“Can you believe who’s paying us a visit?” My mom smiled, holding a pair of teacups in her hands. A scream tried to escape my mouth but I locked my lips together. After gingerly exhaling a deep breath, I attempted a response.
“Ahh.” I couldn’t say any more.
“Sit down, Rodney. Mrs. Lutzkraut was just talking to me about the school year. Don’t look so panicked. We’re discussing good things. Mrs. Lutzkraut, you were saying . . .”
“Yes, Mrs. Rathbone. You know I think the world of your son, and I am so thankful that he moved here this year and joined my class.” My mom beamed. I almost puked. “Parents need to hear good news, too, you know. And that really is why I’m here. You need to know just how impressed I’ve been with your son.”
“Rodney, isn’t that nice of Mrs. Lutzkraut? Could you imagine having a nicer teacher?”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Rathbone. I don’t like to put students on the spot. Oh, one more thing. You may know there’s a dance this Friday night.”
My head was spinning, but when she mentioned the dance my intestines twisted. That’s what she had meant when I’d overheard her say, “an evening to remember. . .” It was the one thing I had been looking forward to most and now my big night with Jessica would be ruined.
My mom said, “Yes, I read about the dance in the PTA bulletin.”
“Well, I know how shy Rodney can be . . .”
What???
“. . . and boys his age will make any excuse to get out of a dance, but I really believe going to this dance will do wonders for his socialization.” Then she turned and addressed me directly. “Rodney, we will all be so disappointed if you choose not to attend.”
“Mrs. Lutzkraut,” my mom began, “I just want to thank you for this year. Rodney has done a great job adjusting to his new town and school, and I can see it’s because of you and your hard work.”
Was this all really happening?
“No other teacher I know would take time from her busy schedule to make a personal stop and discuss a student’s well-being.”
My well-being? The lady was busy planning my execution.
“It’s my pleasure,” Mrs. Lutzkraut replied, setting down the teacup and rising to shake my mom’s hand. “You never described how lovely your home was, Rodney. Oh, and don’t forget the dance Friday night. We’ll be waiting for you.” She turned her head so my mom couldn’t see and gave me a little wink.
We walked to the door. All of a sudden the red car pulled up. “Here’s my ride now,” Mrs. Lutzkraut announced. “My friend and I so enjoy driving on these late spring days. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rodney.” The door closed and I watched her walk down the steps.
“Oh Rodney, you are truly blessed to have such a wonderful teacher,” my mom said, walking into the kitchen.
“Mom, the woman’s crazy! She . . .”
“Rodney, Mrs. Lutzkraut is one of those special teachers. She may be demanding, but she’s the type that can change a student’s life forever. Now go wash up for dinner.” Well, she was right about that. I had no doubt she’d be changing my life. I just hoped I’d be around to see how it turned out.
I wish I could tell you more about the days leading up to the dance, but all week I was fixated on the doom surrounding Friday night. Jessica got more excited as it got closer, and I fought to act the same, only my dream-come-true had become a nightmare. By the time Friday rolled around, any excitement I felt about Jessica was squashed by the occasional evil grins from Josh and Toby and Mrs. Lutzkraut. The three were in cahoots, and tonight was the night.
That afternoon, I found myself at home, looking in the mirror and thinking over my problems. My brown eyes staring back at me were red and frightened. I was angry with myself. Why are you such a chicken? I asked my reflection.
Duh, my reflection seemed to answer, Josh is going to kill you tonight. Stay home and do something else. Read a book. You can even have a tea party with your sister and her dolls. Just don’t go to that dance.
My reflection seemed to make sense, and my sister would sure love it. But then I got mad at the guy in the mirror. Didn’t he realize Jessica was going to be at the dance and just waiting to . . . ?
You can’t kiss a girl if you’re dead, my reflection answered. He had a point. But then again, if I didn’t go tonight I’d have to face Josh eventually anyway, and what could Mrs. Lutzkraut really do? There’d be lots of other adults around. Besides, the best-looking, coolest girl in the grade was waiting to be my date. Maybe I was tougher than I gave myself credit for. I took a long hard look at my reflection, exhaled, and finally, after weighing all the options, turned my back on the mirror. I strolled confidently out of the bathroom and down the hall to the top of the steps. “Penny!” I yelled. “Count me in for tea. Just don’t sit me next to Mrs. Puffdoodle!”
“Yay!” Penny cheered from the den.
My mom, however, stepped out of her room and gave me a funny look. “Rodney, what are you doing? You need to be getting ready for the dance tonight.”
“Mom, I don’t think I’m going. I’m not feeling that great.”
She smiled and took me by the shoulder. “I think I know what this is about.”
“You do?” I asked, shocked.
“Yes, honey, I know you’re worried about dancing. Mrs. Lutzkraut warned me you would probably be embarrassed to dance. Well, it’s nothing to worry about. You’ll do great. Now come into the bathroom and let me fix your hair. Your father will drop you and Jessica off and then come back at the end to drive everyone home.”
“But Mom, I don’t think I want to . . .”
“But Mom nothing. I have the perfect shirt for you. These jeans will look the best. Hmm, no, maybe these khakis, no, the jeans. Okay, shoes. You can’t wear sneakers. Here, put on your black dress shoes. . . .”
I looked down at the shoes she was referring to. They were black, dressy, and supershiny. I could see my face reflected in the gleaming surface. I looked disgusted. “Mom, I’m not wearing those. You bought them for Mrs. Geller’s son’s wedding.”
“So, they’re perfect. . . .”
“No, they’re too hard and slippery, and I’ll be the only one wearing shoes like those. I’ll look like a fool,” I whined.
“Nonsense, now let’s see about . . .”
I tried to argue, but when my mom is focused on a task, there’s no stopping her. She had me dressed, pressed, wiped, and tucked before I could blink. As my dad and I pulled out of the driveway, I looked back and saw my mom waving happily. My sister, walking with her teapot, wasn’t smiling.
The dance was in the Baber gym. The parents had decorated it with streamers and balloons. A DJ had set up a booth at the far end. As Jessica and I entered, the DJ’s big speakers were already blaring the most recent hit song. Jessica joined the girls dancing down in front as I quickly looked around. No sign of Josh or Toby. Maybe they weren’t coming. That made sense. A dance didn’t really seem like their kind of thing. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Even though Mrs. Lutzkraut was there, talking to Mr. Feebletop and Ms. Dearing, she didn’t seem very interested in me. I decided to join my friends.
Dave was still on crutches. Perfect prey. Sure enough, Kayla walked by and asked, “Wanna dance, Dave?” She giggled, then dragged my hopping friend into the middle of the girls, who all thought a boy on crutches was great and danced around him.
“Nice shoes.” Slim laughed, looking down at my feet.
Rishi added an, “Oh man, check those things out.”
I didn’t respond. My mind had drifted elsewhere. It wasn’t Josh or Toby or Mrs. Lutzkraut that had grabbed my attention. It was a girl who looked better than ever. Her blond hair glided in the air as she walked my way. When she came up to me and grabbed my hand, I thought I might die. “You ready to dance?” Jessica asked.
I nodded, feeling good all over. Looking back at my two gawking friends, I winked. “Must be the shoes.”
We strolled into the crowd and began dancing. I felt a little silly at first, especially with the lights reflecting off my goofy shoes, but after a few minutes Jessica was the only one on my mind. She had on a blue dress that matched her eyes, and once or twice her hair blew past my face. I could feel it graze my cheek and I could smell her shampoo.
We looked at each other through the flashing colored lights and laughing crowd. She came closer and said, “Let’s get some soda.”
We passed through the doors and walked up to a table in the lobby loaded down with cups, soda bottles, and chips. Rishi and Slim were there eating out of the Dorito bowl. Ignoring them, I filled our cups. One fizzed up and Jessica leaned down and drank off the foam. I watched her in a trance and didn’t notice the change in the room. After a few moments, I saw that Rishi and Slim had stopped eating and were staring behind me. Despite having a brown soda mustache, there was nothing funny about Jessica’s frightened expression.
How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let my guard down? My brain kicked fully into gear, and with it so did my wiggly knees, gurgling stomach, and every sweat gland in my body. I turned around.
Josh didn’t waste any time smacking the drink out of my hand. Jessica let out a little scream, which Toby laughingly imitated. Panicked, I looked out toward the gym. If I yelled, maybe an adult would hear me, but I saw the doors closing and clicking shut. Through one thin rectangular windowpane, I saw what looked like Mrs. Lutzkraut walking away.
They got me!
And, almost as if reading my mind, Josh said, “No one’s saving you this time.”
He was right. There was no one around. Jessica, Slim, and Rishi stood frozen. Josh pulled back his right fist and fired.
I tried to jump back, but my fancy wedding shoes had no traction and flew out from underneath me. I let out a shout as I fell backward, feeling one of my hard, pointy shoes connect squarely with Josh’s chin. His head snapped back and he barreled into a shocked Toby. As I hit the ground, I saw them smash into the table and watched the punch bowl land on top of them. Josh was dazed and Toby was under him, soaked in red punch. The whole fight lasted about one second.
Slim and Jessica grabbed me by the arms and helped me up. We hurried back into the gym as some of the parents went running over to investigate the loud crash. We could just hear their angry yells before we slipped into the crowd.
Too shaken to dance, we moved to the far corner to catch our breath. Rishi was the first to speak. “All this time, Rodney, you never told us you knew karate!”
“Well, I, uh,” I mumbled.
Slim interjected, “Yeah, you yelled just like Bruce Lee as you kicked him!” Slim then yelled a high-pitched karate scream. “Whaaaaaaaaaaaach ooooooooaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
“Quiet down, guys,” Jessica said, “Rodney might get into big trouble.” She was still holding my arm.
At that moment we noticed a pink-stained pair being led out of the gym by a couple of parents and Mr. Feebletop. Both boys looked miserable. Josh stumbled along holding his chin and Toby was limping. Rishi and Slim ran off to tell Dave and Kayla what had just happened.
Jessica remained by my side. “Rodney, I never knew someone could be so brave. Josh is so big and scary. I couldn’t move, and you just handled it like it was nothing. You kicked him in the head. It was like a movie! You know, you’re not only brave, but you’re nice, funny, and kind.”
“You forgot cute,” I joked.
“You are cute,” she said, smiling. At that very moment the DJ dimmed the lights and started playing a slower song. I looked over and noticed Rishi at the DJ’s side. He gave me the thumbs-up sign. As Jessica and I began to dance, I somehow knew we were going to kiss. I closed my eyes, puckered up, and leaned in.
Her lips felt cold, saggy, and bony, not at all what I had dreamed about for months. I snapped open my eyes and realized I was kissing the back of Mrs. Lutzkraut’s hand. “We’ll have none of that at this dance! Jessica, go tell Kayla I want her to stop twirling Dave around the room.” Jessica and I stood still, gazing at each other. “Run along now, Jessica.” She looked disappointed, but headed off into the crowd. As for Mrs. Lutzkraut, she glared at me long and hard before opening her mouth.
“You were in the lobby and caused the whole commotion. I’ll make sure that Mr. Feebletop punishes you this time for starting the fight. . . .”
“Oh really?” I asked. “If you saw me there, how come you didn’t do anything to stop the fight? In fact, how come you closed the gym doors? And how come you didn’t join the parents when they went running in? I’m sure Mr. Feebletop will have a lot of questions for you.”
“Why you impudent, ill-mannered . . .” Her head began to shake back and forth as she searched for the right word. She was ready to blow. Finally, still shaking and twitching, she turned and hurried off just as my dad arrived to pick me up.
“Was that Mrs. Lunchbox?” he asked.
“Lutzkraut.” I smiled.
“Well she looks kind of batty, if you ask me. Anyway, how was the dance?”
“Great,” I answered, taking one last look at Jessica across the gym. “Definitely an evening to remember.”