Page 41 of Everything's Better With You
“And what kind of parties am I used to? I barely ever go out.”
“After-parties, before parties. Hollywood parties. You had to go to some?”
Joe shrugged. “I guess, but I’m getting the feeling you have a very different idea of what my life has been like.”
“You were short on details,” Marti said as she rounded the back ofthe car. “All you ever really told me about were the shows you were in at the time. I have no idea if you were dating half of LA or what.”
“Uh, no. If you saw me out with anyone it was all arranged. I went to the mandatory events, but I spent the majority of my time off rehearsing, working out, or sitting in a hotel room reading or watching Netflix while applying ice or heat to my injury du jour and don’t you dare let that get out.” Joe turned to walk down the side stairs to the club, but Marti grabbed his shirt and pulled him to a stop.
“Joe?”
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “I found out real quick that I needed to avoid toxic people, and guess what? There were plenty. I talked to you, I talked to Leslie…I had a few folks around to keep me sane, but yeah, I wasn’t in it for the social life, that’s for sure.”
“But Joe—”
“Let’s go party like it’s two thousand seven and you’re about to graduate and leave me.”
He tugged her by the hand, his heart pounding at making those admissions. He’d been great at ducking her questions and redirecting the conversations to safe topics for years. He hadn’t wanted to answer questions about why he hadn’t been with anyone and what he’d put his body through.
She finally allowed him to lead her down the steps and into the dark entrance of the club. A kid with a flashlight asked for their IDs, and Joe and Marti flashed their staff cards. Joe had laughed hysterically when they’d taken their pictures in the office.
“Guess it’s for real now. Let’s see how long it takes them to recognize their mistake and revoke it.”
The club was in the basement of the movie theater, which was also run by the college. The decor hadn’t changed much. The walls were still painted black, there were rows of high-top tables along the back wall elevated above a decent-sized dance floor. Same disco ball, same colored lights, and same DJ booth. The only difference was that they’d added a snack bar, which seemed to be popular with the kids. The place was about half-full, which made sense since this was the first official weekend that students were moving into the dorms.
Joe was overcome with joy, recalling the nights he’d spent on thisdance floor with Marti and their fellow cheerleaders. He’d reigned supreme even then. He could clear a dance floor in three moves or less, and it was that adulation and praise that had fed him, that and the feeling he got leading the crowd in cheering on the Jackets sports teams and competing with his team. Then it was his years dancing behind pop stars in front of tens of thousands of fans, and the votes from fans who watched him bare his soul each week and push his body beyond its limits. Maybe it wasn’t the healthiest way to live one’s life, but it had sustained him, more or less.
Marti gestured to him rather than shouting over the music that they should grab a table toward the back so they could have a good view of the dance floor. She’d been intrigued by his plan to scout out any unconventional talent on campus. He wanted to be sure they had a healthy turnout for tryouts, and he wasn’t above conscripting students if he thought it would help him create magic with this year’s team.
The music was loud, but they could still chat. She pointed out a few girls that she thought had potential, but Joe’s attention was caught by a group of AAPI young men who were standing together, egging each other on. One of them went up to the DJ and argued with him before going back to his crew. Joe had an idea what that was about and he figured he’d watch them and see if he was right.
Then a banger came on and Marti gave him a look.
“Oh yeah.”
She took a last swig on her water and the two of them strutted out to the dance floor. Most of the groups of kids were still in the talking stage of the night, so the floor was pretty empty, but once Joe and Marti started moving it didn’t take long before they had the attention of everyone in the room.
“Oh my God, is that—?”
“He’s really here? Holy shit!”
“Out Out” filled the room and Joe let the bass reverberate through his body and take over. Marti still had it, and though her moves may have been a little dated, it didn’t take long before the two of them were moving in sync through some of their old routines until they were both laughing hysterically. They both gestured for all the kids who’d beenstanding around to join them and soon the floor was full and everyone was in the zone.
Marti left him for a minute and came back dragging Terrell. Marti was one of those moms that kids didn't mind having around. Terrell may have rolled his eyes when she started dancing, but it wasn’t long before he joined them in showing off. The kid was a total ham on the dance floor, making fun of their old-school moves by doing them exaggeratedly. When Lady Gaga came on, he and Joe started doing some of the moves from Joe’s last tour with the diva. Dancing for her and for Jennifer Lopez had been his favorite gigs he’d done. Terrell asked him what he should be doing if he wanted to dance on tour like that. Joe agreed to mentor him as long as he tried out for cheer. He liked the kid and was happy to give back to Marti’s family after all the times she’d been there for him.
Joe moved closer to the group of boys. He noticed a couple of them trying out some B-boy moves, which gave him an idea. He made sure he had enough room and then went up behind one of them and tapped him on the shoulder. Joe jumped at the kid with his arms out, did some fancy footwork and then did a standing back flip that really didn’t feel good but he was too into it to feel the pain.
Later, pain.
The boys all erupted into movement and came toward him as he backed up, gesturing for them to follow. The kid he tapped hopped around a bit holding onto the front of his pants until he got his flow and then he dropped down and lifted both feet off the ground and over his head while holding himself up with one hand. Then another came forward with some spins and a full-twist flip and Joe knew he’d found some conscripts. He bumped Marti with his shoulder and she nodded in agreement.
Joe got carried away and did a few more moves he’d be paying for as soon as he left, but he needed to get lost a bit in the one thing he knew how to do without fail. He’d felt out of his element since stepping foot back on campus, but here? This was his place and he knew it.
The music cut out and a student took the mic.
“Welcome, Jackets! I just have a few announcements, but let’s hear it for our new cheer coaches, Joe Judd and Marti Simmons.”
It had been Marti’s suggestion that they share the details of tryouts at the club to get the kids thinking and Marti had gone ahead and shared the info with the DJ. She told the crowd that clinics started Monday afternoon in Higdon and that if anyone had questions between now and then, Coach Judd would be available to answer them.
