CHAPTER 6
THE ANNOUNCEMENT

Tobias ran down the steps of the porch and pushed past his sisters and Declan. He felt guilty for slamming the door but not guilty enough to go back and apologize to his mom.

“Hey, wait up!” Declan jogged up, out of breath. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just stuff at home,” Tobias answered, kicking a rock on the sidewalk.

“Tobias is being a poopy-head.” Anne laughed, joining the pair.

“Don’t call him a poopy-head. He’s more like a big jerk,” Mary grumbled. She said it under her breath, but it was loud enough for Tobias and Declan to hear.

Tobias kept quiet, but his anger kept building.

Anne stepped in front of Tobias and with her hands on her hips yelled, “POOPY-HEAD!” Then she ran away, giggling.

“Your little sister isn’t wrong. In this case, the name fits,” Declan pointed out.

Tobias sighed. He guessed he was being a poopy-head to his sisters and Declan. His mom too. But sometimes it was really hard to stop being angry.

“Oh, forgot to mention. I came across Cody Sherman. The hoop dancer from Oklahoma. Have you heard of him?” Declan asked.

The mention of Cody Sherman chiseled away a bit of Tobias’s anger.

“Cody is one of the best hoop dancers of all time. Watching him dance is how I learned to interlock hoops. His tutorial videos are golden,” Tobias said.

“I watched most of his videos last night,” Declan said. “He’s a good instructor. I even tried to do some of his steps.”

Declan stopped and bounced up and down on his feet, tapping twice on each foot.

“Oh, yeah. Can you do this one?” Tobias did a side-step bounce trot.

Mary and Anne raced back and joined in the dance. The girls spun as they bounced, moving their arms up and down as if they had hoops.

Tobias smiled. A rush of adrenaline chased away his anger.

Declan stopped dancing and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“Are you still upset with me about telling Josh and Joel about your hoop dancing?” Declan asked.

“I don’t think so,” Tobias finally said. “In one of his videos, Cody said that dancing is a form of community. I had forgotten about that.”

They arrived at school and, for the first time in weeks, walked in together as a group.

A small crowd huddled around the main announcement board in the foyer. As they moved closer, they read SPRING TALENT SHOW in big block letters.

The show was two weeks away, but auditions were in three days. The auditions were not competitive. Pretty much everyone who auditioned made it into the show.

Tobias’s sisters squealed. Mary hummed a tune while Anne sang their duet piece. This was the first year they could perform together.

Tobias had been so distracted with hoop dancing (and being mad at his mom) that he had forgotten about the annual talent show. He looked forward to watching his sisters perform.

Tobias and Declan were the last to arrive to class. Josh and Joel were already in their seats and looked ready to pounce.

“Hey, Tobias. You gonna hoop dance for everyone at the talent show?” Josh asked loudly. “Maybe you and Declan can do a duo like your sisters.”

“Yeah, we want to see you do your robot dance,” Joel added, with a clunky shoulder roll dance move.

The normally loud room grew quiet. Everyone looked at Tobias, waiting for his answer.

Tobias had had enough. He decided he would fight back by dancing at the talent show.

“Whatever I do will be better than what you two got,” he said.

“What Josh and I perform at the talent show will blow away your dance. Can’t wait to see you fail,” Joel growled.