Read Online Awakening (Book One of The Geis) by Christy Dorrity - Free Book Online Page A

class was over, Ms. Slannon called me to her.
    “How are things going, McKayla?” she asked.
    “Great,” I answered a bit too cheerfully.
    “You seemed to be fighting against yourself in class today.” Ms. Slannon motioned to some other girls that she would be with them in a minute. “Are you feeling all right?”
    “I think I ate too much dinner before I came. I can’t seem to get off the floor.” I smiled to assure Ms. Slannon that indigestion was the extent of my problems. The thought occurred to me that maybe Ms. Slannon would know something about the janitor. “Is the janitor around today?”
    “Rourke? He’ll be around later to lock up the building. Is there a mess in the bathroom?”
    “No, I just wondered.” I turned to leave, making a mental note of the janitor’s name. “Thanks.”
    “McKayla, I ran into my college roommate the other day, the one who did Irish dancing. She lives in the valley, and I told her that I had a student who is interested in learning more about Irish dance.”
    I turned back to Ms. Slannon. Adrenaline rushed through my body as if I were about to go onstage.
    “Her husband built her a dance studio in their garage, but she hasn’t used it for over a year.” Ms. Slannon handed me a piece of paper with a phone number. “A little warning: Leah’s husband died of cancer last year. I don’t know if she will want to go back to dancing.”
    “This is great. Thank you so much.”
    Ms. Slannon smiled. I’d never noticed that she had freckles sprinkled across her nose. They endeared her to me even more.
    Christa waited for me near the door. “You look better,” she said.
    I grabbed her arms. “I can’t believe it! Ms. Slannon has a friend who teaches Irish dance, and she lives in Star Valley.”
    “Whoa, no way!” Christa grinned. “We have to go call her right now.”
    My black mood dissipated. I felt like dancing.
    “Wait, do you think you could stay and practice?”
    Christa looked at her watch. “Josh has wrestling practice. We could catch a ride home with him.”
    Christa texted her brother, and I called my mom. Ms. Slannon asked us to turn out the lights in the gym when we were finished.
    “Okay, spill it.” Christa said, as soon as we were alone in the gym. “What’s going on?”
    I took a deep breath. “I came back to get my shoe last week, and someone was dancing in the gym. You’ll never guess.” The rush from learning such good news left me feeling giddy. I knew I was acting silly, but I didn’t care.
    Christa sat down on the floor and put her shoes on again. “Lucas?”
    “Not Lucas. Although that’s a sight I’d love to see.” The thought of Lucas dancing around the gym made me laugh. “It was the janitor.”
    “The janitor was dancing? The one who trudges around, with a cane?”
    “Yes, the only school janitor. His name is Rourke.” I kicked off my shoes, leaving them by my bag. “He wasn’t doing ballet, though. Get this—he was doing Irish.”
    “The high school janitor was Irish dancing?” Christa burst out laughing. “That’s hilarious. What did he look like?”
    “No, seriously. He was good. Not just good—he was better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
    “Weird.”
    “What do you mean, weird?”
    “Don’t you think it’s odd that a janitor would be dancing in the high school at night after everyone else is gone? And doesn’t he have a hurt leg or something?” Christa lifted her palms to me. “If this guy is so good, why doesn’t he make a living dancing instead of cleaning toilets? It sounds weird to me.”
    “I didn’t think of it that way.”
    We went through the same routine that I’d trudged through during class. Christa tired out before I did, and I used what was left of my adrenaline high to practice the few steps of Irish I had picked up on the Internet.
    “I know how it’s supposed to look, but I can’t get my body to do it.” I looked over to where Christa was stretched out on the bleachers, reading a