“Good idea,” Grace said. “Let’s all head in. I’m sure Stuart will be able to spot us. Who could miss Jazmine’s electric shirt?”
The song “Dancing Queen” was blaring through the room, and the spinning mirror ball made the entire cafeteria twinkle like it was lit with diamonds. Dad hung out with Coach George to give me some space, but I only wanted to go home.
Grace tried to drag me onto the dance floor. I pulled my arm away and sat on a metal folding chair by the wall. The loud music vibrated through my body, but that was not why I was about to lose it. It’s a strange fact that I can feel a lot lonelier in a crowd of people than sitting by myself in a room.
I stared down at the floor, and a plate of striped chocolate cookies appeared under my nose.
Mason sat down next to me. “Have one, Chare. Time to get your daily sugar requirement.”
Jaz pulled up alongside. “You’re the one who always says everyone should be included, and here you are being a wallflower. What’s up, girl?”
“I think she’s waiting for Stuart.” Grace came up out of breath. She and Julian had danced to the last three songs.
I felt everyone’s eyes staring at me.
“Maybe he’s not feeling well,” Grace offered.
Translation: He is ashamed to be seen with me.
Dad came up with the keyboard. “Cherry, looks like you might wanna say something to your friends. Let me help you.” I typed one word.
Home.
“But we just got here, honey,” Dad said. “Sure you don’t want to hang out a few more minutes?”
My arm wanted to smack Mason’s plate of cookies onto the floor to make my point, but I was stopped by a low voice.
“Uh, what’s up, guys? Hi, Charity.”
And there he was. Stuart . . . in an actual shirt and tie and combed hair, even.
Everyone patted him on the back, and Jaz teased him about his “lame costume.”
“Okay, guys,” Grace announced, as if she was our activity director, “everyone out on the dance floor.”
Stuart swallowed hard. “I think I’ll sit next to Charity for a minute. I’m not really in a dancing mood yet.”
Everyone, including Dad, left us alone. Stuart ran his hand through his hair, messing it up so it looked more like normal. “Sorry I’m late, Charity. I actually never went to a dance before. I’m like the worst dancer in the world. I sure don’t need one more thing for people to make fun of.”
I could not believe it. How could he sit next to me and think that he was going to embarrass himself at the dance?
“You look great though,” he muttered, his eyes glued to the floor.
I surprised myself by pulling him up and onto the dance floor. The song was “Boogie Fever,” and my body started jumping to the rhythm. Stuart stood frozen for a minute. I guess everyone’s body can get stuck sometimes.
Then Skyler took his hand and jumped to the beat with me. Jaz twirled her chair in circles and waved her hands. Stuart finally gave in, and our whole group was bouncing and spinning in the middle of the dance floor.
At that moment, I did not care if people cheered or jeered us. I finally realized it did not matter.
At a break in the music, we wandered over to the food table to grab some neon green lime punch. Grace dabbed my sweaty face with a napkin and said, “Let’s go to the girls’ room and brush our wild hair.” I gladly followed, Jaz rolling behind.
In front of the mirror, Grace smeared some cherry lip gloss on me, and Jaz adjusted her crooked tiara. That’s when I spotted Darcy behind us, smiling with her arms crossed as if she were sitting on the juiciest gossip in Hollywood.
Jaz spun around, ready for battle.
Grace looked at Darcy in the mirror and said, “How’s it going, girl?”
“You all look so pretty tonight,” Darcy said in a sugary voice. “So super you girls are having a final celebration before Charity gets kicked out.”
“Cut the drama, Darcy,” Grace said. “You never liked Charity, and honestly I think that’s pretty disgusting.”
Darcy raised her hand. “Don’t even,” she hissed. “That girl cheats on all her assignments. Probably planning to cheat her way to the top of the honor roll.”
Darcy focused her squinty eyes on me. “What you don’t know is that my mom got a copy of her research paper for English class and uploaded it to a website that checks for plagiarism. It’s full of stolen sentences.” She pointed her finger in Grace’s face. “Plus, my dad got a statement from her so-called aide admitting she typed words for Charity. She is sooooo going to be expelled for this.”
“Lay off, you cheerleader nightmare,” Jaz yelled. “You give all us cheerleaders a bad name.”
“Puh-leeze! Shaking your pom-poms with a dumb tiara on your head does not make you a cheerleader.”
Jaz grabbed the punch from her cup holder and tossed it on Darcy’s sparkly mini-dress.
“Eeeeew!” Darcy blotted the sticky mess with paper towels. “Stay away from me, you loser!” She half-smiled, half-
grimaced in my direction and danced out the door to the sound of “Boogie Oogie.”
Godzilla’s Revenge
I knew we were in serious trouble when I saw Celia’s face. “Querida, I don’t know what to make of this. Tell us what this is.”
She handed Mom and Dad a copy of my English paper with plagiarized sentences highlighted in yellow. For once, Dad seemed tense. His nervous knee bounced up and down.
Faces of passing students and teachers peeked at us through the window of Celia’s office. Mom’s panicky expression, along with the rumors Darcy had spread made this the gossip of the day.
“I know you have such a wonderful memory, querida. Is it possible that you quoted from other sources accidentally?”
I stared at the pages. It looked like my paper. Same title, same structure, lots of the same sentences. I read it quickly and blew out a puff
