Chapter 8.
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"I can't believe you made me watch a movie called High School Musical," Rebecca said. She and Becky were standing in the hallway after second period Monday morning. "It may have been the gravest hours of my life. That Sharpe` girl was seriously spoiled."
"You were supposed to watch the dances, Rebecca," Becky said. She swung her pigtails. "Anyway, we should practice this afternoon? I've told my parents I have practice every day after school for the next 2 weeks."
"Since school's not an option," Rebecca said, "let's use my backyard. My grandpa just landed a big project, so he won't be home early again any time soon."
"Great," Becky said.
Over her sister's shoulder, Rebecca spotted Yami coming down the hall. Instinctively, she edged behind Becky.
"What are you doing?" Becky asked.
Rebecca hesitated. "Hiding," she whispered.
To Rebecca's horror, Becky turned around to look. "Oh, my gosh." Becky spun back around. "You should see the look on Yami's face!" She gave Rebecca's shoulders a squeeze. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," she said and hurried away.
"Hi, Rebecca," Yami said, glancing down at his black boot like shoes.
"Hey," gulped Rebecca, her heart beating wildly.
"How was your weekend?" he asked.
"Good," Rebecca answered, unable to come up with anything more detailed.
He blushed a little and looked away the moment their eyes met. "Thanks again for coming with me to the Ancient Egypt Exhibit," he said.
"You're welcome," Rebecca answered lamely. She knew her answers must sound seriously dim, but she was too excited to think straight.
Yami started pulling the cap on and off a pen he was holding. "So, um..."
Suddenly Rebecca realized that Yami Muto was nervous. She could almost hear his heart pounding. It made him even more handsome.
He dropped his pen cap by accident, and it clattered to the floor. They both knelt down to pick it up. Rebecca's hand brushed against his.
"Sorry," they both said.
Yami picked up the cap. "So, what I wanted to ask you is..." he began, still kneeling.
Rebecca leaned forward.
"Will you go with me to the All Hallows' Ball?" Yami finished.
Rebecca's heart stopped. She stared at Yami, the boy she'd been in love with for 4 years but only talked to for the first time on Friday. Then her heart restarted with a roar. Yami was watching her intently as her mind flooded with questions. What am I going to wear? What if I have to dance? What if I look stupid? She was lucky she was already on the floor, or she might have fallen over.
Finally, Yami stood up. "It's okay," he said quietly, nodding in resignation. "I understand if you don't want to go. I just hope we can still be friends."
Rebecca leaped to her feet. "No!" she cried. "I mean, yes!" She shook her head as if it were surrounded by bees. "I mean, I can't dance sometimes!"
Yami's face lit up like a moon. "Neither can I," He said. Then he cocked his head and asked, "But have you ever tried dancing with someone else who can't dance sometimes?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"It's not so bad," Yami told her. "Look." He took Rebecca's hands and placed them on his shoulders; then he put his hands gently on her waist.
Rebecca felt like she was in Goth heaven. Hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Neither of them moved.
"What are we doing?" Rebecca murmured at last.
Yami looked deep into her green eyes. "We're not dancing," he whispered as he kissed her lips.
She blushing furiously but kissed back moaning a little.
They stood there kissing and moaning like forever, or at least until Rebecca heard the bell for third period ring.
"Then what happened?" Becky asked, bending forward and putting her palms down on the cool grass. She could feel the muscles stretch in the back of her legs.
Rebecca pulled her foot up behind her. "I was late for fighting class," she replied coyly.
Becky thought maybe Rebecca was blushing, but it might have been the sun. Finally she gave up trying to tell. "Well," she said, hopping up and down on balls of her feet, "That was one of the most romantic things I've ever heard!"
"It's no big deal." Rebecca said.
"Is to." Becky giggled. Her sister was so smitten!
"Is not!" Rebecca said. "But is was very... sweet."
"I may not have known you long," Becky said with a grin, "but I already know that 'sweet' isn't a word my sister would normally use."
"Sweet," her sister repeated tenderly.
Becky grabbed Rebecca's hand playfully. "Well," she said, "you certainly have reason to... DANCE!" She raised both their arms into the air.
Rebecca groaned.
Becky silenced her with a double stomp. "Okay, let's get started!" She paced in front of her sister like a drill sergeant. "What's the two most important thing to remember when you dance?"
Rebecca thought for a second. "Don't slip on the floor?"
"No," Becky said. She spoke slowly and carefully, "Never stop smiling and always focus!"
"Right." Rebecca frowned.
"Let me see it," Becky commanded.
"Do I have to? Nobody's even watching," Rebecca complained.
"Exactly," Becky said.
Rebecca huffed and contorted her mouth into a crooked smile that looked like a 3-year-old had dragged a marker across her face. She raised her eyebrows in defiance.
"I bet you don't know the third most important thing to remember either." Becky paused for dramatic effect. "Never, ever copy another's dancer's..."
Her sister's black-lined eyes widened expectantly.
"Moves!"
Rebecca's mouth burst into a huge grin.
Becky shouted, "Hold that smile!" and rushed to show Rebecca the first move. She'd specifically picked one that she thought her sister would like.
Becky finished with a big smile, her fists raised, her ponytail bobbing. "Okay," she said, "now you try it!"
Her sister skulked into position.
From the neck up, Rebecca was even worse than Becky had feared. She was a total mumbler, and her smile kept sliding off her face.
From the neck down, though, Becky almost couldn't believe what she saw. Rebecca hit every move in perfect time; her jumps were high; her body had flexibility; and even threw in a backflip at the end that she struck perfectly.
Rebecca looked at her expectantly.
Becky put on her best poker face and said, "Let's try another one." This time, she did a much more complicated dance. The girls on her old team had called it the Fo Shan Lion because it was little hard.
Rebecca did it perfectly on her first try-except that she almost messed up in the middle of the dance. When she finally came to a stop, her back was less than a foot from the wall of her house.
"Wow!" said Becky.
"Told you so," said Rebecca, returning with a smirk on her face and arms crossed.
"If we can have more dances and smiling up to speed, we might just get away with this," Becky admitted.
"Can I not smile?" Rebecca asked, kicking the ground.
Becky wrinkled her nose. "Sorry, but no."
By the end of the hour, Becky had already taught Rebecca four moves, which was one more than Becky had planned for. Rebecca was a really quick learner. To end the session, Becky put her hands on her sister's shoulders and said, "Tonight, I want you to watch another dance movie and practice a little more. Okay?"
"I'll do my best," Rebecca agreed. They hugged good-bye.
Becky skirted the side of the house and bounded down the long driveway. She'd promised her mother she'd help make dinner to celebrate the unpacking of the final moving box.
She felt so much better. For the last 3 days, Becky had been worried sick about how in the world she was going to train Rebecca and be ready for tryouts herself. But today's practice had changed all that. With a partner as good as Rebecca, they'd both be in stellar shape! She skipped into the sidewalk at the end of the driveway.
"Hello, Becky," a familiar voice said coolly.
Bulla Briefs was standing in the next driveway, which led up to a big white half capsule circle house. Becky totally had forgotten that she and Rebecca were next-door neighbors.
"Hi, Bulla," said tentatively.
"Did you have fun at Rebecca's house?" Bulla asked.
Good thing we didn't practice in the front yard, Becky thought. "Yeah. It was great," she said vaguely.
Bulla shook her head. "I don't get you, Becky," she said. "You're a great dancer. You could really have a future with us. But"-she shrugged-"if you want to be a gravedigger, that's your choice." She turned and started trotting away up the driveway. "Just don't expect any of us normal girls to be in your cult!" she called over her shoulder.
As she headed home, Becky marveled at how much had changed since she'd first met Bulla last week. I can't believe I actually thought Bulla Briefs would be my new best friend, she thought. Gross!