Dance Team

by Charnan Simon

  There was another uncomfortable pause.

  “All right,” Ms. Geiger said with a sigh. “You know where to find us. Now get on with your practice. We all want to win regionals—but we’ll win cleanly or not at all!”

  F

  or the rest of the week, things were tense at school. Nobody had been able to prove anything about the graffiti incident. I couldn’t help suspecting Camilla, Jaci, and Amelia, but I didn’t say anything. How could I? I didn’t have any proof, just the memory of a conversation in a booth at Pancake Corral. A conversation that didn’t include anything about graffiti.

  Leah was furious. She called me practically the minute school was out on Monday. “What the hell is going on at that school of yours?” she asked.

  “I don’t know!” I said. “It’s awful!”

  We talked for a while, but I don’t know what I could have said to fix things. Somebody at my school had done a horrible thing to Leah. She was mad. She had a right to be.

  On Saturday night we had another basketball halftime performance. I don’t know if it was the graffiti, but we weren’t at the top of our game. Cate—who never messes up—fell during her jazz layout, and that tripped up Jaci and Amelia. The two of them were so mad at Cate that they came in late with their wing approaches, and all three girls missed their double syncopated pull-back. By then we were all out of sync with the music, and we never really got our timing back. As for my triple pirouettes—well, the less said, the better.

  After halftime show ended, I could see Camilla was furious.

  “This better never happen again,” she spat as she shoved that night’s outfit into her sports bag. “I’ll see you all at Monday practice. 6:45 A.M. sharp, and no tardies or absences!” She stormed out of the gym, not waiting around to watch the basketball team play, which she always insists that we do.

  The game was a heart-stopper. Olivia and I sat near the band. For most of the last quarter, we were on our feet. The lead went back and forth between Southside and Eastlake. Southside’s cheerleaders did their best, and Olivia and I cheered our hardest. With seconds remaining on the clock, Southside was ahead two points.

  “We’ve got it!” Olivia screamed as she clutched me. We watched our center take control of the ball, sprint down the court—and trip.

  Nobody pushed him. It wasn’t a foul. It was just awful, terrible luck. He caught himself and lurched upright, but by then he’d lost control of the ball. An Eastlake point guard was there to grab it, pivot, and shoot a three-pointer just as the buzzer went off. The game ended with Southside losing 77–76.

  Joel, Eli, Olivia, and I were quiet when we went out for pizza afterwards.

  “Well, that was a heartbreaker of a game,” Joel said glumly.

  “And we stank in our halftime show,” Olivia said.

  “Oh, you weren’t so bad,” Eli said. “There was just that little mix-up when Cate fell.”

  “It was a lot more than that,” Olivia replied. “Camilla’s out for blood.”

  “She’s pretty intense,” Joel said. “We’re neighbors, and I’ve seen her practicing. She really wants this dance team thing to succeed.”

  I sighed. Didn’t we all want the dance team to succeed? The difference was in what steps we were willing to take to make it happen.

  A

  fter pizza, everyone decided to make it an early night. The fact that Joel gave me a for-real good-night kiss helped boost my spirits, but I wished I’d been in a better mood to appreciate it.

  It’s just as well I was rested on Sunday. Mom had invited Leah and her parents over for a backyard barbecue. I’d need all my energy to face Leah. The plans had been made before the graffiti incident, but Mom and Dad were especially keen on having the Velascos over after all the trouble.

  “I can’t believe anyone would do something so mean!” Mom sputtered when she first heard. “Dance team is supposed to be fun. If the competitions can’t be about skill and challenge, what’s the point? Winning by cheating isn’t winning at all!”

  Leah got right to the point when she and her family arrived. She gave my mom and dad a quick hug, then grabbed my arm and steered me to the backyard.

  “Well?” she demanded. “Have you found out who did that graffiti yet? And how did they get my ID or my locker combination? You’d better tell me everything you know, Izzy!”

  I couldn’t blame Leah for still being mad about the graffiti. But I resented her thinking that I might have had anything to do with it.

  “I don’t know anything!” I said. “I told you, I was as shocked as anyone when I got to school on Monday. We were all surprised!”

  I felt a little guilty when I added that last part. Somebody wasn’t surprised. And I felt even guiltier when I thought that I might know who that somebody was

  Leah didn’t look convinced. “Oh, come on, Izzy. People talk. You must have heard something by now. Or are you just trying to protect your precious dance team?”

  “No!” I was really stung. “Why would I do anything to hurt you? You’re my friend!”

  I felt guiltier and more confused than ever. Was I telling Leah the truth? Was I hurting her by not going to Mrs. Nuñez or Ms. Geiger with my suspicions? Or would that just be smearing Camilla and her friends, since I didn’t know anything for sure? What about being innocent until proven guilty?

  I tried again to calm Leah down. “The principal and our coach are trying as hard as they can to find out who’s responsible. Really, Leah. And the other girls on the team are as upset as I am.”

  That was at least partly true. Olivia was horrified, and girls like Trez and Cate seemed genuinely shocked too. It made me feel a little better to know that not everyone was out to get Leah.

  Leah looked less angry and more sad. “You can’t imagine how I felt, coming back from Austin to find people believed I might have done that graffiti. Even kids I thought were my friends were wondering!”

  I began to feel sorrier and sorrier. Even I had wondered if she could have been the guilty one.

  “Oh, Leah,” I said. I reached over and gave her a tight hug. She was stiff at first but then loosened up. “I can’t imagine. But if I ever find out who did this and tried to make people think it was you, I’ll break their legs. Honest!”

  Leah sniffed. “Okay, then. But just be sure you call me first, so I can help.”

  We had a little weepy moment while she hugged me back. I felt more conflicted than ever. Was someone really trying to hurt Leah? How far would they go?

  “C

  an you believe regionals are only two weeks away?” Olivia asked at our after-school dance practice on Monday.

  “No!” I said. “I feel like I know our routine pretty well, but I’m not perfect on the switch leaps in the second chorus.”

  “It’s the leg-hold turns that I’m worried about,” Olivia confided to me. “I’m afraid Camilla’s going to take me off turns if I don’t pick up the pace.”

  “Oh, she won’t do that!” I said. I could sympathize with Olivia. I think everyone on the team felt pressure about the turn combinations. Sometimes dance captains adapt the choreography if all the girls can’t hit the turns consistently. They give the weaker girls something else to do while the rest of the team turns. This takes away from the look of the dance, since everyone’s not doing the same thing, but it’s still better than having someone fall out of her turns. Camilla, though, wanted everyone to keep in sync.

  “Girls!” Camilla’s voice was sharp. “Enough chatter! Opening formation, please!”

  From then on it was all work, no play. As ever, Camilla didn’t miss a thing. “Ana—point your toes! Cate—your hands are flopping around like a couple of dead fish! Olivia—those leg-hold turns are looking better, but still not sharp enough! In fact, you all need to work on getting those leg-hold turns synchronized! They’re way too sloppy!”

  After an hour, everyone was sweaty and breathless. But it was a good kind of tired, and for the first time I started to think that maybe we really
would be ready to compete in two weeks.

  Apparently Camilla agreed with me. “Okay, that’s enough,” she announced. She allowed herself a little smile. “Don’t get too excited, but you guys are actually beginning to look like a dance team. Keep up the good work, and I might even take you to regionals!”

  Everyone laughed as they gathered up their stuff. I made a snap decision. I had something to say to Camilla, and I figured I might as well take advantage of her good mood.

  “Wait for me,” I told Olivia. “I have to talk to Camilla.”

  Confronting Camilla wasn’t as hard as I’d thought. Probably because I didn’t give myself time to think about what I was going to say.

  “Hey, Izzy,” Camilla said. “You’re looking good out there!” She sounded perfectly friendly and normal, and her smile looked genuine.

  I didn’t let myself get distracted. “Camilla,” I blurted out. “Did you have anything to do with the graffiti?”

  Camilla’s smile disappeared in a heartbeat. “Are you accusing me of vandalism, Izzy?” she asked.

  “I’m just wondering,” I said stubbornly. “After what we talked about at the Pancake Corral and all.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Camilla said in her steeliest voice. “I certainly never talked about any graffiti!”

  My courage was starting to fail me. “No,” I said uncertainly. “But the other stuff…”

  Camilla zipped up her dance bag. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she repeated. “But I do know that team loyalty is as important as dance moves. If you want to accuse me of something, do it in front of the whole team, okay? Let’s see what they think about a rookie freshman calling the team captain a vandal and a liar.”

  Camilla had me. She knew I’d never say anything to the rest of the team. Not two weeks before regionals, not when I didn’t have any proof.

  “Well?” Camilla asked. “Are we done here?”

  I nodded meekly. Yes, we were done. I watched Camilla walk away. Her head was up, her shoulders were back. She wasn’t afraid of anything I could do to her. And why should she be? I was just a freshman—and a very confused one at that.

  “W

  hat was that all about?” Olivia asked when I joined her by the bleachers. “I’ll tell you later,” I said. At that moment, I just wanted to get out of the gym.

  Olivia nodded. “Look,” she said, nudging me.

  I looked. Joel and Eli were standing in the gym doorway. They saw us and waved, then came over to where we were standing.

  “Hey,” Joel said. “Band practice just ended. Want to grab a taco?”

  “Sure,” Olivia said easily. “Izzy?”

  “Absolutely.” I had spent enough time keeping my worries bottled up. I had to talk to someone.

  I waited till we were tucked into the booth at Taco Shack before I got started. I explained about everything—the incident at the mall escalator, the breakfast at Pancake Corral, my suspicions about Camilla and the graffiti.

  Olivia looked shocked. “I can’t believe Camilla would do anything like this!” she said. “I mean, I know dance team means everything to her, but this goes too far. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand, Izzy?”

  “I heard what I heard,” I said. Why wouldn’t Olivia believe me?

  Eli shook his head. “There’s got to be some other explanation. The thing at the mall was probably just an accident. You know how crazy little kids can get when they’re running around in a gang. And Camilla and the others were probably just joking at that breakfast.”

  Joel looked troubled. “I don’t know,” he said. “I live on Camilla’s block, and I’ve known her all my life. She’s always been hardcore about getting what she wants. Not mean, exactly—but she doesn’t let anything stop her once she’s made up her mind. If Camilla wants to win regionals and she thinks Leah Velasco is standing in her way…”

  “But how could she have had anything to do with the graffiti?” Olivia argued. “Whoever did that had to know someone at Northside. They had to break into Leah’s locker and steal her ID. ”

  Joel looked even more troubled. “Camilla’s cousin Alex goes to Northside,” he said. “Alex’s kind of a wild dude. He’s been in trouble at school before. Not big stuff, just cheating on tests, skipping school, getting caught drinking at dances, stuff like that. Alex doesn’t have a whole lot of school spirit. I could see him thinking it would be fun, getting someone like Leah in trouble.”

  Olivia shook her head. “I’m sorry, Izzy, but I still can’t believe it,” she said. “There’s got to be another explanation.”

  “I hope so,” I said. Olivia was supposed to be my friend, and friends are supposed to stick together. Yet there she was, siding with Camilla instead of me. What kind of friend was that?

  “I’m sure of it,” Olivia said firmly. “Dance team means everything to Camilla. She’d do anything to win regionals, but not if it meant getting the team in trouble. And deliberately hurting Leah would definitely get the team in trouble. After all the work Camilla’s put into this team—it was practically dead when she came in as a freshman. If it weren’t for Camilla, Southside wouldn’t even have a dance team! She wouldn’t risk everything in her last year!”

  I hoped Olivia was right.

  O

  livia knew I was upset with her. I avoided her at school for a couple days while I sorted things out.

  I tried to put myself in her position—would I believe a new friend, a friend making pretty wild accusations, over the senior dance team captain who was responsible for getting me a place on the squad?

  Olivia made it hard to stay angry for long. She was waiting at my locker when I got out of biology Tuesday afternoon.

  “Hey, girl,” she said. “I know you’re mad at me for not believing you about Leah and Camilla. I guess I don’t blame you. It’s just … the idea of Camilla trying to hurt Leah is just such a weird idea, like something you’d see in a movie. Not like anything that happens in real life.”

  I couldn’t help agreeing with her. “I know,” I said. “But if you’d heard Camilla and you knew Leah…”

  “Exactly,” Olivia said. “I didn’t hear Camilla, and I don’t know Leah. But we could fix at least part of that—why don’t you introduce me to her? We’ve been friends ever since you moved, and I’ve never even met your best friend from your old neighborhood! Can we do something this weekend? Go shopping? Get lunch?”

  I considered it while we waited at the bus stop. People jostled all around, talking and laughing, making plans. All the noise and commotion made it hard to think, but really, what was there to think about? Why shouldn’t Olivia and Leah get to know each other? They were both important people in my life. And maybe if Olivia met Leah, she’d understand why Camilla made me worry. I could use Olivia’s support. At the very least, she and Leah would probably get along.

  “Sure,” I said. “But let’s do something other than shopping. How about a bike ride? Leah lives near a forest preserve with great bike paths.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Olivia said.

  “I’ll call Leah tonight,” I decided. “My dad can drive us over to her house. We already have bike racks on our car.”

  “Perfect!” Olivia said.

  Camilla and Jaci hung behind us as we crowded on the bus. Had they heard me making plans to see Leah? They certainly were whispering together. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but one phrase stood out: “Operation Bring Her Down, part three.” What did that mean?

  S

  aturday was gorgeous. Warm and sunny, with just the hint of a breeze. Leah came running out when Dad dropped Olivia and me off at her house. She’d seemed really happy when I called to suggest the bike ride, and she gave both me and Olivia big hugs.

  “Hey, you two!” she said. “I’m glad to finally meet you, Olivia. I miss Izzy so much, but it’s good to know she’s got a friend like you.”

  Whew. Leah was back to her old super-friendly self. I crossed my fingers and hoped
we’d be able to avoid any dance team talk. We took a few minutes to pump up our tires, adjust our bike seats, and make sure our helmets fit.

  Leah was ready first. “I’m just going to ride up and down the street a little,” she called as she coasted down the driveway. “I’ll wait for you at —yikes! Help!”

  I looked up just in time to see a passing car slam on its brakes while Leah veered off the driveway onto the grass, where she crashed in a heap.

  “Leah!” Olivia and I ran over to her. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  “My brakes didn’t work!” she said. “I was trying to slow down for that car, but they didn’t catch!”

  The driver rolled down her window and stuck out her head. “You all right?” she called.

  Leah waved. “I’m fine,” she called back. “Problem with my brakes.”

  The woman shook her head. “Be careful! Better get those checked out!”

  While I helped Leah up, Olivia examined her bike. “Look,” she said. “Your brake quick-release cable’s undone.”

  I’m not much of a bike expert. “What does that mean?” I asked. “How did it happen?”

  “It’s this little lever here,” Leah said, pointing. “It could have come undone on its own,” she added. “But it’s never happened before.”

  “Could someone have been trying to adjust it or anything, and maybe forgot to hook it up again?” Olivia asked

  Leah shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “This is my bike. I’m the only one who ever rides it.”

  I felt a shiver go down my spine. Could someone have undone the brake release deliberately? I remembered Camilla and Jaci standing behind me at the bus stop when Olivia and I were making our bike-riding plans. What was it they’d said? “Operation Bring Her Down, part three.”