Centre Stage: A Novel

on up.’
    I hurried up the staircase just as Harriet opened her bedroom door. ‘Sophie!’ she said, looking surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘I had to see you,’ I said. ‘Did you really mean what you said about the quiz team?’
    Harriet’s face tensed. ‘Yes.’
    ‘But why?’ I said, going into her bedroom. ‘You’ve been wanting to do it so much.’
    ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Harriet said, walking over to her window and staring out.
    ‘It’s because of Kelly and the others, isn’t it?’ I said. I didn’t wait for her to answer. ‘Harriet, you can’t turn down the quiz team because of them. They’re not worth it. What does it matter what they think?’
    Harriet whirled round. ‘That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one being picked on, Sophie!’
    I was taken aback. Harriet never loses her temper. ‘But…’
    ‘Don’t!’ Harriet exclaimed furiously. ‘Don’t tell me to ignore them.’
    I didn’t know what to say.
    ‘You don’t know what it’s like,’ she went on. ‘You can’t possibly understand. How can you? You do everything right. You’re popular. You know what to wear. People like you…’
    ‘People like you too,’ I interrupted.
    ‘They call me a swot and teacher’s pet!’
    ‘Only Kelly and her friends,’ I said. ‘Harriet, this is dumb. You can’t change yourself because of what they think. You’ve just got to be yourself.’
    ‘Me? What about you?’ Harriet cried.
    ‘What?’ I frowned.
    ‘Think about it, Sophie,’ she said. ‘Are you really being yourself at your rehearsals? Why don’t you just ask for help?’
    I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. ‘What are you going on about?’ I said, frowning. ‘Anyway,’ I added quickly, ‘it doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me. It’s about you. You can’t turn down the quiz team.’
    ‘I can,’ Harriet said.
    ‘But…’
    She put her hands over her ears. ‘Look, just stay out of it. Leave me alone!’
    There was a knock on the door. ‘Is everything OK in there?’ Mr Chase said. He sounded concerned. He wasn’t the only one. I’d never seen Harriet look so mad. She was almost trembling with rage.
    She strode to the door and opened it. ‘Sophie’s going,’ she said.
    Mr Chase looked very surprised. ‘Oh, right.’
    I looked at Harriet. Her face was rigid. ‘Bye, Sophie.’
    I didn’t have much choice but to leave. ‘Bye,’ I muttered, and I hurried past Mr Chase down the stairs.
    As Mr Chase followed me, Harriet shut her bedroom door with a bang.
    ‘Is everything all right?’ Mr Chase asked me as he caught me up by the front door. ‘Have you and Harriet had an argument?’
    ‘Umm… sort of,’ I replied.
    ‘Oh well,’ he said comfortingly, ‘I’m sure you girls will make it up. See you soon, Sophie.’
    I said goodbye and set off down their front path. As I reached the gateway, I saw Ally.
    She stopped dead when she saw me.
    I hesitated. There was no way I wanted another argument. Not now.
    ‘What are you doing here?’ Ally demanded.
    ‘I came to see Harriet,’ I replied. I hesitated. ‘Is… is that why you’re here?’
    Ally nodded. There was a moment’s pause and then suddenly Ally’s face relaxed. ‘Look, I’m sorry about earlier,’ she blurted out.
    ‘Me too.’ The words rushed out of me in relief. ‘I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I know you care about Harriet.’
    ‘Course I do,’ Ally said. ‘You two are my best friends.’
    Warm and tingling feelings coursed through me. Deep down of course I knew it, but it was good to hear Ally say it.
    ‘I don’t know how you could ever have doubted it,’ Ally said.
    ‘Well, it’s just that you’ve been spending so much time with Eve,’ I said cautiously.
    ‘Because we’re in the same class,’ Ally sighed. ‘And I like her; she’s really good fun to hang around with but that doesn’t stop me being best friends with you and Harriet.’ She frowned. ‘You know, it’s not been easy being in a different class from you two, seeing you go off to lessons together, hearing you talk about what you’ve been doing.’
    I suddenly felt really awful. Poor Ally. I’d almost forgotten how hard it must have been for her. ‘We never meant you to feel left out,’ I said quickly.
    ‘I know,’ Ally said. ‘And I didn’t mean to make you feel that I wasn’t bothered about you and Harriet any more. I am — I’m really bothered — but I’ve got to make new friends