Centre Stage: A Novel

sounding as stunned as I felt.
    ‘You heard,’ Harriet said, drawing herself up to her full height. ‘Just get lost!’
    Kelly gaped.
    ‘You’re the pathetic one, Kelly,’ Harriet rushed on. ‘Acting as if you’re something special, expecting everyone to want to be the same as you.’
    For once Kelly looked lost for words. ‘L-L-Loser,’ she managed to stammer.
    ‘You can call me what you like.’ Harriet shrugged, triumph flashing in her eyes. ‘Cos you know what? I really don’t care.’
    At that moment Ben came back, carrying two cans of Coke. ‘Hi, Kelly,’ he said briefly. He gave Harriet one of the cans. ‘Here,’ he said, taking her hand.
    It seemed to be the last straw for Kelly. Looking like she was about to explode with fury she stomped off.
    Ben stared after her in surprise. ‘What’s up with her?’
    ‘Nothing,’ Harriet said. She smiled shyly at Ben. ‘Thanks for the drink.’
    Ben smiled back. ‘That’s OK.’ Their eyes met and I felt my heart swell.
    Wow. Could things get any better?
    The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Kelly left almost immediately. I grinned as I watched her flounce out of the hall with Leanne and Rachel. Something told me she wouldn’t be bothering Harriet much any more. Ben hardly left Harriet’s side and she had a constant smile on her face. It was brilliant seeing her look so happy. When Dad arrived to collect me I managed to drag her away from Ben for a few minutes.
    ‘I’ve got to go but I want all the details tomorrow,’ I told her.
    ‘What, all the details?’ she teased.
    ‘Yes, all the details,’ I said meaningfully.
    She grinned. ‘OK. I’ll see you after the play. Good luck.’
    ‘Thanks.’ My stomach did a double flip. ‘I think I’m going to need it.’
    Mum made me go to bed as soon as I got home but I couldn’t sleep. At half eleven, I heard Jessica come home from the Junction.
    Hearing her coming up the stairs, I went to my bedroom door. ‘Hi.’
    ‘Still awake?’ she said, yawning. ‘How did the quiz go?’
    ‘Great — we won. What was the Junction like?’ I asked eagerly. ‘How was Tom’s band?’
    ‘They were really good,’ Jess enthused. ‘Everyone liked them. I’m sure they’ll be asked to play again.’
    ‘Brilliant,’ I said, really pleased for Tom.
    ‘Tom’s still there celebrating,’ Jessica went on. She shook her head. ‘You should’ve seen him, Soph. He was like a rock star. He had all these girls hanging around him afterwards.’ She grinned wickedly. ‘Zak wasn’t too pleased, as you can imagine.’
    I grinned back. ‘Good.’ Zak was the arrogant lead singer who Jessica had had a thing with in the summer. He was the biggest poser ever.
    ‘You know, I reckon he’ll be going straight to the hairdresser tomorrow, having his hair cut like Tom’s,’ Jessica said. ‘In fact, I bet Nick, Raj and Oily all do. Tom looked the coolest of them by far.’
    My brother. A cool rock star. Wow! Maybe Ally’s dream of him being on Top of the Pops wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
    Jess yawned again. ‘Anyway, I’m knackered,’ she said, heading towards her room. ‘I’m going to bed.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, sighing. ‘I suppose I should try and go to sleep too.’
    Jessica paused. ‘Don’t worry about tomorrow,’ she said. ‘You’ll be great, Sophie.’
    ‘Yeah, right,’ I muttered.
    To my surprise, Jessica came over and hugged me. ‘You will be,’ she said softly. ‘You always are.’
    ‘Thanks,’ I mumbled.
    Feeling comforted but not convinced, I went back to bed.
    By the time I arrived at the theatre for my dress rehearsal the next day I was so nervous, and my legs were wobbling so much as I walked, that I thought I was going to fall over.
    ‘Good luck,’ Mum said, giving me a hug at stage door. ‘We’ll all be in the audience cheering you on.’ She kissed me. ‘See you later.’
    Suddenly I knew just how all those kings and queens who got beheaded felt as they walked up to the beheading block. As I walked slowly into the theatre, my stomach felt like it had butterflies the size of elephants flapping inside it. I was going to be sick. I just knew I was going to be sick.
    To my surprise, the theatre was very quiet. The crew must have gone on a lunchbreak. The scenery was all set out for scene one. There was no one around. I hesitated and then walked on to the stage.
    The auditorium was deserted, the chair seats all folded up. I looked around — at the high ceiling with