When Lightning Strikes (Lightning Series Book 1) (11 page)

She perked up. “What? I get to dance at school?”

“Yes.” Andromeda smiled as she sat down, placing the last plate on the table. It was loaded with pancakes. Jamie immediately grabbed it and scooted some onto his empty plate. He had already inhaled all of his eggs.

“I was about to explain all that to you. The school is designed to help each of its students excel at what their passion is. I understand that they haven’t had a dance class in a while, but when they heard about you, they convinced Muriel to reopen it. You will have a two–hour period each day to work with her and Kara now, I understand.” She glanced at Lir, who nodded since his mouth was full of pancake.

“Wow.” She sat back, feeling stupid now for eating until she felt so bloated. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. Why didn’t you tell me to begin with?”

“I promise you are not losing out on anything. I went to that school too. That’s where Ariel and I became friends. It’s set up to make sure that your best talents come out for you to have a good chance at a career.” Her mom smiled and blinked a little.

“Did you go there too?” She looked at her dad.

“Uh, no. I went to the school Jamie is going to.”

Julie glanced between her parents. “Wait, won’t I need my dance stuff? Isn’t it all lost?”

Andromeda looked down at her hands, twisting her ring. “Well, about that.” She looked up guilty. “Not all of your stuff was lost. We got all your dance stuff, but I didn’t want to give it to you when you were so upset. We weren’t sure if Muriel had time to teach the class until early this morning. I didn’t want to get your hopes up and then, well…”

Julie nodded. Her mom didn’t want to tell her something that would make her feel better and then make it all worse again if whoever this Muriel was couldn’t teach her. She doubted that she was very good since she lived out here, but at least there was a place to dance and she could keep up her practice.

“Where is it? Can I grab something for today?”

Her mother looked at the clock and shrugged. “Sure. It’s in the garage, but we only have a few minutes.”

“We have to go now,” her dad said. “Jamie’s school is on the other side of the island, and it will take a few minutes to get there.”

He looked at Jamie, who stood up, looking a little green.

It wasn’t like him to be scared about meeting new people. He usually loved it. Going to a new school and starting all over must be making him a bit nervous too. And she already had a friend, Kara.

Andromeda stood up. She squeezed Jamie in a hug until he started to look a bit uncomfortable. “Good luck today. I hope your first day goes well. I will be thinking about you.”

“Thanks,” he rasped out from her tight hug. “You can let go now, Mom. We have to go.”

Lir kissed the top of her head, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze. “Have a good day, sweetheart. I expect to hear all about it, especially what you think about Muriel. I think she will surprise you.”

“Be careful today, hon,” her mom called out again to Jamie as he walked to the garage door on the other side of the kitchen. She twisted her wedding ring and stared at the closed door. A worry line etched between her perfectly arched brows as she watched the car through the big wall of square windows in the living room.

“Geez, he’s just going to school. You act like he’s going to a fight or something. Jamie is good at everything and makes new friends easily.”

“You’re right, honey. I’m sure he will be fine.” Her eyes looked watery again, and the worry line didn’t go away.“Well, I better help you find something to dance in quickly, and then we need to go. Come on, if you are done with breakfast, let’s go find the box in the garage. I will clean up everything later since I’ll have plenty of time.”

“What do you mean plenty of time? Aren’t you going to work today too?”

“No, Dad’s work could only accept one transfer. So I’m staying home. I will get to spend more time with you guys now.”

“What do you mean they could only accept one transfer? You had to quit? But you love what you do.” She might put all her energy from work into her and Jamie. It was a daunting idea. “Couldn’t they find something for you here too?”

“No,” Andromeda said abruptly and started walking towards the garage door before Julie could see her face. “Come on, let’s find a leotard. We need to go.”

♦

“Here we are. The administration building is right there. Do you want me to go with you?”

Julie stared out the window at a complex of small stone buildings and shook her head ruefully. “No, I got it. It isn’t like I can get that lost or anything.”

The school was set up with four small buildings. At least, they were small compared to the size school buildings she was used to. As was typical of the island, they were spaced between elaborate and beautiful gardens. The shrubs formed arches, and she saw private grassy sitting areas as she walked through the entry to the building marked administration.

She was skeptical about how great this little school could be. Sure, the gardens were spectacular, but that seemed to be normal for the island.

Julie rounded the last hedge and grinned as she saw Kara looking for her, bouncing up and down on her heels. Her long blond ponytail bounced too, making her look even younger than at the beach.

She waved wildly. “Over here. I have your schedule, and I get to show you around today.”

The few other kids sitting around the gardens stopped talking and stared at her. She felt like an animal at the zoo. She hurried over to Kara.

“Here.” She took her arm and patted it in place. “I will walk you to your first class. This is so exciting!”

Julie forced a smile back at her shining face. Her new friend’s exuberance surprised her. The kids sitting around the square got up and started to wander over.

“These are the boys from our class. Maran, Tilik, and Arron.” She pointed to each of the cute boys as she said his name. “Those are their nicknames. Their real names are too long and annoying to pronounce, like mine, which is why I go by Kara.” She laughed at her own joke.

All three boys quickly laughed too once they realized Kara was joking. Tilik reached out and touched Kara’s upper arm. “You are so funny.”

“Umm, hello,” Julie said quietly as Kara batted at his hand, smiling.

What else could she say to that? Her class in Atlanta had several hundred students. Here there were just five. Really, just five. Well at least it was three boys and two girls. What if it was only one boy? Or worse, the only girl with these boys. Poor Kara! No wonder she had a death grip on Julie’s arm.

“There are no seniors this year, so everyone else is from classes below ours. I can introduce you to them later. This is everyone, except for the smallest kids.” Kara beamed at her again.

Julie quickly looked down to hide some of her surprise. This was the entire school. There were only thirty kids total. She had to text this to Darcy and Mandy. They were going to laugh so hard. She tried to keep her face blank as she processed this. She looked back up again.

Everywhere she looked were eyes, examining the new kid. She couldn’t blame them—they weren’t used to new people.

“Umm, nice to meet you all…”

A melodious bell chimed.

“That’s the first class bell. We’d better be going. I don’t want to make Julie late her first day.” Kara waved her hand to shoo everyone else away.

“Do you need help with your bag?” Maran—at least she thought it was Maran—grabbed her bag off her shoulder. After a slight struggle, she let it go so he wouldn’t feel like she was fighting him. Tilik already had Kara’s bag, she realized, since he was carrying two. Arron glowered at Maran.

“Boys, boys.” Kara laughed. “Julie just got here. Can’t you let her be, even a day? Or do we need to set up a bag carrying schedule?”

Julie laughed. The boys blushed but didn’t argue. Her laughter died. Kara was serious. Suddenly being the new girl took on a whole new meaning as she met the eager eyes of the three boys still standing there with them. She gulped.

This was crazy.

Kara pulled her along to the first class. The three boys followed along, chatting quietly behind them. Julie felt stiff. She knew they were talking about her or comparing her to Kara, who was frankly one of the most beautiful girls she had ever met. Hopefully they would grow tired of her and go back to Kara. She seemed used to this.

The first class was English. Other than the fact that there were only the five of them, it was pretty typical of any English class she was in before. The next was chemistry, then trig, and finally they had a lunch break. The five of them traveled everywhere together, and Julie soon grew used to everyone staring at her in their little group.

She didn’t grow used to the boys. They were constantly there, never giving Kara and her a break. In class she found herself daydreaming a little and got that creeping sensation that someone was watching her, only to discover that there were three sets of eyes, two brown and one blue, staring at her.

At lunch, the whole school sat together. Everyone peppered her with so many questions about Atlanta that she didn’t get a chance to eat.

Kara pulled her along everywhere. After lunch was history, and then she pulled her to the last building in the complex. The three boys walked them to the door but said goodbye and hurried off in different directions as the warning bell rang for class.

Some of the tension drained out of her as she watched their backs disappear into other buildings. They each worked on different electives in the afternoon after their regular classes.

Kara leaned towards her and whispered. “I know they are a little intense, but they are nice and mean well. I have known all of them since I was born. We don’t get a lot of new people around here. You’ll get used everything soon and it won’t be so weird anymore.”

“What about the kids at the other school?” Julie didn’t feel like arguing with Kara that no one could get used to this.

She was too distracted lately. Every time she started thinking about the other school or Jamie, she seemed to drift off into a daydream. She couldn’t remember anyone talking about it at all.

“We don’t hang out with them much. Most of the younger kids and middle school kids come here. There are only sophomores, juniors, and seniors there. The island isn’t that big, and there aren’t many other kids.” Kara’s large green eyes grew hazy as she talked.

“My parents said that it was a bigger school though.” Julie’s brow furrowed. Her confusion bubbled up, and a hint of anger made her fists ball. There was something wrong about this. It was all weird.

Kara didn’t answer back. Instead she stared off into the garden. Julie followed her gaze, seeing the single red rose Kara was looking at nearby. It was the first rose to bloom on the bush, and it was a perfect round confetti of vibrant petals. Julie stared at it too, her fingers unclenched.

The bell for class rang, but they stood there staring at the flower.

“Girls?” a musical voice said from the doorway. Kara and Julie jumped a little, shaking their heads. “Girls? Why are you standing out there staring off into the garden? The bell rung a few minutes ago. What are you two doing? What’s wrong?”

Another tall elegant woman with dark, glossy hair stood with her arms folded in the door, her mouth tightened into a small frown. She was in her early forties by the look of the few wrinkles around her happy, gray eyes. They reminded Julie of her dad’s. The woman peered around outside to see what they were staring at and then sighed.

“Come on in girls. Come on, that’s it.” She shooed them inside the door.

It was a small gymnasium. With a smooth pine wood floor, and seating for several hundred people to watch games. One of the seating areas was pulled up into the wall, and underneath were mirrors and a gold bar. Her fingers itched to touch it.

“I’m Muriel,” the woman said as Julie stared around. “I will be directing your dance class. Kara, it is good to see you take it up again, but I’m sorry you gave up chorus to be in here. I understand you have a beautiful voice.”

“I was tired of being the only one in there, and Ms. Rosewind said that I knew everything she could teach already. Besides, I wanted to be in a class with Julie without everyone else around.” Kara blushed and didn’t meet Julie’s eyes.

She was so bubbly and sweet that it was hard to find her odd. But it was strange for any girl to become so attached to another after only meeting once. Julie should have felt creeped out, though she might be a little desperate too if there were no other girls in her class and suddenly one showed up. Of course the three boys in her class seemed as desperate to impress her and be friends too. Maybe she was the odd one here.

Muriel cleared her throat and looked uncomfortable. “Well, Kara can show you where to change. You did bring something to wear for today, right?”

“If she didn’t, she can borrow something from me,” Kara volunteered helpfully. She pulled out several bright floral print leotards.

“Umm, I have something.” She wasn’t sharing clothes with a girl who was almost a foot taller than her.

“Go change. We are already late to start. Next time I expect you both changed and ready by the second bell. No excuses. Chop chop.” Muriel clapped her hands as she said the last part.

Kara pulled her off to the changing rooms, giggling. “I forgot how strict she can be.”

A few minutes later they met Muriel back in the main gym.

“All right, let’s get to the stretches and basic moves. Let me see what I have in you, Julie. It has been a long time since I have had a good dancer, but your parents assured me that you were great.” She lifted her right eyebrow, sure that this was a lie. “Kara, do what you remember.”

She waved at Kara dismissively. Obviously, the teacher didn’t think Kara had what it took. The other girl didn’t mind though. She smiled and went over to the bar, gracefully holding onto it and touching her toes.

Julie gulped. Maybe it wouldn’t be that easy to impress her.

Muriel stayed back, watching her every move. She was used to this and relaxed into her stretches. She was surprised when Muriel came up behind her and moved her ever so slightly. It couldn’t have been more than a few centimeters from her normal stance. “There, now try that bend again.”