Free Pregnant Pause by Han Nolan Page B

to run out of the room, but I can't really run too well anymore, since I'm so pregnant, and I've got nowhere to run. No, I've got to be strong and remember I'm older than they are. I turn around again and take a deep breath. I try to smile, and I think of how hard it is for the MIL to smile at me. So then I really smile. I try to look friendly. I tell them about Haley being sick, and the campers groan.
    "Yeah, so while I'm teaching the class, we're, uh, going to do things a little differently. But first, before we get started..." I pause and stare at Ashley Wilson. "If there is any name-calling or if anyone is mean to anybody else in this class, inside or outside of it, you will not be allowed to dance. You'll have to sit on the floor and watch for the period if you're mean once, but twice and you're out, and you can't get back in."
    Ashley Wilson sees me glaring at her, and instead of hanging her head in shame, she lifts it higher and raises her hand.
    "Yeah?" I say.
    "All the classes are voluntary, so we get to choose if we're in a class or not, just so long as we have four physical classes and two rest classes, so I don't think you can kick us out."
    The girl doesn't look a thing like me, with her red hair and dark, deep-set, beady little eyes, but she sounds like me. I know if a teacher had read me the riot act, I would have rebelled—I did rebel. Still, I walk right up to her and stick my belly in her chest. "Girl, just try me, okay? Just try me. I want this to be a fun class. If you aren't fun, out you go."
    Another girl raises her hand. She's short and not really fat, so I don't know why she's in this camp, but some parents expect perfection, and she has bowed legs. Maybe they think if she loses what little weight she has, they won't be so bowed or something—who knows? "Do we get to vote people out of the class?" she asks.
    I laugh. "No. I'm the only one who gets to vote you out of my class. So anyway, are you ready to dance?"
    Some kids nod and some kids say a meek yes. "I don't hear you!" I shout. "Are you ready to dance?"
    They all yell, "Yes!"
    "I can't hear you!"
    "Yes!" they scream.
    I look over the CD selection Haley has left out on the table, and I put on some music by Dread-Locked. The music starts, and I shout, "Okay, let's dance!"
    I start dancing to the music, and the girls just stand there watching me. I wave to them. "Come on, dance!" I shout.
    The girls look at one another, but they don't move, not even Banner. I stop the music. "What's wrong? Why aren't you dancing?"
    "Aren't you going to teach us some steps or anything?" Ashley asks. She looks pissed.
    "Why? Are you afraid to just dance? Everybody can dance. You just move to the music."
    "Is that all this is going to be? You play music and we dance to it?" Ashley Wilson sounds even more pissed.
    "No," I say. "No, it isn't. There's going to be other stuff, but you've—you've got to warm up, don't you? Every
real
dancer knows that," I say, implying that she's not a real dancer. "So come on, swing those hips and kick those legs, girl, and let's dance."
    I put the music back on, and again the girls just look at one another, their faces red with embarrassment.
    Feeling desperate, I grab Banner's hand and tell her to grab the girl's hand next to her. Then one by one they all join hands and we form a circle, and I shout, "Let's skip into the center." We skip into the center—only my skip is more like a walk 'cause I don't want to bounce the baby. "And back out again. Four steps to the right. Four steps to the left. Now, everybody twirl!" I shout, remembering how much Banner loved to twirl. I watch them, and I can see they're getting into it. Their eyes sparkle as they wait for me to tell them what to do next.
    I grab Banner's hands and shout, "Grab a partner. Bump bottoms with your partner!" The girls laugh. "Bump hips with your partner!"
    While the girls are bumping hips, I notice out of the corner of my eye the MIL slipping into the room.