pulled the
slack part of his shirt taut.
“
Oo nga no
,” then she tied the front of her shirt into a bunch, revealing her belly.
Jeremy’s eyes widened in shock as Janine continued her dance. She began by putting her hands up and making Ls with her index fingers and thumbs. Her hips gyrated in a way
that Jeremy had never seen before in real life. He may have been a weird boy, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t look up certain things when he was in the library video archives
alone.
“Where did you learn that? You’re just a kid, you shouldn’t be dancing that way! They’re teaching you that in holodeck? When I went to holodeck we
didn’t have anything like that!”
Janine kept dancing, then screamed in as high a voice that she could make, “Ow!” This surprised Jeremy, so he jumped back away from her.
Jon-Jon laughed at him. “
Kuya
, you’re weird.”
“
Laban-laban
,” Janine and Jon-Jon sang together as Janine made Ls with her fingers and Jon-Jon clapped the beat, “
o bawi-bawi
.”
“Stop that! It’s disgusting. How can your teacher let you do something like that? You’re a kid and you’re dancing like a—” Jeremy bit his
lip. He didn’t know any word that he could use that he could allow into his little sister’s vocabulary.
“But Kuya, it’s fun! And everyone else is doing it, too. Look,” she said and she stopped dancing so that she could use her chubby little fingers to point
outside.
Out in the front yard, in the simulated park, outside apartments and in the hall he could see children dancing, showing their parents what they’d learned in the primary
level classes. Instead of looking appalled, as Jeremy expected, the parents were laughing and clapping along. Some of the mothers were even learning the steps and dancing along.
“What’s going on here,” Jeremy said to himself. He whipped off his neural band and rubbed his eyes, for dramatic effect, since in the movies he’d
watched people would take off their glasses to make a point. He didn’t have glasses, but he thought the neural band could provide the same effect.
It’s the newest craze
, he heard in his head. It was Lena. Wow, Jeremy thought, a girl actually went into my head for a conversation. She was so pretty and he
thought she didn’t notice him, or maybe she did notice him but only because he was weird and he didn’t know which one was worse—
No, I won’t make out with you
, she said next.
Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to think that
, Jeremy said.
Would you stop thinking that!
She said.
Sorry, I’m really sorry. Can you meet me out front? I want to ask you what you know about this
. Jeremy thought it would have been fine if it were a mental
conversation, but he was having a hard time getting the image of Lena dancing the dance in a skimpy dress out of his head. He had to get the neural band back on.
Okay, meet me there in three minutes. And will you stop thinking that!
***
“So what’s going on?”
“Let’s talk over here,” Lena said. She brought him to one of the storage rooms outside the park. She may have wanted to be nice, but she also had to take care
of her reputation. Being seen with the freak was sure to send her cool points with the boys plummeting.
Jeremy, of course thought that she wanted to be somewhere private for other reasons, and he ventured to take off his neural band.
No. Put that thing back on. No wonder all the other girls say you’re so weird.
“Sorry.”
“Okay, so what do you want to know?”
“Well, what’s going on?”
“It’s a new dance the kids learned. You know how rare it is for us to get something new, so naturally everybody wants a part of it.”
“What do you mean new?”
“It’s new. It’s not something in the archives.”
“Where’d it come from?”
“I don’t know. You’re the geek genius around here. I gotta go. Holodeck in five minutes.”
“Wait, you’re going to holodeck? Then that means you’ll be learning
slack part of his shirt taut.
“
Oo nga no
,” then she tied the front of her shirt into a bunch, revealing her belly.
Jeremy’s eyes widened in shock as Janine continued her dance. She began by putting her hands up and making Ls with her index fingers and thumbs. Her hips gyrated in a way
that Jeremy had never seen before in real life. He may have been a weird boy, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t look up certain things when he was in the library video archives
alone.
“Where did you learn that? You’re just a kid, you shouldn’t be dancing that way! They’re teaching you that in holodeck? When I went to holodeck we
didn’t have anything like that!”
Janine kept dancing, then screamed in as high a voice that she could make, “Ow!” This surprised Jeremy, so he jumped back away from her.
Jon-Jon laughed at him. “
Kuya
, you’re weird.”
“
Laban-laban
,” Janine and Jon-Jon sang together as Janine made Ls with her fingers and Jon-Jon clapped the beat, “
o bawi-bawi
.”
“Stop that! It’s disgusting. How can your teacher let you do something like that? You’re a kid and you’re dancing like a—” Jeremy bit his
lip. He didn’t know any word that he could use that he could allow into his little sister’s vocabulary.
“But Kuya, it’s fun! And everyone else is doing it, too. Look,” she said and she stopped dancing so that she could use her chubby little fingers to point
outside.
Out in the front yard, in the simulated park, outside apartments and in the hall he could see children dancing, showing their parents what they’d learned in the primary
level classes. Instead of looking appalled, as Jeremy expected, the parents were laughing and clapping along. Some of the mothers were even learning the steps and dancing along.
“What’s going on here,” Jeremy said to himself. He whipped off his neural band and rubbed his eyes, for dramatic effect, since in the movies he’d
watched people would take off their glasses to make a point. He didn’t have glasses, but he thought the neural band could provide the same effect.
It’s the newest craze
, he heard in his head. It was Lena. Wow, Jeremy thought, a girl actually went into my head for a conversation. She was so pretty and he
thought she didn’t notice him, or maybe she did notice him but only because he was weird and he didn’t know which one was worse—
No, I won’t make out with you
, she said next.
Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to think that
, Jeremy said.
Would you stop thinking that!
She said.
Sorry, I’m really sorry. Can you meet me out front? I want to ask you what you know about this
. Jeremy thought it would have been fine if it were a mental
conversation, but he was having a hard time getting the image of Lena dancing the dance in a skimpy dress out of his head. He had to get the neural band back on.
Okay, meet me there in three minutes. And will you stop thinking that!
***
“So what’s going on?”
“Let’s talk over here,” Lena said. She brought him to one of the storage rooms outside the park. She may have wanted to be nice, but she also had to take care
of her reputation. Being seen with the freak was sure to send her cool points with the boys plummeting.
Jeremy, of course thought that she wanted to be somewhere private for other reasons, and he ventured to take off his neural band.
No. Put that thing back on. No wonder all the other girls say you’re so weird.
“Sorry.”
“Okay, so what do you want to know?”
“Well, what’s going on?”
“It’s a new dance the kids learned. You know how rare it is for us to get something new, so naturally everybody wants a part of it.”
“What do you mean new?”
“It’s new. It’s not something in the archives.”
“Where’d it come from?”
“I don’t know. You’re the geek genius around here. I gotta go. Holodeck in five minutes.”
“Wait, you’re going to holodeck? Then that means you’ll be learning
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