Chapter 3, Trouble and Dancing

Liv at has a fight at home and in dance class, with strange consequences. She notices something odd about her classmates at the first football game.

Chapter 3 

The second day of school, I had gym class instead of study hall.  A sophomore named Greta started chatting me up in the locker room. I asked her if she was going to the football game on Friday. 

"I'm in the band, so I'll be there," she said. She talked the whole time we were getting changed for class, mostly about boys. There was a guy named Brady Banks in her class who she said had a "thousand watt smile."  

Thousand watt smile? Who talks like that?  

I noticed her gym shoes were similar to mine. Ted had seen them in my bag in homeroom and made a snide comment about my "cheap shoes." I ignored him.  

At lunch, I sat with Helen again.  

"Seth asked about you after school yesterday," she said.  

"Really? What did he say?"  

"He asked me where you are from," she said.  

"Oh. Is that all?" 

"Yeah. I had to go. My mom was waiting for me in the car." 

"Where do you live?" I asked. 

"On Petunia Avenue." 

"Wait, isn't this school on Petunia Avenue?" 

"Yeah, but my mom always gives me a ride. We live way on the other end and the hill is really steep." 

"Does Seth live near here, or does he ride the bus?"  

"He lives down the street from me." 

I had a feeling Seth probably walked home. Our house was on Rose Avenue, about four blocks parallel Petunia Avenue. Seth's house was in the opposite direction. Oh, well. It wasn't like I had time to hang out after school anyway. I had to get home right away to be there when Mackenzie and Alex got home so I would watch them until Charlotte came home from work. She usually worked until five, but my dad rarely got home until seven.  

I was used to doing whatever I wanted after school, usually hanging out with Tori. I had dance, but that was after dinner. I know there are plenty of other teenagers out there who have to baby-sit younger siblings, so I try not to complain about it. There were times I just missed my old life so much.  

After school I was at my locker when Greta appeared.  

"Hey," she said. She held up her cell phone. "What's your cell number?" 

I had just talked to her briefly in gym class and didn't think we were at the exchanging numbers stage yet, but she kind of put me on the spot. I gave her my number. Then she gave me hers, which I added to my contacts.  

"Great, now we can text each other! I have to go catch my bus." She dashed off. 

I found Alice outside.  

"Are you going to the game Friday?" I said. 

"Yeah, you want to go together?" 

"Sure."  

Alex and Mackenzie found a horror movie on TV after school. I asked them if they were allowed to watch that kind of movie. 

"We watch them all the time," Alex said.  

When Charlotte got home, she turned the TV off and sent them to their rooms.  

"Come into the kitchen with me," she said.   

She ran water into a large pasta pot.  

"They aren't allowed to watch that garbage," she said.  

"What, that horror movie? I asked Alex, and he said he watches them all the time." 

"Well, he lied. I don't let them watch garbage."  

"We never talked about the rules for them. I've never been in charge of younger kids before. Maybe we should go over the ground rules."  

"Just use some common sense, Liv!" she snapped. Charlotte has dark red hair, and she has it cut in that style Kate Gosselin had about five years ago, all short and spiky in the back and parted to the sides in the front. I could see her pale skin turning red as well.  

"That movie was R rated!" she added. "I need to be able to trust you with my children."  

I was really trying not to lose my cool. I didn't want to be grounded and miss the first football game and dance, and if I stood up for myself, Charlotte would consider that "talking back" and come down even harder on me.  

I realized I should have trusted my gut and just told Alex and Mackenzie that they couldn't watch that movie, but I also thought Charlotte's reaction was way off. I focused on her fiery hair and red face and anger boiled up inside me.  

Suddenly, the water coming from the faucet shot out sideways. Charlotte shrieked.  

"It scalded me! What the hell just happened?" I looked and the water was running normally again. Charlotte turned the water off.  

"Are you okay?" 

"It scalded my arm," she said.  

"Can I get you something? First aid kit?" 

"There's some aloe vera gel up in the linen closet." 

"I'll go get it."  

When I came back down, Charlotte put the aloe gel on her arm. Her skin looked bright red, but not blistered or anything.    

"That was scary," Charlotte said. "I'll have to have your father check the plumbing when he gets home."  

After dinner, I quickly washed the dishes and told Charlotte I was taking Jock for a walk. I headed down the hill in the direction of the school. I thought about going past where Helen --and Seth-- lived, but decided against it. I went down a street I hadn't used before and came out on a road I did recognize. It was a full of potholes and I'd heard Charlotte call it a "goat trail." It wasn't an actual goat trail, of course. It was just a regular road badly in need of paving. It connected the neighborhood where I lived with Dad and Charlotte to another neighborhood, Applewood Borough. Buddy was buried in Applewood.  

I urged Jock forward and walked until I came to the cemetery. I stood at Buddy's grave. Jock seemed to know, or at least have some sense, that Buddy's remains were nearby. He lay on the ground with his head down, looking solemn and sad.  

"See, even Jock misses you!" I said. "Why did you do it, Buddy? Was it really so bad that you'd rather be dead than here with me and Mom?"  

I really didn't want to lose it in public, but no one was around and I couldn't stop the waterworks if I tried. I sunk down to the ground.  

"Everything is so messed up. I'm living with Dad and Charlotte now, do you know that? I'm going to this strange school and I miss you and I miss Virginia and Tori. Did you even stop to think what this would do to me and Mom?"  

My body shook and I knew I was ugly crying. Jock laid his head down on my leg and looked up at me. I stroked his head and that calmed me a little.  

My phone buzzed and I checked the screen. It was a text from Tori. 

Dance class sucked without you :(  

I decided just to call her. 

"I'm having a moment," I said.  

"Oh, Liv. Are you going to be okay?" 

"Yeah." I sniffed. "I'm at Buddy's grave. I was taking Jock for a walk and ended up here. I guess I still had some things to say to Buddy." 

"Was school okay, at least?" 

"I guess." I told her about Alice and eating lunch with Helen, and Greta asking for my number already. 

"I start dance class next week," I added. 

"I can't believe we won't be in the recital together this year," Tori said, sounding bummed. "Oh, and I went by your old house today. There's a new family moved in already. The window to your room was open and I heard a baby crying. It was so weird." 

I shouldn't have been surprised. There were waiting lists for housing on base so of course they'd move in another family almost immediately. Still, it bugged me a little to think of my old room belonging to someone else now. Sometimes I liked to think I'd wake up and it was all a dream, and my room and my old life were just waiting for me to go back.  

"That makes it so real," I said.  

"Yeah, it does. I can't believe I might not see you until Thanksgiving." 

"I was going to try and surprise you, but maybe I should tell you so you don't make plans." 

"What?" 

"My mom said she might have to go down there to take care of some of Buddy's final affairs. Probably like, the first weekend in October." 

Tori squealed. "Where are you staying?" 

"On base, with Loretta." 

"Bullshit! Your mom can stay at Loretta's. You are staying here. I'll tell my mom." 

I laughed. "Okay, okay." 

After talking with Tori I felt ten times better. It was the little boost I needed to get through another day.  

* 

On Friday, I stood in my room debating what to wear for Spirit Day. I had a summer dress that was darkish red, and it was still warm enough to wear it. The problem was, it had spaghetti straps and I knew I needed a sweater or something over it. I dug around in my closet and found a chambray blue denim shirt. I left the shirt unbuttoned and tied at the waist. I added gold sandals and a gold necklace.  

Mackenzie came in our room after brushing her teeth.  

"Why aren't you wearing your uniform?" 

"It's Spirit Day. We're supposed to wear school colors." 

"Oh." 

"Do you have anything like that at North Side?" 

"We have jean days sometimes."  

"You look nice," Mackenzie said. 

"Thanks." 

On the way to school, Alice also told me she liked my outfit. She was wearing a shirt that said "St. Margaret Wildcats" that looked like one you'd buy in a school store. She wore it with tan skinny pants.   

Ted, in homeroom, did not appreciate my outfit.  

"That's not school colors," he said. 

"I have gold and dark red on. Don't you think that's close enough?" 

Sarah, who'd whipped around in her chair the minute Ted opened his mouth, eyed my outfit but didn't say anything. Sarah was wearing the same shirt as Alice  with white skinny pants. When Sabrina came in, I noticed she was wearing the exact same outfit as Sarah.  

Then I saw Julia and Claire, and they were wearing the same outfit too. I wondered if there was some memo I missed. I also thought it was strange that they were all wearing the exact same shirt. Surely there were different versions of shirts with the school name on them?    

I decided to ignore Ted, as he was usually disagreeable. On my way to my first class, Claire also commented on the outfit. 

"That's not spirit wear," she said.  

"Is there some rule that our shirts have to have the school name on the them?" 

"No, but you have a blue shirt on." 

"I needed something like a jacket. My dress is spaghetti strap." 

"But...it's blue," she said. She sounded confused.  

I saw Greta in study hall, and she gushed over my outfit.  

"You look hot to trot!" she said. 

Hot to trot? 

"Want to trade outfits?" Greta said. 

"No, thanks," I said and smiled. Greta was wearing a yellow button down with a maroon vest and long skirt. She reminded me of Amy from Big Bang Theory only she had a much toothier smile. She was wearing bright coral lipstick and there was some on her teeth. 

"You have lipstick on your teeth," I told her.  

She swiped her finger across her teeth.  

"Come by and talk to me at the game tonight," she said.  

At lunch, I asked Helen about the matching outfits.  

"They're big shots at this school," she said.  

"So, that means they all dress alike?" 

"Who knows why they do what they do," Helen said.  She was in her regular uniform.  

I looked over towards the table where Sarah, Sabrina, and Claire were sitting. Claire looked my way and said something to the others, and they laughed. Were they talking about me? I felt anger bubble up. I didn't want to conform and look like a clone of everyone else. Claire took a sip of bottled water, and suddenly it was like someone sprayed her in the face with a hose. She jumped, choking and sputtering.  

How did that happen? It reminded me of Charlotte's incident with the kitchen sink. My dad wasn't able to find anything wrong with the plumbing.  

* 

That night I went to the football game with Alice. I wanted to ask about the matching shirts, but I didn't know how to word it so I didn't sound critical of my classmates. I've learned from moving around that it's best to get the lay of the land and not make waves at first. Also, Alice might have been hanging out with me, but I knew she would likely repeat anything I said about my new classmates.  

I decided to ask if there was a drama club. 

"No, we put on a play for the Christmas pageant and but that's about it." 

 After the game, we went out for pizza to a place called Laurel Falls Pizza Pub. It must have been a favorite with St. Margaret students, because it looked like most of our class was there. Justin Connor and a bunch of the football players sat at a table together.   

Sarah, Claire, and Andrea waved us over to a big table. Sarah and Claire still wore their school shirts, but Andrea had on a maroon tee with a denim jacket. She had big gold hoops in her ears. I wondered why she didn't dress the same as Sarah and the rest, since she seemed to be in their weird little clique.  

"Are Sabrina and Julia coming?" I asked.  

"Sabrina went to a church youth group retreat," Claire said. 

"Oh, but the rest of you didn't go?" I said. 

"Sabrina isn't a member of St. Mag's," Sarah said. "She's Seventh Day Adventist." 

I nodded.  

"Julia is over there with her boyfriend," Claire said.  

I looked in the direction Claire indicated, and saw Julia and a boy alone at a table.   

In a few minutes, Seth and Ethan joined us. I didn't know the two of them were friends, but it made sense. Alice mentioned that they were both from North Side Catholic. Mia and Hayley came in and sat at a table by themselves.  

"Liv, do you always wear that necklace?" Ethan said.  

"I didn't used to, but it was a birthday gift from my stepfather and he died, so I wear it almost all the time now." 

"Is it your birthstone?" 

"Yes, aquamarine." 

"So, your birthday is in March?" 

"Yes." 

"Pisces or Aries?"  

"Pisces." 

Ethan nodded thoughtfully. Just then the server came with our pizza. We ate and hung out for a while. Alice drove us home. She seemed to be in a bad mood. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up. 

"So, what's with you and Ethan?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"He was asking when your birthday is and stuff." 

"Beats me."  

I wondered if Alice liked Ethan. I thought both Ethan and Seth were cute, but Ethan seemed easier to talk to. But if Alice liked him, that sure complicated things. 

* 

The next day, Alice and I walked to the dance together. When I saw her outfit, I felt overdressed. I had on a floral print sundress, but she had on short denim shorts and a v-neck shirt.  

"I'm probably overdressed. I keep forgetting I'm not in the South anymore," I said.  

"Do they wear dresses to dances in the South?" 

"In Virginia they do. I lived in Texas too. They're a little more casual." 

"Which did you like better?" 

"Virginia, for sure. We lived near Virginia Beach, Busch Gardens, and a lot of other fun places. Texas was humid." I wondered if half the girls from our class would be dressed alike again.   

I wasn't far off. Sarah was wearing shorts like Alice. Claire and Julia wore denim capri pants. Their tops varied a little, but that was all. Sabrina, Mia and Hayley weren't there. Andrea looked unique in a black lacy top and gray jeans. I wondered if maybe they had just dressed alike for so long that they had no sense of personal style. 

I went to get a drink of water from the water fountain and ran into Ethan.  

"Hey, Liv," he said.    

"Hi, Ethan." 

"I saw you walking your dog earlier." 

"Oh, yeah. That's Jock. He's a German shepherd mix. He was supposed to be a military dog, but he flunked out of training." 

"Your dog's a flunkee? That's kind of funny." 

"I know, right? He's a great dog, though." 

"You're Italian, right?" 

"Yeah, on my dad's side. How did you know?" 

"Your last name, Pagani. I think it means Pagan in Italian." 

"I never knew that. I'll have to Google it or something."  

A slow song by Ed Sheeran came on.  

"Do you want to dance?" Ethan asked.  

"Sure," I said. 

We went out onto the dance floor and started to dance.  

"What does Pagan mean, exactly?" I said. "I've heard my aunt say that Halloween is a Pagan holiday, and she won't let my cousins celebrate it. She's a born-again Christian." 

"A lot of people think it's like the devil or the occult or something," he said. "But it's just an older religion. It predates Christianity. In fact, the modern depictions of the devil often look like the Pagan god, Pan. Some Christians did that on purpose so people would equate Pan with Satan." 

"So they wanted to convert people to Christianity, and got people to associate a Pagan god with something bad. Pretty clever." 

The song was over then, and the lights came on. The dance was over.  

"Well, I'd better find Alice so we can walk home together," I said.  "It was a lot of fun talking to you."  

"Catch you later," Ethan said.  

On the way home, Alice was quiet for the first few minutes. Finally, she spoke up. 

"So, are you and Ethan going out now, or what?" 

"What? No, we were just talking and a slow song came on and he asked me to dance. That's all." 

"What were you talking about?" 

"It was kind of a strange conversation, really. He asked me about my last name and said he thinks it means Pagan in Italian. Between that and the way he asked me about my birthday and Zodiac sign yesterday, it's almost like...I don't know, exactly." 

"Like he likes you and wants to find out more about you?" 

"Maybe. Listen, I was going to bring it up but, I guess I'd better. Do you like him?" 

"Ethan? No, I've known him since kindergarten. It would be totally weird to date him."  

When I got home, I went to text Tori about the dance and saw I had a text from Greta. 

How was the dance? I have a stomach bug and couldn't go. I'm dying to hear about it. 

It was fun.  

Did you dance with any hot guys? 

I danced with Ethan Shaw.  

Greta abruptly stopped texting me. I figured maybe her mom made her stop. Her parents seemed strict. Not as strict as Helen's parents, but pretty strict. 

* 

The following Monday, I had my first dance class in Laurel Falls. I've been taking ballet since I was seven, and lyrical jazz since I was eleven. I had ballet on Mondays and Wednesdays. Lyrical jazz, or contemporary dance, was only on Tuesdays. The ballet class was rather small. There were five girls in the class, including me. Hayley was in the class too.  

I was sitting in the changing room next to Hayley, putting on my dance shoes, when a tall girl with dyed  blonde hair came in. She stood in front of me and looked me over in an obvious kind of way. 

"Who are you, and how did you get in this class? This class is for advanced dancers only." 

"I just moved here from Virginia. I've been taking ballet since I was seven."  

 Well, Virginia, I guess you'll have to prove yourself. Is she a friend of yours, Hayley? Another Catholic girl?" 

I raised my chin and looked her in the eye. "I go to St. Margaret with Hayley." 

"What's your problem, Brittany?" Hayley said to the mean girl.  

"There's no problem. Virginia here is going to have to prove herself, that's all." She finished lacing her dance shoes and walked off to the studio.  

"Move over, Paris Gellar. Who wrapped her bun too tight?" I said. 

"Don't pay attention to her," Hayley said. "She's just worried you'll steal the lead from her when we do The Nutcracker at Christmas. She was counting on getting it this year. Madison is a good dancer too, but she wouldn't dare try out for Sugar Plum fairy. She's too intimidated by Brittany." 

After our warm-up at the barre, we lined up on one side of the room and took turns doing leaps. When it was my turn, Brittany leaned over and whispered in my ear, "don't hit yourself in the face with those airbags." 

Airbags? Was she talking about my b***s? They're a decent size considering the rest of me was fairly petite, but in no way would they be classified as airbags. And they certainly weren't big enough to hit me in the face.  

Later, our teacher, Katherine, was showing us a sequence of moves. Brittany was next to me and moved a little closer, so she kicked me in the leg when we did the moves as a group.  

This went on for the entire class, with Brittany trying to trip me and whispering things in my ear to psych me out. I was about ready to boil over by the time class was finished.  

In the changing room, Madison giggled at something Brittany whispered to her. Madison was holding a water bottle. She dropped it and it landed on Brittany's feet.  

"Oh my God!" Brittany shrieked and jumped out of the way. "What do you have in there, Arctic water? Be more careful next time!" 

"Calm down, Brittany," Hayley said. "She just dropped her water on you. She didn't steal your first born child." 

"I think my skin is getting frostbite," Hayley whimpered. She rubbed her foot where it was wet. There was a bright red welt in one spot. It reminded me of what happened to Charlotte a few days ago. 

"Your skin is red, but you are definitely in no danger of frostbite. Your skin would be turning black if you had frostbite." 

"Who died and made you an expert on frostbite?" Brittany said snarkily. 

"Hayley's dad is a doctor. And her mom is a...what do you call it? She delivers babies," Madison said. 

"A midwife. And that doesn't mean Hayley went to medical school," Brittany said.  

"I just looked up frostbite on my phone, and Hayley is right," said Alexa, the other girl in our class. She had remained quiet throughout most of class and after.  

Brittany looked as angry as a cornered dog, but she just slid her feet into flip flops and grabbed her bag and stalked off.  

"She's my ride. I'd better go," Madison said and scooted out. Alexa left quickly too. 

"That was weird," I said to Hayley. "Tell me that wasn't weird." 

Hayley shrugged. "Brittany was being a drama queen and got mad when everyone didn't take her side like they normally do." 

"She was being a total bully to me in class today," I said. 

"I noticed. Something about you really bugs her. Hey, do you want to come over to my house after school tomorrow? Mia and I are thinking of starting a book club or something." 

"I have to watch my brother and sister until my stepmom gets home, between three and four." 

"I'll tell you what. I'll give you my cell number and you can text me when she gets home. I'll pick you up. I live in Ralston Heights, so it's not walking distance." 

I did just that. I thought Hayley and Mia were smart and they seemed like fun. They seemed like good friend material. They kept to themselves a lot, but that didn't necessarily seem like a bad thing.