Page 43 of Just a Little White Lie

“Why would you? I couldn’t let anyone see.” His gentle smile twists my jumping heart. It beats out of place, and I’m struggling to breathe for a moment. “You need to help your students realize what I didn’t know back then. The truth is, they are just as good as everyone else in that school.”

“If not better.”

He nods and gives me a closed-mouth smile. “You need to help them figure that out.”

“How did you?”

“Sport.” He scratches his upper arm.

My gaze trails the shape of his muscles as I remember him on the sports fields. He was an athlete—shot put, high jump, hundred-meter sprints. He dominated. “I made sure I woneverythingI possibly could. I worked hard. Studied hard and—” His voice cuts off, and I raise my eyebrows in question until he dips his chin and I remember yesterday’s conversation.

“You danced,” I whisper. “You won competitions, and you—” My body snaps straight, a light bulb illuminating my brain. “Competitions! They could win a competition. They could bring back a trophy and shove it in everybody’s faces! Jack, you’re a freaking genius!”

“I never—”

“Shh! Shh!” I raise my finger and spin to face my computer. My fingers race over the keys as I dive into a Google search that is going to find me exactly what I’m looking for. I’m determined to make it so.

“Don’t you think it’d be better if they knew they were awesome without having to actually do anything?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I nod, barely paying attention to him. “But success makes you feel that. Achievement helps you realize how great you are. And these kids are so capable. I mean, they’re stubborn and willful, which means if they really want to make something happen, they will. I just have to give them an avenue to prove their value to the school… and more importantly, to themselves.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“So, what are some good comps? Is there like a good entry-level one?”

“Things have probably changed in the last ten years but start with this region. There’s probably an inter-schools competition.”

“Okay.” I start typing and soon find Waikato Dance-Mania. Leaning forward, I start reading through the rules and requirements. “It’s in May, so that’d give us two months to prepare. Is that enough time?”

“If you can get them dancing ASAP, and they work hard, you can probably throw something pretty decent together.” Jack’s voice is a little tighter than before, and I glance over my shoulder. He forces a smile, then stands up. “I’ll leave you to it.”

I nearly tell him to stay—I’m kind of having fun doing this with him—but then I remember that he’s got some dance shoulder chip that’s bothering him, so I let him walk out my door without saying a word.

It takes me half an hour to read all the fine print, but eventually I’m satisfied that this looks like a great opportunity for my class. It has a cash prize too, which is kinda cool.

So I fill in the entry form.

The box for Team Name pops up, and I chew my lip, trying to think of something to do with Haven. I end up looking at an online thesaurus and spot the wordhoofer,which meansa professional dancer.

“Perfect!” I grin. “I love me some alliteration.” I type inHaven Hoofersbefore filling out the rest of the entry form.

I put myself down as the coach, because who else am I going to put?

As I press the Submit button, it starts to dawn on me that I’ve just committed myself to two months with these students. It’s not just until Friday. And great, now I have to make sure Erik and Helen actually want to sign me on for the term, and maybe I should have double-checked with the school that I was even allowed to do this.

“I’m sure it will all work out,” I tell myself briskly, closing my laptop and shoving Negative Nelly back where she belongs.

What I need right now is some food.

And a couple of miracles wouldn’t hurt either.

JACK

So the whole keeping Lauren at arm’s length thing flew out the window the second I heard her talking to herself. I didn’t even know she was home, but then this sweet, determined voice reached me in the hallway, and I just had to see what she was up to.

Walking into her room was way too easy.

Sitting on her bed, talking dance comps… it was the most natural thing in the world

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