This was the result of author research into Hinduism, and it felt to me that it could be another reason for Ruby to have trouble getting into her own culture, which has been established as being a part of her character.
2) I apologize that Ruby touching Shannon's hair has, likewise, apparently bothered some of you. For just a reminder, Ruby admiring Shannon's hair was something that was established early on in This Will Be Our Year (and was even based on an incredibly minor canonical observation). There is more hair-touching ahead within the Sharuby Saga (among even more questionable touching on the horizon for this story), but if this is still irksome to some, then I will omit it from here on out.
Shall we proceed?
The current semester had progressed after some time had passed, and Ruby had a matter of great importance to share with Shannon as they departed from Royal Woods High one Monday afternoon.
"Shans! Shans!" She called out as she caught up with the bespectacled brunette. "I have got, like, super big news!"
"Lay it on me!" Shannon responded; she could sense Ruby's excitement.
"So, our dance club is having its first-ever recital for the semester!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Awesome!" Shannon replied in kind.
"You, like, so have to be there!" Ruby insisted.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Shannon said in delight. "When is it?"
"Friday!" Ruby answered.
Shannon's smile quickly dropped to hear when the recital was to take place; she responded, "Ohhh… this Friday…?"
"Like, yeah…" said Ruby as she sensed that she was not going to like what was about to be exchanged between she and Shannon. "Don't tell me that's, like, gonna conflict with your schedule again!"
"Well… no, not exactly…" said Shannon as she stroked the back of her head. "But, it is kind of a short notice, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's my bad..." said Ruby. "I, like, totally spaced it until Miss Mattila reminded us about it today."
It was not that Ruby was a forgetful person, or that she could not stay on top of the things that she had going on in her life, but she had gotten so preoccupied with trying to make time for she and Shannon, that she had become rather negligent in other, more important commitments and responsibilities. Still, it was a rather ironic and somewhat hypocritical déjà vu, when Shannon considered Ruby recently made a bit of a fuss over her spacing a prior engagement when she had tried to make weekend plans for them.
"I know you could be there!" Ruby insisted, "I know the drama club lets out at, like, five-thirty… the recital's not till seven… that's, like, an hour and a half between!"
"Yeah, I know," nodded Shannon. "But, see, we're having auditions this Friday for The Wizard of Oz, you know how long those can go with Mrs. B… and when my parents pick me up after theater, we always go out for a family dinner before we go home."
"Oh… I see…" snarked Ruby as though she sounded insulted. "You can go out with your parents every week, but if I want, like, just one day, it's gotta be a rain check!"
"That's not fair, Ruby," retorted Shannon; she did not like or appreciate the way Ruby had addressed her one bit.
"'Not fair'?" Ruby likewise retorted. "Like, riddle me this: why is it every time I wanna do something with you, you always, like, flake out on me?"
"I've got a busy schedule this semester; that's not my fault," insisted Shannon as she felt the sting from Ruby's sharp insinuations.
"I know I'm not in theater this semester, but I'd drop, like, everything to come see you and show my support," insisted Ruby. "Guess I can't count on you for a little support!"
By now, Shannon's chin began to quiver; it cut her to the quick that Ruby, of all people, would actually guilt-trip her in such a manner with claims that she cared nothing for her or her activities, when in fact, she would do whatever she could to show Ruby her support in whatever her endeavors may be out of love for her.
"I support you, Ruby…" she insisted in such a forlorn voice, while all Ruby did was raise an eyebrow in disbelief. Finally, Shannon sighed, "Okay… I'll just… tell my parents to go to dinner without me; I want to make plans of my own for Friday night so I can see your recital…"
"Now you're talkin'!" Ruby flipped like a switch. "You totally need to see it, anyway, it's gonna be, like, such a great show!"
"I'm… sure it will…" mumbled Shannon, who still felt hurt not only from Ruby's previous accusations and insinuations, but that she could not even apologize for having made such. It may or may not have been the time or place for such, but Shannon felt it necessary to address this problem, as she began, "Look, Ruby..."
"Not to brag or anything," Ruby interrupted, "but, me and Levi are, like, totally the best part of the show."
Whatever Shannon wanted to address about Ruby's accusatory attitude had flown out of her head as she looked upon the Indian girl in a state of confusion and asked, "Levi?"
"Yeah," nodded Ruby. "My dance partner. I told you about him."
"Nooo, I don't recall you ever mentioning him…" noted Shannon.
"I thought I did," shrugged Ruby. "Well, anyhoo, he's super! He is, like, so built, but he's, like, totally light on his feet, too! All the girls in the club are, like, totally crazy about him!"
"Yeah?" Shannon responded with a sliver of suspicion over the way that Ruby had described this dance partner of hers so enthusiastically. "Even… you?"
"I wouldn't go that far," teased Ruby with a playful wink.
Shannon peeled her eyes in response to Ruby's teasing, although, she could not help but feel as though that with how things had transpired between the two of them as of late, she had begun to see a different side to Ruby that she had never seen before… a side that was rather selfish and demanding… she did not dismiss Ruby's need for personal, quality time, because Shannon possessed just as much of a hunger for quality time with Ruby as well, but it was as though Ruby felt that Shannon's busy life, which was short on flexibility, was an inconvenience to her, which really was not at all fair to Shannon. At least, in this case, she could easily change her usual weekly plans to not accompany her parents to dinner to see a friend's dance recital – it wasn't as though their weekly outings were significant obligations of which you were expected to attend like mitzvahs or weddings, but it still seemed to Shannon that Ruby could be a little more understanding and considerate of the fact that she didn't always have the luxury of scheduling flexibility… not to mention that Ruby could also be a little more understanding and considerate of her feelings in general.
For a high school elective, Miss Mattila's modern dance club was insanely intense, particularly when it came to choreography among multiple dancers who had to step in precision timing and perfect synchronization. The fit, middle-aged, blonde-haired, and fair-skinned woman was a nightmare dressed like a daydream, as she rehearsed half of a dozen dancers who were positioned into two rows of three; what they practiced was not exactly River Dance, but they did their best to keep their upper bodies as still as possible, while they collectively performed their foot movements, as though they were wind-up toys… unfortunately, a couple of the dancers began to slack and fell out of time with the rest of the group – a crucial mistake that did not get past their instructor's eagle eye.
"No, no, no, no, no!" She barked in a harsh, screeching voice as she addressed the two dancers who had difficulty keeping time with the others. "Remember the number one rule: step in time! Step in time!" She clapped her hands on each syllable to emphasize her point.
She then demonstrated a basic rundown of their routine while she counted aloud to give them a sense of the exact timing they needed to keep their steps in; she started with a Paradiddle…
"One-two-three-shift! One-two-three-shift!"
Followed by a Maxie Ford…
"One a-two a-three! One a-two a-three!"
Followed by a Buffalo Shuffle…
"One and-a-two! One and-a-two!"
While the militaristic instructor ran down the timing of these steps with these particular dancers, four other dancers stood aside in a corner, as they had far more specific cues that they had to wait for, and yet, their routines were nowhere near as stringent as the ones that Miss Mattila rehearsed with the other group – something that provided two of these particular dancers with barbs to trade, Ruby being one of them, the other being a tall and handsome hunk who seemed somewhat reminiscent of a well-known teen heartthrob with whom young girls all over the world were absolutely smitten, named Blake Bradley.
"Honestly, I don't know whether I, like, feel fortunate for us, or, like, sorry for them," the Indian girl remarked to the hunk who stood beside her as they watched their instructor continually bark directions at the others.
"I feel a little of both, actually…" replied Levi as he and his little partner shared in a chuckle. "You still bringin' those Bollywood-inspired moves to your performance for the recital?"
"Why not? They seem pretty effective in expressing myself," responded Ruby as she leaned against Levi's rock-hard abs and shimmied her shoulders.
"Whoa, momma!" He playfully quipped.
"Alright, let's take it from the top, and this time, let's get it right!" Miss Mattila drilled as the group she rehearsed trudged in exasperation back to their starting positions on the opposite side of studio. "And, go!"
The group marched like soldiers further out onto the studio floor.
"That's it! Get a march going!"
They then stopped, did a right face, and proceeded with their precision group steps.
"One-two-three-shift! One-two-three-shift! One a-two a-three! One a-two-a-three! "One and-a-two! One and-a-two!"
Ruby and Levi exchanged a pair of wacky faces with each other, as they secretly mocked their dance instructor's strict, authoritarian manner of teaching while she paid them no mind.
Auditions for the drama club's upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz had come to a conclusion. It was one of Shannon's most favorite movies; from the first time that she saw it as a little girl, the colorful and fanciful settings of the Land of Oz, the engaging and appealing characters, the memorable musical numbers, and the compelling story had sparked her lifelong passion for storytelling and theatrics. Growing up, she would often re-enact scenes from not just Oz, but other movies she would come to know and love to entertain her family, and the more film and stage productions she became exposed to, the more she knew that she wanted to be an actress when she grew up... it could be said that she always felt more comfortable pretending to be somebody else than she did being her true self. Not surprisingly, she had auditioned for the role of Dorothy Gale, and kept her fingers crossed that she would land the part when Mrs. Bernardo made her decisions of who she felt was best suited for each role when they would meet up the following week.
As her fellow thespians dispersed from the auditorium to catch their rides for home, Shannon, instead, made her journey all the way over to the opposite side of the facilities where the gymnasium was, as it was where that night's dance club recital was to be held – it wasn't entirely unusual, but the stage in the auditorium wasn't exactly large enough to accommodate a dance class; the gymnasium, on the other hand, was large enough to convert into something of a dance floor (after all, other school functions, such as formal flings, and the annual Royal Rumble were held in here), and the bleachers, obviously, provided a ready-made seating area for an audience of spectators to watch. It felt a little strange for Shannon to not be picked up by her parents and then off for a family dinner after that week's drama club meeting had adjourned, but they had to come to terms with the fact that their daughter was growing up, and that she should be allowed a little bit of independence to make plans of her own with her friends if she so chose to… even if her smother mother may have made a big fuss about it. Just the same, even though Shannon still missed Ruby being in theater with her, she was filled with genuine excitement over attending the first recital of Ruby's dance club, and was most anxious to see what would be in store for the evening... she just wished that the circumstances that brought her here were not so unpleasant.
Sometime later in the evening, the gymnasium had filled to nearly maximum capacity, with Shannon having gotten herself a seat on an upper bleacher; she figured that with a show like this, where the footwork was the main attraction of the performance, she wanted to be sure that she could get a good view of such. Soon, from behind the wings of a makeshift backstage area emerged the blonde, middle-aged woman, who stepped out into the center of the dance floor to welcome the audience to their performance.
"Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our first recital for this semester," greeted Miss Mattila. "We hope you enjoy what our students have in store for you this evening, as they present a little interpretative dance that we are all very proud of."
Interpretative dance? The art of storytelling through rhythmic movement? This should be most interesting.
After the requisite applause from the audience, the lights in the gymnasium were shut off, while the lighting that had been rigged for the performance turned on to illuminate the dance floor area. In addition to the lighting, there was also a sound system that had been rigged to provide the performance with its musical accompaniment, and as soon as the music began to play, those half of a dozen dancers marched out onto the dance floor from one of the wings; all of their steps were in perfect sync with one another, and even as they took their positions, their movements remained in perfect sync, as though they were collectively one well-oiled machine. Their upper bodies remained almost perfectly still, and their footwork was as listless and emotionless as the expression on their faces – they all looked completely stoic, and their wardrobe consisted of dark and somber cloaks. The icing on the cake of this curious routine was the musical selection, as it had to have been the most undanceable music anyone had ever heard – it was practically elevator music, yet somehow, these dancers managed to move their feet in the same slow tempo as the music… it all seemed so bizarre.
A blush of embarrassment reddened Shannon's face as her empty stomach gurgled loud enough for others to hear, which earned some glares from those who sat around her; on any other Friday evening, she and her family would have finished with their dinner by now, and be on their way home, where she would determine how much homework she would have to complete over the weekend, take a shower, maybe watch a movie or listen to some music, then go to bed. If only the music was louder, it would be helpful in drowning out the sounds of her stomach, but just at that moment, there was an abrupt change in the music which took everyone in the gymnasium by surprise: this music was far more upbeat and pulsating, much like the kind of house music that people could actually dance to while they went out clubbing.
On cue, from the opposite wing emerged an Indian girl dressed in a leotard that featured an eye-catching design of various shades of red; this certainly grabbed people's attention – especially from a number of excited boys in the gymnasium, but particularly one Jewish girl whose face instantly lit up over the sight she saw. Ruby danced her way out onto the floor with some Bollywood-inspired moves that were far more lively and charismatic, much to the chagrin of the other dancers who were already out on the floor, and whose routine had been so rudely interrupted. This was not the first time that Shannon had ever seen Ruby in a leotard, but it was the first time that she ever found herself actually paying attention to Ruby in a leotard, and she just had to capture this, as she removed her cell phone from her skirt pocket to record video of Ruby's performance. She may not have matched some of her other female peers of her age, but even so, Ruby fearlessly flung her fit and slinky body across the dance floor with the same brand of unwavering confidence that she always possessed; Shannon had to admit – Ruby was as hot as fire.
The other dancers stood off to the side as they watched Ruby shake her little booty across the dance floor – they almost looked offended by what they witnessed, all the while, Shannon was enticed as she watched Ruby not even give a damn if she offended anybody with her freedom of expression through her moves. Just then, the other dancers marched their way over to Ruby… and kept on marching to the point that they had, in a sense, marched her right off of the dance floor, so that they may resume their perfectly synchronized mope fest of a routine to the same kind of elevator music as before. Who were these people, anyway; the Delightful Children from Down the Lane who grew up to be emo teens?
Just as they had gotten comfortable settling back into their strange little routine, that same upbeat pulse music had started up again, and from out of the wings, Ruby made another grand entrance, but this time, she was not alone, as somebody else came out to dance alongside her: a boy who was dressed in a similarly loud and eye-catching leotard, but this one in various shades of blue. Based on his impressive height, muscular build, and smooth moves, Shannon had deduced that he must have been the infamous Levi of whom Ruby had spoken, and it was not at all difficult to see why he had gotten quite a favorable response from many girls in the gymnasium; Shannon had to admit – Levi was a beefcake.
As Ruby had done sololy before, she and Levi engaged in far livelier dance moves, and neither of them seemed to necessarily adhere to the same patterns or routines as the other – it was more as though they both had danced free style, which continued to anger the other dancers who found their perfectly synchronized routine rudely interrupted once again… except for one of them, who actually appeared to have more of a longing look on their face. When they did not flash each other confident smiles, Ruby and Levi flashed smug looks over at the other dancers, as though they taunted them with their devil-may-care attitude. Once again, the others marched in time and in sync over toward the offending two dancers to march both of them off of the dance floor – although the one among them did not march with such aggression as the others. Now with the dance floor all to themselves again, they resumed their same old routine to the same old elevator music yet again.
As she continued to watch, Shannon seemed to pick up an underlying theme to this interpretative dance, and what happened next seemed to further support her interpretation.
Once again, the upbeat techno music interrupted their synchronized routine, and not only did Ruby and Levi dance their way out from the wings and back onto the dance floor once more, but this time, they were accompanied by a third dancer in a similar leotard – this one in various shades of yellow. As before, their energetic moves were free style that matched nobody else's, which only continue to offend the other group… except for that one in particular, who slowly broke away from the rest of the group, after which they ripped off their dark-colored cloak to reveal that they, too, actually wore a similar leotard underneath – this one in various shades of green. The breakaway then decided to join up with Ruby, Levi, and their fellow dancer, much to their delight to have another join their ranks. By now, three of the remaining normies appeared to have been angered even more to witness one of their own defect to the other side, while two others looked a little more uneasy. Regardless, the normies, just as before, angrily marched toward the more free-spirited dancers, and marched them right off of the dance floor, as they, once again, went back to their same old routine to the same old elevator music.
By now, Shannon had the theme all figured out: the dancers in the dark cloaks who all danced the same steps to the same kind of music were uptight conformists who felt threatened by anybody who did not adhere to their routine, whereas the dancers in the bright and flashy leotards who danced however they pleased were free-spirited individualists who virtually marched to the beat of a different drum. She felt like Luan would have loved to have seen a performance such as this, as it very much reminded her of the sort of pantomime pieces that she had workshopped for Funny Business, LLC in recent years.
For the finale, the upbeat techno music interrupted the remaining group of conformists once more, and out danced Ruby, Levi, and their fellow individualists, with yet another new face in tow who wore a bright orange leotard, and just as before, they each danced in their own way that bore little semblance to anyone else's moves. Three of the dark-cloaked conformists were just as angered as they had been the previous times their routine had been interrupted, but this time, two more of them decided to break ranks and join the others, as they ripped away their dark cloaks to reveal they, too, wore similar leotards – one purple, one pink. Happy to include even more into their little group of inclusivity, they each danced in however manner they felt like dancing… then came an unexpected twist ending: this time, it was the remaining three angry conformists who found themselves being marched off of the dance floor by the rainbow of individualists, which resulted in a roar of cheers and applause from those in the gymnasium who were happy to see that the uptight killjoys had been put into their place.
By now, many in the audience had begun to clap their hands to the beat of the music, while the remaining dancers moved and grooved in their own, individual manners – but, of course, it was Ruby whom Shannon kept her eyes on, as she watched the Indian hottie in the reddish leotard do the Time Warp again. It was just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right, she put her hands on her hips, she brought her knees in tight, but it was the pelvic thrust that really drove Shannon insane… and what happened thereafter also drove Shannon insane, but for an entirely different reason, as she watched as Levi came up from behind Ruby and joined in the pelvic thrust with her, practically knocking at her back door; between this close encounter, the seemingly sly smiles they exchanged with one another, and both of them dripping with sweat on top of everything else, Shannon actually felt jealous.
Sometime later, various dancers had stepped out of the gym locker rooms, from where they had changed out of their wardrobe and back into their ordinary clothing, but one particular dancer found herself nearly mobbed by new fan boys when she emerged. It had been a while since Ruby had found herself as the center of attention such as this, and even if she may not have been the same kind of attention-seeker she once was, she still enjoyed the adulation of her new fans. Just the same, as she maneuvered her way through the crowd, she finally managed to meet up with the bespectacled Jewish girl who beamed at her.
"Hey, girl, hey!" Ruby exclaimed. "So, what'd you think?"
"Oy, you were on fire tonight, Rubes!" Shannon beamed over Ruby's performance with such enthusiasm.
To hear the words of praise from Shannon had made Ruby's smile widen with glee, until she noticed that the girl in the orange sweater appeared to have been empty-handed, and asked, "What, no flowers for me?"
Shannon's smile, meanwhile, dropped drastically; yes, it was customary to offer a bouquet of flowers to somebody after a big performance, but even so, she, once again, felt put off by Ruby's seeming selfishness.
"Uh… no… I guess I didn't think to bring you any…" muttered Shannon.
"Well, at least you showed up," shrugged Ruby.
"Yeah… and I'm glad I did," nodded Shannon. "Because you really were the best part of the show…"
It seemed that Shannon was not the only one who possessed such a mindset, because before she knew it, she found herself shoved aside as more fan boys began to mob up around Ruby again. In a way, it did bring back some amusing memories from the previous year in which Shannon had found herself catapulted into instant celebrity status after the drama club's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which she played one of the romantic leads, Hermia, and for quite some time after, could not walk the halls of Royal Woods High without other students recognizing her as such. Still, she also knew how much Ruby enjoyed this sort of attention, and could see for herself how she ate it all up with a spoon as these boys heaped more praise onto her. Eventually, though, as the mob began to dwindle, Ruby approached the bespectacled brunette once more.
"You're sensational, Rubes," observed Shannon. "Guess you won't want to come back to theater next semester, huh?"
Part of her felt a sense of dread over the potential answer, if only because it would possibly mean that they still would not be in the class together, but at the same time, she also wanted Ruby to be free to do whatever made her happy, which it seemed to her that the dance club did just that.
But…
"Naw, I'm still coming back," said Ruby before she lowered her voice to share a little secret with Shannon. "Like, between you and me, even though our show was a lot of fun tonight, the club has been almost like a boot camp; even Mrs. Bernardo never pushed us as hard as Miss Mattila does."
"Well, you really did put on a great show tonight," said Shannon. "Like I said, with your killer moves, you really were the best part of the show."
Ruby smiled in pride once again, but the two girls soon heard a gaggle of other girls as they turned to see that Levi had finally stepped out of the boys' locker room, and into a mob of his own fans.
"And so was he…" said Ruby as she watched her dance partner make his way through the crowd of adoring fans who, likewise, heaped adulation upon him.
"Yeah, I can see what you mean about how all the girls are crazy about him," observed Shannon.
After he managed to break away from his legion of fans, Levi spotted his partner among the crowd of people who still hung around in the gymnasium and stepped over to approach her, as he greeted, "Hey, Red!"
"Hey, Blue!" Ruby returned the greeting, an obvious reference to the fact that the two of them were among the color-coded rainbow of dancers in the show… that, and they happened to be affectionate nicknames the two of them had come up for each other.
"So, Rubes, you got a sec?" Levi asked.
"For you, Levi? Two secs!" Ruby responded as she and her partner shared in a good-natured chuckle, while Shannon looked a might uneasy before Ruby turned to her and asked, "You mind?"
"Oh… uh… no… not at all… I… really should be going, anyway…" said Shannon; she could sense that Ruby and Levi wanted to be alone, and a part of her did not want to leave because of it, but it probably would have been for the best the she took her leave, anyway. "I'll, uh… I'll see ya…"
With that, Shannon turned and quickly walked away, which left Ruby a tad perturbed; she at least wanted a hug (and maybe even a kiss) before Shannon left… but, she shrugged if off and resumed her conversation with her partner.
"Man, we, like, totally killed it tonight!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Yeah…" agreed Levi with a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad it's all over."
"Maybe the recital," noted Ruby. "But we still got, like, the rest of the semester of the old battle ax's boot camp."
Levi had another good chuckle over Ruby's humorous, yet accurate statement; he had to agree that Miss Mattila, with her militant perfectionism, did not make this an easy class for any of the dancers. At least he, Ruby, and the rest of their rainbow had it a might easier than the half of a dozen conformists who spent all of those weeks practicing and training to make sure that they were perfectly in sync with one another to convey just how much they had adhered to their sense of conformity.
"So, listen, Rubes," continued Levi. "I was thinking, if you're ever up for it, maybe we could get together sometime…"
Ruby was stunned by Levi's proposal; she certainly had not expected him to ask her such a question, especially out of all of the girls in their class who were crazy about him, she had to have been the one who was the least crazy about him… then again, they had been working relatively closely together for a number of weeks… maybe he picked up on a vibe of some sort that made him feel as though that they could continue to work closely together outside of their dance club setting.
"Hold the phone, Levi…" responded Ruby as she considered his offer for a moment. "Are you, like, asking me out?"
"Well… yeah…" he nodded.
Something of a coy smile spread across Ruby's face, which Levi initially took to be a sign that she would be all on board with such an arrangement; however, her next response did not meet his expectation.
"You know, if we met in another time and another place, I might, like, take you up on that offer…" said Ruby. "But, now? My heart belongs to someone else…"
Even in spite of his initial disappointment, Levi accepted Ruby's rejection in stride… he probably should have figured that a girl like her was already spoken for.
"That's cool," he nodded understandingly. "Well, somebody's a lucky dude to have you."
Once again, a coy smile returned to Ruby's face, because she knew what she had to say was probably going to come as a shock to him, but it would have been so worth it to her.
"Yeah… she totally is…" she said before she bade him a Hindi farewell. "Namaste."
As the Indian girl took her leave, Levi found himself doing a double-take… did Ruby just say, 'She'? As with one Spencer Banks before him, Ruby had never struck Levi as being the type of girl who would swing that way, especially not with the way boys were drawn to her. Needless to say, it left him quite stunned; but, he had to suppose that he could not judge a book by its cover… somebody must be a lucky dudette to have her, then.
Ruby may be a tease, but she would never betray her beloved Shannon… she just better make sure Shannon is made aware of such before she turns this into a blend of the Casagrandes episode "Tee'd Off" and the Everybody Loves Raymond episode "Dancing with Debra"… among other things Ruby really needs to talk to Shannon about before feelings end up being hurt.
Even though Albertson and I had chalked up Ruby's absence in "Director's Rut" to being out of school with illness, the concept of her enrolling in a new dance club as her elective was one of those ideas that sprang up as I developed the setup for she and Shannon having so much separation this semester. And it would have to be just for this semester, since Ruby does reappear in theater in "Stressed for the Part."
