The ten of us were being tested on how well we could dance. Cali already took tap dance lessons and Piper took several different kind of dance lessons. Stephanie took tap, ballet, and jazz. Crystal and Eve took ballet. I took ballet, baton, and tap.

Since Piper and Cali were the oldest, we knew that they would be better dancers than the rest of us. I was born with a mild case of Cerebral Palsy, so I wasn’t the best dancer, but I managed. I practiced with the dance routines longer than the other girls, so I can be as well as them.

Our dance teacher’s name was Ms. Tact, she was eighteen years old, and nice. Even though she was a teenager, we respected her as if she was an adult. She was nice and very patient with all of us. Our lessons were an hour a day.

Ten minutes before our lesson was finished for the day, Ms. Tact had to rush to the restroom. Piper turned to us, and announced, “I have no idea why any of you got hired, because none of you can dance.”

California got mad and said, “We are not bad dancers…”

“You are an okay dancer, Cali, but the rest are awful,” Piper mentioned.

“They are younger than us, they are still learning,” Cali exclaimed.

Piper didn’t say anything until she noticed a rose necklace I was wearing. She walked up to me and glared into the rose, “I really like your necklace”.

Just before I thanked her, she grabbed the rose and pulled it to the right and the gold chain around my neck was choking me. She was pulling as hard as she could. I was trying to stop her, but I was going around in cirles along with Piper. California pulled her hand off the rose and shouted, “Why are you trying to choke her? What did she ever do to you?”

“Kelly doesn’t deserve to have a necklace like that. She looks like a boy. Boys don’t wear necklaces, especially when they have roses on them,” Piper answered.

Cali pushed Piper away and shouted, “If you have a problem the these girls – you deal with me. Do you understand?”

Piper questioned, “Why you?”

“Because I am big enough to take care of them, and I am big enough to handle you,” Cali answered.

Joni and Stephanie were looking at each other with their brown eyes widened. Karmen and I were expecting a fight to carry on in that dance room. Piper started acting rough and throwing her chest out, “Is that so, Cali?”

“Yes… Let’s do it now,” Cali stated.

California and Piper grabbed each other’s arms and they started throwing each other in circles. They fell down to the floor, and California made a fist with her right hand and just before she shoved it into Piper’s face, Ms. Tact stopped Cali and made all of us except Piper and Cali leave the classroom. I’m sure she gave the girls lectures, but I don’t know if she punished them or not. The eight of us that left early knew we better stay away from Piper as long as we were working in the Playhouse.