Malik and I nearly bumped into each other. “Hey there, Melody,” he yelled above the music. “Planning on any more joyrides with the horses?”
I didn’t have time to tap out much, so I smiled and said, “Absolutely! At midnight tonight!”
He laughed and said, “Seriously, though, I would have totally freaked out. You should have seen Trinity. She nearly had a heart attack! But you were so chill when you got back. Even Santiago was impressed, and he rides all the time.”
That was so nice to hear! But before I could answer, Athena bounded up. “Malik, wanna dance?” I watched them spin away.
It was getting late. We’d been out here much longer than on previous nights, but the fire still burned bright and nobody seemed to want to leave. I sure didn’t.
And then it happened.
“Hey there, Melody,” Noah said, ambling over, back to using his walker again. He glanced up at the sky as if he was concerned about the weather or something.
Then he said, “You and Jocelyn looked good up there.”
I gulped but managed to hit “Thanks” on my board. I hoped my smile wasn’t as wobbly as my insides were feeling.
“Uh, I’m not much of a dancer,” he mumbled.
I took a chance.
“Neither was I,” I tapped.
“What do you mean?”
“Until tonight. I never danced until tonight.”
“You are kidding me,” Noah said. “Really?” And then his face went red. “I’ve actually never danced before in front of… anyone. Not all by myself. Or… with someone, for real. I mean, not being crazy with my friends…”
He glanced at me, and I took one more chance. Because, why not?
“Um, if you dance with someone for real, then you won’t be dancing by yourself….” That took so long to tap. But Noah watched patiently while I typed every letter; I could literally feel him watching.
And before I could tap out the next word, he said, “Okay, Firefly Girl, before they close the place down, do you, uh, do you wanna dance?”
He is nervous too? I wondered in amazement.
Then, of course, I accidentally hit the volume button on my board as I went to respond, and it screeched out, embarrassingly loud, “YES!”
I wanted to sink down in my chair. No, under it!
Noah, however, didn’t seem to be even remotely bothered by the world’s loudest response. He touched one edge of Elvira, waggled his finger like he was scolding her. That made me giggle. But then he gently touched the back of my hand. Now that made me shiver.
Devin and Malik were chanting, “Go, Noah! Go, Melody! Dance! Dance! Dance!”
Trinity stepped close and offered to help, but I shook my head because Noah was already swinging behind my wheelchair, pushing his walker out of the way, and grasping the wheelchair handles. He pushed me up the ramp and onto the dance floor Just. Like. That.
The song was the one I loved, the one about dreams. And suddenly I was dancing—with Noah. A boy who wanted to dance with me. Me! A boy I wanted to dance with. Could this be real?
He leaned on the back of my chair for support, and the wheels did the rest of the work. Yep, my chair knew how to take care of me! And Noah must be strong; he swirled my chair around like it was weightless. Swinging on a walker must be good for the biceps, I couldn’t help thinking when my brain could process anything other than the fact that I’m dancing with Noah. I spread my arms as wide as I could—yes I did, like wings—and swayed with the rhythm of the music.
I gulped down the words as the song went on about how it’s gonna take a million dreams…. Then—brain freeze. Noah touched my shoulder. On purpose. He made it seem like it was part of the dance, but when I stole a glance back, I saw him smile shyly. And, yes, I smiled back. My brain unfroze and began whirling as fast as the wheels of my chair.
Even though I was pretty sure that Cassie played the song all the way through at least two more times, and other kids were dancing around us, our time on the dance floor was over way too soon. The last strains of the music faded away. The firelight was barely a glow. We did one last twirl, then Noah spun me to face him and gave a deep bow. I pretend-curtsied back, and we both cracked up.
“Thanks for the dance, Firefly Girl,” he said, reaching for his walker, which Jeremiah had at the ready.
And as he swung back to his group, he turned around once to wave good night. I waved back. I noticed lots of fist bumps and such from the rest of the Panthers when Noah joined them. And my circle of girls surrounded me as well, with whispers and smiles and hugs.
It was time to head back. I looked for Noah in the shuffle of packing up, but the Panthers had disappeared. It was late. It was time for bed. Tomorrow, I realized, we would all leave, go back to our own homes, and all this would be a memory. Home! I couldn’t believe it, but I felt like it was too soon, like I hadn’t done enough here. That made me laugh a little. I had worried so much. I’d fretted and stressed. And now I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave.
Had I made it all up? Had I really danced? Did that really happen? Trinity came over to tuck a fleece around me, but I shrugged it away.
I felt on fire.
Tomorrow, I’d go home.
But tonight, I had danced!
CHAPTER 46
We were all up early. Trinity rummaged through the clothes I had brought and pulled out a really sharp outfit—skinny jeans, a hot-pink cutoff shirt, and fresh white sneakers.
I pointed to the box, still not empty of orange Tshirts and sweatshirts.
She laughed and said, “Not today, you orange-wearing horse whisperer! We’re wearing cute instead of camp. Fair enough?”
At first Athena picked out a pink T-shirt, but then she exclaimed, “I need to wear orange today—we’re the Fiery Falcons, right?”
Sage hugged her and pulled out a shirt for her. And no, the box was still not empty!