Summer Solstice

A Nice Surprise

{Chapter 2}

Before I went to join the other girls in class, I tugged the little sticks out of my hair, quickly weaving it back into a sloppy braid. The music started up again, winding through the air, and I felt free again. Okay, so I was no athlete, but I was just as graceful as the other girls in the class, even though I had only been doing this particular class for less than a month. My shoes padded softly as I walked back out to the main room.

My dance shoes barely touched the floor. I focused only on the music, it was a free practice, so anything could go. Happiness was nothing new to me, just not something I felt all that often, and Maggie's gift had done something. Possibly given me wings. I twisted and twirled and leaned to the music. I felt nothing, no pain, no fear, no unnecessary panic to make me worry about this weekend. I thought about how nice it was going to be to have Konai gone for the next two days. It would be teachers in service days, so there was no school, making the weekend that much longer. Two whole days to have peace of mind before he came back.

I opened my eyes. He would come back. I frowned, then let it fall away, pasting on a fake smile, so Mag wouldn't question my face. I twirled harder, faster, jumped and landed with no sound. I started to hum along with the song, my hands moving rhythmically with the music. I started spinning, faster and faster until the room was just a blur. I didn't notice until the music had stopped that the other girls were standing to the side to stare at me. I froze, dropping my hands to the sides.

The sudden applause startled me. My cheeks flushed, I must have turned three shades of red. I looked up past the other girls to see Little Joe staring into the dance studio window, his mouth hanging open. I excused myself quickly, done with practice and embarrassing myself, running to change into my regular clothes and escape as soon as possible. As I left I smiled and waved at Mag, snatching up the little box of hair picks as I ran out the door.

I hadn't expected Little Joe to still be standing outside. He was only a few inches taller than me, with tanned skin and long dark hair tied back in a braid. His eyes were soft and warm and were closer to gold than brown. Joe also had a smile on his face most of the time, and whenever he smiled big, a large dimple creased his left cheek. He was one of the few boys in the tribe that would talk to me, well, besides Konai, but he didn't count. Konai.... My heart sped up again.

I turned to see who he was with, but he was alone on the sidewalk. Was he waiting for someone? I glanced behind me at the other girls still dancing inside. Most of whom were trying to imitate the random moves I had done a few minutes ago. I laughed. Joe cleared his throat.

"Um, Andrea?" I looked at him. Hadn't he been thinner? He must have gained a good twenty pounds in the last week. He looked, big. Not like Josap big. Like a wrestler big. He really was going to look like his grandfather. I smiled warmly at him, "Yeah, Joe? What's up?" He looked quickly down at the ground. "Can I... uh, maybe, can I... walk you home?" His hands twisted around each other.

Oh no. Not me. He could not have a crush on me. My mind swam for a minute. This was not right, he needed to be walking Kaida home, not me. I didn't know how this could have happened, I'd never flirted with him. I'd never flirted with anyone. In fact, I made it a point to seem completely oblivious to Joe's presence. He was Kaida's whether he liked it or not.

I could feel myself starting to blush, "Um, Joe, that's not necessary." His head snapped up. "Oh, it's just that Konai said..." He frowned. "It would be better if you had someone with you."

Oh, KONAI said.

Of course he did, apparently no one was safe from the freak. From ME. Even in the late evening, going straight home, I might have an errant thought, and mangle some poor unsuspecting villager. He really must hate me. I was glad he was gone, because I would be marching right over to his house to let him know what I thought about him. Then I wondered how badly he would mangle Joe if I didn't follow him now.