Dance As Though No-one is Watching

"Okay, time to stretch!" Shannon shouted. A sigh of relief swept through the studio, and all of us staggered tiredly to the dance floor and collapsed. I could have slept right there and then, I was so tired.

"Claire, you start," Shannon ordered. She was our red-headed dance teacher. Even though she loved to make things fun, she didn't like it if there was no work involved.

"You gotta be kidding!" Claire whined, slouching forward in misery. Shannon gave her a sharp look that made her automatically shut her mouth. No-one messed with Shannon.

Claire began the counting. I'm still not sure how to spell the words properly, because they're in Gaelic. She said each word, and the rest of us repeated it, and our stretching session sounded almost like a ceremonial chant. My brain was so tired, I was thinking funny.

I gritted my teeth as the stretches pulled my sore muscles. Other dancers gasped in pain, but I kept my mouth shut. After a year of dancing with this Irish dance school, I was still the only one lacking a smart mouth. That was why all of the instructors loved me. I didn't complain when they made me do drills.

"See ya later!" Jen called, happy to finally be leaving the hot studio. I waved good-bye to her. She had been the first person to talk to me at this school. We still weren't that close, but she was always nice to me.

"Ugh. I can't believe she made me go first," Claire muttered, pulling off her Ghille shoes (also called softshoes) and throwing them into her dance bag.

"Oh, Shannon loves you the same way she loves all of us," Chris teased, nudging Claire in the arm. She promptly pushed him over, and since we were all so tired, he didn't even protest.

"Ah, the good old floor," he commented, laying back the rest of the way. Claire snickered and kicked him.

"Ow!"

I watched all the action from a few feet away, where I was taking off my own softshoes. I put them in my dance bag and pulled out my tennis shoes. Chris grinned at me, and I blushed. I looked down at my shoes, pretending to be busy putting them on. Chris was one of those immensely cute boys you get shy around even if they've never said a word to you. Not to mention, he was an incredible Irish dancer.

Chris sat up, frowning in thought. Then he exclaimed a small "oh".

"Katie. Are you going to the Feis this weekend?" he asked. I searched my tired brain frantically. The Feis (Irish dance competition) was this weekend?!

"Umm... I think so," I said hesitantly. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Sweet. I can't wait to watch." My heart must have skipped a beat. I could tell that I was blushing even harder, which was virtually impossible because my face was already red from the hard work we'd done in class. Oh, boy. Chris was going to watch me dance. And I was sure to screw up if he did.

"Yeah, Katie. You always dance really well," Claire added. I gave her a half-smile. With her, you could never tell if she was sincere or making fun of you. I slipped on my other tennis shoe and pushed myself into a standing position. Picking up my dance bag and purse, I waved good-bye to the rest of the dancers in the room- including Chris.

"See ya at the Feis!" Chris said happily, waving wildly. Claire punched him playfully in the arm.

I was doomed.

* * * * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, Katie. It's me."

I grinned. "Yeah, I could tell," I said into the phone. Since it was summer and school was out, I was entirely dependent on the phone and computer for contacting my friends- but mostly my best friend, Jeff.

"So what's new?" I asked, sitting in the small reclining chair in my bedroom. It felt good, after all those drills two hours earlier.

"Oh, not much. It's been really slow around here. I almost miss school," Jeff said regretfully. I gave a mock gasp of horror.

"YOU want school? The world is coming to an end!" I exclaimed. Both of us burst out laughing. I really missed him. Talking on the phone wasn't the same as a face-to-face conversation, especially with Jeff.

"What about you? Aren't you going to that dance thing next weekend? You'll do great," he said. I could imagine him saying it, I knew his face so well.

"Thanks. Unfortunately, I've never gotten higher than eighth place out here. The competition is so much better here in the Midwest..." I sighed. Jeff was silent on the other end, but I could hear his mom shouting in the background.

"Darn. My mom wants me to, uh. To clean my room," he told me, sounding a little embarrassed. I laughed a little, then looked around at the clothes strewn all over MY room. It was pure devastation.

"Well... Mine isn't all that great either. But my parents leave it up to me to decide when to clean my room."

"Lucky. I gotta go, or else she'll hide all the phones in the house."

"Okay. Talk to you later," I said. I hung up the phone and stood up, then bent down to touch my toes. Every inch of my body hurt... I could list everywhere that pain was present, but it would get old pretty fast. I went to my window and leaned on the sill, feeling the same way Jeff had said he did. I missed school. More importantly, I missed seeing my FRIENDS at school. The rest was uninportant. But the Feis was this weekend, and I needed to make sure that I did better this time.

* * * * *

Three days later...

"One two three switch one two, bicycle down..." I mouthed as the music played. To anyone but me, it would seem like gibberish, but it was really the steps to my Reel in word form. I was having trouble with the timing. I jumped up and down to re-warm my muscles.

"Come on," I muttered, trying the steps. "Yes!" I did it.

"Katie? How long are you planning on being down here?" Mom asked, coming down the stairs into our basement. I went to my dance bag and pulled out my hardshoes.

"I still need to practice my Hornpipe and Set," I explained, untying my softshoes. Mom sighed, a smile on her face.

"You are the perfect child," she said. I frowned in confusion. Where had that come from?

"You get all A's in school. You're a brilliant musician. You're a Preliminary Championship-level Irish dancer... How many kids your age are all that?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I have no clue. You'd have to ask a LOT of people," I laughed. She laughed a little, too. Then she decided that she would watch me practice my hardshoe.

One. Two. Three. Four. Point on five. Six. Seven. Up on eight. Even the starting position for an Irish dancer has to be memorized. From the littlest to the oldest, we all start the exact same way. Softshoe or hardshoe, it doesn't matter.

For two minutes, doing all three steps, I danced my best for my mom. I crossed my slices and didn't miss a single treble. I don't think I'd ever danced better. I just had to hope that I could dance like that again on Saturday.

When I finished, I pointed and bowed to my mom the way I would bow to a judge at a Feis. She clapped for me.

"You did wonderfully. But remember to point your thumbs at the ground," she told me helpfully. I nodded, trying to catch my breath by slowing my heart down. Even in California, I'd had a problem keeping my arms ramrod-straight. Shannon had seen huge improvement over time, though. My new school had made me as good as my old school's best dancer in less than a year!

* * * * *

I had my wig, makeup, solo dress, and softshoes on. My solo dress sparkled in the light, and I felt like I was the most beautiful girl on the planet. All around me, costumed dancers, their parents, vendors, musicians and judges were all hurrying to go about their business. I just sat there on the folding chair, watching it all.

"Katie! You're up in two competitions!" Mom cried, coming back to our spot. She'd gone to check how far my stage was. I grabbed my hardshoes and water bottle and ran to catch up with her.

Feisanna are very hectic. Each Feis is different, too. After a while, though, it becomes almost normal to you.

"Go check in. Wait- Give me your stuff," Mom said, taking my things and pointing to the girl with the clip-board. I went over, looking at the number tied around my waist with a ribbon. I told the check-in girl my competitor number and watched as she checked the box next to my name.

I went over and stood with the other girls from my competition. Each one of them had a beautiful solo dress and looked as gorgeous as I felt. I stretched and jogged in place to warm up my muscles.

After I'd danced my softshoe and hardshoe, Mom bought me a tee shirt that said, "Dance as though no one is watching." I love that shirt.

I got dressed in my solo dress again and went to the stage where they were going to announce the awards for my competition. They were only announcing the top ten dancers overall. There had been twenty other dancers. In the crowd around the stage, I saw Chris. He was looking around.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, there was Jeff!

"What are you doing here?" I squealed excitedly. He shrugged and said that my mom had told his mom such and such...

"We wanted to see what sort of stuff you go through every single competition. I watched you dance, by the way. You were the best one up there," he said. I knew he was wrong. Some of these girls deserved to go to Open Championships, which was the highest level for normal Feisanna.

"You're a bad liar, Jeff," I laughed. The booming voice of the microphone erupted over the noise of the crowd, and it immediately got quiet.

"For the Under 14 Preliminary Championships competition, the results are final," the announcer began.

"In 10th place, number 283. In 9th place, number 22. In 8th place, number 49..."

At that point, I started feeling the normal disappointment. Mom had her fingers crossed, Jeff was watching me fidget, and his mom was watching the announcer intently.

"In 2nd place, number 484. And the winner of the Under 14 Preliminary Championships is number 81!"

I stood there, in shock, as my number was called. I won?

"Katie, what are you waiting for? Go get your trophy!" Mom exclaimed, pushing me to the front. I was still shocked, wondering if it was a dream, when the stone base of my first place trophy touched my shaking hands.

The other dancers helped me onto the pedestal, where I stood above the heads of the crowd as parents started snapping pictures. When I saw Chris, Jeff, Mom, Jen, and Shannon out in the crowd clapping and laughing, I grinned. I pointed with the other dancers and bowed, then jumped off the pedestal and ran to my friends and my mom.

I had danced my best, and I'd won.

I'd danced as though no one was watching.