Where Dance Fits In

Chapter 31: The Truth

Reagan
I wake up, feeling groggy and exhausted. I look at the clock and it says 5:30 pm. Conner's at dance because it's Saturday. And mom must have taken him. I go downstairs and see dad sitting on the couch like a lump. I realize that I am insanely hungry.
"Hey Reagan!" Dad says excitedly when he sees me. "Hi Dad." I say and I give him a big hug. "Conner's at dance?" I ask him. "No dance was cancelled tonight . I think he's at Joe's."
Oh that's strange. We always have dance on Saturdays. "Mom is in the office trying to schedule you for a private tutor." "Oh." I say, somewhat disappointedly. I thought if mom was gone I could get out of the house to see Kyle. I had to see what was going on with him.
I still wasn't sure if I would forgive him or not. Right now, all that mattered was making sure things with his mom was ok. "I'm starving I tell dad." "Me too." He chuckles. "I don't know if you'll get food here but I hear Joe's house has mac and cheese balls.
"Really?" I ask. Oh God those sounded like heaven right now. "Can I go?" I ask. I wasn't sure if I was on full house arrest but I really didn't care. "Yeah. Just go tell your mom."
I open the door slightly and see mom bent over her desk staring into the computer screen.
"Mom?" I say softly. She turns around and I am shocked to see her like this. She has huge dark circles under her tired, sad eyes. "H-hi mom." I stutter and I go to hug her weak, frail body.
"Reagan," she says in a crackly voice. "Honey how are you?" "I'm fine mom, but you don't look so good."
She laughs quietly to herself in a sad way. "Me? I'm fine dear. I'm just trying to figure out a few things for you."
Ugh. There it is. I knew this was my fault. She does so much and I want to stay and help her, but I know I should probably just leave her alone.
"Mom, I'm going to head over to Joe's. All my friends are there. Ok?"
Her eyes stay glued to the screen.
"Ok honey. Have fun."
What's up with her? I bet she just needs to rest. I call Maeve to come pick me up. She lives four houses away from me so she's going to wheel me to Joe's.
I say bye to my dad and wheel myself outside. The cool air felt good on my skin and I breathed it in, deeply. I realize that there has been a lump in my throat ever since I saw mom, and I when I see Maeve, I can't help but burst into tears. She hugs me and starts to cry too, which makes me feel better because now I know that the old Maeve is still in there. For some reason we can't stop laughing now and all of our tears fade, and we walk/roll in silence for a while until we see Kyle.
The lump reenters my throat and Maeve doesn't see him at first so I tap her hand and put on the brakes. I grab my clip on crutches and hobble over to where Kyle is standing now, staring blankly at me. Surprisingly, he is the first one to speak.
"Reagan, oh my gosh. What happened?" He sounds genuinely concerned so I tell him everything. Maeve is still standing behind the wheel chair, in silence. "Wow, I had no idea how bad it was." "Yeah," I sigh. "But Kyle, we really need to talk." I look at him, hoping he'll get the message when Maeve pipes up. "Reagan, there's nothing to talk about with him. He's a lying little weasel who's immature and can't face his problems."
"Maeve!" I say sternly. "You have no idea what's going on!"
"Reagan, yes I do!" Her voice starts to sound a bit screechy. "I didn't want to say anything to you because I knew you would want to get involved. Yes, I know Kyle's mom disowned him, I know he was adopted by are dance teacher, and then his mom moves to New York."
Now Maeve turn her attention onto Kyle. "Like I know it's been super hard for you Kyle, but you can't keep blaming your drama with Reagan on drama of your own!"
Now Kyle begins to fight back. "Are you that insensitive, Maeve. My mom took almost everything of mine! I have no idea where my dad is. Do you know how weird it is to live with a family you barely know? Maeve you don't even know half the stuff that's going on!"
I continue to just let things play out between Maeve and Kyle when Maeve turns to me and says, "Remember when you fell at the Saint Patrick's day party, the cause of you possibly never being able to dance again?"
Ok she did not just go there! Why in the world would she bring that up? But I just nod my head.
"Need I remind you that Kyle was the cause of that?"
"Maeve just stop!" I say. It wasn't even Kyle's fault! It was Miss Laurie's stupid niece." She chuckles in the most hideous way possible, and for a second, I see a dark side of Maeve that I never want to see again.
"See I know something that both of you don't know." She begins. "I know from for a fact that it was Kyle who kissed Emily, not the other way around." "That's crazy, Maeve." I say. "I saw it happen with my own eyes."
"She's right Reagan." Kyle pipes up. "I kissed her."
I'm looking straight into Kyle's big beautiful blue eyes now and then this immense rage comes over me. I hobble towards Kyle and whack him in the side with my crutch. Then I begin to hit him in the face until I am punching him and blood starts to pour out of his nose. I'm sobbing and I don't stop hitting Kyle until Maeve finally pulls me off of him and sits me down in my wheel chair. Kyle is holding his nose and looks me straight in the eyes and says "I deserved that." And he turns and walks away.