“I am the new boy,” Maximilian started to explain.

“Danny,” Maximilian interrupted with a smile, looking to see if Horse would smirk at the thought of the name he had almost given Miss Wish in music class.

“And the old Horse,” Horse continued, with a face far too straight for humour.

“You are only half the Horse you used to,” Maximilian said, a reminder to Horse that he was acting seriously, and maybe too seriously.

“You think I am only half here?” Horse asked, showing a hint of a smile.

“Hello, Danny,” Suzy said with a giggle as she appeared with Willow.

Willow giggled too. It was too hard to be grown-up all of the time.

“That is just the half of it,” Maximilian said, teasing Horse a little more.

“I think I have a split personality,” Horse repeated, smirking a little, seeing that Suzy was not acting grown-up. Or Willow either.

I am the new boy and the old Horse,” he added. “Half and half.”

And then his face broke out in a sly grin, “and the old Horse is still half full, not half empty.”

And starting to be full of it, Maximilian restrained himself from saying out loud. This is better, but it is time to stop making half jokes before Horse forgets that the new boy exists.

Horse does need a little seriousness right now, he thought.

“Let’s get serious,” Horse said.

“That is what I was thinking,” Maximilian replied. He was happy to help Horse by giving him the words to say.

“There is a battle going on inside of me. The new boy, Danny, and the old Horse are each trying to win,” Horse continued.

“Who should we cheer for?” Suzy naturally asked excitedly as the head cheerleader.

“Hit him again, hit him again,” she cheered. “Harder, harder,” Willow joined in with her, as they pretended to throw pompoms in to the air.

It was a safe cheer for Suzy. It could apply to either the new boy or the old Horse. Either way, she would be cheering for the winner, not the loser.

Horse scowled at Suzy and Willow.

“If there is a winner, then there is a loser,” Horse said. “So I will always be half winner and half loser.”

“So the new boy and Horse should not hit each other again and again, harder and harder,” Willow said quietly. “They should dance together.”

Everyone turned to look at Willow and nodded their heads. It was time to be grown-up again.

But not before Maximilian had a momentary image of Horse waltzing with the new boy, in the Coach’s physical education class.

He had to smile. So he smiled at Willow. No point in wasting a good smile. Better to put it to good use, he thought.

Willow smiled warmly back and took his hand.

She is thinking I smiled because she was acting very grown-up, Maximilian thought. He felt ashamed of himself for having a silly thought about Horse and the new boy dancing.

“I think it is time for you to become the new Horse,” Suzy suddenly said, very smartly. She was, after all, a very smart girl.

“The new Horace,” she corrected herself. She had started called him by his right name when she realized she really liked him.

“The new Horace?” Horse said. “What will I become?’

Suzy thought for a moment. And then her eyes brightened and a smile spread across her face.

“The new Horace says silly things and sings, is serious and smirks, his eyes are nice and he often flirts,” Suzy said.

“But only with me,” she added, blushing.

And she burst into song, “These are a few of my favourite things,” in her best imitation of Julie Andrews as Maria in The Sound of Music.

Miss Wish was helping the class in a performance of the musical.

She gave Maximilian a non-singing part.

Miss Wish was thankful to Maximilian for asking her to sing Oh Danny Boy solo for the class. But not quite thankful enough to hear him sing.

Horse was given the role of Captain Von Trapp, the man in love with Maria, who was played, of course, by Suzy.

“Perfect,” Horse said. “I want her to be the mother of my children.”

The oldest child was played by Willow, who with her average voice, needed Maria’s help in learning to sing better.

“And Maria helped Captain Von Trapp become a new person,” Horse added. “Just like Suzanne is helping me to become the new Horace.”

“And I will dance with you, like they do in the movie,” Suzy said, feeling just like Maria. “You will not have to dance by yourself.”

“With yourself,” Maximilian corrected Suzy, remembering the image of two personalities, one serious and one silly, trying to move as one to the music, and bumping into each other.

“Who will lead and who will follow?” Maximilian asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

Willow noticed.

So that is why you smiled at me before, she thought, arching her eyebrows as she looked down into Maximilian’s face.

Maximilian suddenly felt very anxious. He could see what she was thinking. Busted! He thought.

And then Willow covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. It was hard to stay grown-up. This was serious, and it was also funny.

And silly. It was both serious and silly.

Which is exactly what she had wanted Horace to understand about himself.

And Suzanne.

“The new Horace will have to decide,” Suzy said, very decisively.

“Life’s a dance,” Horse burst into song. “You learn as you go, sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow,” in his best imitation of John Michael Montgomery, one of his favourite country-western singers.

“Especially if you are going to be dancing with me,” Suzy said, joking half seriously.

Maximilian was breathing a sign of relief. Willow thought it was okay for him to have a silly image of Horse, even when she was being serious.

It really was both serious and silly.

And they really liked each other.

There was no need to fight, or much worse, split up.

Maximilian understood what Willow had said. So did everyone else.

He felt so much better.