Read Step Up and Dance Online

Authors: Thalia Kalipsakis

Tags: #ebook, #book

Step Up and Dance (12 page)

BOOK: Step Up and Dance
6.03Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

At the start of the second half, the stadium went wild, screaming ‘Magic Magic Magic!' and trying to drown out the opposition chant.

As the players ran onto the court, the chanting fell apart and became a series of claps and cries.

‘Go team!'

‘Yaaaaaay Magic!'

‘Let's get 'em, boys.'

That's when it came – booming through the stadium for everyone to hear.

‘Attention, please. We have a child lost in the stadium. A child is lost.'

A hush fell over the crowd. The players stood on the court, stretching out their ankles and thighs.

‘The child is in Magic colours and wearing a red cap. He answers to the name of Jay Wilson.
Jay Wilson
.'

I bit my lip and smothered a giggle. Halfway up the park stands, heads next to Jay were moving and arms were gesturing.

‘Anyone who can locate Jay, please report to a stadium official.'

Ha! Gotcha!
I kept my legs crossed, eyes on the court as if everything were normal.

Jay Wilson, mummy's boy.
It was supremely naff, really. Who cares about a dumb announcement? But I knew who I was dealing with. Jay was a jock after all. And what does a jock-boy hate most of all? Looking like an idiot in front of his friends.

It had taken some fast talking to make it happen at all.

I sneaked one last look up at the stands. Was I mistaken, or was that Jay's friend, laughing and punching him on the arm?

After the game, I stood in the darkness of the loading area, rocking on the balls of my feet and spinning my ponytail (or trying to) like I used to when I was little.

The game had been awesome – a tight win, but a good one that put us safely in the quarterfinals. But more than that, the Charms were already getting great feedback from our televised time-out. And a meeting was being organised with the manager from Sportscraft. So awesome!

But as good as all that had been, it didn't stop me thinking about Jay. I only wished that Summer had been here to see his face.

Now I started swinging my arms in time to my rocking feet. I could hear loud music coming from one of the side buildings, and the crunch of tyres around the corner in the staff carpark.

In the distance I could hear running feet. Closer and closer they came, louder and louder, until a tall sprinting body shot around the corner and skidded to a stop in front of me.

‘Saph! There you are.'

When Jay appeared so suddenly, my body jerked as if I'd been caught doing something wrong and my arms flapped awkwardly. Not a good look.

Get a grip, Saph!
I pushed out my hip and tilted my head to one side, like a girl who just didn't care.

I could see Jay's chest rising rhythmically under his shirt. ‘Hey, do you need a lift home?' he asked. ‘My parents have space.'

I was pretty impressed, really. Jay had thought long enough about life as a bimbo cheerleader to see that lifts home might be a problem. Not bad. But he hadn't thought hard enough to predict an overprotective Greek father.

‘Thanks, but my dad's coming.' I swapped hips and flicked my ponytail. ‘Tell your parents thanks.'

Jay had his hands on his hips. ‘Well, we come every game.' He grinned. ‘As you know. So anytime you're stuck …'

For a moment we just looked at each other in the dim light. His gaze felt so close it made my cheeks flush.

Then he spoke, still smiling but with a strain in his voice. ‘And that announcement . . . you think that was funny?'

I poked out my tongue at him. ‘Gotcha good!'

But Jay was shaking his head, ‘What did you do, flick your hair at the man with the PA?'

‘I'm not just a dumb bimbo, Jay Wilson.'

Jay snorted and half-laughed. ‘I never called you dumb.'

‘But you
do
think I'm a bimbo?' A rush of something like anger rose in my chest.

Jay was still smiling like I was a naughty kid. ‘Did you know that your nostrils flare when you're angry?'

But I wasn't in the mood for joking anymore. Did he expect me to sit back and take his pranks but do nothing in return? Not
this
dumb bimbo . . .

Now a jumble of words tumbled out of my mouth – ‘You deserved it today Jay Wilson! I was just getting you back.' I finished and crossed my arms.

Jay dropped his shoulders and tilted his head. The mood had well and truly changed.

But I kept going. ‘You started all this, Jay! Just because you're good at basketball. You're so . . . so
arrogant
!'

By now it was hard to see Jay's eyes in the darkness. But his voice had a strain to it that I'd never heard before. ‘Tonight was an important game. The last game before the quarterfinals. And
you
distracted the team by playing tricks on the crowd!'

‘Only those in the crowd who deserved it.'

Jay threw up his arms like he was lost for words.

‘It's just a game, all right? So don't get all high and mighty with me,' I said.

In the dim light, I could see Jay's shoulders stiffen. ‘
Just
a game?'

Suddenly the loading bay was flooded in light – long shadows spreading and changing in moving headlights.

‘Here's my dad,' I said calmly, as my mind kicked into overdrive.
Dad was about to find me alone in the dark with a guy.
I didn't need to be a brainiac to know how Dad would react.

The station wagon jerked as it came to a stop, and the door started to open before the handbrake was even on. Dad got out of the car and looked from me to Jay.

Jay was standing tall, with his arms by his sides. He took a couple of steps back.

‘Dad …' I started, knowing that nothing I could say would help.
Don't do this, Dad, don't.

Then Jay seemed to grow in height and confidence. He stepped forward and held out his hand for Dad to shake. ‘Mr Giannopoulos, pleased to meet you.'

For the second time that night, I was impressed with Jay. He had pronounced my surname right, pretty much. It was almost as if he'd been practising. And watching Jay step in like that, gave me a sudden clarity about what to do.

‘Dad, this is Jay Wilson. He's a Magic fan and a friend from school.'

It was weird watching them shake hands, like seeing Luke Skywalker shake hands with Darth Vader. I almost felt left out.

‘Nice to meet you, Jay,' said Dad. His Greek accent was stronger than normal, the only giveaway that this was a stretch for him.

‘My family has season tickets,' Jay continued. ‘So if Saph ever needs a lift home . . .'

‘That won't be necessary,' said Dad quickly. ‘Thank you, Jay.'

For an awkward moment, no one said anything. Then Jay took a couple of steps back and waved at me. ‘See you on Monday, Saph.'

Our eyes met, taking us for a split second back to the tunnel that seemed to connect us during the game. Then it was gone. ‘Yeah, see you then.'

Jay turned and scooted around the corner.

Dad and I were quiet on the way home, neither of us knowing what to say, not wanting to start a fight.

As the car stopped in the driveway, Dad turned to me and shook his head. ‘Nothing to worry about, you say?' Then he climbed out without waiting for an answer.

It was hard to see his face in the darkness. But I think, maybe, his eyes were smiling.

CHAPTER
8

After German on Monday, Jay caught up with me as I walked up the hall. His head was tilted down towards me.

‘Do you want to watch the Bats play on Sunday?' he asked. ‘It's an important game.'

A bunch of sporty kids walked past, and Jay nodded, lifting one thumb.

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. I didn't want to let my guard down. Especially not with Jay acting friendly again.

‘It's at the Sports Centre, two o'clock.' Jay was all serious and earnest, like Mr Sandown.

I laughed and let one arm swing free, holding my books in the other. ‘Well, I'll see, okay?'

‘Yeah, okay . . .' Jay nodded.

As we walked out the double doors and down the senior school steps, Jay dodged some kids and moved ahead of me, then slowed so I could catch up. We walked up the path, falling into a rhythm with our steps.

‘I've been working on a whistle,' Jay said halfway up the path. ‘Like a cheer for Magic, see?'

I flicked my ponytail and did a dancey kind of skip. ‘You trying to do me out of a job? Figure if
I
can do cheerleading it can't be that hard?'

‘Nah, listen.' Jay smiled and nodded at me eagerly. Then he stopped walking and rested two fingers in his mouth.

Whooo wip. Whooo wip.

A sharp, crisp sound came from his lips.

‘Ah, that's great Jay,' I said. He sure was keen about the quarterfinal.

‘To egg them on, you know? Any little bit helps.'

When we got to English, I dumped my books on my normal desk expecting Jay to sit up the back where he usually does. But Jay dropped his books next to mine with a bang.

‘Magic's got a chance this year,' he said, sitting down. ‘Maybe make it to the grand final series. Do you think?'

Two other kids glanced over at us, then kept talking.

‘Well, it was a good win on Saturday. I think they have a chance.' I sat down, not sure what to do with my feet or how to hold my arms.

He smiled at me as if he sat there every day and we kept talking about the finals until Miss Ingleby made it to class.
Weird. I was sitting next to a jock, talking about sport.

Halfway through the class Miss Ingleby called Jay up to the front to go through his essay while the rest of us kept working or, in my case, pretended to keep working.

As Jay pulled his essay from his folder, an extra page slid out onto the floor. Jay had already walked up the front so I leaned over to pick it up.

Disappears
– that was the word that caught my eye.
The rest of the world disappears.
I knew straightaway that it was Jay's German essay, written in English before being translated. I leaned an elbow on the desk, glanced up the front, and covered my mouth with my hand. I kept reading.

It's like I go into a zone where I don't have to think. I just go for it. My hands know what to do before I do. Then the rest of the world disappears. It's just me and the ball. With sport, you can't talk. So you can't lie.

I wanted to read more, but it was so personal I felt like I was reading his diary. So I forced my hands to slide the piece of paper back into the folder.

Up the front, Jay's tall body was leaning forward awkwardly. He seemed too tall to be standing. Miss Ingleby was talking quickly and pointing at the page.

Soon Jay came back and folded himself back into his seat. ‘Do you want to catch a lift with us on Saturday night?'

Miss Ingleby called someone else to go through their essay up the front.

I shook my head. ‘Thanks, but my dad …' I scrunched up my mouth and shrugged.

‘Here.' Jay shoved all his papers back into his folder, tore a corner from one and scribbled a number on it. ‘Get him to call my parents. They're very
responsible
.' He said the last bit in a posh voice that made me laugh.

I took the paper and smiled. How weird would it be catching a lift with Jay and his family?

But it was a great chance to escape Dad's pick-ups. He might come round if Jay's parents spoke to him.

‘Okay, I'll try,' I said and glanced at Jay. Suddenly feeling shy, I bent over my work, and we didn't say anything else to each other for the rest of the class.

‘Don't go soft on me girl!'

At the bus stop after school, I told Summer about maybe getting a lift with Jay. She launched into a pep talk using her American accent. ‘Jay could do
any-thang
from here. Especially if you do something stupid, like
trusting
him!'

I laughed and shook my head, holding my arms around my waist against the cold wind. ‘I think we're both over the jokes by now.'

BOOK: Step Up and Dance
6.03Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

The Red Cliffs by Eleanor Farnes
When Morning Comes by Avril Ashton
Stay with Me by Paul Griffin
Wildlight by Robyn Mundy
Overrun by Rusch, Michael
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Stardogs by Dave Freer