- Chapter 12 - He Can Dance? -
Warnings: Anxiety, mentions of abuse
Third Person POV
Anthony quietly knocks on the door to Medda's office.
She answers with a, barely heard by Anthony, 'come in'.
Anthony slowly opens the door, peaking his head in. "Good afternoon, Miss Medda."
Medda smiles at him. "Good morning, Anthony. How are you doing this morning?"
Anthony nods, shrugging a bit as he steps into the room. "I have a question."
Medda nods, motioning for him to ask. She notices Anthony holding what looks like torn-up tap shoes behind his back.
"Am I allowed to go into the basement?" Anthony asks. "I've always liked tapping, and it helps me de-stress. It's not exactly a quiet dance so I didn't want to bother the others."
Medda smiles. "That's perfectly fine." Anthony let's put a breath of relief, cause Medda to softly smile. "The boys would never mind, I think a good amount of them would be happy to have another 'tapper' in the house, but you can anytime. I'd just prefer you tell me so that if one of the boys think you're missing, I'll tell them that you aren't."
Anthony nods. "If you don't mind, could you not tell them?"
Medda frowns a bit, but nods nonetheless. She wasn't one to go against someone's privacy.
"Thank you, Miss Medda" Anthony responds. Medda smiles.
Anthony turns to leave, but Medda's voice stops him. "Oh, and Anthony, you can call me Medda or Mom."
Anthony nods, though he knew he probably wasn't going to do that.
He leaves the room and walks downstairs, successfully avoiding any Newsies he saw, somehow.
He was actually very surprised none of them walked out of a wall, dropped from a ceiling vent, or popped out of the floor. It seemed like something they could probably do.
When Anthony got to the basement, he put down something to play the music on, and got his tap shoes on.
He liked tapping, especially the sounds the tap shoes made. He also liked the rhythm.
Anthony set up, and then starting running through it, stopping at parts he forgot.
He had always hid that he liked dancing since his other homes would never approve, but he knew Medda probably would be fine with it.
"Cinque, sei, sette, otto, e basta." Anthony reminds himself, running through the counts. "So, five, six, seven, eight, and stop!"
Anthony giggles to himself; he always looked ridiculous when he ran through the steps and counted in Italian. He always did that, and not even on purpose.
"Okay, restarting" Anthony mumbles to himself, as he sets the music again.
A little later
Anthony had been mid-tap, when the door to the basement opened.
"You tap?"
Anthony blushes, as he turns off the music. "I love tapping."
Tommy boy grins. "That's so cool, Anthony!"
Anthony stares at him, wide-eyed. "You think so?"
"Heck, yeah! I love tapping!" Tommy boy exclaims. Anthony smiles a bit. "I take lessons. If you want, Miss Medda can sign you up for them, too."
Anthony shakes his head. "No thanks. I don't want to make her pay for that, plus I'm not that great. I'm self taught."
Tommy boy shakes his head. "You were really good, especially for someone who's self taught. I'd have thought you were taking lessons for ages had you not told me!"
Anthony smiles. "Thanks."
"Can I tap with you?" Tommy boy asks.
Anthony nods. "Sure."
Tommy boy grins, clapping his hands together, and jumping up and down a tiny bit.
Anthony laughs a bit.
"What song are you doing?" Tommy boy questions, looking around for the music.
"'Stop' from Mean Girls" Anthony answers. Tommy boy grins.
"Hey! I just finished learning that!" Tommy boy exclaims. Anthony grins. "Can Romeo and Buttons join us? They like tap, too."
Anthony reluctantly nods. Remember Anth, they'll be fine with this.
Tommy boy grins, before running upstairs to grab Buttons, Romeo, and his tap shoes.
A few minutes later, Tommy boy, Romeo, and Buttons came downstairs. "I'm telling you, he's so good!"
"So, we've been told you're a good tapper" Buttons states. Anthony shrugs.
"I wouldn't say good-" He starts.
"I would!" Tommy boy cuts him off.
Anthony blushes, looking down at his feet.
"So, what song are we doing?" Romeo questions. Tommy boy grins.
"'Stop' from Mean Girls!" Tommy boy exclaims, causing Anthony to smile a bit.
"That's perfect! Didn't we just finish learning that?!" Buttons exclaims. Romeo nods, excited.
"That's what I said!" Tommy boy responds. The three boys laugh.
"You know the counts, Anth?" Romeo questions. Anthony nods.
"I believe it's something like cinque, sei, sette, otto, e basta at the part I keep forgetting, and so on," Anthony mumbles to himself, blocking the steps.
The other three boys stare at him, confused. "What?"
Anthony turns to them. "Oh, yeah, uh, fair warning, I accidentally tend to count in Italian. I'll try not to."
The boys laugh. "It's good. Don't worry about it, we all have little habits like that."
The four boys set up and start tapping together.
Anthony was grinning a lot when he realized how fun and nice it was to tap with other people who loved it and not just on your own.
By the end, they were all laughing, grinning, and high-fiving.
"I love that song" Buttons comments. The other boys nod.
"Tommy boy is not wrong, you're really good Anthony" Romeo tells Anthony, who smiles.
"Yeah, especially for someone who is self taught" Buttons adds. Romeo nods.
"Though, you might need new tap shoes" Tommy boy points out, motioning to Anthony's tap shoes that were literally falling apart.
"These were given to me by a foster sibling I had about two years ago, before that, I just tapped in regular shoes. I haven't been able to replace them" Anthony explains. The boys nod.
"We might be able to help you" Buttons responds.
Anthony shakes his head. "No- no, I don't want you- I couldn't."
"It's fine! I have a set that I don't use anymore" Romeo informs Anthony.
"You're Ro's size, right?" Tommy boy asks. Anthony reluctantly nods. "Then this will work!"
"Guys-"
"Come on Anthony, we can't have you tapping in those. You could get hurt!" Romeo exclaims. Anthony reluctantly nods.
"Then it's settled" Buttons decides. Romeo and Tommy boy nod.
"Okay." Anthony gives in. "Can we do this more often?"
Romeo, Tommy boy, and Buttons grin. "Of course!"
"We'd love to tap with you more!" Buttons exclaims. Anthony grins.
"It gives us something in common" Romeo adds, slinging his arm around Anthony's shoulder.
"One last thing." Anthony mumbles. "I understand that the others probably won't make fun of me, but I'd rather if we kept me tapping a secret for a little bit. Just till I'm comfortable sharing."
The three boys nod. "We understand that. It's okay."
Buttons puts his hand on Anthony's shoulder. "Whenever you're comfortable, we'll tap for them."
Anthony smiles at them, and they grin back. Maybe things might be okay for a little while.
1188 Words
Andy Richardson in the background of the picture above. He's amazing lol