Phoenix Lift

3. Dance To Win

Feeling invigorated by her chat with Santana— the Cheerio had demanded Kendra call her by her first name, or a nickname she approved of before they parted ways— Kendra went about her Saturday with high enthusiasm. She helped her mother cook breakfast, then spent an hour pestering her younger brother until he caved and agreed to go to the football game with her.

"I tho-thought little siblings were sssupposed to be the-the annoying ones," Lance complained, then winced and took a deep breath. His stutter often got more prominent when he was frustrated or stressed.

Instantly, Kendra felt guilty for annoying him too much. "Sorry, Lance. You don't have to go if you really don't want to—"

"Stop, kika." Lance waved a hand in her face with an annoyed scowl. "It's fine. I... would have walked away if I wa-was really annoyed," his jaw clenched and unclenched as he worked through his frustration.

Their father walked into the living room ruffling both children's hair as he passed. "That's right, pua kala. Stop trying to apologize, Lance is doing a lot better. I'm proud, keiki manō."

Lance ran a hand through the mess his father had made of his hair and smiled. "Thanks, makua kāne."

She held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, I'm sorry Lance. Thank you for coming with me. As a thank you, you get to choose the first movie we watch tonight."

"Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Oh, you're punishing me for the football game."

"I'm ssssure Matt will protect you," Lance's knowing smirk was surprisingly similar to Jason's. Kendra was not amused.

"The only reason you and Jason are friends is so you can share stories to tease us with, isn't it?" Lance shrugged, maintaining the smirk as he walked away.

Groaning jokingly, she turned to her father. "What are you up to today, makua?"

"I'm going in to finish some arrangements for some big-wig party going on tonight. You want to help for a couple hours before getting ready for the game?"

Kendra beamed. She loved spending time with her father, who shared so many of her interests. Of course, she still loved and was close with her mother, but she was definitely more of a daddy's girl. They both loved to dance together, singing silly songs whenever the urge overtook them. Kalei would also pull Himari into a pseudo-waltz when good songs played on the radio at home. Kendra and Kalei also commiserated over their dyslexia, and she was only doing as well as she was in school because of his tips and encouragement.

Both she and Lance loved helping out at Floristry by Kalei, the best flower shop in the area, established by her father years before he married Himari, the love of his life. Lance preferred helping with the back-of-house arranging and organizing of orders, whereas Kendra excelled at the customer service side of things. After conversing with a potential customer, she could pick out exactly what they needed with just the right amount of enthusiasm. Even their mother helped out by looking after the accounting books between her classes at the learning center.

Kalei always joked that he would leave the store in their hands when he retired, and there would be no customers lost.

For the next few hours, she and her dad had fun singing and dancing around the workroom of the florist shop to loud Halloween-themed music, since it was two weeks away. Kendra belted out the entirety of I Put a Spell on You, and Kalei did an admirable rendition of The Phantom of the Opera. Luckily, their dancing to Thriller and Time Warp came after the arrangements were finished, so no flowers were harmed while they had their fun.

~~Phoenix Lift~~