Disqualified

Chapter 1

                I never wanted to dance. Music (mostly rock) ran through my blood, I had never thought of dancing before. Let along joining a dance class which taught modern jazz… I was actually forced to dance by my friend, Michael. He was trying to court this girl and he’s doing everything but worship the ground that the girl walked on… this girl so happened to like dancing and he volunteered to drive her to and fro. But since this girl’s brother is a control freak, Michael had to get a girl in the same car for the class so that her brother would not suspect anything. And guess who got dragged?

                That’s right. Me. His friend of 7 long years. But I guess it was okay, it was performing art and I thought that I should give it a try. And hey presto! Now I happen to be one of the best dancers in class. It so happens that I actually had talent for dancing! But I never performed. Never. I can’t picture myself up there on stage in some skimpy out fit or even worse, a dress. Yep, I am a tomboy and proud of it. There’s one more thing about me… but I’m not proud of it.

                I’m a lesbian. I like girls. I dated girls. Not that I ever had a date before… I was always too scared to ask. I rarely reveal my feelings. I had the reputation of being really ‘cool’. But I kid and joke around with my close group of friends and sometimes just to show everyone that I was not a walking mannequin… I was not good looking… for a girl. But then again I look more like a guy than a girl. I change my hairstyle almost as often as I changed my socks. And my attitude made Kelvin, another one of my ‘no life’ gang of friends, say that I was so much better looking than most guys.

                But that was useless wasn’t it? I can’t go around pretending I’m a guy…

                Oh well, back to the story. Dance. Yes and there, there I met an angel. Clair was her name… beautiful ain’t it? Well, almost everything about her is beautiful. She had a perfect dancer’s body. Beautiful curves, fair skin and a cute butt. Hey, in class we have to wear tight clothes… not that I ever obeyed that rule. For the first few lessons the teacher was shouting his head off at me. But after I had learnt the steps, he said nothing. That’s because I surprised him as much as I surprised the whole class. I had talent.

                When I first met Clair, she was learning the first few steps of the musical ‘FAME’. I had the steps locked down already, so I sat down and watched. I was amazed at the way she could look as if she was floating or should I say skipping lightly on air… plus her angelic face was more than I could bear. I couldn’t help but stare… until the teacher, Ganesh, almost kicked me onto the dance floor.

                “What do you think you’re doing? Get out there!”

                “Fine… Fine…” and I got up on the dance floor. Another girl came up to me, Suzanne. I didn’t really like her. She has a loud voice and no shame. She didn’t even have the body for dance… but then again, mine wasn’t really great either.

                “Have you met the new girl? She’s great!” Suzanne said in a little too loud voice. It was too shrill… but that was the way she always talked.

                “No. I just got here a few minutes ago. But she’s pretty good.”

                “Yeah, I know,” she said, smiling at Clair. She then turned back to me and said, “There’s a charity show next week-“

                “No.” I answered without letting her finish her sentence. I knew what she was going to say.

                “But we’re short of a few persons. Besides, you never performed before!” I winced slightly as she wailed.

                “You said it yourself, I never performed and never will. Get the new girl to dance.”

                “She does not have the steps locked down yet!!”

                “The show’s next week. She’ll know them in no time. She has talent.”

                “But-“

                “The answer is no.” and I proceeded to take my place in the formation before Ganesh bursts a vein or two in his brain. I swear that guy is so much nicer off the dance studio…

                “Okay, for those who still doesn’t know, there’s a charity show next week,” Ganesh said at the end of the class. “Hopefully all of you will be able to remember your steps by then. And Jo-“

                I didn’t give him a chance to finish. “The answer is no, Ganesh. You know that.”

                He sighed, “Okay then. You’re staying later today right?”

                I nodded and did some simple stretches. From the corner of my eye, I saw Clair talking to Suzanne and a few other girls.

                “Ganesh! Clair wants to stay as well! Can she?” Suzanne just had to make sure everyone in the whole world heard that…

                “Clair?” He frowned. He had forgotten the new girl’s name. “Oh! The new girl! Yeah, sure.”

                “Yay! Clair! Come on, let’s do a quick rehearsal!” Suzanne shouted. “Come on! Jill, get your ass down here!”

                I sighed and shook my head. I carried on with my stretches. That is until someone kicked me in my rear end, causing me take a nose-dive onto the parquet floor. I turned around to give my attacker a piece of my mind.

                “What the-“ I stopped midway as I looked up at the attacker, my right hand holding my nose. Hey, it hurt okay? And it was Suzanne who kicked me but Clair was behind her.

                “Get into formation!” Suzanne shouted.

                “Hey, I’m not in the show!” I answered, getting up.

                “Doesn’t matter, just get in. if not then why are you here anyway?”

                “If you hadn’t heard, I’m break dancing.”

                “There’s no break dancing class!”

                “I’m working with Ganesh!”

                “Oh…”

                I sighed and got back to my stretches. Suzanne stormed off. Then I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned to face the face of an angel. Clair.

                “Hi,” she said. She held out her hand, “My name’s Clair.”

                “Uh… I’m Jo. Nice to meet you.” And I turned back to my stretches. She took back her hand and looked at her feet. I felt like an idiot. I wanted to kick myself. I had probably blown my only chance of being friends. So I turned around.

                “Sorry, my hands are really sweaty so I don’t think it’s nice to shake yours…”

                She smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay.”

                And I smiled back.