THAT week was very busy. I was going to dance rehearsals every other day after school. I was so tired, but rehearsals were going really well. Maestra Soto said she was proud of us … but we were missing something: boys. Maestra said we needed more boys to join our dance group for the parade performance. I told her I knew the perfect boy for the job!

“Um … Emma, I’m really not a very good dancer,” Javier said nervously on his first day of rehearsal.

“But, Javier, we took mangulina class together in first grade. Remember? You know how to do it.”

“Yeah, but, Emma, that was two years ago. I did it because my mom made me. Why do you think I stopped? I was terrible!”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. You’ll be great!” I told him.

Javier agreed to join our dance group, but I had to promise him two of my cookies at lunch every day for two weeks. And since he has allergies, I had to make my mom give me the gluten-free kind. I told Javier they taste funny and he said, they do not. And I said, they do, too. And he said, how would you know if you haven’t even tried them? And I said, fine, I’ll try them! And actually … they were pretty good!

Anyway, watching Javier dance was a little funny. Sophia agreed to be his partner, but I think she might regret it. When Maestra said spin to the right, he went left. When Maestra told the boys to grab the girls’ hands, he pulled too hard and Sophia landed on his feet! And when Maestra told the boys to kick their feet, Javier stepped on Sophia’s skirt by accident and they both fell to the ground!

Maestra’s son, David, stepped in to help.

“That’s it, Javier,” David instructed. “Use your right foot next time … and then spin.”

Eventually Javier got better. We all did. We rehearsed so much, my arms felt like Jell-O. And my legs felt wobbly when I walked home from class. But our dance performance was looking great! Shakira and Sophia and I were spinning and stepping and shaking at all the right times. We held our skirts high in the air as we spun around and around.

The following week, we had a very special visitor at dance class.

“Okay, boys and girls,” Maestra said with a big smile. “I want to introduce you to someone. This is Rachel Cheng, from the local news station. She is here to do the news story on Las Palomas dance group!”

We all let out a huge giggle as we said hello. I couldn’t believe there was a real, famous reporter right in front of me. She was holding a real microphone and there was a man with a real camera standing next to her. It was so cool.

“I want you to be on your best behavior and cooperate with Ms. Cheng, okay?” said Maestra.

“Okay,” we all replied.

“Who can tell Ms. Cheng why we are called Las Palomas?”

“Ooh, me! I can, I can!” I shouted.

“Wow, you seem to know the answer,” Rachel Cheng said, smiling right at me. “But please, call me Rachel. And this guy here is my video photographer, Christian.” We waved hi to Christian, too. “So,” Rachel continued, “I’d love to know what Las Palomas means.” Then she looked at Christian and motioned to me. He lifted his huge video camera and pointed it right at me! Then Rachel picked up her microphone and pointed that at me as well!

I wanted to tell her that I was a reporter, too. That I have a microphone almost the same as hers! I was so excited to talk to a real reporter, for a minute I forgot what I was going to say. I took a deep breath. And then I remembered.

“Las Palomas means ‘the Doves,’ ” I told her. “We are called the Doves because they represent peace and beauty and grace. And so do we.”

“Wow. I’m very impressed,” said Rachel. I thought for a moment, Maybe she likes me! “Thank you for that explanation. I would love to see your dance routine. Can you all perform it for us?”

“Yes!” we shouted back.

“Everyone get into position,” Maestra instructed. “Alyssa, can you go get the tambora drum from the closet? I want to play it for this performance. Thanks.”

“Sure thing,” Alyssa replied. She ran to the corner of the dance studio to open the closet. When Alyssa came back a few seconds later, she didn’t have the drum with her.

“Sorry, I forgot I put it in the closet upstairs yesterday. I’ll go get it,” Alyssa explained. Maestra and David looked at her strangely.

“Okay, while Alyssa goes to get the drum, we will get started. We’ll play the music from my phone instead.”

Alyssa ran out of the room, and we got into position. As soon as the music started, we knew what to do. We knew all the right moves and made our skirts fly extra high just to impress the reporter. Even Javier managed not to fall down.

As we were dancing, I saw Alyssa come back into the room. She whispered something to Maestra Soto. Maestra put her hand over her mouth. She looked shocked and worried. Then they both left the room. Shakira and I looked at each other. We didn’t know what was wrong, so we kept dancing until our routine was finished.

“That was wonderful! Thank you so much for showing that to us,” Rachel said.

Then Maestra Soto walked back in the room with Alyssa.

“You’ve done a great job with these kids, Maestra. They’re all so talented,” Rachel said. “I think we’re almost done shooting our story. But I would like to see that special tambora drum before we leave. Can we get some shots of you playing the drum?”

“Um … well …” Maestra Soto was stuttering. I knew something was wrong. She usually knows exactly what to say. I looked over at Alyssa, and she looked like she was going to be sick!

“Actually, Rachel,” explained Maestra Soto, “it appears as though the tambora drum is … missing.”