Where Dance Fits In

Chapter 3: Steps

Reagan

I wake up.

"Mom!" I yell. I must have never heard my alarm clock.

I rush down stairs and there is a note on the fridge:'Reagan, your lunch is on the counter. Have a good day! -M'

I put on the first thing I see and throw my hair up in a bun. I grab an apple and rush out the door, barely missing the bus.

I grab the nearest seat I find.

Thank God it's a window seat.

Even though there's a perfectly good seat next to me, everyone crams somewhere else.

When the last kid comes on the bus, they look desperate to find a seat, and then he looks at me and looks even more desperate.

I hate the kids at school.

The boy squeezes in the seat.

It's Kyle Gray, the most popular kid in school.

Everyone seems to look at him with pity and at me with disgust.

Finally the bus pull up at school and we all pile out.

I get trampled on and trip and hit my head on the concrete.

It hurt bad.

I hold back the tears and shuffle off to my first class: History.

I make it on time by the skin of my teeth.

It's the second day in the school year and I'm already having a bad time.

I take a seat next to Molly James and pull out my books.

When lunch time comes around I try to find a place that's isolated from everyone.

I sit down under a large tree and eat looking at my phone.

I FaceTime Conner to make sure he's ok. He got bad food poisoning last night.

Then I text Maeve. She is having a great day at least.

When lunch is over I head to gym, the one class where people respect me.

It's mile day and I get the second highest time in the class but the highest of the girls.

Kyle Gray beats me.

"Not bad." He says to me.

I don't even think he recognizes me from the bus, not to mention kindergarten.

When school is over I rush to the bus and luckily I am dropped off first.

"Hey Conner!" I bring him some soup. He looks so lazy.

"Are you going to be alright when I'm at dance?"

"Yeah. Dad will be home soon."

I get my homework done and put on my dance clothes.

Finally a bad day will be forgotten by a sequence of jumping and conditioning.