You're So Sweet

by Charis Marsh

  CHARIS MARSH

  This book is for …

  My mother, who reads everything I write, and my father, who intends to.

  My brothers, who thought I should have given the dancers superpowers

  or at the very least killed one of them off.

  My sister, who always tells me that I am sweet.

  Adrian, who thought it would have been cooler if I had written You’re So Sweet

  in a journal with a fountain pen instead of typing it on a laptop.

  My grandparents, who are simply awesome.

  Dundurn, because they published me, and that was pretty cool of them.

  You, because you picked my book up!

  Chapter One

  Julian Reese

  Going back to Van today — hopefully.

  Julian Reese stood at the doorway of his father’s bedroom, staring at the back of his father’s head. There were only three rooms in this house: the living room, which was also the kitchen and contained the couch Julian had been sleeping on all Christmas break; the bathroom; and the bedroom. Julian waited patiently for his father to answer him, propping himself up against the the door. Beside him, his backpack and small suitcase were ready and waiting. If only he could get Will off the computer, he would be on his way back to dance. There were two things in Julian’s life that he was sure of at the moment. One, that dance was currently the most important thing in his life. Two, that the more firmly he was convinced of this, the more his mind wandered off on to other subjects and problems that were not helpful to think about because there was nothing he could do to fix them.

  Problem one would be Julian’s father.

  “Will?”

  Will didn’t look up, his headphones plugged into his laptop, bopping in time to the music as he worked on his blog post; a marvellous work concerning Will’s personal philosophy on life, as described by William O. Reese. Julian sighed and stepped into the room, waving his hand in front of his father’s face, blocking his view of the computer.

  “What?” Will turned to Julian, pulling one earphone out.

  “You said you would drive me to the ferry, remember?”

  “Yes, but … hey, dude, do you think you could ask Daisy if she’d take you? It’s just, I’m really in the zone here.”

  “Daisy’s working at the farmer’s market,” Julian explained. “It’s Sunday, remember?” It felt like he used that word constantly where Will was concerned.

  “Oh, yeah …”

  River came in and wrapped his arms around Julian’s legs. “Are you leaving, Jules?”

  “Yeah.” Julian looked down at his little brother. River had been playing in the garden and had managed to get dirt over most of his body, streaking parts of his blond curls. “I have to go back to dance, remember?”

  “Why can’t you dance here?”

  “Because I can’t, little guy. Now shush for a sec, all right? Will, I really need to go now. Like, now. And can you please get some food while we’re out? River needs to eat, and there’s nothing in the house.”

  Will frowned, looking around. “Oh. For sure, we should do that. Okay, let’s go, you guys tell me when you’re ready, and we’ll go, okay?”

  “We’re ready,” Julian assured him.

  River stuck out his foot. “My shoes are already on, even.” Julian looked down at River’s feet. His shoes were not just on, they were also coated with mud, and there were now chunks of mud leading from the door through the living room. Julian decided to pretend not to see the mess so he didn’t have to clean it up, and held out his arms to carry River into the car. He was a bit old for it at four years old, but he still liked it.

  Julian walked quickly onto the ferry to Vancouver, a scowl on his face instead of his usual serene smile. He had nearly not made it, thanks to Will. He hurried through the lounges, trying to find a seat. Each bench he passed was full of loud passengers, making their way home after the holidays. Julian gave up and sat down on the floor, stretching out his long legs, and pretending he didn’t see the annoyed looks of the passengers who had to get by him. His iPod wasn’t loud enough to drown out the noises of the cranky people around him, and so he flipped restlessly through his songs, not able to concentrate as his brain buzzed with everything he was worried about.

  A year ago Julian wouldn’t have minded his dad’s carefree attitude toward time, River, or in fact, toward Julian himself, but a year was a long time. Lately it seemed like every time Julian talked to his father he felt like yelling at him. Why couldn’t Will see when things needed to be done? Why did Julian always have to remind him that River should be enrolled in school, that he needed to pay rent, that he wasn’t allowed to drive with an expired licence?

  Not to mention Problem two. Problem two was how he wasn’t doing well enough at dance. He had caught enough glances and heard enough snide remarks before Christmas to know “They” thought he wasn’t working hard enough. Well, he would show them what Julian Reese was capable of. He had to if he wanted to be a dancer; if he couldn’t even be the best at the academy, how was he going to get a job?

  Julian’s phone vibrated with a text from Taylor, aka Problem three. Julian opened Taylor’s text.

  Hey, u catch the 5?

  No, I’m on the 7.

  K. See u at 830-ish.

  That was the problem with Taylor. He was grateful that she was going to pick him up (or her mom was), and everything, but … I’m a jerk, Julian decided. So what if Taylor is a little annoying? She tries hard to be a good friend. It was just that Taylor tried too hard, and it was hard not to just tell her to go away sometimes. Julian could smell the fries from the cafeteria, and his stomach rumbled. He wanted to get some, but the line was sooo long …

  He wandered up to the top deck, lost in thought. He was sure that Will had been better when he was young, but the way Will was with River ... well, carefree isn’t the right word. Lazy? Maybe it’s because River looks more like Daisy than Will. It wasn’t like Daisy was an “involved” mother, either. The only thing Julian had seen her do for River all Christmas break was when they’d gone to Daisy’s parents’ place for Christmas dinner and she’d scraped all the turkey off his plate. Julian shook his head, remembering. It’s all right to raise the kid vegan, but most of the time Daisy forgets to feed him, period. Julian glared at the ocean, watching as the rain beat down on the black waves and ferry deck. I am so glad Taylor is picking me up. It was already dark, and the weather seemed to be getting worse.

  Finally the ferry arrived at Horseshoe Bay. Julian half ran down the walkway, weaving expertly through the tired passengers. Grabbing his suitcase from the luggage carousal, he went outside, anxiously scanning the crowd for Taylor and Charlize.

  “Jules, Jules, over here!” Taylor called, waving excitedly. She was wearing a red dress coat that would have made her stand out in the middle of the Metrotown mall on Boxing Day, and she was carrying the brightest yellow umbrella Julian had ever seen. He was not surprised to see that it also had a duck at the end of the handle.

  He walked over, grinning with relief that they had remembered to pick him up. “Hey, Taylor!”

  “I missed you! I’m so, so excited for classes again, aren’t you? Did you have fun with your family? How is River? They must’ve missed you, hey? Mom is, like, so stupid, she forgot how to get to Horseshoe Bay, and so we were, like, almost late, and then you would’ve been waiting in the dark here for us. It’s so friggin’ freezing out. Mom, could you please, like, turn on the heat? We’re completely freezing?”

  Julian gratefully got into the car, sinking into the seat. “Hey, Alison,” he said, smiling at Taylor’s little sister. Alison grinned at him, not bothering to unplug from her iPod, and then looked back down at it.

  “So, Julian, Tayl
or said that you two were thinking of doing a pas together?” Charlize asked as she made her way up the curving road through Horseshoe Bay and onto the highway into Vancouver.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “I was thinking, we should probably do two,” Taylor said. “That way we could do a contemporary pas and a classical.”

  “Uh, that sounds good,” Julian agreed, slightly unsure. “The only thing is, do these pas de deux — do we have to pay for them?”

  “Well, you have to pay an entry fee, of course, and privates and stuff … we can see how it goes. We can, like, talk about it later, right? But it would be fun, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t wait to learn the pas de deux you choreographed, Julian, the way you explained it last week I think it’s going be, like, so cool.”

  “Yeah, I hope you like it.” Julian smiled. “I think it’s really sweet.” He had almost finished it — he just had about thirty seconds more to choreograph at the end, and hopefully he would get a chance to finish that before Taylor wanted to learn it. And it was basically the way he had described it to her on the phone: at least, it was set to the same music and had lots of lifts. He hoped that she liked it; he didn’t want to have to change it if she didn’t.

  Mr. Yu’s house was completely dark by the time they arrived. “Thanks for the ride,” Julian mumbled, tired. He climbed out of the car and made his way slowly to the house, opening the front door with the minimum of noise. Yes … He opened the front door as quietly as he could, walking softly in his sock feet to his room, closing the door behind him. He set his suitcase and backpack in the corner of the room, and flung himself on his bed with a sigh of relief. It was good to be back; he couldn’t wait to take class tomorrow. It had been a whole two weeks without dance, and he was going through withdrawal. He set his alarm and fell asleep without unpacking.

  Julian lay on his bed, staring at his cellphone as he waited for it to go off. He always woke up early when he was excited. It began to beep, and he got up, leaving his warm covers behind in a sudden rush, and scrambling into his clothes as fast as he could. It was hard to do up his jeans; he’d grown again. His sweatshirt was a bit too short in the arms and body again, too.

  There were President’s Choice cornflakes and milk, or Wonder Bread. Julian grimaced, but grabbed a few handfuls of cornflakes and stuffed them in a Ziploc bag to eat on the way. He wanted to get out of the house before everyone else woke up; he still wasn’t used to living with people who weren’t his family, and besides, he was too excited to start his day to stay inside. He grabbed his backpack and the lunch Mrs. Yu had left him in the fridge. He stepped out of the house and locked the door behind him, running down the slippery steps and out the white iron gate guarded by two white stone lions. He grinned at them and did a quick pirouette on the sidewalk and waltz. It was good to be back in Vancouver. He set his longboard down and began to skate to the bus stop.

  As Julian reached Cambie Street, he had to stop to wait for the flood of people getting off the Canada Line to pass. He wasn’t used to skating in Vancouver yet, with all the vehicles and people. At home, the only traffic was the rush down the hill to catch the ferry. Bored, Julian texted Taylor as he waited. A second later, his phone began to vibrate, and he answered it without looking at the caller ID. Taylor was the only person he knew who would call him back at six in the morning. “Hey, ’sup, Taylor?”

  “Dude, did you know you sent me a text just now?”

  “Yeah, sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Hey, I forgot to ask you, are you doing Spring Seminar this year?”

  “Yeah. You?”

  “Yeah, I always do it. Hey …”

  Julian moved his longboard back and forth with his foot as he waited for Taylor to finish. If he didn’t get going soon he would have to take the bus to get to school on time, and that would really suck.

  “I was wondering, my mother was thinking of taking in a homestay. Do you think you would want to stay with us?

  Julian’s brain hadn’t woken up enough yet to diplomatically deal with this question. “What? With you guys?”

  “Yes.”

  “Um, I don’t know, I kind of like staying with the Yus …”

  “Whatever, it doesn’t really matter. So I’ll see you at school?”

  “K, see you.” Taylor hung up and Julian stuffed his phone in his pocket as he began to whiz west down 49th Street, passing the Main Street sari shops and the East Indian restaurant on the corner. The construction companies were still working on the roads, and he weaved to avoid extraneous equipment and chunks of pavement. He grinned; ballet was making him ride his skateboard differently, he was riding with his legs turned out from the hip and his shoulders rotated back. It was raining now, hitting his cheeks, stinging as the cold wind whipped past him. He thought about Spring Seminar; he still wasn’t quite sure what it was, and he was a bit nervous for it. Julian had never done it, but almost everyone else at the academy either had done it or was going to do it. Apparently guest teachers came, and there were scholarships that were handed out. The Demidovskis usually came to watch the end performance. Julian hoped that he would get a scholarship. It would be nice to prove to the Demidovskis that he was worth the full scholarship that they had given him to attend the academy.

  The bus caught up to him, and Julian got on, too cold to skate the rest of the way. The morning rush had already started, and Julian tried to wedge himself in, his longboard and large backpack not helping.

  “Everybody to the back, everybody to the back,” the bus driver announced grumpily. “I am not leaving until everyone is behind the red line.” Everyone shoved and muttered their way to the back. “This is the bus the students have to take to school. If you do not need to catch this bus at this time, you should wait until the rush is over. You are taking spots from people who need to catch this bus.”

  Julian eyed the baggage shelf. Depending on the bus driver, he occasionally could sit up there when it was this ridiculously busy. The bus driver saw him looking at it and shook her head. “Don’t even think about it,” she advised. “Hold on,” she called to the back, and they lurched on their way, leaving the unlucky waiting for the next bus.

  As Julian fought his way out of the bus, he laughed — Alexandra was attempting to get off the same bus, but through the back doors. “Sorry, oh sorry … God, I’m really … sorry, thanks.”

  “Hey Lexi, ’sup?” Julian asked, trying not to laugh.

  “Geez, Jules! I didn’t see you!” Alexandra started, trying to do her pack back up. “Hey, could you hold this for a sec?” She shoved a binder, some random papers, and a textbook back at him.

  “Why do you have so much stuff? It’s the first day back,” Julian asked, holding her stuff precariously.

  Alexandra managed to shove everything back inside her backpack and was just able to do up her zipper again. She held her arms out for her stuff, and Julian obediently began to fill her arms up again. “I have to bring all my locker stuff back.”

  “Why didn’t you just leave it all there during break?” Julian asked as they walked up to the school, avoiding the massive puddles.

  “I needed it,” she explained. “I was working on my solos for competition, plus I meant to try and study, and finish my online chemistry course up over the break.”

  “Seriously? That’s pretty hard core, studying on Christmas break.”

  “I meant to.” Alexandra rolled her eyes. “So didn’t happen, I only got halfway through. But it’s the thought that counts, right?”

  “Right. How come you’re here so early?”

  “I’m an idiot and I got up early because I was excited to go back to dance. I’m already tired, though!”

  McKinley was one of the newer schools in Vancouver, and it was clean and bright-looking in the morning sunlight. It was a peachy sandstone colour of the sort that had been popular for public schools during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the flag at the entrance proudly flew the United States flag. The
school billboard announced that Hancock Secondary’s Senior Prom would be held on June 6.

  “I guess something’s being filmed here again,” Alexandra said. “That’s cool.”

  “I like the new trees,” Julian said, laughing. The film crew had obviously thought that McKinley Secondary had been lacking in the tree department, and had propped a row of fake trees on top of the grass leading up to the entrance and covered up the wooden bases with squares of turf.

  “Classy,” Alexandra agreed. She pushed open one of the front doors, and they entered their school, which seemed to have almost equal McKinley Secondary and Hancock Secondary symbols at the moment. The atrium was a huge empty space right now, and their shoes made loud squeaking noises as they walked across to one of the tables. Alexandra dumped her backpack on one

  of the tables with a sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s better.”

  “Mmm, I can smell cinnamon buns,” Julian said, sniffing. He looked in the direction of the cafeteria.

  Alexandra made a face. “I love cinnamon buns,” she said.

  “Why don’t you get one?” Julian asked.

  “Why don’t you?” Alexandra countered.

  “No money,” Julian answered.

  “I’ll buy you one.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, sure. Here.” Alexandra passed him a toonie, and Julian automatically took it.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You just want me to get fat, don’t you?”

  “Pretty much, yeah.” They both giggled, and Julian went over to get his cinnamon bun, coming back with a floppy sugar-and-cinnamon-drenched mess and a pile of napkins.

  “Want a bite?” Julian asked, tearing a piece off and stuffing it in his mouth.

  “Sure, thanks.” Alexandra took a piece. “What’s with the skateboard?”

  “I missed it last semester, so I brought it back from the Island. And it’s a longboard.”

  “It’s cool.”

  “Thanks — so, are you doing that Spring Seminar thing?”