I still can't tell if Mitchie and I are friends again, but it feels like things are okay again. I don't feel a need to hide from her like a scared first grader and there's finally a response to more of the things I've been rattling my brain about for answers. Maybe I should talk to Caitlyn and them, I feel like I sort of owe it to Mitchie. But for now, I got a class to get to so I meet up with Tess as she's walking towards the mess and I'm leaving. "How come you missed lunch?" I ask.
"Oh, I um needed to talk to somebody;" she says but quickly added, "Did I miss anything interesting?" This is a bit of a random question for Tess but I have something to say anyhow so I don't really care.
"Mitchie came and talked to me and she found out about," I lower my voice, "Nate and me, you know…" First, she looks at me quite startled but I promptly reassured her about what she said. "I think she's okay with it, as far as I can tell." I even mentioned what happened with Caitlyn and all of Mitchie's friends hoping maybe she'll know something.
We reach the spot where we usually part for our separate classes. "Have fun at your piano lesson," I wave back a Tess as we walk in opposite directions.
It's become routine for me to arrive early so I can sit next to Daniel and watch the ballet class practice to classic Sleeping Beauty. Daniel usually tells me about being in ballet and he asks me about my music and my friends.
"So… would you want to hang out today?" Daniel asks me as his class ends and mine begins, "After classes and dinner and all that?"
"Yeah, sure," I reply, trying to be nonchalant.
"Okay, meet you in the music room around six-ish?"
"See you there!"
The moment passes quickly. A moment that I'd expected to be much more awkward and tense. But he leaves and I start my ballroom class with my mind wandering somewhere else every two minutes. My poor dance partner's toes had to pay for that. Same thing during the beginner's guitar class I teach and dinner.
"What are you so dopey about?" Tess asks me over our Mac-and-Cheese and green beans.
"My friend Daniel wants to 'hang out' and I'm trying to figure out if he actually wants to hang out or," I lower my voice as usual, "If he means something besides hang out…" I take bite of food and swallow after barely chewing. "You don't think he can tell, do you?"
Tess leans in too so our faces are less than two inches apart so she can start talking too. "Is he gay?" She asks.
"He never actually said it," I say, "But he is a ballerina."
She giggles quietly. Then, for no reason at all, I remember my discussion with Mitchie today.
"Have you seen Mitchie yet today?" I ask Tess.
"I just passed her on my way here. She actually smiled at me today."
As I start to think about it, Tess knows my secret, Nate knows and now Mitchie knows. I feel like this is becoming official. Like the whole world will know soon enough. Tess hasn't told anyone, Mitchie wouldn't tell anyone and Nate can't tell anyone if her wants to protect his reputation but… things spread fast at this camp. Besides, how did Mitchie find out? Nate must have told her because Tess is clueless. Or Tess was telling someone else as Mitchie overheard and the rumors are flying around camp as I rattle my brain for answers. I elaborate to Tess on the story that Mitchie told me today and that she knew about Nate somehow.
Then I peek at Tess' sparkly watch and see that it's 5:58. "You go 'hang out'," she put air quote around her words, "with Daniel. I'll talk to Mitchie."
"Thanks," I tell her as I throw away what's left of my tray and run to the music room. As I walk in the door, I attempt to steady my breathing so he can't tell that I sprinted here. "Hello," I utter in a casual sense.
"Hey," he says from the piano bench.
I grab a nearby stool and set it close to the piano. "You play piano and you're in ballet? I don't think I've ever met someone so elegant," I say. He laughs and sets a small stack of sheet music next to him on the bench.
"I don't play," he tells me, "I'm just looking through this music… It sort of got me thinking about how you write your music. It seems really interesting."
People almost never ask about the music I write. Or the music Nate and Jason write for that matter. Although I don't mind the questions about what I do in my spare time or the other bands we're going on tour with, Daniel seems intelligent to be asking about the music. The entire reason I'm even an artist. "Well, I don't make up music like this," I let him know, looking through the pages and pages of classical symphony pieces. "It's more about writing poetry for me. Or just creating a beat other kids can dance to, and putting words to it. Anybody could do it if they tried."
Daniel pulls away from the keys, shaking his head. "I never did well in poetry. My English teacher always said my mind was too simplistic."
"Well, that's okay sometimes… even more so when it's just music and lyrics." He turns his head, looking straight at me with a look that says; 'Do you really think I know what you're talking about?' "Here," I say and sit next to him at the piano. I play a couple notes from one of my old songs and sing, "And if I heard you on the radio. I'd never want to change a single note. It's what I tried to say all along…"
"No, keep going, I liked it," he says, putting his hands together. A silent pause momentarily fills the room until he asks, "Is this song about Mitchie Torres like I heard?"
Mitchie helped me write this song last summer but I've actually forgotten if it was for her in the first place. "I guess it's about her. We were boyfriend and girlfriend at the beginning of camp but… some other things got in the way."
"Was it Jerimiah by any chance?" He asks, but I look at him with no clue what he's talking about. "Never mind, he's the other boy in my dance class. He once said something about liking Mitchie and wanting to ask her out. Although I thought he had a girlfriend at the time."
I considered what Mitchie told me about Caitlyn's recent boyfriend. It was quite strange to think of Caitlyn dating a ballerina, though. I giggle slightly at the thought and tell him, "That's not what broke Mitchie and me up. It's complicated."
"Did you realize that you actually have feelings for your best friend instead to Mitchie so you dumped her and confronted your best friend about your feelings which blew up in your face and now everything's in chaos?"
Unsure of what my face looks like at this moment, I stare at Daniel like he's crazy. I somehow manage to bring my jaw back to its regular position and ask, "How did you know?"
"It happens to the best of us," he declares with a cheeky smile.