TENET: 74
Tenet: 121
Be active.
- Dr. H. VynFleet, 132 Tenets of Childcare & Maintenance
APRIL
April looked out at the small crowd in the fitness room.
It turned out that the pink lady with the pretty tail April had bumped into in the lobby was actually the board president, Marylyx McGorn. Which of course was why she laughed when April mentioned not wanting to get Khall in trouble with the board.
Apparently, she’d made a good enough impression that Miss McGorn had convinced the other members to let April lead a trial class.
As she scanned the prospective students, April found that while she was nervous, she was also feeling more than a little thrilled.
And of course, Minerva and Bo were among the students on the floor in front of her, which helped.
As April took a deep breath, Bo gave her a giant wink and thumbs up.
April grinned back, just managing not to laugh at the cute little girl’s pirate smile.
“All right, then,” she said in a loud, clear voice that didn’t shake a bit. “Let’s get started.”
There were sounds of enthusiasm from the class, and in the back, Marylyx McGorn and two of her fellow board members got out their clipboards.
April slid her finger along the sensor, and music filled the room.
“Let’s start with some stretches,” she told her eager students.
As she moved through the room, helping different races find equivalents to her stretches with their tentacles or armless forms, she felt happy and oddly fulfilled.
She was good at this, and helping other people to love dance would be a really satisfying job - or side hustle at least.
I’m going to need work of some kind if he fires me when he comes home.
April felt torn in half. She desperately wanted to see Khall again and find a way to make things right. But she also wished he would never come back, so she wouldn’t have to leave the first place that had ever truly felt like home.
Soon, it was time to switch to the track she’d selected and begin teaching the choreography.
April was delighted when the students were really into it. And they all tried their hardest, even Minerva.
Once they had picked up the dance enough to enjoy themselves, April allowed herself to dance full out, too. The stretches and leaps made her feel like she was flying - or as close to flying as she ever wanted to get.
She might not understand the Rivvor family’s desire to be in the sky, but she was totally onboard with needing to do something that made you feel like your true self.
And her enthusiasm seemed to be contagious. By the end of the class, Marylyx McGorn and one of the other board members had hopped up to join in.
And the third seemed to be filming.
If that was a live stream or intended to be uploaded, April was pretty sure Khall wouldn’t like it.
Thankfully, the hour was just about up.
She had everyone start doing a quick cool down, and then headed back to the desk to check up on the board member who had been recording.
“Hey there, I don’t have permission for the kids to be filmed,” she said gently. “That wasn’t a live stream, was it?”