Page 52 of Just a Little White Lie

I fight a grin. “It means a professional dancer.”

“It sounds like a horse.”

“It sounds dumb!” Maverick spits. “I am not dancing in anything with that lame-ass team name.”

“Come on, Mav. It’s just a name.”

“Yeah, and it’s gonna get our asses kicked. You say you want to help us, and then you give us some shitty team name that makes us sound like a bunch of idiot losers.”

“Here come the Hoofers!” Trixi puts on a high-pitched mocking voice, and I can see what she means.

Dammit. I hate that Jack’s right.

I try for one last sales pitch to stop myself from that inevitable swan dive. “It means professional dancer.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t sound like it.” Dante shakes his head as if I’m the idiot.

And maybe he’s right.

Jack warned me, and I wouldn’t listen.

I guess it’s easy enough for me to change the name, but I don’t have it in me to deal with another explosive argument. If they can’t choose a song, how the heck are they supposed to choose a team name?

With a defeated sigh, I plunk down in my chair and watch as phones are pulled out of pockets and the usualignore the fact that we have a teacherroutine begins.

LAUREN

After my morning defeat, the day only gets worse. At break time, I’m called into the principal’s office, where I’m bawled out for signing up the school for Waikato Dance-Mania without consulting her first.

“You realize it costs money.” Helen Kwan’s round face scrunches into a frown. It’s framed perfectly by her blunt black bob, and I glance away from it, scanning her office for something to stare at while she tells me off.

“It’s like fifty bucks,” I murmur.

“That’s still money we have to find and budget and allocate! Not only that, you can’t arrange an out-of-the-classroom trip without first consulting one of the senior management team. You’re not a beginner teacher anymore, Lauren. I thought you would automatically know this kind of protocol.”

“I’m sorry.” I raise my hands to try and calm her down. “I just… need something to do with these kids. And a competition is something to work toward. They need a goal, some kind of purpose.”

“I don’t want them out in public doing something that will tarnish the school’s name.”

I frown. I can’t help it. Crossing my arms with an angry huff, I tell it to her straight. “It’s a dance competition. The goal here is to make sure they’re so good and so well prepared that they blow everyone’s minds. They’re not going to tarnish the school. They’re going to make it proud.”

She doesn’t believe me; I can tell by the little twitch of her lips. Even so, she asks, “I take it you want to stay and see this through?”

I hesitate, my insides roiling at the idea, but I have to do the right thing, so I nod. “I was hoping to. Erik mentioned that you might be interested in giving me a fixed-term position.”

“Only if the week went well.” Her warning look makes me feel tiny. Her dark eyes stare me down, and I resist the urge to shuffle backward.

I swallow and force a smile. “We’re getting there.”

“Meaning…” Her right eyebrow arches into a fine peak.

“Meaning we’ve had some challenges, but I’m overcoming. I’m not quitting, and I actually got some engagement out of them today. This dance competition is going to work.”

Now, this could technically be another one of my little white lies, but I don’t want it to be.

The revelation is kind of encouraging.

I don’t want it to be a lie.

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