Centre Stage: A Novel

and Eve’s nice.’
    I nodded. I understood. ‘She is.’
    Ally smiled. ‘So what’s been going on with Harriet?’ she asked.
    ‘Let’s go back to my house and talk about it,’ I replied. ‘I don’t think there’s any point in you trying to see Harriet now. She’s really mad.’
    ‘Harriet?’ Ally said in surprise. ‘But she never gets cross.’
    ‘She never used to,’ I corrected her. ‘She’s been acting really differently the last few weeks.’
    ‘Because she’s being picked on?’ Ally said.
    I nodded. ‘Come on, let’s go back to mine.’
    On the way home, I told Ally everything that had been happening.
    ‘I don’t know what to do,’ I finished.
    Ally frowned. ‘I had no idea they were picking on her so much. So that’s why she got new trousers and shoes?’
    ‘Yes,’ I told her. ‘And why she’s stopped answering so many questions in class.’ I sighed. ‘We’ve got to make her see that she should just be herself. That it doesn’t matter what people like Kelly think.’
    As Ally nodded, I suddenly remembered what Harriet had said about me. She’d said I wasn’t being myself. What had she been going on about? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. It wasn’t important. Right now what mattered was Harriet.
    ‘What are we going to do?’ Ally asked.
    ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I guess we just leave it tonight and try talking to her tomorrow.’
    But the next day, Harriet wouldn’t speak to us at all. She sat with Emily on the bus and that’s when I knew that she was really in a mood with us. Nothing on earth would normally persuade her to sit by her sister. And then in class she marched past me and went to an empty desk at the front of the room.
    ‘Look who’s got no friends,’ Kelly teased.
    Harriet blushed uncomfortably and looked at the desk top.
    I went over to Harriet. ‘Harriet, please can’t we —’
    ‘Go away,’ she muttered, turning her back on me.
    I hesitated.
    ‘I mean it, Sophie. Go away.’ Harriet looked up at me as if reading my mind. ‘I’ll move if you sit beside me.’
    Giving up, I went back to my place. She really was mad.
    For the rest of the day Harriet’s bad mood continued.
    ‘I’ll try and talk to her tomorrow when we go riding,’ Ally promised that evening as we got off the bus and watched Harriet unhappily march away.
    ‘OK,’ I sighed. I hated Harriet looking so miserable. ‘Good luck.’
    I found it was almost impossible to concentrate at the rehearsal the next day. Had Ally spoken to Harriet yet? Had she had made her see sense about the quiz team?
    ‘Sophie!’ Dizzy’s sharp voice snapped me out of my brooding. ‘Are you listening?’
    ‘Er… yes,’ I lied. Realizing everyone was looking at me, I felt my cheeks burn.
    Dizzy frowned. ‘OK, let’s take that sequence from the top.’
    The music started. I tried to follow the others but I got lost on the last few steps. I stopped in confusion.
    Dizzy fixed me with a steely glare. ‘So, you were listening were you, Sophie?’
    I looked at the ground, willing it to open up and swallow me whole. ‘No,’ I muttered.
    ‘Well, I’ll go through it once more and this time maybe you’ll do me the courtesy of paying attention.’ Sarcasm positively dripped from Dizzy’s voice.
    With my face as red as a fire engine, I watched as she went through the steps and then I performed them — luckily to Dizzy’s satisfaction.
    ‘That’s more like it,’ she said briefly, and then she turned to address everyone. ‘OK, guys, let’s move on.’
    As she showed us the next steps in the dance I caught Samantha grinning at me. I forced myself to focus on what Dizzy was saying. I couldn’t afford to miss out bits of the dance again. Particularly not when there was just one day until the decision was going to be made as to which team was to perform on opening night. My team , I thought. Oh please, let it be my team .
    ‘OK, everyone take a break apart from Sophie and Justine,’ Dizzy called half an hour later. ‘You two, I want to see you go through your solos.’
    My heart plummeted. Oh no. Not the ballet. Justine and I walked over, avoiding each other’s eyes as usual.
    ‘Justine, you first,’ Dizzy said.
    I watched as Justine performed the dance. My spirits sank further. She looked perfect to me.
    ‘Good,’ Dizzy praised as she finished. ‘Technically that’s spot on, Justine.’
    Justine flushed with pride.
    However, as usual, Dizzy had criticism to follow