Chapter 3: The plan for the talent show

"We should do it together," Bella said, her voice calm but excited. "The four of us. A team act."

Sally stopped mid-cartwheel and landed with a thump. "YES!" she screamed, throwing her arms up. "What are we going to do?"

Tom jumped off the fence he'd been leaning on. "Stunts!" he shouted. "I could do a backflip!"

"You can't do a backflip," Bella said flatly.

"I could try!"

"You'd break your neck," Sally said, laughing.

Tom's face went red. "I would not!"

Billy looked up from his ladybug. "I don't want to break my neck."

Bella sat down on the grass and pulled out a notebook from her pocket. She was always prepared. "Okay, so no stunts. What can all of us do?"

Sally twirled on the spot. "A dance! I love dancing!"

Tom tucked his hand between his legs. "A dance? That's girly!"

"It is not!" Sally shot back, hands on her hips.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is—"

"STOP," Bella said, and they both shut up. Billy giggled quietly. Bella looked at Tom. "Tom, what would you rather do?"

Tom opened his mouth, then closed it. He couldn't think of anything. He kicked at the grass. "I dunno."

"Dance is good," Bella said gently. "Everyone can do it. Even Billy."

Billy's eyes lit up. "I can dance?"

"Of course you can," Bella said, smiling at him.

Sally grabbed Tom's arm. "Come on, Tom. It'll be fun. We can pick a cool song."

Tom shoved his hands in his pockets, still looking embarrassed. "Fine," he muttered. "But I'm not wearing anything sparkly."

"Deal!" Sally squealed, and she did another cartwheel.

They decided to ask Emma for help. She was the oldest and the nicest, and she knew about dancing because she did volleyball warm-ups that looked like dancing. Plus, she always said yes to the little kids.

Emma was in the kitchen making toast when they all piled through the back door. Tom leading the charge, Sally right behind him, Bella holding Billy's hand.

"Emma! Emma! We need your help!" Tom yelled, holding his willy without even realising it.

Emma turned around, toast halfway to her mouth. "Whoa. What's the emergency?"

"We're doing a dance for the talent show," Bella explained. "And we need someone to teach us."

Emma's face broke into a huge smile. "A dance! That's awesome!" She put her toast down. "Okay, what song?"

They all looked at each other. They hadn't gotten that far.

"Something cool," Tom said.

"Something fun!" Sally said.

"Something not scary," Billy said softly.

Bella pulled out her phone and played a few songs. They all shook their heads until a peppy pop song came on with a beat that made Sally instantly start bouncing.

"This one!" she shouted.

Tom listened for a second. "It's okay," he said, trying to sound tough.

Bella nodded. "I think we can all do this." She showed Billy a simple clap move, and he copied it perfectly.

Emma clapped her hands together. "Alright, everyone in the living room. Push the coffee table back. Let's learn this thing."

For the next hour, the living room was chaos. Emma taught them a simple routine: step-step-clap, turn, wiggle, step-step-clap, spin. Sally picked it up in two seconds and was already adding her own flair. Bella counted carefully, making sure Billy was following. Billy was surprisingly good at the clapping parts, though he got lost on the spins.

Tom did it too, but he held his willy the whole time. He looked embarrassed, but in the kind of way that he secretly enjoyed. He never moved his hand.

Billy giggled. "At least he's dancing"

Sally doubled over laughing. "You can tell he's loving it."

Tom blushed. "No I'm not!"

They practiced the big finish—arms up, freeze, bow. Billy's bow was so deep he almost tipped over, and Bella caught him. Sally practised her cartwheel into the bow, but she knocked over a cushion.

"Okay," Emma said gently. "Let's just try the whole thing once. No stopping. Ready? Music!"

Bella pressed play. The song started. Step-step-clap, turn, wiggle. Tom's hand stayed between his legs the whole dance, but he was surprisingly good at the dance. Step-step-clap, turn, wiggle. The only problem was clapping. He would bring the hand 2 centremeters up so he could clap then clamp it tightly between his legs again. He hardly even knew he was doing it. He definitely didn't think anyone noticed, which was completely wrong.

Sally was laughing so hard she missed her turn and crashed into Billy. They both tumbled onto the carpet in a heap of giggles.

"Again!" Billy squealed, thinking it was part of the dance.

Tom stood there, both hands tucked as the song ended. "This is dumb."

Emma knelt down in front of him. "Tom, it's not dumb. You're doing great."

Tom looked at her. Slowly, a grin crept onto his face. "Yeah. I'm good at everything."

They tried again. And again. And again. Tom's hand stayed down between his legs a the whole time, but he was dancing which was what mattered. By the fifth try, they managed to all do the dance well

"WE DID IT!" Tom shouted, jumping up and down before remembering he was supposed to hate dancing and tucking his hand back between his legs and pretending he hadn't been so excited.

Sally tackled him in a hug, and he didn't even push her away. Bella clapped. Billy ran in circles, happy just to be included.

Emma watched them from the doorway, her heart warm. "You guys are going to be amazing," she said.

"We know!" Sally said, and she did one last cartwheel.

They practiced for another hour until Billy got sleepy and started yawning every two seconds. Bella took him home, promising to practice the claps before bed. Sally cartwheeled down the street, humming the song. Tom walked home with Emma, holding his head high. but his hand low.

"Hey Emma?" he said as they reached the front door.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping. Even though it's a girly dance."

Emma picked him up and tipped him upside down, making him squeal with delight and grab his shorts again.

Then he ran inside to tell their mum all about it, holding his willy the whole time.