Falling Over Sideways

Mrs. Selinsky changes her behavior towards the students. Claire apologizes to her science teacher, but Mrs. Selinsky not only affirms that Claire was right—Mrs. Selinsky let things get out of control during the lockdown—but that Claire has amazing friends: “[…] each of those students deliberately stood between you and me […] Anyone who would do that certainly sounds like a friend to me” (225). The pronouncement shocks Claire because she mostly thinks of the others as “kids in my group” (225).

Mrs. Selinsky’s observation proves true when, after class, Ryder tells Claire he’s willing to ask Mrs. Jones to postpone their auditions. Claire is about to respond harshly but realizes that Ryder is being genuine. Claire finally asks Ryder why he has been so mean to her. Ryder retorts that Claire was the one who stopped being friends with him. Back when they were friends, students laughed at his weight and Claire laughed along with them. He felt like Claire betrayed him. Claire apologizes, and the two become friends again—even when Claire makes second chair a few weeks later.

Claire’s father remains annoyed at his progress. He wants to regain his vocabulary, so Claire agrees that she will teach him the words he needs if he promises to work harder at his physical therapy. She tells him, “But you’re acting like you’re broken inside, and that’s not who you are. That’s not who you were before” (231). He reminds her that he can’t physically dance with her in the Dad’s Dance, but agrees to her deal and works harder. Though Claire feels like her father is getting better, she still laments that he can’t dance with her.

At a sleepover with Alanna and Katherine, Claire grows increasingly annoyed when they talk about things she has no idea about. They are in a different place in life than her, but they once again affirm that they will always be her best friends.

Matthew offers to stand-in for their dad during the dance, and though Claire initially thinks it’s embarrassing, Matthew says that dancing can’t be that hard. Claire asks her father to write a novel about their experiences, and he calls them the heroes, not him. One day, he surprises them by going with Matthew and Claire to a donut shop and eating his donuts without making too much of a mess.

Claire feels confused and unsure about her last weeks at school. She wants school to be over yet also wants things to stay the same. She misses the people she now calls friends. Time both flies and stands still. Regina even gives Claire a Starbucks gift card. When Regina walks away, Ryder queries Claire about the conversation. Claire realizes that Ryder likes Regina, and he admits that he wants to ask her out. Claire tells him he definitely should.

Claire takes a chance and wears her favorite pink sandals to school on the last day. When Leigh makes her standard dismissive comment, Claire first gets scared but then realizes that Leigh’s opinion doesn’t matter. Roshni agrees that things are changing, since both Ryder and Christopher are different people now, perhaps even immature boys are growing up. Claire agrees that Christopher is heroic, but she doesn’t have much hope for the other boys.

Matthew and Claire head to the first rehearsal, where Matthew reveals that he’s terrified. Matthew normally is the best at whatever he sets his mind to, so the fact that he has never danced before is overwhelming. At dance school, however, the older girls fawn over Matthew, and he eventually learns that he doesn’t really have to do much. Though Claire is grateful, she cries later that night: “I was overwhelmed with sadness because Matthew and I were dancing together onstage, having fun, and my father’s place had disappeared” (251). Claire tells her father that she doesn’t mind if he doesn’t attend, but he says that he wouldn’t miss his children dancing for the world.

The Epilogue picks up where the Prologue left off—at the Dad’s Dance. Though Claire has already performed some of her dances, she’s still sad, especially when she sees the other fathers dancing onstage. Alanna and Katherine console her, and she rushes back onstage with Matthew during their final dance. She sees her mother near the stage and wonders if something happened to her father, but tells herself that “time is brain” (256) and muscles through her performance. Right at the end, Matthew gently pushes her away, when, to Claire’s surprise, her father appears onstage. Father and daughter embrace, to the cheers of the audience. Claire can’t hear him, but “I can read his lips. He is saying this: ‘Claire, I catching you” (257).