Never Grow Up

to herself.
By then, Kristen had Pork in her arms. She walked him around the room and when she passed Kari’s desk, Liza screamed. “This one can shoot his quills. I can see it on his face!”
Kari agreed. The porcupine definitely looked ready to attack. She covered her face with her hands and peered through her fingers. No matter the danger, seeing Pork this close up was a thrill.
Anderson stepped forward while Kristen put Pork away. The zoo worker picked up a superlong boa constrictor from the next cage. Several of the students screamed and ran to the back of the room. Mandy moved closer to the front and Kari stayed at her desk, her hands near her face again.
After the boa, Kristen showed them an opossum and Anderson brought out a bearcat. Which was the same as having a real-live bear in the classroom. Kari joined Liza at the back of the room for that one.
Kari was pretty sure she wouldn’t work at a zoo when she grew up. Mandy, though, stayed at the front of the room until the presentation was over. Liza whispered close to Kari. “If Mandy runs a zoo someday, you and I can visit her.”
“Definitely.” Kari could picture that. “Someone has to buy tickets.”
During lunch, Kari, Mandy and Liza sat at their usual table. Kari ignored her lunch and leaned closer to her friends. “I have ideas about the talent show.”
“I told you.” Mandy crossed her arms. “We don’t have talent.”
“Not much, anyway.” Liza shook her head. “I’m not ready for the stage.”
“Well, my friends.” Kari grinned at them. “We’ll just see about that.”
A sleepover was the best choice to get their talent figured out. Kari had set the event up with her mom and now it was Friday night and Mandy and Liza were in her living room. Ashley sat nearby reading Peter Pan, while Mandy read from a list they had been making all week.
The list of their potential talents.
“Juggling. What about that?” Kari tapped the pen on her cheek and looked at Mandy and Liza. “If we worked on it, maybe?”
“Definitely not.” Mandy waved her hand in the air. “I drop my pen four times a day. I know I couldn’t juggle.”
Ashley looked up from her book. “Is jungling with coconuts?”
“What?” Liza blinked a few times. “Why coconuts?”
“Because.” Ashley set her book down. “Jungle. Jungling. That’s where coconuts live.”
Kari understood her sister. “Not jungling, Ash. Juggling. It has nothing to do with the jungle.”
A wrinkle crossed Ashley’s forehead. “I picture it in the jungle.”
“Either way, that’s not our talent.” Liza stood and paced to the front window. “We should drop out, Kari. We have no talent.”
Mandy raised her hand straight in the air. “I know!” She stood and began swimming her arms through the air. “We could do a swim team dance.”
“Creative!” Mom walked in with a bowl of popcorn. She set it down and put her hands on her hips. “You would definitely be the only swim team dancers in the talent show.”
“Hey!” Kari was on her feet. She pulled Liza off the sofa and swung her over to Mandy. “A dance! That’s what we’ll do! A group dance!”
“Hmm.” Liza had the popcorn bowl. She set it down on the coffee table. “That could be fun!”
“I usually just swim dance.” Mandy dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged. “But there’s something no one knows.” A huge smile filled her face. “Secretly, I love to regular dance. I think it’s my hidden talent.”
“Perfect!” Kari swung her hands from side to side and snapped her fingers. “I told you I was good at finding talent!” She walked over to her parents’ radio and turned it on. The music that poured out was “Under the Sea” from the movie Little Mermaid. The tune sounded upbeat and fun.
“Come on!” Kari pulled her friends to the center of the living room. “Let’s dance!” All three girls linked arms and moved their feet. They were not a well-oiled machine, but Kari believed there was hope.
Mom sang out from the kitchen. “I love this song! Come on, Ash!” Their mother hurried into the living room with a towel on her shoulder and a spoon in one hand. She helped Ashley to her feet and twirled her around.
They made a dancing train. Kari, Liza and Mandy followed Ashley and Mom around the house as the music blared from the speakers. “Plus,” Kari yelled over the song, “this is about being under the sea!”
Mandy seemed to catch on. “Which is sort of like swim dancing!”
“Exactly.” Kari kicked her feet even higher.
“The words are pretty fun.” Liza didn’t look as convinced as the others, but she was happy. Another good sign.
When the song ended, Mom ran off to her bedroom. She came back with a cassette tape. “I have the movie soundtrack right here!” She handed it to Kari. “ ‘Under the Sea’ is the sixth song.”
Kari held the tape high in the air and danced it over to her friends. “So are we in? We’ll do a dance to ‘Under the Sea’?”
Mandy didn’t hesitate. “I’m in. We should definitely include swim strokes.” She swam her hands out in front of her a few times.
“Hmm.” Kari remembered to smile. Mandy looked like she was digging at an invisible pile of dirt. “Very nice, Mandy. We’ll think about that.”
The decision was Liza’s now. Kari and Mandy stared at her. “Come on!” Mandy was fully on board. “Liza, you’ll be the best dancer in the group!”
Liza seemed to hold her breath for a few seconds. Finally she grinned. “Okay! Let’s do it!”
For the next hour, Kari and her friends played the Little Mermaid song over and over and over again. The dance moves they decided on came mostly from Kari, but Ashley and their mom created a few, too.
By the time the girls went to sleep, the dance was half finished. Kari could hardly contain her excitement. They weren’t only going to have a wonderful act for the talent show.
They were going to