Summary

Chapter 5 opens with an item for the to-do list that reads, “Dance, this time like an old king is watching (stiff and boring).” Coach makes assignments for practice and announces the members of two relay teams, one group of four boys and one group of four girls. Deja, Krystal, Brit-Brat, and Patina make up the girls' team. Patina has never run relay, but she does not object. Coach Whit takes the girls aside while Coach works with the boys. Whit announces they are going to learn to dance. The others break into their version of popular dances. Patina feels she, as the new girl on the team, cannot join; but, their dancing makes her feel a connection with the others. Whit says they are learning a different kind of dance and begins playing ballroom music on a portable stereo. She demonstrates the steps...