I’m never gonna dance again. Guilty feet have got no rhythm. Though it’s easy to pretend, I know you’re not a fool. Should’ve known better than to cheat a friend, and waste the chance that I’ve been given. So I’m never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you.
As soon as Seamus reads this, my hypocrisy and betrayal will be revealed, but my conscience has been eating away at me too much to keep it a secret any longer. After relentlessly trying to guilt-trip him into sticking with tap class, Natasha and I have decided to take a break from tap as well. A short break, I swear! Just five weeks, until the next session begins, and the weather cools off, and we finish the 5K, and I find a job.
We’ve been taking tap lessons from Teacher for almost a year now, and Seamus’ departure made me question everything. Do I really have what it takes? Will I ever learn the full soft shoe essence combination? Why didn’t I know that there are several reality TV shows on Tuesday nights?
I just hope it’s not too awkward when Nat and I sneak back into class in five weeks. If we had planned ahead, we could have told Teacher that we had another class that conflicted with tap for the next month. But we didn’t. We just smiled at her and said, “See you next week!” And then we flapped right out of her life.
What if it’s like that time in 6th grade when my parents pulled me out of school for a two-week family vacation? When I came back to class, everyone had switched best friends. Kristy was my best friend when I left, but she told me that she was now best friends with Renee. And Julia, who used to be best friends with Renee, was now my designated best friend. But I didn’t want to be best friends with Julia. She was left-handed, and she never had gum.
So what if when class starts back up, Nat and I find out that we’ve been assigned new friends for the class? I might get stuck with Midge! My god, what have we done? I feel so sick right now. I just know they’re all talking about us behind our backs.
“Don’t worry, Teacher. We’ll never abandon you like those three did.”
“You mean they didn’t even have the courtesy to tell you they were dropping out? Now that’s just low class. Low class.”
“Oh, I just hope they show their faces here again some day. I’d like to give them a piece of my mind!”
Okay, so maybe I’m getting a little melodramatic. In reality, last week probably played out a little more like, “Did we have a Jenny in class? Oh yeah – was she that one lady with the nude high-heeled taps? No? Okay, then I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
I’m going to have to call on Natasha to help us out of this situation. When I first moved to Chicago, unbeknownst to Seamus and Natasha, I designated key roles to everyone in our group so we could function effectively as a team. I, of course, am the protagonist (it’s my story), Nat is the moral center, and Seamus, who was originally intended to be the foil, has proven himself to be the glue that binds us all together.
Having said that, I am supporting Nat in her desire to follow her conscience and contact Teacher to let her know that we will be re-joining the class next session. Through a believable set of half-truths, Natasha will ensure that Teacher doesn’t feel that we’ve completely abandoned her.
She’s going to tell Teacher that Seamus had a conflict with his (fictitious) ex-wife’s Lamaze classes, that I am currently working on getting my (fictitious) chauffeur’s license, and that she is taking a “How to Earn a Living on eBay” course. No, I didn’t forget a (fictitious) there. Nat’s really doing that. Back off people – let the girl live her dream!
I just hope that Teacher buys it. I can’t stand the thought of seeing her hurt face in five weeks. Now where the heck am I going to find a chauffeur’s hat before our next class?

Filed under: Tap Dance on August 27th, 2004