See disclaimers in Part 1

Sorry for taking so long. R/L isn’t being too nice right now.

Chapter 3: Let’s dance!

Amanda and Melody had settled into a comfortable routine. Melody would pick Amanda up everyday before school and they wouldn’t see each other until choir. They had the same lunch period but Melody sat with her friends, the same friends who had made fun of Amanda that day at the Ice Cream Shoppe. Amanda would sit alone in a dark corner glaring at anyone who got too close. In choir they would sit beside each other and whisper until Mrs. Hall glared at them to be quiet and then in study hall they would talk about each of there pasts and some times they would help each other out with some homework if need be. Neither talked about the attraction or the burning desire in each of there bodies but they both thought about it a lot.

Melody’s dance season was just about to start and it was almost time for tryouts. She was on the head of each selection committee. The one for dance team, cheerleading and show choir. She thought about asking Amanda to try out for one if not all. She was tall, strong, and thin. A good combination if she ever wanted to dance. Melody decided to ask Amanda exactly one week before tryout for dance and cheerleading. She would work hard with Amanda to get her ready is she really wanted to do it. Show choir tryouts were in two weeks and Amanda had taken a packet and shown a good amount of interest so Melody was hopeful. It was Friday now so they had all weekend to work.

Melody got to choir early that day hoping to catch Amanda and talk to her. She spotted Amanda coming around the corner and walked over to her grabbing her arm and bringing her to a near by wall instead of going into the choir room. "Hey Amanda I need to talk to you real quick." Melody gave Amanda a winning smile hoping to win her over.

"Sure Mel what’s up?"

"Weeeell, I was wondering if you were gonna try out for the show choir in two weeks. Are you?"

"I don’t know, I need some help, I am having trouble learning the dance. I always did have two left feet but mom wanted me to try, she said I had a good voice and all." Amanda smiled shyly wanting to ask the girl to help but didn’t know exactly how.

"I could help you! I was hoping maybe you would try out for cheerleading and dance team to? Maybe? Probably? Hopefully?"

Amanda laughed at Melody’s over hopeful face. "I don’t know about that, but I do want to be in show choir."

"You would love it and I could teach you dance and cheerleading too. Plus I could help you with the try-out since I’m a senior I get to choose who’s in or out!!! Please please please please? I’m beggin here girl!"

Amanda chuckled, "Alright I’ll try-out but I’m not promising anything."

"Woohoo! I will pick up the forms in the office later and if you have time you could come over to my house tonight and we could start your training. We could train all weekend if you have time and we could on Wednesday too and also on Friday before try-outs we could go over the dances and cheers because auditions for cheerleading start at seven and whenever those are done auditions for dance start." Melody smiled glad it had only taken a little begging to get her way.

"Alright, slow down, I can come over to your place everyday this weekend I don’t have plans just tell me when." Amanda smiled an indulgent smile happy to see Melody in such a giddy mood.

"Oooo, I know you could just stay the whole weekend. My parents are going out of town on a business trip so we would have tons of time to practice. I’ll take you to your house after school so you can ask your mom and pick up your things then we can go over to my place. How does that sound?"

"Great but the tardy bell rang so we better get to choir or Mrs. Hall is gonna have us." Amanda and Melody chuckled under their hands as they walked into the choir room together receiving a playful glare from their choir teacher, which they returned with dancing eyes.

The girls spent all of study hall going over what Amanda needed to learn. Melody made a schedule for the weekend and she hoped to keep pretty close to it, she left plenty of time to sleep in since she hated mornings and plenty of time for eating since she loved food.

Amanda and Melody were making their way up the stairs to Amanda’s apartment when Amanda stopped suddenly and turned to Melody, "Umm its not the nicest place in the world but its home." Amanda felt nervous leading Melody into her apartment. Melody had probably never been in an apartment, at least not one with shabby and old and dirty.

Melody smiled encouragingly at Amanda hoping knowing that this was the greatest place in the world if Amanda called it home. Amanda walked into the apartment and over to her mother kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Hey mom, how are you? Are you still sick?"

"I have had my good times and bad times, I’m still sick but I will be going back to work on Monday believe you me. Who’s your friend?" she asked eyeing Melody closely.

"Oh mom this is Melody, Melody this is my mother Tanya." Amanda’s mother and Melody exchanged greetings. "Mom, I am going to try out for the dance team and cheerleading along with show choir and Melody said she would help me learn to dance. Is it alright with you if I stay the weekend with her?"

"Leave her address and phone number on the pad on the refrigerator door and of course you can stay the weekend, just remember to be respectful and remember you are a guest in that house so what ever they say goes. Got it?"

Amanda rolled her eyes having heard the speech before, "yes mother."

"Don’t roll your eyes at me young lady. I am still your mother and I can still whip you I don’t care how tall you are. I may be a half foot taller than you but I can reach your ears child and I will pull you down to my level if I have to, why in my day…"

Her mothers voice disintegrated into nothing as Amanda walked down the hall with Melody and shut her door. Both girls dissolved into a fit of laughter. "Geez don’t I just have the most typical mother of them all. You would think she learned how to be a mother from TV shows. They all say the same things."

Melody got her laughing under control just long enough to say, "She sounds just like my mom." She bent over laughing at the woman they could still hear ranting down the hall.

Amanda gathered every thing that she would need for a weekend stay. Melody and her discussed the clothing she would need and she settled on two pairs of sweat shorts and t-shirts instead of jeans and t-shirts. She grabbed her sneakers and headed out the door with Melody, her mothers voice trailing behind her. "You be good Amanda Dinah or I’ll have your hide!"

The girls got in Melody’s car and sped off toward Melody’s house. They got out of the car after parking it in the garage, "Mom and dad left this morning so the house should be empty." The girls walked into the door which led them into the kitchen, they went out the other side into a the front entrance, there was a door beside them which held the dining room within and a door across from them which held the living room. Down the hall was a set of stairs, which Melody led Amanda towards. At the top of the stairs there was a hall going each way. Melody told Amanda that right you get her mother and father’s room, their bathroom, and her father’s office. Left you get her room, her bathroom, and her music room. She took Amanda into the music room so she could see where they would be spending most of their weekend.

The room had a polished wood floor with mirrors along the farthest wall. The ceiling was painted white as where the walls but with one exception. The walls had large black notes painted on them. In one corner was a black baby grand piano. The rest of the room was bare. It was very large room with windows across the middle of the left wall. This room was at the back of the house. The two girls went across the room to Melody’s room. There was soft pink carpet and white walls. It had a queen bed taking up the far wall with a soft pink comforter and a window right above the bed with pink stick on butterflies. There was a white dresser and armoire. One on each wall and the wall that the door was on there was a small table with a chair and lamp. There was plenty of floor space, something Amanda had little to spare in her room.

Melody took Amanda’s bag and set it on the bed plopping on the bed herself. "So you wanna get started right away?"

"Sure but what am I gonna owe ya for teachin me how to dance?"

"Um, how about you owe me unlimited tutoring oh smart one." Melody laughed and pulled Amanda on to the bed.

"I’m not that smart Melody."

"Oh right miss I get an A in every class. I am sure you are so stupid." Melody looked around her room then quickly got up and grabbed her CD player. "Come on lets get started."

Melody spent the next hour teaching Amanda all of the jumps she would need for cheerleading and the basic cheers that every good cheerleader should know. She found out quite quickly that Amanda had been in gymnastics as a little girl and with a little practice she could still do a handspring, cartwheel, and round off. Next Melody dragged out her mats. "Now my dear Amanda you need to learn how to be a base. I don’t mean a singing bass. You are going to learn how to lift me. We will do the simplest things like shoulder sits first so you can get used to having my weight on you. Then we’ll do a star." Melody instructed Amanda on where to put her legs and hands to Melody could step up onto her legs and then jump onto her shoulders. Amanda got it on the first try and by the end of the training session and after a few falls; Melody was standing on Amanda’s shoulders.

Melody glanced down at her watch and her eyes went wide. "We’ve been at this for three hours. It’s almost seven we should go down and get something to eat. How do you like your pizza?"

"Um mushrooms, sausage, or pepperoni. Any of those, or just cheese." Amanda wasn’t quite sure what Melody liked.

"Cool I will get a sausage and mushroom…mm my favorite." Melody grinned and dragged Amanda down stairs where she ordered the pizza.

Amanda and Melody were sitting in the living room waiting on the pizza guy when Melody started talking about the rest of the weekend. "Tomorrow some of my friends are going to come over to help you with more lifts and to help you learn how to spot and they are even going to lift you. You need to know what it is like up there. Then we all will go through some more cheers and you can see what it is like to cheer with a squad. Then after they leave I will help you to come up with your own cheer. Everyone has to make one up. Then I will teach you dances tomorrow afternoon and on Sunday I will teach you the dance you need to know for tryouts. They already taught it to all the girls so the girls who signed up late have to be taught individually. The dance is a really easy one to learn it’s only a minute long. The girls will come over again on Sunday to help you learn the dance and to dance with other people around. You will have to dance with everyone when you try out. You will see it will be fun. Then after all of those try outs I can teach you show choir." Melody smiled pleased with her self.

The pizza arrived a few minutes later and the girls took it up to Melody’s room after paying for it and sat on the floor to eat. They sat talking about their families and personal lives trying to learn more about each other.

"So Melody, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No do you?"

"No, you interested in anyone?" This is the question Amanda really wanted answered and she held her breath waiting for the answer.

"Yeah, I am, I think," Melody blushed not wanting to lie but not really having a clear answer. She couldn’t even tell herself if she was interested in Amanda. "How about you, any prospects?"

"There is this one person, but it’ll prolly never work any way."

"Who is it?"

"Who is yours?"

"I asked you first."

"I can’t tell you."

"Don’t you trust me?"

"I do you just…you um…you just wouldn’t understand, that’s all."

Melody put down her pizza and got up and sat on the bed, she suddenly felt like crying and as the tears rolled down her cheeks she whispered softly, "I see."

Amanda got up and sat beside Melody and put her arm around her. "I’m sorry Melody please don’t cry. You are the best friend I’ve ever had and I’ve only known you for just a short period of time. I never want to hurt you please understand it’s just hard."

"What’s so hard Amanda? What wouldn’t I understand? I am a big girl all grown up. I don’t need you to tell me what I will and will not understand. I thought we were friends, we could tell each other anything. You like someone at school? What is it a teacher? I mean what could I not understand? I mean what Amanda?"

Amanda sat back stunned not really knowing what to say. She opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come out. She looked down at her shoes and said so quietly Melody wasn’t sure she had heard right. "It’s not a teacher, it’s a girl."

Melody’s eye brows shot up into her hair line then slowly came down as a smile spread across her face. "I see. Was that so hard Amanda?"

"Yes, your turn."

"Um, well like you, umm…"

"Hey, I told."

"Not really, you didn’t tell me who she was."

"Just tell me."

Melody sat looking at Amanda, "Well um, it’s a girl. You know like you."

This time Amanda’s eyebrows shot up and stayed there. Then her wheels started turning. "Who?" she asked.

"You first."

"Okay then, um you."

"No you Amanda"

Amanda looked at the carpet not quite sure how to tell Melody what she had just said. "Melody I meant um that um I like…"

"Yeees."

"You."

"Me?"

"You."

"Wow, me too."

"You like yourself too?"

"No, I like you."

They both stared at each other. Neither knowing what to say. It had all come out fast, really fast. They sat there blue locked onto green. Neither moving. Then slowly, very slowly they moved toward each other. Neither knowing what was happening.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING was the shrill sound that broke the spell they had put on each other. They both jumped up as if they had been burned. Melody picked up the phone quickly moving away from Amanda as quickly as she could. "Hello? This is Melody. (pause) Hi Dianna. (pause) Tomorrow at eleven and Sunday at ten. (pause) Of course in the morning. I’m not going to teach her to dance in the middle of the night." Melody’s eyes went wide suddenly as she almost yelled, "NO don’t come over tonight. (pause) Um it’s just that um we aren’t going to do any more tonight. Just watch a movie and go to bed. (pause) Ok I’ll se you tomorrow. Good bye Dianna." Melody hung up the phone and turned towards Amanda. "She wanted to know when to come over tomorrow and Sunday. Um do you want to watch a movie?"

"How about I take you out to a movie. I know a great musical that’s playing, lots of dancing and singing. Chicago."

Melody wrung her hands nervously, "Like on a date?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"I don’t know."

"You know it can just be two friends going out."

Melody moved towards Amanda not quite able to stay away. "I want it to be more. A first date?"

"Sounds good." Amanda bowed deeply and offered her arm to a giggling Melody, "This way milady to the car so that we may be off to the Cineplex to see the ravishing Chicago!"

"Oh how fun sir, you will behave yourself and be a gentlemen won’t you?"

"Oh my lady I will be a gentlemen of the highest degree!" Both girls broke down laughing and walked to the car to go watch the movie.

Amanda smiled to herself thinking that this was a perfect evening.

Melody smiled to herself thinking that this was a perfect evening.

To be continued…

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