Four Letters in Reverse (FLIR #1) (8 page)

T
HE DANCE WAS FINALLY
upon us. The dance that I was actually not even planning on going to but because of Hannah’s bright idea was attending.

I glanced at the clock on the wall above the classroom door and realized that the bell would ring any minute now. Looking at Matty, his eyes flickered over me and he nodded.

Don’t worry, Annabells. We’ll do awesome.

I smiled in relief and clutched my bag in my hand, waiting for the bell to sound.

Ring.

At the sound, Matty and I darted out of class like we were struck by lightning. We grinned at each other as we ran down the halls, maneuvering between students until we made it to the washrooms and split direction.

“See you in a jiffy,” replied Mateo as he darted in the boy’s washroom.

I went into the girl’s and spotted Hannah already dressed in her outfit. Not saying anything, I ran into a stall and changed as quickly as possible.

I opened the stall and stared over at my best friend.

She grinned back at me, glancing down at her watch. “The dance has already started and I bet everyone’s leaning against the dumb walls like they’re zombies. Instead of a beach theme they should have made it a zombie theme.”

I grabbed Hannah’s hand. “Let’s hurry, Matty’s probably already waiting outside.”

Sure enough, Matty stood leaning outside the wall and he stepped forward, the three of us inspecting each other.

“We look good,” commented Mateo.

We each wore white parachute pants and while Matty was wearing a black t-shirt, Hannah’s and I were more crop tops, which showed a bit of skin. We all wore matching baseball hats, mine with the letter A with Hannah and Mateo each having their own initial.

“Of course we look good,” Hannah retorted. We are HAM.”

I laughed. “Only you would come up with an acronym that was food.”

“Hey,” she said with a shrug. “It was the only thing I could think of.”

“Alright, guys,” Mateo said, stretching his arm out.

I grinned, placing my hand on top of his. “For one day at Evansdale Junior High, we’ll have a dance team.”

“Let’s do this,” Hannah exclaimed, slapping her hand down on mine.

“One, two, three, HAM!”

We entered the gym through the back stage where they had the music playing from. Ms. Cooper took in our outfits and smiled, giving a nod.

“Break a leg.”

Mateo handed over our music to Ms. Cooper and we positioned ourselves right in front of the drapes, waiting for the current song to end.

I took in a deep breath and looked at my besties: Mateo, who was in the middle, and Hannah, who was on the right of him. Matty winked while Hannah gave me the thumbs up.

The current song ended and Ms. Cooper did the quick switch, the sound of Jannie Tay’s voice filling the room.

One, two, three.

The drapes opened and I heard the inhalation of breaths and excited chatter as everyone directed their attention to the stage once they saw us dancing to the song playing throughout the gymnasium. Our coordinated dance moves seemed to echo the deep friendship that Hannah, Mateo and I had and I swear, it was the best we’d ever dance.

Sinclair would be proud.

For the next three minutes, the room stood up in excitement as they watched us whirl and twirl to the popular pop song. Some were even singing along in the crowd and I couldn’t help myself from mouthing the words to the song.

Hannah was screaming it as she danced.

As the song came to an end, Hannah and I split from Mateo, who remained on stage, while us two girls headed to the main floor, each of us dancing around the room, inviting everyone else to join us along the way.

The song ended and Mateo surprised everyone by doing a backflip by leaping from the stage to the ground and the three of us struck a pose, grinning from ear to ear. After a brief pause, we were all enveloped by screaming classmates, especially Matty, and as the next song played, I smiled that everyone was still dancing.

This was what it was all about.

Dancing.

Once I managed to separate from the hoard of people, I made my way to the drink stand and grabbed a cup of fruit punch, drinking to my heart’s content.

“You were great, Annabella!”

I turned and saw Owen grinning at me.

“Thanks!”

He was dressed a little less skater boy today wearing jeans, that didn’t have any holes in them, and a green plaid shirt.

“I guess all that practice paid off?”

I nodded, smiling. “Sure did.”

“So …” He glanced over my head and I saw that he stared at our group of friends who were dancing in the middle of the floor, before turning back to me. “Bruno won’t be asking you out to movies anymore.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. I liked Bruno but only as a friend and felt bad that I couldn’t reciprocate his feelings, yet didn’t have a clue how to tell him.

Awkward much?

And anyhow, Bruno seemed to be enjoying dancing with Hannah, if I went by the sappy grin on his face. Matty caught my eye and shook his head, sticking up seven fingers as he danced with one of the girls from our English class.

Future boyfriend number seven.

I raised a brow at Owen. “No?”

Owen shook his head sadly. “No, I had a talk with him and we came to an understanding.”

“What kind of understanding?”

He took a step forward and sighed. Then another step, dipping his head to catch my eye. I didn’t realize how much taller he was than me.

When did he grow?

“That we won’t like the same girls,” he said quietly.

Oh.

My heart started hammering in my chest. Did he mean…?

“Do you think maybe your parents can change that start date from sixteen to fourteen?”

He did!

“Um…”

“Say something, Annabella.”

My heart stopped as I brewed over those words. For the longest time I could barely breathe from what he just said and he wanted me to
say
something?

“Something,” I croaked.

“No?” He rushed quickly, running his fingers through his hair. “Fifteen then?” he asked playfully, the side of this lips smirking.

I couldn’t help but smile widely back at him.

“No worries,” he said calmly, steadily. “I’ll wait, Annabella.” He reached into his pocket and held out a folded piece of paper. I noticed it was the same pink paper Hannah had us write our dreams on.

It seemed like forever ago.

“Here,” he said, placing the paper in my hand. He closed my fingers around it, his own hand enveloping mine as a result. I didn’t want him to let go. “Don’t read it until you get home, okay?” he whispered.

I glanced down at the floor then back up into his face, then slipped the paper into my pocket. He seemed hesitate to let go of me.

“Okay.”

I glanced around the gymnasium and realized we were the only ones not moving. I shrugged one of my shoulders, grinning. “Did you want to have that dance lesson right now?”

Owen nodded, a smile brightening his face. “Sure.”

As I taught Owen how to move to the beat of the music like he didn’t have two left feet made out of stone, I realized I was one lucky girl. So what if Carolyn Young didn’t like me? I had my family, my friends, and the company of a really cute boy that looked at me like I was an alien.

I had once said that when I grew up, I wanted to be just like Jade. I’d finally realized that I just wanted to be me—Annabella Callaghan. Age thirteen, soon fourteen. Daughter of Amelia and Dan Callaghan. Sister to Marie and Jade … kind of Bryn. Best friends to Hannah and Mateo. Aspiring dancer. Daydreamer. And lover of boys with pretty lashes.

Got to love a boy with pretty lashes.

“Annabella!” Screeched Hannah as she, Bruno, and Matty rushed toward us.

I stopped dancing. “What?” I asked, surprised.

I’d never seen Hannah smile as big as she did just now.

“What?” I said again, feeding off of her crazy energy.

“Three things!” she yelled, holding up three fingers. It looked as if her entire body was vibrating from excitement. “First thing is that
Jannie Tay is coming here for a concert this summer! She added new cities to the tour!”

“Woohoo!” I said, elated as I jumped up and down with her. We knew what that meant: backstage passes.

This was already looking to be the best summer ever!

“Second thing,” Bruno added. “My parents are giving me the okay to go to public school with you guys.”

“Awesome!” Owen gave Bruno a high five and I grinned, happy that all of us would be facing high school together.

“What’s the third thing?” I asked when nobody said anything else.

Mateo gestured to me urgently. “Look at your phone, Bells.”

Frowning, I dug my phone out of my pocket and realized I had missed a couple text messages. The last one freaked me out.

JADE’S IN LABOR!!!

I looked up at my group of friends and said the only thing I could think of.

“Holy tish!”

I was this close from passing out from excitement and Owen didn’t help
at all
when he grabbed my hand, spun me around, and pulled me toward his chest.

His eyes trailed over my face and I was totally feeling the alien vibe.

“Holy tish indeed,” he murmured.

I
N MY DREAM,
I’m in this castle and it’s all made of ice. I know I should be cold but I wasn’t. If anything, I felt warm. I searched every inch of the castle, looking for the source of the warmth that I felt in my heart was keeping me from freezing up like the castle itself. Every room, from the dining hall to the pantry, I looked.

But I couldn’t find anything or anyone.

Then finally, I heard it. This distant music that filled my ears and I eagerly followed it. It led me to this room with a girl. She didn’t see me, but I saw her. She danced and it was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. I thought that is was her dancing that made it warm in this cold, dark castle. That was what was lighting me up from within, I thought.

Keeping me alive.

But when she stopped, and she turned and looked at me with those piercing brown eyes of hers, I was wrong. No, it wasn’t the dance at all.

It was the girl.

—O.W.

A Canuck with a strong love addiction to caffeine, Christina Channelle enjoys writing about angsty girls and her favorite color green. While a little drama obsessed when it comes to her TV shows and books, she stays clear from it all in the real world, preferring solitude instead. Her series include the Four Letters, Blood Crave, and Reap series. Christina was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area.

For more information on upcoming books and other book-related fun such as Annabella’s next adventures, visit Christina at:

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