Vincent and Maru sat at the kitchen table of the mountain house, drinking water and eating sandwiches. Maru was wearing a purple dress from last spring, slightly too small, that went down past her knees. She had lent Vincent a pleated yellow skirt that was knee-length on her, but looked like a miniskirt on him, to teach him the moves requiring the skirt. He wore it over his track pants. They had spent the last couple hours learning the order of the steps and the skirt swishes, and Vincent could finally do the dance without reverting back to the boys' part that he'd danced before. So, it was time for lunch.

"Vincent, I'm glad you're doing as well as you are."

"Me too, thanks!" He took a swig of water.

"I have a project that I need to work on tomorrow, so you'll be practicing on your own then."

"Oh, is that why?" Vincent laughed. "Why do you need to do it tomorrow, anyway? It's not like you have a teacher yelling at you to turn it in on time."

"Because the ethylene levels in the crystal fruits that we're studying will only be at the optimal level to extract the phenolic compounds tomorrow."

Vincent smiled and nodded.

"Because I can only use ripe fruit for this experiment, not overripe."

"Oh. Okay, that kinda makes sense. Thanks for helping me out today, I know it was kind of a day off for you, with no clinic work and no science."

"Not a problem. I really like dancing. If you weren't here, I'd probably be learning to swing dance with Dad. And then I'd go over to Penny's and try to convince her to come dancing with me."

"Penny dances?"

"She knows how to two-step. She just doesn't wanna go dancing because our only option in town is the saloon and she doesn't want to be around her mom when Pam is drinking there. The closest place she'd actually want to go is in Zuzu City, and she doesn't want me to pay for everything. Even though I totally would. I'd get our bus tickets, dinner, soda at the bar, tips for the band, ice cream when we're done..."

"That's so sweet!" Vincent giggled. "That would actually be a wonderful date."

Maru blushed and broke eye contact. She swallowed hard. "I...guess it would." She took a bite of her sandwich and let the conversation die down.

Vincent finished his own sandwich. "Thanks for lunch, Maru." He walked up to the sink, washed his plate, and put it in the dish drainer.

"You didn't have to do that!" Maru giggled. "I have a dishwasher."

"Force of habit. Mom's had me doing dishes since I was eight years old, so I just do mine as soon as they get dirty."

"Thanks, that's awesome." Maru put her own dish in the sink and refilled her glass. "Let's go back to the lab and keep practicing. You have the order of the steps and the swishes down perfectly. Now we just need to work on making them more fluid. You'll want your steps and your swishes to flow together, as if the wind is blowing your skirt and your leg and your arm up."

"It's hard!" Vincent laughed. "Making the whole thing flow is so hard, especially when I'm still trying to remember the steps."

"I know it's hard! You wanna know how I won? I practiced for an hour a day, all winter, to get the moves to flow into each other. Nobody else dances like I do, because nobody else puts in the work! I had to work twice as hard as someone like Haley or Azalea did to win! This face and this chunky body don't exactly scream young, fair, and lively!"

"Why were you so hell-bent on winning, anyway?"

"I know I don't seem like the typical Flower Queen, or even the typical girl who would try for it. That's kinda why I wanted to win. I wanted to show the town that yes, even though I am a giant nerd, I am also feminine and soft and want to be seen as pretty."

"That sounds like why Jas wants to win, too."

"Jas wants to win?"

"She tries every year." He sighed. "I'd wait until next year, but Sage keeps getting bullied in school and his classmates are coming to watch the dance this year. I want to show them a big macho dude who likes flowers and dancing and isn't afraid to be a little feminine. Once they see Sage's cool friend doing the flower dance, hopefully they'll be less likely to give Sage crap."

"Then who are you dancing with? I'm guessing she won't dance with you…"

"Probably Oberon. Elliott and Leah's boy. He's old enough to dance this year, and he thinks the idea of me in a dress is hilarious. Plus he's nervous around girls, and the only girl he'd dance with is his sister, but he thinks that's gross."

"Makes sense. Who's Jas gonna dance with?"

"Probably Sam, if you're dancing with Penny."

"Oh. Okay. This'll be an interesting year!" Maru giggled. "Now, for these next few run-throughs, I'm gonna be facing you. I'll do the dance mirroring you. When you move your left hand, I'll move my right, so it'll be like you're looking in a mirror. That way, you won't get lost, and I can still watch you."

"So you're gonna do it backwards?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"How can you do that?"

Maru shrugged. "I taught Juliet how to dance last year. Figured it out then."

"Why didn't she win?"

"She didn't practice, at least not as much as I did." Maru backed up. "Now line up!"

Maru clicked the remote in her pocket and the music started. Vincent danced, seeing himself mirrored in Maru's actions. Every once in a while, she'd call out "Swish!" or "Loosen that arm!" or "Flow!" As the dance ended, Vincent raised his arms and spun around. Maru stopped without spinning and watched.

"Alright, let's try that spin again."

"Huh?"

"You're stepping around in a circle. That's fine when you're learning the sequence, but now, I want you to pop up on the ball of your foot during the spin. Push off with the other foot and let your momentum carry you around in a circle."

Vincent popped up on the ball of his foot. His tennis shoe squeaked as he skidded to a stop, not even making it a quarter of the way around. "Nope!" He laughed. "If I go any harder than that, I'm gonna end up wiping out."

Maru shrugged. "Take your shoes off. You're not gonna be wearing athletic shoes to the dance, at least you better not!"

"Oh! I hadn't even thought of what shoes to wear! I guess I could just wear my normal dress shoes?"

Maru facepalmed. "No you may not," she said, "They're brown. Girls wear nude or white shoes."

"Oh. That's...not good."

"No, it's not. My dad might have something you can borrow, though. I think he has some white dance shoes. For now, just practice in your socks."

"Okay." Vincent took his shoes off and set them under the counter. He put his arms up as he stood on the ball of his foot, pushed off, and spun around.

"Alright! That was adequate!" Maru laughed.

"What?"

"Try it again with the preceding three steps. Step, step, step, twirl. On that third step, land on the ball of your foot, then raise your arms as you push up." She demonstrated. It looked like the wind was blowing her around. "Step, step, step, twirl!"

Vincent stepped back, then counted off. "Five, six, seven, eight, step, step, step, twirl!"

Maru smiled and nodded. "Not bad! Now we're gonna try the whole thing again. Line up!"

Again, Maru pressed the remote button and the music started. Again, the pair danced, mirroring each other. Maru called out her reminders. As the dance ended, Maru stopped to watch Vincent's twirl, and saw Sebastian coming out of his room.

"Dude, Vincent, are you wearing Maru's skirt?"

"Yep!" Vincent swished the skirt. "I'm gonna be the Flower Queen!"

Sebastian laughed. "Awesome! I'm gonna vote for you!"