Stu Truly by Dan Richards

Author:Dan Richards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: little bee books
Published: 2018-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

Thursday afternoon took way too long to arrive. Getting there required enduring three more days of square dancing with a partner bordering on criminally insane. Gretchen had taken to stepping on my toes for no apparent reason. Yes, there may have been moments I was caught daydreaming. Yes, there may have been a lot of those moments. Okay, maybe every moment seemed better spent staring into space than listening to the same song for the millionth time.

“Pay attention,” Gretchen commanded, pirouetting on my toe like a demon ballerina.

“Ow!” I shouted. “I’m trying.”

She pulled me back to the correct group. I had apparently strayed while dozing. “No, you’re not.”

To my right, Tyler was attempting to tie his shoe. He had been working on his laces for three days. From the looks of it, he was in need of a cobbler’s bench and a surgical nurse. Dang, why hadn’t I thought to tangle my laces? That kind of ingenuity doesn’t get the respect it deserves. To my left, Ryan was ducking and dodging for all he was worth to avoid being sucked into the vortex known as Debbie’s armpit. She kept yanking him along like a rag doll. To his credit, he had hung in there a lot longer than any of the rest of us would have.

In the distance, I caught sight of Ben and Kirsten prancing about like a pair of circus ponies, all smiles and leg kicks no matter how stupid they looked.

Across from them, Jackson and Becca tucked and turned as if they had been dancing together since birth. His lone chin hair gleamed in the fluorescent lighting next to her perfectly aligned teeth. I dreamed of pulling that hair out at long last and shoving it up his—

“Ow! Now what?” I exclaimed.

Gretchen pulled the heel of her boot off the top of my foot, ignoring the crater she left behind. “Pay attention!” she bellowed.

A few moments later, Ben and Kirsten came prancing by, followed by Becca and Jackson. Both couples appeared to have gone AWOL from their group. The two couples twirled their way over to where Mr. Snedaker was standing. He pointed to two more couples and motioned for them to join the group. Strangely, he didn’t look in my direction at any time. You’d think Gretchen jumping up and down like a pogo stick on my right toe yelling, “PAY ATTENTION!” would at least have garnered a glance.

The music ended. Finally. That annoying fiddle-

ridden song bound to haunt me into old age. If I happened across that fiddler in real life, he’d better have sprinter speed or a cloaking device. He’d need it.

Mr. Snedaker waved the class over. “I’m pleased to present the representatives from your class for the assembly tomorrow.”

A murmur of approval went up.

“I’m sure they will do great, and I know they will have your full support as they perform.” He looked about with a pleasantly evil stare. “Don’t forget—your performance as an audience will be graded.”

I wanted to ask more about his grading scale, but the timing didn’t seem right.

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