Page 38 of Finding Fate

11

Reunion

“Are you okay, sis?” Annie asked as they loaded up the suburban a few weeks later. One of Isabel’s last summers at dance camp had come to a close, and her family had come to see the final performances of the top routines that morning. After a big lunch and an awards presentation, they were finally heading home.

“Never better,” Isabel replied, still waiting for the whooshing feeling to leave her head after she’d bent for her bag. “I just need some more water.”

“I’ve got Gatorade,” her mom said as she closed the back to their suburban. “Check the cooler up front.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she said, snatching one as she followed Annie into the back set of seats. Tyler crawled into the center section, grabbing his Nintendo Switch for the forty-five minute ride home.

“You did great today, honey,” her mom congratulated her as she pulled out into the long line of cars trying to exit the parking lot. “You and Leo are such a great pair.”

“I can’t believe y’all got three awards this year,” Annie added. “And that jump and spin thing where he lifted you? I would have peed myself. It was awesome.”

“It was a lot of practice,” Isabel replied, leaning against the window to rest her eyes for the drive. “Let me know when we’re close to home.”

“and five, six, seven, eight,” Isabel counted, she and her partner falling into the steps with the music.

“No,” Leo piped up several beats in. Isabel hit pause on the stereo as he linked his hands behind his head and paced a bit in front of the mirror. “The pattern just isn’t flowing right. We can do better.”

She nodded, her hands resting at her hips as she contemplated how to fix it. There was a competition between the senior teams that Friday at camp. She and Leo had won the past two years in a row for best dancing, the fresh news of her father’s illness driving her to new heights last summer as she’d clung to dance for her escape, but this year they were trying to up their choreography game as well.

“How about we change the motif before the spin instead?” she suggested. “We could go from this,” she demonstrated one of the moves they’d already planned, “and go into a backflip. Then I can jump or go into an arc where you catch me and flip me around over your back into a lift?”

He nodded, considering. “Ok, I’m intrigued. Let’s give it a try.”

She reset the music as they took their place and counted them off again…

“Perfect,” Leo beamed, panting with exertion, giving Isabel a hug after they’d run through it a few times. He began to cough, tucking his head into his elbow. “Break?” he wheezed.

“Yeah,” she agreed, grabbing her water as she caught her breath. She toweled at the sweat that was beading across her chest and brow and went to sit on the mats. “You okay?” she asked when he sneezed a few times.

He threw her a dismissive wave as he took the seat next to her. “Been fighting the last of a cold lately. Just need to sit for a bit.” He leaned his dark curls against the wall, breathing deeply for a minute before facing her. “Seriously, though, you’re a freaking genius, Izzy,” he praised. “Tell me you’re still thinking about applying to the Baste Academy with me next year.”

“I still don’t know,” she replied, sitting back as the room began to spin. “Woah, more water,” she reminded herself. Sometimes, she’d just get lost in the dance and forget.

“Come on,” he encouraged, nudging her leg. “You’d be a shoe in, and think about all the opportunities you’d have. A college dance team won’t be anything compared to the Academy on your resume.”

“I know; I know,” she insisted between long pulls from her bottle. The Academy would be fantastic. They specialized in all kinds of dance, and they had great instructors for her favorite contemporary modern style. She sighed. “It’s just more complicated for me than it is for you.”

Leo watched her suspiciously. “Is this about some guy or something?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe…partly.”

“No way. Not my innocent, little Izzy,” Leo half teased, half scolded. “You’ve always known better. What are you thinking about getting mixed up with one of us?”

“It’s not just anyone. It’s Tucker.”

“The big guy you’ve always talked about?”

She laughed. “Yeah. Things are going really well with us, and I’d like to think we’ll still be together next year. He wants to go pro, too, but with basketball.”

“Is he any good?”

“He’s awesome. Scouts have already given him scholarship offers, and we only just finished junior year.”

“So you might have ended up at separate schools anyway,” Leo reasoned.

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