Said & Done.

Dance made me feel like a different person. It wasn’t a feeling I could entirely describe. I was an awkward girl, I always said and did the wrong things, but dance was different, my awkwardness disappeared and I became graceful, floating through the air with a confidence I could never attain in real life. Dance gave me a chance to do things right, to make corrections as soon as the critiques were given. It was a whole different world.

“Is this all you ever do?”

Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard, interrupting the peaceful music that floated through the air, halting me in my movements across the hardwood floor. I sighed, walking to the CD player in the corner and turning it off. My dad had renovated our basement years ago, replacing the ugly carpet with hardwood, making the wall opposite the steps one big, long mirror with a bar going across. It was made for me and my sister, to my mother’s horror. She had always had some weird opposition toward our dance. I had yet to figure out what it was.

I looked up, watching as April walked further into the room, sitting down on the floor and watching me where I stood, an expectant look on her face.

“What brings you to my lovely practice space on this dull Thursday night?” I asked her, coming to sit cross legged in front of her. She rolled her eyes, picking at her pink polished nails and purposefully ignoring me. “If you came here just so you could not talk to me, I highly encourage you to leave. I still have homework to do.” She looked up, a glare on her face and her lips pulled down in a frown.

“I've been ignoring you since Tuesday when you left me at the baseball field, but you didn’t seem to care then did you?” she snapped. I rolled my eyes, letting a sigh fall from my lips. Her features became more relaxed, a small smile even gracing her mouth. “But I actually came here to talk to you about that, say thanks I guess.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I asked, “Why would you thank me?” Her smirk was enough of an answer.

“Because John drove me home and we exchanged numbers, he's taking me out tomorrow night.” She wanted me to be jealous; I could see it in her eyes, as if the smug smile on her face wasn’t enough of an indication. I wanted to roll my eyes and tell her to get over herself, but I was at a loss for words. It was like a bag of rocks had settled into the pit of my stomach. Was that what jealousy felt like? I wasn’t quite sure, but I was positive that even if I hadn’t talked to John in years, I still knew April wasn’t the type of girl he’d go for. The John I used to know had standards.

Sure April was pretty, she had blonde hair and bright green eyes, but her personality was her downfall. She was shallower than the kiddy pool in my next door neighbor’s backyard, but maybe that was what John liked now. It just gave me another reason to hate him.

“Are you okay with that?”

Her question had forced me to venture from my thoughts and come back to reality, but I smiled at her and got up, walking toward the stairs while she followed behind, a yawn escaping my lips as I reached the top step.

“Of course I’m okay with it. Isn’t it what you’ve wanted since kindergarten?” I teased, entering the kitchen and taking a seat at the table, folding my arms out in front of me and resting my head upon them. I heard April pull a seat out next to me, the wooden legs of the chair scraping against the tile floor. I was tired and if not for the presence of the girl next to me I probably could’ve fallen asleep. I could feel myself drifting in and out of reality even as April continued to talk, her words running together and sounding a lot like nothing in my ears.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” She shoved me after I hadn’t responded the first two times, lifting my head with half-lidded eyes and a barely-there smile as I nodded. She seemed too happy to have my blessing and as she squealed and clapped her hands together dramatically I couldn’t help but wonder if I should’ve paid more attention to what she was saying.



I was embarrassed. I couldn’t believe my life had come to this moment, led me to this door. I stood in the hallway, staring at the plaque beside the door that read Rm. 137; Tutoring Lab. Finally I sighed, picking my pride up from the floor and turning the knob, entering into a room filled with tables. An empty room.

I turned to leave, ready to devote the rest of my Friday night to teaching me calculus, but I was stopped by the sound of my name from an all too familiar voice. I turned back around, hoping the grimace had left my face as I tried to replace it with a semi-convincing smile.

“Hey Kennedy.”

He was standing at the opposite end of the room, having come from the back room with a stack of papers and a pencil tucked behind his ear. His skinny jeans hung loosely on his sickeningly small frame and he was practically drowning in the mantank (and really whose idea was it to call it that?) he wore. But his smile was so genuine that I couldn’t help myself from smiling back.

He moved to sit down at one of the round tables, setting his papers atop the wooden surface and pulling out a chair for me, watching with the most sincere eyes as I slowly strode over to take the seat, letting my books fall heavily atop the table as he sat down beside me. I tried my best to ignore him, opening my book and flipping to the most recent chapter as he began to speak.

“Listen, I uhh, I know like,” he stopped and I could see him bring his hand up to rub at the back of his neck in what I presumed to be a nervous habit that so many other teenage boys did too. “I mean I know you didn’t, like, want a tutor and stuff, but I've been getting an A in that class all year so- well not that I'm any better than you! I just mean that you're struggling and I'm here to help and-”

“Shut up,” I cut him off, a tiny laugh leaving my lips at his rambling. A blush formed on his cheeks and spread all the way down his neck, meeting his hand as he continued to rub across his skin nervously. I turned to him, smiling at his bashfulness and generosity. “It could be worse,” I said, turning back to my book and looking at the first problem from our homework assignment. He scooted his chair closer, clearing his throat in an attempt to sound less like a prepubescent teenager when he spoke,

“And how could it be worse? Because I definitely just made the biggest fool of myself,” he chuckled. I laughed with him, reaching to grab the pencil from behind his ear and winking in a playful manner as I said,

“Well, you could be John.”



“So we’ll meet after school every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday okay? And uhm, like you can always text me if you have questions on the homework or something.”

I thought it over, realizing that spending two hours after school with Kennedy Brock three days a week couldn’t be that bad. It had gone smoothly enough and I actually felt like I had learned something, which was really saying something.

I nodded in agreement, packing up my things in my backpack and swinging it over one shoulder, following him as we walked out of the classroom together, the halls eerily quiet considering school had let out two hours ago. We walked in a comfortable silence until we got to the front doors. Kennedy stopped, turning to face me with a bright smile and open arms as he pulled me into a hug I was entirely unprepared for. I smiled up at him, stepping out of his embrace and heading out the front door.

I thought I had gotten away when I heard the doors open behind me, Kenny’s footsteps heavy on the concrete steps as he jogged to catch up with me. I turned to face him as he got closer, my brow furrowed in complete confusion as he came to a halt in front of me.

“I forgot to ask if you still needed me to pick you up later?”

I was sure I looked absolutely bewildered as his cheeks began to heat up again, the blush practically consuming his face as I stood at a loss of words.

“You know, our double date? With April and John?”

I was going to kill that girl.