Where Dance Fits In

Chapter 24: Party Time

Miss Laurie
The show was amazing.
Probably the best one yet. Now it's time to go home and get into party mode!
Mark and I walk in the door and I can tell that Ryder has been busy. He's made a whole stage for the dancers. There are table, chairs, food, and music. I tell Mark to go up stairs and get ready.
"Well hey there, busy boy." I say and kiss him in the cheek. "You did all this?" I say unconvincingly. "I had some help." He says.
I knew it.
Then the door opens and my sister and her daughter walks out.
"Lizzy!" I scream and hug my sister. I hug Emily, her daughter, who is Kyle's age. She is holding Jackson.
"How have you been?" I ask them both while taking hold of Jackson and kissing him on his head.
"Great." Lizzy says. "We actually have some pretty big news." She is about to tell me when the door bell rings.
I open the door to see Brooklyn, Conner, Maeve, Joe, and Reagan and Kyle are holding hands, but they drop them quickly.
"Come on in guys." I say opening the door wider. Conner and Reagan's parents come in as well, followed by some other parents and dancers.
Everyone has gone outside. The kids are in a big circle on the stage. I notice that Emily is with them.
Mark comes up to me and jumps on to me. "HI!" He says enthusiastically. "Hey there. What's up, superstar?" He looks at me nervously and says "Can you tell the big kids to get off the stage?" I chuckle to myself. "You know that they love you guys. I'm sure if you joined them they wouldn't mind." Then he says "But I already tried! Emily wouldn't let me up." I question my son's mind sometimes. "Alright I'll talk to her."
I head over to the stage. The kids are laughing and talking and I tap Emily on the shoulder. "Hey guys." I say. They all look up at once. Reagan and Kyle drop hands once again. "Hey Miss Laurie. This bean dip is amazing!" Reagan says trying to block out the awkwardness. I notice Emily rolling her eyes from the corner of my eye. "Can I borrow Emily for a second?" I ask, but I'm already tearing her down from the stage.
"What was that all about?" She says sharply and I look at her in confusion. "I just needed to talk to you for a second, Em." Then she stands their, arms crossed, with a "I really don't want to be here" look on her face.
"So Mark tells me you didn't let him up?" I ask.
She still has the look on her face when she says "Yeah, 'cause he's a little kid."
"But Mark always hangs out with them. He was really hurt." She looks annoyed. "And I saw you roll your eyes at Reagan? What was that all about?" I say. She flushes. "It was nothing." She says quickly. "I'll let Mark hang out with us." "Good." I say. "And make sure no food gets on the floor of the stage." "Yeah, whatever." She says, but she is already running off.
Why did she roll her eyes at Reagan? She's the sweetest girl in the world. And they just met. Oh well. I guess I'll never know.
A little while later, I hear Jackson crying through the baby monitor that I keep hooked around my hips. I rush up stairs and pick him up out of his crib. I bring him down stairs to the party and everyone instantly flocks over to me.
Reagan is the only one not there out of the older kids.
A few minutes later she asks "When are we going to dance for everyone?"
I had Ryder build the stage so the kids could perform just for the parents. "In about fifteen minutes." I say, and before she leaves, I grab her. "What's up with you and Emily?" I say. She looks at me, puzzled and says "Honestly, I don't know. I didn't do anything to upset her." I say "Alright, well I'm sure she'll be fine in a little while.
She wasn't fine.