Stepping Up Read online

  She crawled into her bed, uncharacteristically tired. The events of the day had thrown her, and she sought the comforting feel of her blankets and pillows.

  Jenna pulled the covers to her chin and stared up at the plain white ceiling. Her thoughts circled around her problems without giving her any answers.

  Lying in bed, Jenna fumed about Moira. She hated how, by quitting Step It Up, she was basically letting Moira win. Of all people.

  Was there any way she could keep dancing? Jenna racked her brains. Surely, there must be a solution.

  She briefly considered simply dancing on her own. Maybe she could just spend every afternoon in the basement, at the makeshift ballet barre her parents built for her the year before. It sounded a little depressing, but it would keep her in shape, and then she could go back to Step It Up once her dad found a new job.

  But somehow, she didn’t think she could maintain her edge alone in her basement. Would she work as hard without Ms. Colette to push her? And besides, how would she learn new steps? No matter how often she practiced at home, she would still end up behind.

  She could just throw herself on the mercy of Ms. Colette. She was pretty sure that her teacher liked her. She might let Jenna take classes for free for a little while. But Jenna ruled that idea out, too. She wasn’t prepared to share her dad’s secret with the whole world, and what other reason could she give for needing a break on her tuition?

  She really was exhausted. Slowly her eyes drooped, and she was about to slip into a nap when growing noise pulled her back away from sleep.

  She sat up groggily. Loud laughs drifted through her wall along with pounding bass notes. Through her drowsy haze, she realized that Steven must have a friend over. The last thing she wanted right now was to have friends around, but Steven always dealt with things differently than she did.

  It was impossible to get any rest with all the noise. Slowly she hauled herself off the bed, out of her room, and to the bedroom door next to hers.

  She banged on it.

  “What?” she heard.

  “You’re being too loud.”

  “What?”

  “I said, you’re being too loud.”

  “Sorry, sis, can’t hear you.”

  “Would you just open the door?” she bellowed. She was fully awake now.

  The door swung open to be replaced by a blast of music. Steven grinned at her.

  “Geez, Steven,” yelled Jenna, covering her ears.

  He laughed and turned back into his room. Moments later, the music dropped down. Jenna removed her hands from her ears and stepped inside his door.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Oh, hi, Edward. I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Hey, Jenna,” said her brother’s best friend. Edward was taller than Steven and sometimes seemed to be all arms and legs. He sat on Steven’s bed, surrounded by little rectangles of paper. “I just got here.”

  “What are you guys doing?” asked Jenna.

  Steven puffed up his chest. “We worked out a little plan this afternoon. Edward, give the girl our card.”

  “Your card?” Jenna’s eyebrows went up.

  Edward grinned and produced one of the bits of paper with a flourish. “Here you go.”

  “Yu-maw,” Jenna read. She looked up. “Huh?”

  Edward laughed, but Steven had an annoyed look on his face. “Not Yu-maw,” said Steven. “Y.M.A.W.”

  Jenna caught Edward’s eye before she turned back to Steven. She tried unsuccessfully to hide a smirk. “Looks like yu-maw to me.”

  Steven snatched the card out of her hand. “Then it’s a good thing you’re not a potential customer.”

  “Customer?” asked Jenna. “Ok, now I’m really confused.”

  “Y.M.A.W.,” said Steven again. “Young Men At Work. Your all-purpose do-anything men for hire. We mow lawns, wash cars –”

  “Babysit?” asked Jenna with a grin.

  Steven swallowed. “Yeah, I guess we’d even do that. If we had to.”

  “So you’re starting a club.”

  “A business,” corrected Edward. “We figured with your dad out of work, that we could help out a little.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened. She turned to Steven and muttered, “You told him about Dad?”

  “Duh. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I don’t know,” said Jenna. She glanced at her brother’s friend, who was carefully studying his shoes. “I mean, no offense, Edward. I’m just surprised.”

  “None taken,” he said. “Not much, anyway.”

  Steven replaced the paper business card on the bed. “Hopefully we can get some odd jobs lined up. Then we can help out around here and even pay my karate fees. I don’t want to quit.”

  Jenna’s interest perked up. “You’re going to pay for your own classes?”

  “If I can. It’s better than quitting.”

  She nodded slowly. “Hmm.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” She turned to leave the room. “Well, good luck, guys. If I see anyone looking for yu-maws, I’ll send them your way.”

  “Y.M.A.W.s,” shouted Steven as she closed the door behind her.

  Back in her room, Jenna paced the floor. Something about the boys’ enterprise struck a chord in her. Steven wasn’t taking her dad’s layoff sitting down. He was going to do something about it.

  Maybe she could, too.

  Jenna thought through what her friends did for money. Mary had a standing babysitting gig with twin four-year-old girls, Ella and Eva Ryley. She looked after them every day after school and even some evenings, so she had a steady stream of income. Rita’s parents were loaded, so she only had to ask for whatever she wanted. And Pam never seemed to have much money, but also never seemed to mind. She got a weekly allowance, like Jenna did – or had – and that was it.

  Jenna ruled out starting an odd jobs club. She did not want to do yard work. Plus, it somehow seemed disloyal to start her own just when she learned about the boys’ business. Steven drove her crazy at times, but she didn’t want to steal his idea five minutes after hearing about it.

  Jenna brainstormed other ideas. She wasn’t too keen on babysitting, but she could put up with it if she had to. But who would hire her? She also wouldn’t mind washing cars, if it were summer. But she didn’t relish the idea of getting wet in the middle of winter, however mild it may be.

  Jenna sighed and stopped pacing. This was probably a stupid idea. After all, what could a twelve-year-old do?

  Her eyes fell on her dance bag, deposited in the corner.

  “I’d rather be dancing,” she read out loud. Time seemed to pause, right there in her little bedroom.

  The noises from the rest of the house faded away, and even the dust particles floating in the light seemed to halt.

  Her wrinkled forehead cleared. She had an idea.

  Chapter 3

  “You’re going to what?” asked Mary.

  “Teach dance lessons,” said Jenna, as she calmly walked along. “To little girls. Step It Up only takes kids six and up, so I’m going to teach any who are younger than that.”

  On Friday morning, Jenna was on her way to school with her friends. It was a chilly winter day, just the sort of winter weather that Jenna expected in her town. Jenna had seen snow exactly once in her life. When she was eight, there were snow flurries, and everyone ran outside in excitement to see them. She remembered the tiny snowflakes caught in her hair, crystal specks of white that quickly melted away. Since then, however, winter in her town adhered to the same formula – chilly and damp, without any of the fun winter stuff that you hear about in Christmas carols.

  Mary bobbed along, her large backpack riding like a shell on top of a very energetic turtle. Rita positively glided by comparison, her log legs gobbling up the pavement.

  Pam hung back with Jenna. She cleared her throat. “That is a really cool idea, Jenna. But don’t you think you’re already a little bit… busy?”

  “Slammed,” added Mary.

&
nbsp; “Constantly on the run to one dance class or another,” said Rita.

  “I know,” said Jenna. “It will be a little tough to fit it all in, but this is something I really want to do.”

  “Why?” asked Mary.

  “I’d like to earn a little extra money, and this seems like a good way to do it.”

  “It does sound like fun,” said Pam. “Want some help?”

  “Yeah, we could all help,” added Mary.

  “No,” said Jenna, a little too quickly to her own ears. Pam looked a little hurt. Rita and Mary exchanged glances.

  Jenna bit her lip. She knew her friends were surprised. But there was no way she could work with them on the project, day in and day out, without breaking a promise to herself.

  The night before, Jenna lay awake for several hours, her mind unable to shut off. After much thought, she decided to keep her dad’s layoff a secret, even from her best friends. She didn’t want to embarrass her dad, and, to be honest, she didn’t want to embarrass herself either.

  But it was more than that. Jenna almost felt like someone knocked over one of the steady pillars of her world. Her father had worked at his company since before Jenna was born. If his work could just get rid of him that easily, was anything in this world safe? Acknowledging the layoff to her friends made it too real.

  After her outburst, her friends were uncomfortably silent. Jenna felt like she had to say something.

  “I just want to take a crack at it myself.” She plastered on a fake smile. “And I know you guys are all so busy. I don’t want to take up your time.”

  “Ok,” said Rita. “But you know we don’t mind.”

  “I know you don’t. And I love you guys for it.”

  Some of the tension eased, and the girls settled back into the easy chatter that normally characterized their walk.

  “I think we should all go see a movie this weekend,” said Mary.

  “I’m game,” said Rita.

  “Good, because the new Eleanor Finley movie comes out this weekend, and I’m dying to see it.”

  “Ooh, yeah,” said Pam. “That looks good.”

  “Ok,” said Mary. Her eyes sparkled. “And then milkshakes afterwards. I’ve got lots of babysitting money saved up. Jenna, what do you say?”

  “Obviously she’s coming,” said Rita. “Jenna’s the biggest Eleanor Finley fan in the world.”

  Jenna groaned inwardly. It was true. She loved the series of movies about the time-travelling adventurer and never missed one of the installments. She was almost ashamed to admit it, but she’d seen the last Eleanor Finley film four times in theaters.

  But now, Jenna didn’t know if she could go. She wasn’t sure how much money she had saved up, and she hadn’t yet figured out how much she more she needed for her dance tuition. Without any more cash infusions on the horizon, could she even afford the movie?

  “I say… maybe.” She would check her cash levels that evening and then decide.

  “Maybe?” asked Mary. “What’s going on? You’re not starting on your lessons immediately, are you?”

  “No,” said Jenna. “It’s not that.” It’s that I can’t afford the tickets!

  She wracked her brain. “I think my mom wanted us to have a family game night this weekend. I don’t know if I can get out of it.”

  It was amazing how good she was getting at lying.

  “I’ll make it if I can. Just let me check with my parents first.”

  Rita spoke up. “Tell your mom that Eleanor Finley movies don’t come along every day, and that she is an excellent female role model.”

  “And that you can do game night any old time,” added Mary.

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’ll mention that part. If I want to get a lecture.”

  “Worth it,” said Mary.

  “Go easy on Jenna,” said Pam. “We’ve got to start our group work in Shop today. And Jenna got a tough partner.”

  Oh, yeah. In the midst of the drama with her dad, Jenna had completely forgotten that it was the day to start a big project in Shop class. She groaned.

  “Who’d you get?” asked Rita.

  Jenna made a face. “Moira.”

  “Bum Bum Bum,” said Mary. She sounded like the film track to a horror movie.

  “Exactly. It’s gonna be ugly. I can’t stand Moira. And she hates me.”

  “She’s not that bad,” said Rita.

  “Not true,” said Jenna. “You only say that because you just see her at school. I dance with her, and she’s the worst. Pam will back me up on that.”

  “She does get a little feisty.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “That’s the understatement of the century. You should have seen her at our Christmas recital. I think she would have elbowed me right off the stage given a chance.”

  “I wish I was in the same period as you and Mary,” said Rita. “You and Moira working together is going to be hilarious. I’d like to see it up close.”

  “Thanks for your support,” said Jenna.

  “I can’t wait to start on the project,” said Mary.

  “Why?” asked Jenna.

  Rita groaned. “Don’t you know?”

  Pam giggled. “Oh yeah. Mary got paired up with Brandon Hibbard.”

  “Actually,” said Mary, “I prefer to call him ‘The Hair’ now.”

  “Why?” asked Jenna, laughing in spite of herself.

  “Because he’s got that awesome swoop of golden hair, that’s why. You’ve got to honor hair like that.”

  Jenna shook her head. She could never get over how outspoken Mary could be about her crushes.

  That afternoon, Jenna walked into Shop class with some trepidation and took her seat next to Moira. As partners, the two of them were required to sit at the same table, but they left as much space between them as was possible. Jenna knew that Moira was no happier about the arrangement than she was, but that didn’t make it any better.

  Mr. Padgett stood up and called for the class’s attention. He was a former college football player turned middle-aged educator.

  “Listen up, folks. It’s time to get started on one of my favorite projects of the year – Battle of the Bridges! As we’ve discussed, you guys will work in pairs, and I’m very excited to see what designs you come up with.”

  “I do not need the practice,” Moira whispered to Jenna.

  “Huh?”

  “At dance yesterday, you said I needed to practice.”

  “What? Are you still thinking about that?” Jenna shook her head in disbelief.

  “Remember that we will have two rounds,” continued their teacher. “First, each pair of students will design and build a prototype of a bridge from wooden dowel rods. Then we’ll test your execution by seeing how much weight your bridge can take before it breaks. Once your bridge has been smashed to smithereens – which is always the fun part – you’ll make changes to your design based on your results. Then we’ll have another round. Everyone will build a new bridge, and whoever’s can hold the most weight will win.”

  “You don’t have to be so mean, Jenna,” Moira whispered.

  “Let it go, Moira. You started it, anyway.”

  Moira pursed her lips.

  Mr. Padgett rubbed his hands together. “Last year, some students designed a bridge that held two pounds before cracking. I hope someone this year manages to beat that.” He dismissed the students to begin their designs.

  Jenna pulled some graph paper towards her. “Ok, so let’s start with the length of the bridge. It needs to be at least 16 inches, so I think we should go for 18.”

  “No, we should make it 16. The shorter it is, the more stable.”

  “If we make it too short, it’ll have no foundation for support.”

  “We only have three dowels to work with, Jenna. We’ll run out of wood if we make it 18 inches.”

  The two girls sat and glared at one another.

  “Fine,” Jenna finally said through clenched lips. “How about we compromise? 17 inch
es.”

  “Whatever.”

  They went back to designing, though it would be hard to describe what they were doing as that. They disagreed. They argued. But they designed little. By the end of the period, Jenna bolted, relieved to escape.

  She passed a hand over her eyes as she filed out of the classroom. With all the drama of the last 24 hours, she wasn’t really sure if life could get much worse.

  Chapter 4

  That afternoon, Jenna’s dad greeted her and her brother when they got home from school. He wore what Jenna called his “dad outfit,” an outdated polo and light blue tapered jeans. Seeing him right after school made her feel off-center. It would take some getting used to.

  “Hey, guys.” He looked thrilled to see them. Jenna wondered if his day had been a little boring. “How was school today?”

  “Fine,” said Steven as he threw his backpack off.

  “Good,” said Jenna. She paused as her dad planted a kiss on her head. “Just the usual.”

  “Oh, come on, you’ve got to give me more than that! I never get to see you guys right after school. How about you, Steven? Anything exciting happen?”

  “Yeah. We blew up a Twinkie in chemistry.”

  Their dad blinked. “For what purpose?”

  “Science.”

  “Ok. Well, that definitely qualifies as exciting. Good job. How about you, sweetie?”

  Jenna frowned. “I spent an hour designing a bridge with my mortal enemy that we’re just going to break anyways.”

  “Goodness. School is a lot more destructive than it was when I was a kid.”

  After a few more minutes of trying unsuccessfully to extract more information from his kids, their dad wandered back out of the room. He yelled over his shoulder that he’d be in the office, “brushing up the ol’ résumé.”

  Good, thought Jenna. The sooner her Dad was back to work, the better.

  After grabbing a handful of chips, Steven headed out to meet Edward to hang Y.M.A.W. posters around the neighborhood.

  Jenna got a glass of milk and then spread out at the kitchen table. Before she planned out the dance lessons, she decided to take stock of her situation.

  First, she emptied out her wallet. She counted a total of 17 dollars.