Starlet

26. Belly Dancing

The next day at theater practice, Leo sits beside me. Lynn's on stage again. Doesn't surprise me.

"Figured I'd see how you're doing. It's probably a lot for you. First time being an understudy."

"I think I'm ok. I've read the play a lot. Said the lines out loud. Tried to imagine how Nicole would say them and what she would do. Is she flirty with everyone or just Zeke? It seems like it's everyone at times. Other times it seems like she only likes Zeke."

"I think she has a flirty personality. After a while, they get closer. The flirting is who she is. That's not going to change, but she only likes Zeke in the end."

"Ok. But it's just flirty, right? Like she's not sleeping with everyone?"

"No, just playful flirting. Lots of smiling and batting her eyelashes. Flipping her hair. Maybe light touches to arms or something. But nothing more than that. Except with Zeke. They are together by the end."

"I saw in 1 spot she pulls Zeke in the beach hut. That was different. What's a beach hut? And what does that mean?"

"It's a little 1-room house on the beach. It would probably have palm leaves as the roof and maybe logs for walls. It's a shelter on the beach. That is what the group makes to live in. Her pulling him in symbolizes s*x. It's the next step in their relationship."

"I guess that makes sense. It seems like after that they are a lot closer. I couldn't figure out why."

"That's when they realize they care about each other. That's the start of them being together as a couple."

"I need to write that down."

Bayden turns around and gives us a dirty look. "You 2 need to pay attention."

Leo puts his hand up. "Sorry. My fault. She has some questions about her character."

Bayden nods and turns back around.

Lynn glares at Leo from the stage.

I pretend not to see and he ignores her. He grabs my book. "What did you write about the beach hut?" He flips to the page. "Shelter house with leaves. When they become boyfriend and girlfriend." He smiles. "That's about right. Anything else you didn't understand?"

"Yea, some stuff. But I can't remember it off the top of my head. I think it's more of the implied stuff. I don't always understand what it means."

"Once we get to the scene and act them out, you'll see it, and it'll start to make sense. If not, you can always ask me. I'll explain it for you."

"Thank you. It would have been nice to have you around last play. I think I missed a lot of it because it was implying things I don't understand yet."

"Yea, there was a lot going on."

"Did you see me? I was in it."

"Yep. You played a business owner. You did a good job."

I smile and wiggle. "Thank you. I was famous for the weekend."

He hands the book back. "You did perfect. Did you get flowers?"

I shake my head. "I'm supposed to get flowers?"

"The actresses do. I've never understood it to be honest."

"Yea that's different. It was a small part anyway. Some of the bigger parts probably got them."

"I'll get you some flowers after our play."

I lean against his arm. "You probably shouldn't. She is glaring at you sitting here. You hand me a flower, she might chop your head off."

"I'm sorry for that."

"For what?"

"The way she is acting."

"Well, I doubt if her acting has anything to do with you." I am really lost.

He smiles. "She's not a very nice person. I'm sorry you have to deal with her."

I shrug my shoulders. "She used to be nice. We tried out for the last play together. We were happy when we got our parts. We watched the parade together at my house. Next thing I knew, we were trying out for this play. I told her she did good in her audition. She rolled her eyes and walked away. I don't know what happened."

"When Bayden had you running the lines in the auditions, with everyone he was implying you were the better actress. He didn't use her at all. It must have bothered her."

"That's weird. She knew I wasn't her competition. She knew Bayden wouldn't give me a main part."

"Must have hurt her ego. She must have thought she deserved that from Bayden. Now she's acting like an ass all the time. Acting like she's better than everyone because you didn't get the part, and she did."

I shrug my shoulders. "She knew I wasn't getting it. The whole last play knew. It wasn't a surprise to any of us. I was just happy that he let me be included. I would still have done hair or something. I don't think he would kick me out completely. I love the theater."

"I can tell. You have a passion for it. It won't be long, and you'll be up there as the main actress."

I snuggle into his arm.

"Are you tired?"

"No sorry." I sit up fast. "I forget about personal space sometimes. I'm working on it. I guess maybe I do get snuggly when I'm sleepy too." I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I try to be good."

"You are good. Nothing wrong with being snuggly. It's quite cute. It doesn't make you bad."

I smile. Then we stop and watch Bayden shake his hips. "Well, that's something I'm never going to be able to unsee."

Leo cracks up laughing.

Bayden gives him a dirty look. "Oh, can you teach belly dancing better?"

I put my hand up. "Yes. I can."

"Really?"

"I've had years of lessons in dancing, belly dancing included. I can do it better than you."

"I don't know if I can have a child teaching that. Can you summon Dipak and tell him it's not an emergency? I need approval for something."

I look at a brain. "And Thora. Tell her we're teaching belly dancing."

Bayden goes back to trying to explain hip movements. Everyone in the audience is losing it. The girls have no idea what to think.

Thora comes running all the way over to me. "I BROUGHT OUR OUTFITS. GET UP."

I jump up and nearly fall over Leo. He grabs onto me and doesn't let me fall. Thora drags me up on stage and to the back. We put on belly dancing outfits. I wear black and gold. She has blue and gold. We even have face things on and eye makeup. Then we push the belts low, so our hips look amazing. I am keeping this.

Dipak and Tye are standing on the ground level with the boys. The 4 main actresses and their understudies are on the stage.

"We've already discussed having a half naked child on the stage."

"Don't look at me on this 1. I don't know where the outfits came from. I was trying to show the girls belly dancing. They need a sexy dance style for the island. Apparently, I'm not a good teacher of belly dancing. I was removed from that position."

Leo nods. "We're never going to be the same after seeing him dance like that."

Everyone laughs.

"Anyway. A certain teenager said she has had lessons and can teach it better than me. I summoned you to see if that was alright. Queen Thora showed up first."

Thora nods. "I brought our outfits. SO, SIT DOWN OR LEAVE."

The boys all sit in the front row. Some are staring at me. Some are staring at Thora. Some are looking at both of us.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Are we dancing for them or them?" I point at the girls behind us on stage, then at the boys.

"Good point. Go sit down there for a minute. We're going to start with what it looks like at the advanced level. Then we'll break you into groups and start you out with the beginner stuff. I want you to see what it is first."

The boys have their eyes glued to us. Leo's eyes are glued to my hips.

"Play some belly dancing music and spotlight us at 75%. House lights down to 10%."

"Yes ma'am."

The lights adjust and the music starts.

We do a dance they showed me a couple of months ago. I'm still good at it. Neither of us mess up anything major.

The song ends. "House lights up. Spot lights off." Thora and I crack up laughing at the same time. All their eyes are dark. Except Andy. He is looking at us like we're teachers.

Thora smiles. "I love it when they do that."

"They're looking at you. I'm to young."

"I'm sure they would agree with you. None of them would ever look at a teenager like that. They were looking at me. But I am a sexy hot momma so, it's ok."

The boys laugh and fixing their eyes.

Dipak nods. "Yea, that was a nice show, Thora. We'll let you get back to teaching. It's fine. But if she tries showing up to practices in that outfit, let me know."

"Fair enough. Thank you for coming."

The girls split in half. I take the half that doesn't have Lynn in it. I spend about 45 minutes with them in the concession area. They pick it up quickly. Then Leo comes out. "He wants you back now."

"Ok. You are doing great with it. Keep practicing the basics. That'll probably be enough for the play, but if you want to learn more, let me know. I'll get Thora, and we do this again."

One of the girls smiles. "It's such a fun dance."

"It really is. The girls at the castle incorporate it into a lot of the other dances they do. If you remember the hands song. The hip movements came straight from a belly dancing lesson."

"Oh yea. It does."

Leo puts his arm around me. He guides me out with everyone else. I sit in my spot and Thora sits beside me. Leo goes back up to the front and sits in his spot.

"I had a group of logs. Would not relax. Well, 1 was a log. The rest did pretty good."

"My group did well."

"If we do this again, we can switch."

"I don't want the log."

Bayden gets on the stage. "We're getting out of here late today. Girls, do you understand what belly dancing is now?"

Thora stands up. "I already told my group, but if they want more help, or you want them to have another lesson, let Whisp know. I'll come back. This is probably my favorite dance style. But I think the basic stuff should be good for a play. I think that's what you want."

"Yes, thank you both. I guess me doing it was only confusing people. But I will keep your offer in mind. With that, we are going to get out of here quickly. Sorry I kept you so late. Have a good night and see you tomorrow."