Centre Stage: A Novel

I hadn’t been as perfect as Justine but I was just relieved it was over and I hadn’t made a total mess of it.
    The rest of the morning flew by. I wondered which team would be chosen. My team seemed better at remembering their lines. I had a feeling I was acting well, but I still made some mistakes with the dances.
    At last we were doing the final dance. We spun, held up our arms and it was over. We’d gone through the whole thing.
    Claire, Dizzy and Stefan clapped as Dizzy turned off the music and we lowered our arms. I was out of breath and I had a stitch. I put my hands on my knees and drew in deep gulps of air. I wasn’t the only one. Even the really good dancers looked slightly pink and sweaty.
    ‘I’m exhausted!’ Colette gasped beside me.
    ‘Me too,’ I agreed.
    ‘Good work everyone,’ Claire announced. ‘You really have done very well to learn and remember so much.’ She smiled. ‘Now go and have a lunchbreak. You deserve it.’
    ‘Back at one thirty!’ Velda called, jotting down the time on her clipboard.
    Colette’s shoulders sagged. ‘So we’ve got to wait until after lunch to hear which team’s been picked.’
    ‘I suppose they want to discuss it,’ Jack said.
    ‘We were better than the red team,’ Colette said. ‘They forgot more lines than we did.’
    ‘But their dancing was good,’ I put in.
    ‘Well, there’s no point worrying about it,’ Mark said practically. ‘We can’t change things now. Let’s go and have lunch.’
    As I followed him over to our bags I found myself wishing I had asked Dizzy for help earlier. Maybe if I had, I could have really improved my dancing and given our team a much better chance.
    Suddenly I didn’t feel hungry any more. What if my team didn’t get chosen because of me?
    As I picked up my bag, Justine came over. ‘Hi,’ she said shyly. ‘You were really good.’
    ‘You too,’ I replied. ‘Your dancing was brilliant. You did the solo perfectly.’
    ‘Thanks to you,’ she smiled. ‘If you hadn’t told me about that mustard…’ She broke off. Colette, who was standing nearby with Mark, was staring at me.
    ‘You told her!’ she exclaimed. ‘Sophie, how could you?’
    Oh no, Colette was really mad. ‘I-I…’ I broke off. Hang on, why was I trying to make excuses? I’d done the right thing. I frowned. ‘I thought it was a mean trick,’ I told her, putting my chin up. ‘It wasn’t fair.’
    Colette gaped.
    I glanced at Justine. She flashed me a quick smile and, emboldened, I went on. ‘I don’t want to fight with Justine any more,’ I told Colette. ‘It’s stupid. So what if their team gets chosen to perform first? I don’t care. I just want to be friends.’
    ‘Me too,’ Justine said, stepping forwards and standing beside me. ‘When we were doing the film everyone got on and it was really fun. I want it to be like that here.’
    Colette looked like she didn’t know what to say.
    ‘Sounds good to me,’ Mark put in. I looked at him in surprise. He shrugged. ‘I’m fed up with all this fighting too. OK, you and Samantha are never going to get on, Colette, but it doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be sworn enemies. I quite like David and Xav.’
    ‘Yeah, me too,’ Jack said. ‘And you’ve got nothing against Justine, have you, Colette? Apart from the fact she’s in Samantha’s team.’
    Colette hesitated. ‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I guess not.’
    ‘So let’s all just get on,’ Jack said. He smiled at me. ‘You did the right thing to tell Justine about the sandwiches, Soph.’
    I smiled back at him.
    ‘Well?’ Mark said to Colette.
    ‘OK,’ she sighed. ‘We can call a truce.’ She frowned. ‘Though I’m not being friends with Samantha.’
    Mark grinned. ‘I’m not expecting miracles to happen.’
    I looked at Justine. ‘Do you want to eat your lunch with us?’
    She nodded. ‘Yes, please.’
    ‘I’ll go and speak to David and Xav,’ Mark said. ‘You coming, Jack?’
    They set off and Justine and I sat down together. We’d just opened our sandwiches when Samantha came over.
    ‘What are you doing sitting with her?’ she said to Justine.
    I met her angry gaze. ‘We’re going to be friends,’ I said.
    ‘Yeah,’ Justine said. ‘We’re fed up with arguing. Everyone is. Look.’ She nodded to where Mark, Colette and Jack were laughing with David and Xav.
    Samantha stared. ‘But…’
    ‘You might as well just accept it,’ I told her. She might be fourteen but there was no way