Lions and Tigers and Boys

by Tawny Stokes

  …

  Once we got back to the school and unpacked all the meat for the cats, I went in search of Professor Marvel for answers. I combed the main school buildings, starting at his office. He wasn’t there, or in any other office. He wasn’t in any of the classrooms or studios. I stopped a few kids I knew and asked if they’d seen him, and they said they hadn’t. Some of the teachers lived off campus and in town, but I knew Marvel wasn’t one of them. He lived in a small stone cottage on the far west side of the school grounds. I assumed that was where he was and made my way across the school building to the west doors, but stopped when I passed one of the open studios.

  Dani was there, floating like a leaf in the wind across the dance floor. She was so graceful and elegant. It seemed like such a contrast to the girl I’d encountered on so many occasions. The clumsy, insecure girl who didn’t think she possessed any beauty or charisma. On the dance floor she had that in spades.

  She spun twice, then took two big steps and did a grand jeté, then took two more steps, turned, and bent back, then forward, then did a pencil kick. The expression on her face was one of complete abandon and joy. And I had the sudden urge to be part of that.

  Although I knew I should just keep on walking and find Marvel and do my job, I stepped into the room.

  Startled, she turned around toward me. She put a hand to her chest. “Wow, you scared me.”

  “Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I just couldn’t pass by without saying…without saying hi.”

  She smiled, her cheeks flaming a little. “Hi.”

  I laughed. “That was lame.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “You dance beautifully. That’s what I wanted to say.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You look so free and alive. What do you think about?”

  She blushed again. “Um, well, this time I was thinking about you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, dancing with you.”

  It was my turn to be rattled. “Oh.”

  “Do you dance? I wasn’t sure if it’s a discipline you take.”

  “I’ve been known to dance a little. It’s good for coordination and endurance building.” I took off my shoes and socks and walked out onto the floor and did a pirouette. It wasn’t any good, but I still managed to get fully around twice.

  Dani clapped. “Not bad.”

  “You should see Leander dance. He can do African jazz like mad.”

  “Really? That surprises me. What about you? What can you do like mad?”

  “Tango.” I grabbed her hand, leading us to the middle of the floor. I placed my hand firmly on her back, shuffling in closer, then put my other hand out, for her to place it in my palm. Smiling, she did, then braced herself against my shoulder. “Ready?”

  I stepped forward, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. She matched me perfectly. From our hand-to-hand practice, we had learned to be in synch. It didn’t surprise me that it would be the same on the dance floor.

  We moved around the floor, smoothly, the music in our heads. I spun her around a couple of times. She laughed, then I dipped her, and slowly brought her back up. Our bodies were pressed against each other, and I could feel her heart racing against my chest. Then it was as if time slowed as we stared into each other’s eyes.

  I wanted to kiss her. Desperately. Every inch of my body yearned for the touch of her lips on mine, her tongue teasing mine. I ached for her—mind, body, and soul.

  Her lips parted slightly, and she craned her neck to reach me. She was a breath away…

  Marvel’s voice played over and over in my head. Telling me about distractions, telling me what I had to do. I pulled back and dropped my hands, taking a distancing step away. “Dani, I…”

  “I understand you’ve been looking for me.”

  We both whirled around to see Professor Marvel in the doorway, an eyebrow arched, and a look of stoniness on his face. I wondered how long he’d been standing there. By the disappointed tilt of his mouth, I imagined it was long enough.

  Dani ran over to get her bag and slip on her shoes. She didn’t say a word as she brushed past me. Marvel stepped out of the way for her to leave. I made an attempt to go after her, but he prevented me.

  “Leave her. She doesn’t need your fumbling apologies.”

  I looked at him. “I wasn’t—”

  “I don’t need them, either.” He sniffed. “You have an interesting way of doing your job, Cai, I’ll give you that.”

  “Dani doesn’t deserve this.”

  “I agree, she doesn’t. But we are keeping her out of harm’s way. She can’t be a part of our campaign.”

  “But Maggie can?”

  He ignored my question, and said, “What did you need to see me about?”

  “When we were in town with Frank, we ran into Maggie and her grandfather.”

  “Yes, and?”

  “And I smelled lavender on him or his bodyguard, or assistant, or whatever he was.”

  Marvel’s eyes narrowed. “There could be a lot of reasons—”

  “I smelled it near the fence the other night. There’s no mistaking that odor. I remember it vividly from when my parents…”

  Marvel put his hand on my shoulder to calm me. “It could be a coincidence, but I will look into it. Maybe we’ve found our anonymous museum patron.”

  “Is that why you want Maggie in the show so badly? As a spy?”

  “No, I assure you that I have no reason to believe that her grandfather or anyone in his company is The Wizard. Her participation in the show is beneficial purely from a financial standpoint.”

  “I won’t let you hurt her. Her or Dani.” I pushed past him and left the studio. My anger was boiling inside, and I needed to go for a run to expel it.

  The moment I was outside, I took in a deep breath. Sometimes when I was angry or upset, I could feel the shift stirring inside me. My beast wanted out. But I had to keep him in. It wasn’t safe to expose him. I took in another big gulp, then started to jog along the path into the woods. The second I was in the comfort of the trees, I ran full out. I ran until I didn’t feel the beast clawing at my mind anymore.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dani

  I tried not to let the tears come as I marched across the quad to my dorm. But I could feel them welling at the sides. I wiped at my eyes anyway, to make sure I obliterated them before they rolled down my cheeks. I really didn’t want anyone to see me cry. I didn’t want the questions and definitely didn’t want to give the answers. I had humiliated myself enough for one day.

  When I entered the dorm, I could hear something going on in the common room. I peeked in to see Maggie, as usual, holding court. It looked like she’d just flown in from a jet-setting ski weekend abroad. She stood at the front of the room, several shopping bags at her feet, watching gleefully as everyone chattered happily while passing around what appeared to be many pairs of leggings, the high tech kind, and tank tops. Everyone in the room, including Anna, now possessed one pair of expensive leggings in various colors and white tank tops with the school’s logo printed on them.

  Maggie turned to look at me and fake pouted. “Oh no, I’m sorry, Danielle. There aren’t any more left.” She tilted the bag upside down and made of a show of trying to dump something out. “Looks like you missed out. And it really looked like you could have used a new pair of leggings. Those look a little worn out.”

  I could see Anna frown and kind of squish the free clothes she’d just received. I didn’t want her to feel bad. I mean, who wouldn’t want free stuff, even if it was from the Wicked Witch of the West?

  Oh my God! I wanted to scream at Maggie. But I refrained, like a good little girl. I didn’t want to make a scene in front of all the other girls, especially Anna. Instead I gave her the most saccharine smile I could muster that was dripping heavily in vicious sarcasm, and said, “That’s okay, Maggie, I know how generous you are, and that this really breaks you up inside.”

  Both Nia and Shelby
burst out laughing. When Maggie whirled on them, they immediately tried to cover it up with fits of coughing. Of course, they weren’t fooling anyone. Least of all Maggie. Or me, to be honest. I suspected they weren’t as mean as their mean-girl gang leader.

  I left the group to their giggling and oohing and aahing over the clothes they were just given and ran up the stairs to my room. Those pesky tears returned with a vengeance, and by the time I finally plopped onto my bed, they were dripping down my cheeks.

  My cell phone chimed from inside my bag, informing me of a new text message. I unzipped the bag and took it out.

  GrAunt Dottie: Hey Dani girl, how are you?

  My great aunt Dottie had the uncanny ability to text me just when I needed someone to talk to.

  Me: Not so good

  GrAunt Dottie: What’s going on?

  Me: Mean girls, stupid boys

  GrAunt Dottie: Yeah, it never changes, no matter what era it is. How can I help?

  Me: Get me out of OZ

  GrAunt Dottie: Winter break is soon. You can come home then.

  Me: I want to come home now!

  GrAunt Dottie: Do you really want that? Are you going to let some mean floozy and some dumb boy take away your dreams? To make all the work you’ve done over the past few years mean nothing?

  I grabbed a tissue and wiped my nose. She was right. I was allowing these people to crush the only thing I’ve ever wanted. Did I think so little of myself, of my ability, that it was that easy for me to just let the dreams go?

  Me: No?

  GrAunt Dottie: That didn’t sound too meaningful. Try again.

  Me: Hell no!

  GrAunt Dottie: Whew! I was worried there you were going to go with the F word instead.

  I laughed and shook my head.

  Me: lol

  GrAunt Dottie: I don’t know what that means, but it looks cute. Like a little person with their arms up over their head.

  Me: It means laugh out loud like you found something really funny

  GrAunt Dottie: Oh, I see lol lol lol lol I laughed out loud four times.

  “Dani?”

  I looked up as Anna came into the room, clutching blue leggings and the white tank top.

  Me: Got to go <3

  Anna offered them to me. “You can have them if you want.”

  “No, you keep them. It’s no big deal.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I’m not mad because I didn’t get any free clothes from Maggie.”

  “Are you mad at me?” Deflated, she sat on her bed.

  “No, Anna, of course not.” I sighed. “I’m mad at myself really. For thinking Cai liked me.”

  Her eyes lit up, and she crossed the room in two strides and curled up beside me on my bed. “Cai likes you? What happened? Tell me everything.”

  “I thought he did. We’d been spending time together outside of the studio. I thought…I thought he wanted to be more than friends.”

  She clapped her hands and squeed. “I’m so excited. You two would make a great couple.”

  “Anna, you’re not listening. Cai doesn’t like me that way.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Um, yeah, I just tried to kiss him, and he pulled away like I had an infectious disease.”

  “Oh.” She deflated.

  “And sometimes I feel like he’s trying to ruin my chances of winning the spot in the show.”

  “What? Why would you say that?”

  I shook my head, not really sure if I was getting it right. Maybe I just wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. “When we’re doing hand to hand, we’ll be in a perfect pose, and I’m balancing, and it’s perfect and I can see the pleased look on Miss Gisele’s face, then Cai will just move ever so slightly, and crash, down I come.”

  “He would never do something like that intentionally.”

  I frowned and picked at the pills on my socks. “Maybe not. Maybe I’m just not as confident in my skills.”

  She leaned in and hugged me. “You’re great, Dani. You are going to win that spot. I just know it. You just have to believe in yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you different, not even Cai.” She smiled. “Even if he is the hottest boy in school.”

  I laughed. “I thought Leander was the hottest boy in school?” At least I knew that’s what Anna thought, and told me almost on a daily basis.

  “Okay, so then Cai is the second hottest boy in school.” She got off my bed and went back to hers. She picked up the leggings and ran her fingers over them.

  “Those are pretty sweet leggings.”

  She looked up at me, to make sure I wasn’t being sarcastic, then said, “I know, right? They’re over two hundred dollars in the store. I’ve wanted a pair for, like, forever.”

  I chuckled. “I have to admit, I am a bit pissed off I didn’t get any.”

  She gave me a look. “We’ll share them.”

  “Deal.”

  She tossed them at me. They were buttery in my hands. “Damn. They are so soft.” I rubbed them against my cheek, and that made Anna laugh so hard she nearly fell off her bed.

  The rest of the day, we went through each other’s drawers and closets and made a list of all the clothing we could share. I’d never had a friend to share anything with, let alone clothes or makeup or shoes. Despite the crushing blow Cai made to my ego, Anna had fixed it up and pieced it back together, with laughter and an awesome pair of two-hundred-dollar leggings.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cai

  For the rest of the week, I kept pretty much to myself. I felt horrible for rejecting Dani, and our class together was all kinds of awkward. She would barely look at me when we did our balancing exercises. Thankfully the rest of the class, she worked on the wire, and I worked on my strength building. But any time I would look at her, she would turn away. It was obvious I had hurt her.

  When I wasn’t in class, I spent my time in the dorm common room, playing video games and doing my homework. I’d only gone out one night for a run, cautious that I wasn’t being followed or watched.

  On Saturday after going into town to get the boys’ food and vitamins, I decided to devote my day to Ozzy and Loki. They kept each other company, had become a mini-pride over the last few years they performed at the school, but they loved it when either Leander or myself spent the day playing with them in their large outdoor enclosure.

  Being with them filled me with peace. Something I needed right now as my thoughts were constantly on Dani.

  “All right, Loki.” I raised the ball in the air above my head. My hands were getting cold and needed time in my jacket pockets to warm up. “Ozzy’s up 5 to 3. You’re losing out, buddy. You need to get this next one, or Ozzy will win.”

  Ozzy chuffed, as if to say, Hell yeah, I’m going to win.

  I tossed the ball as far as I could. It bounced off a tree, then landed on the other side of the small pond. They both took after it like twin shots—one orange, the other yellow. I laughed when they reached the ball at the same time, and it became a tug-of-war.

  Movement outside the bars of the enclosure caught my attention, and I turned to see Dani watching with a huge smile on her face. Her nose was a little red from the coolness of the November air; it looked like she’d been jogging. She had on leggings, a jacket, good sneakers, and a hat.

  At first I thought maybe I should keep my distance, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to talk to her, touch her, be with her any way I could. So I wandered over to the fence. “What do you think? Who’s going to win?”

  “Not sure. I think Ozzy looks more determined than Loki.”

  “I have to agree with you. I think Loki’s being a lazy boy.” I put my hands to my mouth. “Did you hear that, Loki? Dani and I think you’re lazy.”

  Loki let go of the ball and flopped down onto his side. He let out a soft roar.

  “Sounds like he’s mad,” Dani said, wide-eyed.

  “Nah, he’s just complaining.”

  Ozzy trotted up to me
with the huge blue ball happily clamped between his massive jaws. He dropped it at my feet, then bumped into my side, rubbing against me. Then he looked over at Dani.

  She had the biggest smile on her face as she watched him. I would do just about anything to keep it there. Her smile just brightened up everything around her. Corny yes. But the truth.

  “Do you want to pet him?”

  “Oh my God, could I?”

  I nodded, then moved over to the gate, opened it, and let her in. She was hesitant, which I didn’t blame her for—she was coming into a cage with two huge apex predators that could eviscerate her in a matter of seconds. But I knew they wouldn’t. They were both the gentlest of cats, and I was the pride leader.

  “It’s okay. They won’t harm you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I laughed. “Yes, or I wouldn’t bring you inside the enclosure.”

  “I guess that’s true.” She giggled a little.

  “Give me your hand.” I reached for hers.

  She took off her glove and put her palm in mine. Her hand was warm and soft, and I guided it toward the big cat. “C’mere, Oz. This cute girl wants to meet you.”

  “Well, we sort of met before, when he scared me off that bridge and into the cold water.”

  “Right,” I said, “I remember that.”

  She gave me a funny look.

  He bumped me again, then came to a halt at my side, giving Dani access to his flank so she could pet him. I set her hand on his back. She splayed her fingers out in his fur, then moved her hand back and forth. I didn’t have to tell her how to pet him, because she was doing just fine. And Ozzy started to make soft chuffing noises, which meant he was very happy. I wanted to say to him, same buddy, same.

  “He’s so soft.”

  “He gets a lot of good oils in his diet. Keeps his coat shiny.” I rubbed his big head. “Don’t you, buddy.”

  He chuffed happily again, then leaned heavily against me. I wasn’t braced for it, so I stumbled a bit and bumped into Dani, which sent her into the bars, and me into her. We were only an inch apart, and she flinched, then knocked the back of her head against one of the metal bars.