Dance Team (5 page)

“No!” I was really stung. “Why would I do anything to hurt you? You're my friend!”

I felt guiltier and more confused than ever. Was I telling Leah the truth? Was I hurting her by not going to Mrs. Nuñez or Ms. Geiger with my suspicions? Or would that just be smearing Camilla and her friends, since I didn't know anything for sure? What about being innocent until proven guilty?

I tried again to calm Leah down. “The principal and our coach are trying as hard as they can to find out who's responsible. Really, Leah. And the other girls on the team are as upset as I am.”

That was at least partly true. Olivia was horrified, and girls like Trez and Cate seemed genuinely shocked too. It made me feel a little better to know that not everyone was out to get Leah.

Leah looked less angry and more sad. “You can't imagine how I felt, coming back from Austin to find people believed I might have done that graffiti. Even kids I thought were my friends were wondering!”

I began to feel sorrier and sorrier. Even I had wondered if she could have been the guilty one.

“Oh, Leah,” I said. I reached over and gave her a tight hug. She was stiff at first but then loosened up. “I can't imagine. But if I ever find out who did this and tried to make people think it was you, I'll break their legs. Honest!”

Leah sniffed. “Okay, then. But just be sure you call me first, so I can help.”

We had a little weepy moment while she hugged me back. I felt more conflicted than ever. Was someone really trying to hurt Leah? How far would they go?

“C

an you believe regionals are only two weeks away?” Olivia asked at our after-school dance practice on Monday.

“No!” I said. “I feel like I know our routine pretty well, but I'm not perfect on the switch leaps in the second chorus.”

“It's the leg-hold turns that I'm worried about,” Olivia confided to me. “I'm afraid Camilla's going to take me off turns if I don't pick up the pace.”

“Oh, she won't do that!” I said. I could sympathize with Olivia. I think everyone on the team felt pressure about the turn combinations. Sometimes dance captains adapt the choreography if all the girls can't hit the turns consistently. They give the weaker girls something else to do while the rest of the team turns. This takes away from the look of the dance, since everyone's not doing the same thing, but it's still better than having someone fall out of her turns. Camilla, though, wanted everyone to keep in sync.

“Girls!” Camilla's voice was sharp. “Enough chatter! Opening formation, please!”

From then on it was all work, no play. As ever, Camilla didn't miss a thing. “Ana—point your toes! Cate—your hands are flopping around like a couple of dead fish! Olivia—those leg-hold turns are looking better, but still not sharp enough! In fact, you all need to work on getting those leg-hold turns synchronized! They're way too sloppy!”

After an hour, everyone was sweaty and breathless. But it was a good kind of tired, and for the first time I started to think that maybe we really would be ready to compete in two weeks.

Apparently Camilla agreed with me. “Okay, that's enough,” she announced. She allowed herself a little smile. “Don't get too excited, but you guys are actually beginning to look like a dance team. Keep up the good work, and I might even take you to regionals!”

Everyone laughed as they gathered up their stuff. I made a snap decision. I had something to say to Camilla, and I figured I might as well take advantage of her good mood.

“Wait for me,” I told Olivia. “I have to talk to Camilla.”

Confronting Camilla wasn't as hard as I'd thought. Probably because I didn't give myself time to think about what I was going to say.

“Hey, Izzy,” Camilla said. “You're looking good out there!” She sounded perfectly friendly and normal, and her smile looked genuine.

I didn't let myself get distracted. “Camilla,” I blurted out. “Did you have anything to do with the graffiti?”

Camilla's smile disappeared in a heartbeat. “Are you accusing me of vandalism, Izzy?” she asked.

“I'm just wondering,” I said stubbornly. “After what we talked about at the Pancake Corral and all.”

“I don't know what you mean,” Camilla said in her steeliest voice. “I certainly never talked about any graffiti!”

My courage was starting to fail me. “No,” I said uncertainly. “But the other stuff…”

Camilla zipped up her dance bag. “I don't know what you're talking about,” she repeated. “But I do know that team loyalty is as important as dance moves. If you want to accuse me of something, do it in front of the whole team, okay? Let's see what they think about a rookie freshman calling the team captain a vandal and a liar.”

Camilla had me. She knew I'd never say anything to the rest of the team. Not two weeks before regionals, not when I didn't have any proof.

“Well?” Camilla asked. “Are we done here?”

I nodded meekly. Yes, we were done. I watched Camilla walk away. Her head was up, her shoulders were back. She wasn't afraid of anything I could do to her. And why should she be? I was just a freshman—and a very confused one at that.

“W

hat was that all about?” Olivia asked when I joined her by the bleachers. “I'll tell you later,” I said. At that moment, I just wanted to get out of the gym.

Olivia nodded. “Look,” she said, nudging me.

I looked. Joel and Eli were standing in the gym doorway. They saw us and waved, then came over to where we were standing.

“Hey,” Joel said. “Band practice just ended. Want to grab a taco?”

“Sure,” Olivia said easily. “Izzy?”

“Absolutely.” I had spent enough time keeping my worries bottled up. I had to talk to someone.

I waited till we were tucked into the booth at Taco Shack before I got started. I explained about everything—the incident at the mall escalator, the breakfast at Pancake Corral, my suspicions about Camilla and the graffiti.

Olivia looked shocked. “I can't believe Camilla would do anything like this!” she said. “I mean, I know dance team means everything to her, but this goes too far. Are you sure you didn't misunderstand, Izzy?”

“I heard what I heard,” I said. Why wouldn't Olivia believe me?

Eli shook his head. “There's got to be some other explanation. The thing at the mall was probably just an accident. You know how crazy little kids can get when they're running around in a gang. And Camilla and the others were probably just joking at that breakfast.”

Joel looked troubled. “I don't know,” he said. “I live on Camilla's block, and I've known her all my life. She's always been hardcore about getting what she wants. Not mean, exactly—but she doesn't let anything stop her once she's made up her mind. If Camilla wants to win regionals and she thinks Leah Velasco is standing in her way…”

“But how could she have had anything to do with the graffiti?” Olivia argued. “Whoever did that had to know someone at Northside. They had to break into Leah's locker and steal her ID. ”

Joel looked even more troubled. “Camilla's cousin Alex goes to Northside,” he said. “Alex's kind of a wild dude. He's been in trouble at school before. Not big stuff, just cheating on tests, skipping school, getting caught drinking at dances, stuff like that. Alex doesn't have a whole lot of school spirit. I could see him thinking it would be fun, getting someone like Leah in trouble.”

Olivia shook her head. “I'm sorry, Izzy, but I still can't believe it,” she said. “There's got to be another explanation.”

“I hope so,” I said. Olivia was supposed to be my friend, and friends are supposed to stick together. Yet there she was, siding with Camilla instead of me. What kind of friend was that?

“I'm sure of it,” Olivia said firmly. “Dance team means everything to Camilla. She'd do anything to win regionals, but not if it meant getting the team in trouble. And deliberately hurting Leah would definitely get the team in trouble. After all the work Camilla's put into this team—it was practically dead when she came in as a freshman. If it weren't for Camilla, Southside wouldn't even have a dance team! She wouldn't risk everything in her last year!”

I hoped Olivia was right.

O

livia knew I was upset with her. I avoided her at school for a couple days while I sorted things out.

I tried to put myself in her position—would I believe a new friend, a friend making pretty wild accusations, over the senior dance team captain who was responsible for getting me a place on the squad?

Olivia made it hard to stay angry for long. She was waiting at my locker when I got out of biology Tuesday afternoon.

“Hey, girl,” she said. “I know you're mad at me for not believing you about Leah and Camilla. I guess I don't blame you. It's just … the idea of Camilla trying to hurt Leah is just such a weird idea, like something you'd see in a movie. Not like anything that happens in real life.”

I couldn't help agreeing with her. “I know,” I said. “But if you'd heard Camilla and you knew Leah…”

“Exactly,” Olivia said. “I didn't hear Camilla, and I don't know Leah. But we could fix at least part of that—why don't you introduce me to her? We've been friends ever since you moved, and I've never even met your best friend from your old neighborhood! Can we do something this weekend? Go shopping? Get lunch?”

I considered it while we waited at the bus stop. People jostled all around, talking and laughing, making plans. All the noise and commotion made it hard to think, but really, what was there to think about? Why shouldn't Olivia and Leah get to know each other? They were both important people in my life. And maybe if Olivia met Leah, she'd understand why Camilla made me worry. I could use Olivia's support. At the very least, she and Leah would probably get along.

“Sure,” I said. “But let's do something other than shopping. How about a bike ride? Leah lives near a forest preserve with great bike paths.”

“Sounds like fun,” Olivia said.

“I'll call Leah tonight,” I decided. “My dad can drive us over to her house. We already have bike racks on our car.”

“Perfect!” Olivia said.

Camilla and Jaci hung behind us as we crowded on the bus. Had they heard me making plans to see Leah? They certainly were whispering together. I couldn't hear everything they were saying, but one phrase stood out: “Operation Bring Her Down, part three.” What did that mean?