Instructions for Dancing(8)

“She doesn’t think there’s anything to talk about. Danica too. I’m the only one who’s still stuck,” I say. I don’t expect to cry, but tears are suddenly burning behind my eyes.

Martin hands me a napkin before I can even look for one. I dab my eyes quickly, not wanting anyone to see.

My eyes drift back to Shelley and Sheldon. They’re sitting side by side now, still making moony faces at each other. Shelley leans into Sheldon, pressing her shoulder into his. He throws his arm around her and they kiss.

And I see.





CHAPTER 7





Shelley and Sheldon



A SUNNY MORNING in Mr. Armstrong’s US History classroom. He’s stalking the aisle, looking for cheaters. As soon as his back is turned, Sheldon hands Shelley a note. Shelley opens it and giggles. The note reads:

Would you like to go out with me?

? YES!

? YES!!

? YES!!!

? All of the above!

She takes out her pen and checks all the boxes, including All of the above!



* * *



—

Nighttime on a Ferris wheel high above Santa Monica pier. Shelley stares at Sheldon but looks away when she’s caught. Sheldon stares at Shelley but looks away when he’s caught. They do this for a while. The Ferris wheel seat is wide enough that their bodies aren’t touching, but you can tell they want to.



Finally, Shelley runs her hands over her bare arms and shivers a fake shiver.

Sheldon slides closer and wraps his arm around her shoulders. The ride attendant sees them making out and doesn’t kick them off until after they’ve been around six or seven times.



* * *



—

This moment right now: Shelley and Sheldon sharing a quick kiss in the cafeteria.



* * *



—

Shelley reading her college acceptance letter on her laptop. Sheldon is reading it over her shoulder. They’re both happy for her. But sad too.



* * *



—

Sheldon helping Shelley pack for college. He finds his “Would you like to go out with me?” note in her desk drawer. He slips it into her suitcase for her to find later.



* * *



—

Sheldon reading an email from Shelley. The subject line is “I’m sorry.”



* * *



—

Sheldon sitting alone on the Ferris wheel high above Santa Monica pier with no one beside him who needs warming up.





CHAPTER 8





Zoltar



THE VISION STOPS and I’m back in the cafeteria. Martin is staring at me with wide, urgent eyes. “It just happened again, didn’t it?” he asks.

I nod, and nod again. “They’re going to break up.”

He looks over at them and then back at me. “No way. Those guys are forever.”

“No,” I say. “They’re not.”

I tell him exactly what I saw: the note where he asks her out, their first date on the Ferris wheel, her getting her college acceptance letter, him helping her to pack for college and finally him alone on the Ferris wheel.

“I think it’s the kiss,” I whisper. “The only difference between the first time I stared at them and the second time is that they were kissing.”

Martin’s nodding like he’s already figured that out. “Okay, okay,” he says, “we need to try to understand what we’re dealing with.”

I’m glad he’s thinking logically, because I’m not. All I know is that what’s happening to me is not possible. Except it is possible, because it’s happening to me.



“We need to know if what you’re seeing is real.”

“We already know,” I say. “Danica and Ben, remember?”

“But she’s your sister, and you know him a little, right? You don’t know Shelley and Sheldon at all.”

“So what do you want me to do? Go over there and ask Shelley if she’s going to break Sheldon’s heart after she goes away to college next year?”

He snaps his fingers. “I have an idea,” he says as he slides out of his seat. “All couples love telling their origin stories.” He goes over to them and sits.

After a few seconds, Shelley lights up and then Sheldon does too.

It’s only five minutes before he comes back over to me. “Everything you said about their first meeting was right,” he says, amazed and disbelieving at the same time. “Tell me again exactly what happened yesterday. Don’t leave anything out.”

I tell him again.

He asks a lot of questions about the old woman and the Little Free Library:

“You didn’t see her at first and then suddenly she was just there?” and

“You found a book about…ballroom dancing?” and

“When you looked back she was just gone?”

Strung together like that, his questions make me feel like I should’ve known something was up. But why would I think something was up?



He stares out across the cafeteria, thinking. After a while he laughs and shakes his head. “I think you got Zoltared,” he says.