Now the story the two boys had come up with began to play out. Derek mimed his own bravery, daring Vijay to approach the haunted house with him. Vijay pretended not to be scared, mimicking every dance move Derek tried, just to show he was no slacker.

But as they approached the door, and the song lyrics warned of impending doom, Vijay pretended to back off, doing a cool glide step backward while Derek moonwalked forward alone.

At last, with the crowd now really into it, Derek looked at the poster of the haunted house, pulled on the doorknob, and yanked it open.

Sally flicked on the spotlight—and there was Sam, monster deluxe, baring his fingernails and teeth in the open doorway as Derek and Vijay did backflips and the worm.

The crowd practically screamed at their first sight of Sam—then started clapping rhythmically along with the music as Sam danced his monster dance, slowly approaching the two terrified intruders.

It turned out that Sam had some really amazing moves of his own too—moves he hadn’t shown in rehearsal with Derek and Vijay!

At the end of the number the three boys froze in mid-move. The audience rose as one, giving them a loud, long, standing ovation!

Derek could barely hear anything but the thumping of his own heart and the rushing breath in his ears. He looked over at Vijay, who was beaming, and at Sam, who was still making monster gestures to the crowd.

Geez, Derek thought. What a ham he turned out to be—who would have thought it?

They bowed and bowed, then ran offstage and hugged one another.

“SSSHHHH!” This time it was Eva Katz, about to do her ballet piece.

Derek motioned for them to leave the backstage area. Vijay and Sam followed him through the hall to the back of the auditorium, where they entered and stood behind the last row of seats with all the other kids who’d finished performing.

“Man, that was so awesome!” Vijay whispered, high-fiving Derek. “And Sam, you were amazing!”

“Aw, come on,” Sam said. “That was nothing.”

“Hey,” Derek said. “That was not nothing. It meant a lot, Sam.”

“Well, then, now we’re even,” said Sam. “See you on the court at practice.”

He clapped Derek on the back and shook hands with Vijay. “Good luck, you guys. I’ve got to fly. I told my mom to pick me up at eight thirty.”

“What? You mean, your parents didn’t come to the show?”

“Nah,” said Sam. “I actually told them I was here to watch some friends perform. She doesn’t know I was in it.”

“Why didn’t you tell her?” Derek asked, confounded.

Sam shrugged. “No big deal,” he said. “I’m not really into performing.”

“You could have fooled me,” Vijay said. “In fact, you did fool me—you fooled everybody!”

“SHHHH!” Now it was Sally Spitzer, wielding her spotlight, who ordered them to hush up.