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Alessia twisted the knob on the pretty purple alarm clock radio combo in front of her, bored. She was supposed to be working on her homework, but the letters were swirling like kaleidoscopes again. Not worth it.
The music switched from tune to tune. Alessia let them play for a couple of seconds, before switching again, and again. None of them sounded fun. It was all country today. It made her want to scrunch her hands over her ears and scream until the world stopped being so stinkin loud. She twisted the knob a little further, and grimaced as a particularly grating song came on. It was that one about a fiddle and Georgia.
A lightly browned hand with a blue ribbon bracelet reached over Alessia’s head and turned the volume knob to zero.
“There’s nothing but country right now, ‘Lessia. I think the only station not country is…” Antonella drifted off muttering as she spun the station knob deftly to the right. Her long chocolate hair swayed back and forth, tickling Alessia’s nose as she stared at her sister wide-eyed.
“Here.” Antonella stated, turning the volume knob upwards again. The little red letters in the display area labelled the new station as 940 AM. Rapid-fire spanish blasted out of the little radio and Alessia jumped back surprised.
“That’s spanish! Just because we’re Italian doesn’t mean we can understand spanish.” Alessia objected, despite the interest rising. She almost could, honestly. It was so close to what Mama spoke, but not.
“So? You don’t have to know the words to like it. Or dance to it.” Antonella retorted, scrunching her nose. “And this’ll be better than listening to you change songs every five seconds, and it’s good!”
Alessia turned desperately towards her other sister who was still sitting on the floor a few feet away with her homework spread around her. The abandoned blue pens and pencils of Antonella were littered nearby, much like her own purple versions.
“ ‘Relia! Is it really that annoying for me to change songs?” Alessia asked sweetly, daring her sister to say yes. The girl looked up from her work; startled at the question.
“Ahh, well,” She stuttered, twisting her pigtails between her fingers.
“Maybe not annoying?” Before Alessia could do more than flash a smile of victory however, Aurelia continued.
“But, well… Maybe distracting is the right word? I know you’re done with homework, but we’re not…” She trailed off biting her lip, as Alessia glared at her youngest sister.
Alessia opened her mouth, ready to argue, when the talking on the radio suddenly stopped.
For a second, nothing. Then—
Da-ta-da!
Drums! Loud and fast and exciting! She jumped a little, eyes wide. Then came the piano, all twinkly and skippy, like it was playing a game of tag with the drums. A deep, bouncy thump-thump-thump joined in, like a giant stomping to the beat.
And then—Dun-to-doo!—the trumpets! They blasted out all happy and shiny, like fireworks but for ears. The music wasn’t just playing, it was moving. It felt like it wanted to run and jump and spin around really fast.
A man started singing, his voice sliding up and down with the music, words quick and snappy. She didn’t know what he was saying, but he sounded really excited about it. Then more voices joined in, like a bunch of people laughing and shouting and clapping together. Someone in the background kept yelling “¡Sabor!” like it was the best thing ever.
Alessia’s foot started tapping all on its own. Then her shoulders wiggled. Then her hands started bouncing. It was like her body couldn’t help it!
Antonella smirked at her. “See? Told you it was good.” Alessia pouted at the middle twin, before smirking.
“Let’s dance then! No more homework!” Alessia grabbed her sister by the hands, even as she began to splutter and began swaying and hopping to the beat.
“Hey, wait!” Antonella tried to protest as they spun around and around. Alessia let go and Antonella stumbled into another spin, trying to slow down.
“Oh, that sounds better than English anyway.” Aurelia muttered, pushing herself to her feet. She bounced right up to Alessia, tossing her pencil to the floor. The two of them twirled in circles together, jumping and clapping to the beat.
“At least let me put away the homework first. We don’t want it all crumpled. Or we’d have to explain it to Ms. Rosales.” Antonella protested, diving for the abandoned homework quickly. Alessia and Aurelia screeched to a stop.
Mrs. Rosales was the only nice teacher in all of Portland Montessori Elementary. If they made her mad, there’d be NO nice teachers left!
The two girls watched impatiently as Antonella stuffed the homework into each respective folder and tossed the writing utensils onto the little white dresser at the base of their bunk bed. Alessia bounced up and down to the beat so ready to just dance.
Soon Antonella rejoined them, and they began to dance. At first, they danced together in a circle, triangle kind of grouping, but as the music continued and changed into new songs, eventually they kind of drifted around the bedroom.
Alessia drifted towards the bigger open space near the door and closet, twirling to drums and swaying to the piano. But it wasn’t quite right.
Antonella was still by the window with the plastic radio sitting on the sill. Aurelia was on the other side of the triple-bunk bed just kind of swaying back and forth.
Alessia bounced on her toes, her arms up like she was holding something important, even though she didn’t know what. The music kept going—ta-ta-TA!—and she wanted to go with it. She jumped, spun, clapped, and hopped, but—ugh! It wasn’t right!
Antonella and Aurelia were just goofing off, giggling and spinning around like dizzy tops, but Alessia wanted to do it for real. The music was so fast and happy, but she felt floppy and messy.
She tried to copy the trumpets—big and bright!—so she stuck her arms out and waved them around. Nope. That wasn’t right.
She tried to match the drums—boom-boom-BA!—so she stomped her feet real hard. Too slow.
She tried to move all light and twinkly like the piano, but her feet got all tangled up, and—thump!—she tripped right over her own ankles and landed on her knees with a huff.
Antonella snorted. “What was that supposed to be?”
“A dance,” Alessia snapped, crossing her arms as she sat on the floor.
“It looked like a falling-down,” Aurelia said, tilting her head.
Alessia glared. “I know! I was trying to—ugh!—it’s just—ugh!” She threw her hands in the air. The music in her head felt so cool, but her body just wouldn’t do it right.
She scrunched her face and looked at Antonella. “You said people dance to this, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“How?”
Antonella blinked. “What do you mean ‘how’?”
“How do they do it? How do they not fall down? Why does it look cool when they do it, but dumb when I do?”
Antonella shrugged. “I dunno. They just know how.”
“Well, I don’t!” Alessia threw herself backward onto the floor with a groan. The music was still playing, all big and happy and fun, but now it just made her more mad.
Why was it so hard? It was like the music was calling her to dance, but she didn’t know the right steps, and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t make her feet match.
Aurelia knelt next to her and patted her arm. “Maybe it’s like riding a bike?”
Alessia squinted at her. “Huh?”
“You know. First it’s wobbly, and you fall a lot, but then one day, boom! You just get it.”
Alessia frowned. “I don’t want to wait for ‘one day.’ I want to do it now!”
Antonella huffed. “Well, you can’t just magic it into your feet.”
Alessia grumbled, staring up at the ceiling. Then, an idea popped into her head. She sat up fast.
“What if I learn?”
Antonella made a face. “Learn what?”
“How to dance! The right way! If people know how, then somebody can teach me!” Alessia turned big, hopeful eyes to her younger sister. “Can we find out how?”
Antonella opened her mouth to argue, then shut it, rubbing her chin like she was thinking. “...Maybe.”
Alessia grinned. Maybe was good. Maybe meant yes, if she tried hard enough.
And Alessia always tried hard enough.
Aurelia flopped down on the floor next to Alessia, and wacked her head into Alessia’s stomach like it was a pillow. It drove all the air out of Alessia’s lungs and she shoved at Aurelia’s shoulders half-heartedly, still distracted by the idea of learning how to dance right.
“Mama and Papa would know right?” That innocent question had Alessia humming as the wheels in her mind began to turn faster. Adults knew things. Lots of things. And Mama and Papa obviously knew everything.
“Yeah, they’d know what it’s supposed to look like. And can help me get it right.” Alessia nodded, twisting one of Aurelia’s pigtails between her fingers. Antonella flopped down on the other side, mirroring Aurelia.
“Really ‘Nella? I like breathing.” Alessia grumbled even as her other hand reached up and began running through her sister's silky curls soothingly.
“And you’re the big sister. So you’re the pillow.” Antonella stated like it was a fact of the world and Alessia should already know it. Alessia huffed a laugh, unable to really laugh due to the weight on her stomach.
“Aww. Were you having fun, girls?” Mama’s voice cut through the chaos, and the three triplets jolted upright, scrambling to untangle themselves from each other.
Alessia was the first to react, flailing her arms as she tried to push her sisters off of her, but in the process, Aurelia and Antonella both bumped their heads together with a soft thunk. Alessia managed to slip out from under them, only to be greeted by the combined weight of her sisters falling on her once again as they all toppled to the floor in a heap.
“Ow!” Aurelia yelped, rubbing her forehead as she tried to sit up.
“That’s my stomach!” Antonella complained, pressing her hands against her sister’s back.
“Why??” Alessia groaned dramatically, lying flat on the floor as Aurelia and Antonella tried to wriggle themselves free.
“Oh dear,” Mama said, sounding like she was trying not to laugh. She stepped into the room, shaking her head in amusement as she hurried over to the pile of giggling girls.
“Mama!” Alessia whined, looking up at her mother with wide eyes. “We were just—well, we were getting things... sorted.”
Mama raised an eyebrow, reaching down to gently pry them apart. “I see. Sorted, huh?” She chuckled softly as she helped them back to their feet. “It looks more like you’ve been wrestling for the last cookie, not sorting anything.”
“Ah, well…” Antonella muttered, rubbing her head. “We got a little... distracted.”
Aurelia’s cheeks flushed a bit as she stood, adjusting her pigtails. “Just a little,” she added with a sheepish smile.
Mama’s eyes softened, her hands on her hips as she looked over her daughters. “Distracted, huh?” She tilted her head slightly. “Well, if you’re all so good at distracting yourselves, then I’m sure homework is done, right?”
The triplets went still at the question, exchanging quick glances. They froze, then slowly turned to Mama.
“Well…” Alessia began, her voice trailing off.
“We were… just about to finish,” Antonella quickly added, shooting a glance at Aurelia for support.
“Yep,” Aurelia agreed quickly, nodding enthusiastically. “Totally. Just... just about to get back to it.”
Mama raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. “Uh-huh. Sure. So, how’s this for a deal: I’ll let you off the hook for now, but only if you promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?” Alessia asked, hopeful but cautious.
Mama’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “You finish the homework before you get any more ideas about dancing. Got it?”
Alessia’s face fell. “But—Mama—”
“No buts. Finish your work, and then we’ll talk about real dancing.” Mama winked, clearly in no mood to let them off too easily.
Alessia, Antonella, and Aurelia exchanged glances once more, and then, in unison, they all groaned. “Fine…”
Mama laughed, giving them a knowing look. “I’m not going anywhere. You have as much time as you need, but homework first. No homework, no dancing. Got it?”
“Got it!” the triplets chorused, all but slumping back down to their desks.
As Mama stepped back out of the room, she turned to glance over her shoulder with a soft smile. “Remember, girls, you can make the right choices. But, homework first.”
And with that, Mama was gone, leaving the triplets to groan and grumble their way back to their desks, though Alessia’s mind was still buzzing with one very exciting thought: real dancing.