Shimmy by Kari Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

to gasp or something, but she blinks and says, “A bra?”
    I nod.
    “Ouch,” she says.
    “Yeah.”
    “I like Amala’s costume better,” I say.
    “Yeah. I love it,” Angela says. “It’s not really professional-looking though.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Nothing. Forget it,” she says. She points her nose back into her book, and I am left staring at the top of her head.
    Angela isn’t sympathetic in the least. How’d she feel if she had to wear a stupid white skirt and a bra?
    * * *
    The English test is hard, and I know I haven’t done well. When it’s over I head to the garden to wait for Angela to join me, but today when she comes, she’s with Jonas and Nini. So I guess she hasn’t said anything to Nini yet.
    “You finished quickly,” Jonas says to me.
    “Yeah.” I don’t want to talk about the test, because I know I failed, so I don’t pay much attention as Nini and Angela and Jonas go over the answers they gave. Besides, Jonas spends the whole time trying to make Angela look at him, Angela spends the whole time looking at everyone except him, and Nini spends her whole time looking at him and trying to get him to look at her. Lovely. I so don’t want to be part of that.
    After a few minutes of trying to ignore the conversation, I give up and leave. I’m halfway across the courtyard when I spot Robin and Alex. “Hey, Robin,” I call, jogging to catch up with them. “Where are you two going?”
    “Alex wants samosas,” Robin says.
    There’s a bakery down the street that sells French bread, Danish pastries and Indian samosas.
    “Can I come?” I ask.
    “Sure,” Robin says, and we head out of the courtyard and onto the street. “Did you hear about Bea?” she asks.
    “What about her?”
    “She told Dana she quit.”
    “What? No way! How come?” I ask.
    “Are you really surprised?” Alex says. “Dana picks on her all the time. Bea told Dana she feels like she’s not good enough to dance for her.”
    “What did Dana say?”
    “She said Bea has promise, but she’s not applying herself.”
    “That’s so unfair!” I say. I know both Alex and Robin have practiced a lot with Bea in the last couple of weeks.
    “I know,” says Robin.
    “So she quit?”
    “I guess Dana tried to convince her to stay, but Bea said her mom wants her to go to another studio,” Alex says.
    We reach the bakery and walk inside. The air is warm and smells of fresh bread. I inhale deeply.
    “Wow,” I say. Bea’s quitting is big news. I’ve always liked Bea, and though she has a hard time learning the moves, she’s really a beautiful dancer. Her movements are fluid and graceful. It’s not her fault Dana rides her so much that it makes her nervous and then she messes up. Quitting though. That’s big.
    The bakery is busy with kids from our school, and I lower my voice so only Robin and Alex can hear. “Which studio is she going to?”
    “Probably Amala’s,” Robin says.
    “Yeah, that’s where Angela dances. Bea’ll love it there!” I say.
    For some reason, my voice catches as I say it, but neither Robin nor Alex notices, and Alex says, “I hope she does. I’m going to miss her.”
    Robin reaches the front of the line and orders three samosas. It takes us a minute to figure out the cash, and once we’ve paid, we stand over to the side to wait for the samosas to be heated up.
    “The truth is that she wouldn’t have been performing with us anyway,” Robin says after a long moment. “She was bound to be one of the girls who got cut. This way she makes it her choice, not Dana’s. So good for her.”
    “Maybe Dana wouldn’t have cut her,” I say.
    Both Robin and Alex raise their eyebrows at me, and I shrug in agreement. Bea was going to be one of the girls cut.
    “Who else is going to get cut?” Alex asks.
    “Not you,” Robin says. “Or you, Lila.”
    The bakery lady hands us our samosas, and I quickly bite into mine and head for the door so I don’t have to respond.