The Dancers ©

ᴥEmerald's Ideaᴥ

“Sooooooooo, tell me. How’d it go?” asks Tamara with a grin.

            I shake my head and said, “Um…it was pretty great. He—he danced with me. And, it was amazing.” A smile betrays my bliss on my lips.

            Tamara jumps up and down and asks, “So, does that mean he is going with you to the dance?” Her smile lessens as she adds, “I guess he’s going to have to woo you more huh?” I nod and she puts one hand on her hip and leans away from me. “Wow, you really make guys go the extra mile huh?”

            “And you don’t?” I ask her.

            “Not guys like Castor. I would say yes to a guy like that in a heartbeat.” Tamara and I walk towards Business Math when she spins around and stops. “Not that I would actually lose control of my heartbeat. How un-goth would that be.”

            “Yeah,” I say as I remember my heartbeat whenever Castor touches me, whenever I look at him, whenever I—see him.

            Thu-Thump

            Thu-Thu-Thump

            Thu-Thu-Thu-Thu—

            “Diamond,” says a voice that I know too well. Emerald looks at me with her dark green eyes as she pulls me away from Tamara. For a moment, Tamara looks insulted until I give her an apologetic look.

            “See you in class Die,” replies Tamara as she walks away.

            Emerald waves at Tamara and in turn, Tamara gives her a rock on sign. “Diamond, I found a story that will be perfect to turn into a ballet. There’s no music printed for the story, but it fits perfectly for you and our sisters.” She hands me a folded paper and whispers, “Get back to me after school about it okay? I printed the story. It’s not that long, but I really do love it, and…it makes sense.” She walks away from me and rushes off to her junior classes. While I head off to my senior classes, folded paper still in my hand.

            I stuff the paper in my business math book when class starts. And Tamara’s eyes linger on my book before she makes eye contact with me. “What did Mistress Geek want to talk about?” she asks.

            Even though the name Mistress Geek sounds like Tamara is making fun of Emerald, she isn’t. She actually likes that I have a sibling who can help me and her with our homework if it gets too hard.

            “It’s just an idea for our dancing classes,” I reply with a shrug.

            Tamara frowns as she asks, “When are you going to invite me to see you guys dance?” I don’t want to. Because inviting Tamara to a dancing premiere means that she would most likely bump into my dad. And as immature as this will sound, I want to keep my best friend to myself. It’s not Dad’s business who my friends are at my school.

            Shrugging my shoulders again I reply, “Invites are family only. No BFF’s allowed.” Tamara’s eyes light up despite her frown.

            “Then I guess I’m going to have to crash the party unexpectedly one of these days.” She fans the pictures of her in the various gothic dresses. “Maybe I’ll crash your dance party with this,” she tosses me a picture of a black dress that the fringe looks like it is dripping with blood.

            “The dress is kind of controversial. Are you sure you don’t want to save it for the prom?” I ask her. She takes her picture back and examines it for a moment before she puts it in the pile with the other pictures.