Virtually in Love

by A. Destiny

  “Oh right. And you guys teach them music. You did tell me about that. Sorry, guess I’m so distracted by this drummer thing, I can’t keep anything else in my head.” He gave a little self-deprecating laugh. “I remember now, though. It always sounded pretty cool.”

  “It is.” I stepped to the end of the hallway, peering across the diner to see if my friends had polished off all the food yet. “Anyway, I should probably go, I guess. Sorry. Maybe we can talk later?”

  “Sure. Have fun, Chloe. Later.”

  “Bye.”

  As I hung up, I suddenly remembered his mysterious text from earlier. What had that been about? He hadn’t even mentioned it just now. For a second I was tempted to call back, but then I checked the time and realized it would have to wait. Hurrying to the booth, I slid back in next to Vanessa.

  “How’s Mr. Wonderful?” Kaz asked, grabbing the last onion ring off the plate.

  “Hey!” I protested.

  He grinned, leaned his head back, and opened his mouth, dangling the onion ring over it. Just before it touched his lips, he relented, tossing it over onto my plate.

  I smiled and popped it into my own mouth before he could change his mind and take it back. “Thanks,” I mumbled with my mouth full. “And since you asked, Trevor is great. I just asked him if his band can come play at your party, and he’s totally on board.”

  Obviously, that was a joke, and they both knew it, since Trevor lives, like, three hours away. But while Vanessa laughed on cue, Kaz faked a look of horror. “No boy bands allowed!” he said, making a little X with his fingers as if warding off a vampire.

  That made Vanessa laugh even harder. I just rolled my eyes. “Hey, what can I say?” I cracked in return. “I figured live music would be the best way to get people to actually come to your party.”

  Kaz just grinned and grabbed the coffee from Vanessa to take a sip, not looking too worried. He might be a classic nerd in some ways, but Kaz is surprisingly popular at school. And everywhere else, come to think of it. Oh, things hadn’t started out that way. Back in early elementary school, he got picked on by some of the bullies now and then. But he was such a nice guy that even the worst of the jerks seemed to feel kind of bad about it. It didn’t hurt that his cousin Maya is a popular cheerleader who’s a grade ahead of us. Or that I’m like a Chihuahua—always willing to bark in the face of a bigger, tougher dog, especially if that big dog starts messing with one of my friends.

  “So, back to your birthday,” I said after swallowing the onion ring. “What do you want for your gift this year?”

  Kaz took a noisy slurp of the decaf and then pushed it over to Vanessa. “You guys don’t have to get me anything.”

  I picked up a fork and helped myself to some pie, which the waitress had delivered while I was gone. “You say that every year. Can we drop the charade this time? You know Van and I are getting you something. So what do you want? A year’s supply of oboe reeds? Tickets to that weirdo Gilbert and Sullivan group you like so much?”

  “No, I’m serious. You don’t need to buy me anything like that. Just the party is enough.” Kaz reached across and picked a mushroom out of the omelet, which Vanessa was in the process of devouring. “Besides, you definitely shouldn’t spend any more money on me than you have to. We need to save up our spare cash so we can sponsor each other at the dance marathon. It’s only a couple of weeks away now, you know.”

  He had a point. The fund-raiser I’d mentioned to Trevor was rapidly approaching. Song & Dance was such an incredible group that our pep club had voted unanimously to have a fund-raiser to support them. At first we’d been looking at doing something like a bake sale or maybe a concert, since most of the school band was in the pep club. But then Kaz had come up with something much more fun—a dance marathon. He got the idea from some old movie.

  “Okay,” I said. “But if you don’t want us to spend money, what are you expecting? Homemade dandelion bracelets?”

  “Nope. Just the pleasure of your company.” He grinned at both of us.

  Vanessa and I traded a dubious look. “We’ll see,” she said, scooping up one last bite of egg. “But for now, we should get going. We don’t want to be late.”

  Chapter Two

  The community center was right across the street from Aesop’s, so about five minutes later we were walking into the big auditorium where we always had our S&D meetings. There’s a stage at one end with a piano on it. The rest of the room is one enormous open space. A whole bunch of folding chairs were stacked at one end; they use them for plays and other stuff, but we usually leave the place mostly clear so the kids can run around.

  Kaz’s cousin Maya was over in front of the stage, her perky, glossy black ponytail bouncing as she laughed at something one of band’s trombonists was telling her. Most of the other cheerleaders and probably half the band were milling around nearby.

  “Oh good.” Vanessa’s eyes scanned the place as we entered. “The kids aren’t here yet, so we didn’t miss anything.”

  I smiled at her. “Don’t worry,” I said. “They wouldn’t dare start without you.”

  Kaz laughed, and Vanessa rolled her eyes at both of us. But it’s true. She was the whole reason our school got involved with Song & Dance. She’d found the group’s website last year and almost single-handedly convinced everyone in the pep club that we should hook up with them, even though the city where they’re located is almost an hour’s drive away.

  That was Vanessa for you, though. She seems quiet and kind of passive sometimes, but she’s tougher than any of us when it comes to stuff she cares about. And she definitely cares about kids. She adores them all, from the brattiest eight-year-old to the drooliest, smelliest baby. She’s been babysitting since she was eleven, and she’s planning to major in child psychology in college.

  Maya spotted us and hurried over. “The bus driver just called and they’re almost here,” she said, smoothing down her already perfectly smooth hair. “She suggested we start with dance today since it rained yesterday and the kids are pretty hyper from being cooped up inside.”

  We all nodded obediently, which is the best thing to do when Maya is in charge.

  “Can’t wait to show them some moves,” Kaz said, hopping around in what was probably supposed to be a tap dance of some sort.

  The trombonist, who had followed Maya over, snorted loudly. “Maybe we should leave the dancing to the cheerleaders, bro,” he said, giving Kaz a slap on the back.

  I grinned as the others—including Kaz—laughed. Kaz is famous for his goofy dance moves. When he was teaching everyone to do the Hustle at the homecoming dance last year, he accidentally stepped on the vice principal’s foot and gave one of Maya’s cheerleader friends an elbow to the jaw. Someone even shot a video, which went semiviral on the school website. One of the comments compared Kaz to a marionette on a sugar rush. Which had led to Vanessa and me calling him Pinocchio for a week or two.

  A few minutes later a stout, smiling woman with wild gray hair and a whistle around her neck appeared in the doorway.

  “There’s Ms. Sokolofsky,” Vanessa said.

  The woman spotted us and waved. Then she turned and let out a shrill tweet on her whistle.

  “In here, kiddoes!” she sang out.

  The kids came pouring in. Song & Dance helps kids from all over the region who don’t have access to good music education, whether because they’re living in a women-and-children’s shelter in the city or attending a poor rural school with no full-time music teacher—or whatever other reason. Sometimes kids come only once or twice until their families are back on their feet, while others have been coming for as long as we’ve been having our meetings.

  “Hi, guys!” Vanessa called, lighting up like a candle as she beamed at all of them.

  As she hurried off to help a pair of tiny girls who were in danger of getting trampled by some of the bigger, more excitable boys, I spotted one of my favorite regulars, an undersize eight-year-old with an oversize attitude named
Carlos. Today he was dragging a pale red-haired kid by the arm as he hurried in.

  “Hey, C-man,” I greeted him. “What’s up?”

  “The sky, duh!” Carlos retorted, wearing his usual saucy grin. Then he hooked a thumb in the other kid’s direction. “This is Aidan. He’s new.”

  “Hi, Aidan. I’m Chloe. Nice to meet you.” I stuck out my hand. Aidan looked surprised; he peered at me suspiciously before tentatively shaking my hand.

  Nearby, Kaz was tugging on one of the many braids of an adorable six-year-old regular named Shani. “Yo, who’s up for some dancing?” he asked her, shuffling his feet in a weird little boogie move.

  Shani and most of the other kids laughed, but Aidan just stared. Most people have that reaction the first time they see Kaz dance. I’m pretty sure Kaz dances to the beat of his own drummer, or whatever that expression is.

  “So, Aidan, do you like dancing?” I asked brightly.

  He just shrugged, staring at his own feet. I’d seen his type before—most of the kids who ended up with the group had gone through some pretty terrible stuff, and while some bounced back quickly, like Carlos, others were kind of shell-shocked for a while. It always made me sad, and being sad always makes me want to make things better.

  But before I could figure out how to help Aidan, Maya jumped up onstage and clapped for attention. “Time to dance, kids!” she called out in her peppiest cheerleader voice. “Who’s ready to have some fun?”

  Some of the kids cheered. Others just stared at her. Carlos hooted loudly and did some cool break dancing moves.

  Kaz laughed. “Hey, maybe Carlos should be today’s demo dancer,” he called out, high-fiving the kid and then doing a little breaking of his own. At least that was my best guess as to what he was doing as his long limbs flew randomly in every direction. I sneaked a peek at Aidan to see if he was laughing like everyone else, but he was still just staring solemnly at the floor. Yikes, this one was going to be tough.

  Maya peered out at Kaz, clearly holding back a smile. “No break dancing today,” she said sternly. “Since we’re all psyched for the dance marathon, we’re going to practice partner dancing today.”

  “Partner dancing?” an older kid I didn’t recognize called out. “What’s that?”

  “I want to do line dancing again!” a cute little blond girl exclaimed.

  A few other kids cheered, and I traded a smile with Kaz. Last month the cheerleaders had taught the kids some of their routines, and most of them had loved it.

  But a few of the boys booed, including Carlos. “Let’s just freestyle, man!” he called out.

  “Sorry, dude,” Kaz told him. “You all want to be ready to raise tons of money for your new piano, right?”

  Almost everyone cheered at that. I’d been to the Song & Dance headquarters once, and their ancient upright was on its last keys. The money from our fund-raiser was supposed to help buy them a new one, along with some other instruments and snacks and who knows what else for the kids.

  “Kaz is right,” Maya said when the cheers died down. “Part of how we’re raising money is by charging people money to dance with us at the marathon. You all want to help, right?”

  More cheers. Carlos started bragging loudly about how much money he was going to raise, and some of the other kids joined in. I smiled at Kaz, and he winked at me.

  Finally Maya had to get Ms. Sokolofsky to whistle for attention.

  “Okay,” Maya said when most of the kids were sort-of listening. “Partner dancing it is, then.”

  “Aw, I was hoping we could do some clogging today,” I called out with a grin, hoping to make Aidan smile. No dice.

  “Just for that, you can be our demo dancer, Chloe.” Maya smirked at me. “And your partner can be my dear cousin Kaz.”

  “What?” I put a hand to my heart, feigning horror. “But I like my toes!”

  Carlos shouted with laughter. “Good one, Chloe!” he exclaimed, high-fiving me.

  Meanwhile, Kaz stepped up to me and swept into a gallant bow. “Shall we, milady?” he said, holding out his hand.

  “We shall.” I dropped a brief curtsy and then took his hand. When he just stood there for a second, I decided to take the lead, twirling him around toward me, which made everyone laugh. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed even Aidan had finally cracked a small smile. Score!

  That made me ham it up even more. “Time for a dip, dippy,” I announced.

  Kaz knew exactly what to do. When I yanked him toward me, he let me dip him, collapsing into my arms afterward.

  “Oof,” I said. “You’re heavier than you look!”

  We wobbled, and a second later Kaz landed on his rear end at my feet. He clutched my legs, pulling himself up with exaggerated effort. That cracked the kids up even more, though Maya was rolling her eyes.

  “Enough of the vaudeville act, you two,” she said. “Maestro? Let’s get started.”

  She pointed to one of the other cheerleaders, who was manning the sound system. A moment later classical music poured out of the speakers.

  “Whoa, what is this?” Carlos exclaimed, wrinkling his nose.

  “Music,” Kaz informed him as he swept me into waltz position. “We’ll be creating more of it later. But for now watch and learn, munchkins.”

  “Watch my toes get squashed,” I added.

  Shani giggled. “Be careful, Kaz!” she said. “Don’t squash her toes!”

  “I can’t make any promises,” he replied, straight-faced.

  To my surprise, though, my toes were safe so far. “Hey, have you been practicing your waltzing?” I asked as we twirled around the room. “I don’t have any broken bones yet or anything.”

  “I’m full of surprises.” He smiled down at me and waggled his eyebrows.

  I smiled back, a little distracted, as I suddenly noticed he was taller than the last time we’d danced together. When had that happened?

  Meanwhile, Maya was talking to the kids, explaining what we were doing and using one of her friends to demonstrate the proper position. “Now, you guys, go ahead and try,” she urged. “Grab a partner and waltz your little heinies off!”

  She and the other volunteers made their way out onto the dance floor, offering to dance with any of the kids who seemed interested. Carlos made a beeline for a passing cheerleader, leaving Aidan stranded. Some of the other kids were already pairing up with one another.

  I glanced around for Vanessa, knowing she’d be the perfect person to bring Aidan out of his shell, but I couldn’t see her. Meanwhile, Shani was coming toward us. She poked me on the hip as we waltzed past.

  “Hey, I want to cut in,” she announced.

  Kaz stopped short, clutching me to him so tightly, I couldn’t breathe. “Oh no!” he exclaimed with exaggerated dismay. “You want to steal my partner, Chloe, away from me?”

  Shani giggled and tugged on one of her braids. “No, silly!” she exclaimed. “I want to dance with you!”

  “Oh!” A wide, goofy grin spread across his face, though he didn’t loosen his grip much. “In that case, I guess it’s all right. Just let me give her one last big hug, okay?”

  “Okay,” Shani agreed, though she sounded slightly impatient.

  Kaz squeezed me even closer. I was a little breathless by then—lack of oxygen, I guess—and a little confused, too. What was he doing?

  He lowered his face to my ear. “Check out Mr. Carrot Top over there,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling my cheek. “Think he could use a partner.”

  Ah. I should have known Kaz would notice the lonely newbie too. “I’m on it,” I whispered back, giving him a quick peck on the cheek—just to play it up a little more for Shani.

  Kaz looked a bit startled by that as he quickly released me. “Okay, I’m all yours, Shani,” he said, shooting me one last glance. “Let’s dance.”

  I hid a smile as I hurried off. It takes a lot to surprise Kaz, and I was always pretty proud of myself when I managed it.

  But there was no time
to gloat just then. Aidan had backed up against the wall, and he looked pretty miserable.

  I walked up to him. “Hi there, Aidan,” I said cheerfully. “Will you dance with me?”

  He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “I dunno,” he mumbled, his voice so soft, I could barely hear it. “I’m not a very good dancer.”

  “Oh, I bet you’re better than you think.” I leaned over and smiled at him. “You’re probably better than I am. My dad used to say I had two left feet because I was always tripping up the stairs.” That was true, though it was mostly because I was too impatient to walk up like a normal person and always insisted on taking the steps two or three at a time, even when I was way too young and short to manage it.

  The boy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his mouth twitched as if he weren’t quite sure whether I was joking. “Do you really want to dance with me?”

  “I really do,” I assured him. “Pretty please?”

  I held out my hand, and after a long moment of hesitation, he took it. He didn’t seem sure of what to do next, so I just shuffled my feet a little, not worrying too much about actual steps.

  “So, one fun thing to do while we’re dancing is to talk to each other,” I told him. “What do you want to talk about?”

  I was already coming up with a few possible topics, since I was guessing all I’d get was another “I dunno.” To my surprise, though, he was ready with an answer.

  “Is that guy your boyfriend?” he blurted out.

  I blinked, not sure who he meant for a second. “Oh—you mean Kaz?” I suppose it was no surprise he thought so, given the way we’d been acting. “No, we’re just friends. Best friends. We were just kidding around, pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  “Oh.” Aidan thought about that for a second. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  I shot another look at Kaz, who was goofing off nearby, doing some kind of modified tango with Shani. “As a matter of fact, I do,” I told Aidan. “His name is Trevor.”

  “Oh.” Now the kid looked nervous. “Will he be mad you’re dancing with me?”