8. The Gentleman

Chapter 8 The Gentleman I was in a totally guyless room. A boy-free zone. A sea of pink. "Why didn't you tell me there aren't any boys in this class?" I whispered to Emma. Emma looked surprised. "Does it matter?" "Yes, it matters!" I whispered back. I wasn't even exactly sure why it mattered.

Except that it meant maybe Max had been right, after all. Maybe tap dancing was For Girls Only. That meant kids at school would tease me. Bully-breath Wyatt already had a long list of bully nicknames for me. I did not need to have him add another one. "Let's start with some heel-toes," Miss Trixie said. I raised my hand. "Miss Trixie?" "Yes, dear?" "I… uh…" I swallowed. "I'm going to sit on the bench for a minute. There's a stone in my shoe, I think." "By all means!" she said.

I sat down on a bench and yanked off one of my tap shoes. Tinkly music filled the room. "Let's start with our dance called 'The Mice and the Elephants'!" said Miss Trixie. The girls began to tap their toes. "Twinkle toes! Twinkle toes!" Miss Trixie said. "Tip-tap! Tip-tap!" While she twinkled, Emma looked over her shoulder at me. "Are you okay?" she asked. I nodded. But I wasn't okay. I was the only boy in a gigantic roomful of girls. I pretended to look for a rock in my shoe.

"Let's heel-toe in a circle, lovely little mice!" Miss Trixie called. Everyone tiptoed. All those clicks made a wonderful sound. The music changed. It got slow and loud and thumpy. "Time for the elephants!" called Miss Trixie. "Clomp and stomp like glorious pachyderms!" I watched Emma stamp her tap shoes. She swung her arms together like a long trunk. If pachyderm meant "elephant" in normal language, then Emma was being a great one. Slowly I put my tap shoe back on. I tried out a few clomps while I sat on the bench. It was hard not to clomp, with all that thump, thump, thumping elephant music.

It felt good to make so much noise and not even get yelled at. "Roscoe? Will you be joining us today?" Miss Trixie called. I didn't answer right away. But finally I said, "I guess a little clomping couldn't hurt." I ran over and joined the circle of girls. I tried out some mouse tiptoes. "Excellent, Mr. Riley!" said Miss Trixie. "Now try the pachyderm part!" I clomped and swung and tiptoed and twinkled. "A glorious job!" said Miss Trixie. "And it was nice to have the addition of our fine new gentleman tapper!" My face got a little hot again.

But I didn't mind so much. We learned more steps during the rest of the class.