Chloe Centre Stage

by Holly Webb

  “Right, so you’re all here. That’s good. You’ve probably already realized that the school’s a bit of a rabbit warren. Year Sevens have been known to disappear for days.” She paused as a few people laughed uncertainly. “Seriously though, because the building’s been extended and modernized quite a few times, it can be hard to find your way around. Have you got your maps?” Maps were rustled and waved at her. “Hold on to them. By the end of the week you’ll probably be fine, but the next few days you’ll need them. Staff will be understanding if you’re late, so don’t worry.

  “Let’s talk about your timetable then. Can you take one of these each and pass them on, please.” She handed a sheaf of papers to Chloe and Sam, smiling as she saw the two redheads together. “You’ll see when you get them that we have academic classes in the morning and other classes in the afternoon. I want to say now that we do expect you to work at the academic classes. However brilliant a dancer or actor you are, you won’t get away with anything but working to your full potential.”

  Chloe made a face. She was reasonably good at school, but she had been hoping not to have to bother too much with things like maths any more. It sounded like that wasn’t an option.

  Miss James went through the timetable, explaining how it worked and what all the different bits meant – the teacher, where the class was, that kind of thing. It took ages and Chloe began to feel like the chances of her being in the right place at the right time with the right clothes on any day before half-term were pretty slim.

  Sam noticed her worried face and nudged her. “Don’t panic. We can always ask someone.”

  “I suppose so,” Chloe muttered, thinking with a wince that first you had to find someone trustworthy to ask. She could just imagine that blond Lizabeth delighting in sending Year Sevens to the wrong place. She noticed Miss James keeping an eye on her and Sam chatting, and wondered if she was strict. She shook her red curls irritably. Just their luck to get a strict form tutor. The showdown with Sara had left her feeling as though life wasn’t fair and she was in a mood where she wanted things to complain about.

  “You’ll see that most of your dance classes are boys and girls separately, because the teaching style can be quite different, especially for ballet. And thirty’s quite a large class for dance, so it makes sense to split you up.”

  “Typical school,” Sam agreed, pulling a ridiculous face and making Chloe laugh out loud. Miss James looked at them sharply, but didn’t say anything. Chloe shrugged to herself. Right now, she didn’t care what her form tutor thought of her. The long explanations droned on and Chloe doodled on her pencil case, occasionally glancing over at the front table where Bethany, Lily and Sara were sitting. Eventually, a bell rang and Miss James smiled.

  “Well, if you look at your timetable, you’ll see that you have a break now. It’s twenty minutes, so I’ll see you back here then and we’ll start giving out your books.”

  “Wow, she makes it sound like a real treat,” Chloe muttered too loudly to Sam, making him snort with laughter and attracting a very thoughtful look from Miss James.

  She was beginning to think two redheads together could be dangerous, Chloe realized, chuckling to herself.

  “You can go outside, or there’s the cafeteria. Take your maps so you can find your way back!” Miss James called over the noise of the whole class making for the door.

  Chloe headed for the cafeteria with Carmen and Ella. Sam came too, but sat with a group of boys, occasionally glancing over at Chloe’s table and smirking.

  “I think he really likes you,” Carmen said enviously.

  “I’ve only known him about an hour!” Chloe protested. “Anyway, I’ve got a feeling he mostly likes me because I was being rude about Miss James. I think he’s a bit of a troublemaker.”

  “And you’re not?” Ella asked, grinning. Chloe gave her a shocked look and Ella added quickly, “Oh, in the nicest possible way, of course… But you definitely got Miss James’s back up – and we’ve only been here one morning! That’s fast work!”

  Chloe frowned. She hadn’t really meant to get herself a reputation. She’d seen Miss James eyeing her, but Ella had to be exaggerating, surely? As the bell for the end of break went, Chloe vowed to be an angel for the rest of the morning. It wasn’t hard. After all, putting on an act was what she was best at – that was why she was here! But she wasn’t sure that Miss James bought it. Her form teacher’s eye seemed to be on her quite a lot of the time.

  At least the second half of the morning was a bit more interesting, as they got a tour of the school. Seeing the dance studios and practice rooms was so exciting, and the polished, empty floors seemed to call to Chloe. Knowing that every afternoon was dance, singing, drama – all her favourite things – reinforced her angel act. The argument with Sara seemed less important now and Miss James started to look a little less suspicious.

  Chloe spent lunch gossiping with the twins and trying to work out whether she’d seen any of the films they’d been in. It was fun and she really liked the way they never showed off about all their acting experience. Still, she supposed a lot of people at Shine had worked already – she wouldn’t be able to impress many people here with one TV appearance. Chloe was really glad she’d met Carmen and Ella, but she had a feeling it might be hard to become really close friends with them, as they already had built-in best friends.

  Carmen stuffed a massive forkful of tuna salad into her mouth. They’d quickly realized that the cafeteria food was much healthier than at their previous schools, with chips only once a week and loads of salad options. She stabbed a finger at her timetable and mumbled something. Ella and Chloe stared at her questioningly.

  “Sorry! I said it’s tap first thing this afternoon! I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve hardly done any tap, have we, Ells? They said at the audition that if we got in we’d have to catch up. Have you done much before, Chloe?”

  Chloe didn’t want to boast, but she had. She wasn’t as far on with tap as she was with ballet, but she loved it. “Quite a bit,” she said slowly. “I learned tap and ballet at the same dance school, and I love both. They’re so different though. I’m glad it’s tap this afternoon. I feel like I need something really fun and exciting after sitting still the whole morning.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Ella agreed. She leaned over Carmen’s timetable. “And they really pack the morning, don’t they? Look, five different classes! I suppose it’s to get in all the stuff we need to do.”

  The other two nodded, sighing. “And Miss James sounded as though she really meant it about having to work at normal school stuff too,” added Chloe sadly. Then she grinned. “Still, maybe we can liven it up a bit. Hey, are we supposed to be changed for tap before the end of lunch? ’Cos if we are, we’ve got about three minutes!”

  The twins squawked and rushed to clear their plates away, then they made a dash for the changing rooms, which were already full of girls trying to make sure they were in the right dance clothes. The school was really strict about wearing proper uniform – even hair had to be done the right way for classes. It was to get the students used to creating a professional impression, Chloe remembered the prospectus saying. She spotted Lily, Sara and Bethany in one corner, already nearly changed. She smiled hopefully when Bethany caught her eye and Bethany hesitated, but then turned away. Chloe shrugged to herself. Who cared? If Bethany wanted to be like that, then that was fine by her!

  Chloe and the twins were among the last to get to the studio for the tap class, but they made it. Everyone was gathered up at one end of the room, giggling nervously. This was their first real class. The first chance to show off what they could do. Chloe almost envied the twins. At least hardly knowing any tap they didn’t have much to live up to.

  At last two teachers arrived – Ms Driver, who Chloe had seen as she arrived in the morning, and a pianist. Ms Driver introduced herself. She was little and bubbly with black hair in a knot on top of her head, and she was wearing footless tights and a Shine
T-shirt. But she also had very cool red tap shoes.

  Ms Driver asked for the twins and put them in the front row, as she’d obviously been told they hadn’t done tap before. She was very nice about it though.

  “Don’t worry, I just want you close so I can help out if you need it,” she reassured them, and the twins nodded, flushing pink at being singled out in front of everyone. “I think the rest of you are about the same level for tap, girls, so we’ll start with a fairly basic warm-up and then see how you get on with a simple routine.”

  Ms Driver nodded to the pianist, who started to play some jazzy music. Then she led them through some stretches and moves. It was all pretty simple and Chloe relaxed into it, enjoying stretching out her tense muscles. The stresses of the morning seemed to melt away. By the time Ms Driver demonstrated the sequence she wanted them to copy, Chloe was really enjoying herself. And she couldn’t help a tiny grin as she saw Carmen and Ella looking panicked at how fast the teacher’s feet moved.

  She managed to catch Carmen’s eye and mouthed, “Don’t panic!” at her. Carmen grimaced.

  Chloe watched the demonstration carefully, appreciating how good Ms Driver was – better than her old teacher, she thought. Still, that wasn’t surprising. When it was their turn, she really went for it. Ms Driver was walking round calling out the steps and occasionally correcting the girls’ footwork. When they’d gone through it twice, she called a halt.

  “That was mostly very good, girls. Obviously everyone’s a bit rusty after the holidays, but nice, very nice. Well done, Carmen and Ella. I know you feel like you’ve got two left feet, but you’ll catch up in no time with a bit of extra help.” She looked round all the girls, smiling.

  “Oh, just one thing.” She beckoned to Chloe. “Could you come here a minute?”

  Chloe looked uncertainly behind her and Ms Driver laughed.

  “No, I do mean you. Just come here a minute.”

  Chloe knew she’d danced really well and she couldn’t help smiling. Was Ms Driver going to ask her to demonstrate the routine to the others? Her old tap teacher had quite often got her to do that, if she was demonstrating something tricky. Chloe threaded her way to the front, trying not to look smug.

  “Mmm. Yes, I thought so. You’re Chloe, aren’t you? Try to remember, please, girls, that we’re really strict about dress and hair at Shine. I know it seems stupid, but you will get used to it, I promise. Next class, Chloe, can you make sure that you’ve got your hair straight back and only black bands, please.”

  Ms Driver was smiling and didn’t sound cross, but Chloe gasped. She’d been so sure that she was about to be praised for her dancing that even this friendly criticism was a huge shock. She was wearing her hair loosely gathered in the pink bow she’d always worn for tap at her old classes. It was such a silly rule! Chloe blushed furiously, then she made her big mistake.

  “I don’t see why we only have to wear black,” she said, glaring at the teacher.

  “Perhaps not, but I’m afraid those are the rules.” Ms Driver’s voice was still pleasant, but she wasn’t smiling any more.

  Chloe turned and marched back to her place, her shoes tapping furiously. “How stupid can you get!” she hissed to Carmen and Ella as she passed them.

  “If you don’t want to be in this class, Chloe, that’s fine.” Ms Driver’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was steely. “Leave the class, please. When you’ve managed to get your head round the school dress code, perhaps you can come back. I don’t have time to deal with you now.” She turned back to the pianist and asked for the music again, as though nothing had happened.

  Chloe was left gulping. She didn’t want to go!

  She hadn’t meant for this to happen at all. In her dream version of this class, everyone saw what a fabulous dancer she was and she was the girl the others wanted to be! She didn’t get sent out like a naughty five-year-old! Trying not to let anyone see her face, and trying desperately not to let her tap shoes make any noise, she scurried out of the studio.

  Chloe was furious at being shown up in the tap class, but she was equally determined not to let anyone else see. She made sure that by the time the rest of the class raced back to the changing room she was sitting tear-free and already changed on one of the benches, reading a magazine that someone had left around.

  The others gave her curious glances, obviously desperate to ask her about it all, but not quite daring. The twins bounced in last, as Ms Driver had kept them behind to talk about extra practice. They had no such qualms about not asking.

  “Chloe! Are you OK? I couldn’t believe you argued. I don’t know whether you’re mad or brave or both!” Ella giggled.

  “Definitely mad,” someone muttered from behind Chloe, and she swung round to catch Sara’s eye.

  “I don’t know how you dared, on the first day,” a dark-haired girl put in. “But I thought it was a bit mean of her to pick on you in front of everyone. She could have just told you afterwards.”

  Chloe smiled, glad of the support, then she shrugged, trying hard not to look bothered. “Who cares, anyway?” she said lightly. “Bet I didn’t miss much. And if they’re going to be like that about something as stupid as hairbands – well, maybe someone needs to lighten things up around here.”

  “What do you mean?” Bethany said, from the other side of the changing room where she was struggling to get out of her tights without falling over. “You’re not going to do something stupid, are you?”

  Chloe didn’t know whether to be glad that Bethany was finally talking to her, or annoyed at her critical tone. But Sara’s comment had reminded her of that morning’s scene all over again and she couldn’t hold back an angry answer. “What’s it to you?” she snapped, and Bethany’s eyes widened.

  “Nothing – I just think it would be stupid to get yourself into trouble so quickly,” she replied.

  Sara giggled. “That should fit with what we’ve seen of her so far then,” she said, exchanging glances with Lily and Bethany.

  Bethany shrugged. She seemed not to want to get into a fight and she looked as though she wished she’d never said anything. “We need to get changed,” she said hurriedly, turning to search through her locker.

  Chloe watched her angrily. She was miserable enough to want to get in a real row with someone, but deep down – too deep for her to admit it right now – she still wished she and Bethany could be friends.

  It was hard for Chloe to go home and pretend that everything was OK. It would have been so nice to talk to her mum and ask for her advice, but Chloe didn’t want to burst her bubble. Her mum had flung open the door as she saw her coming down the path and raced out to meet her, wanting to hear all about it. Then she had to go through it again when her dad got home. The worst thing was that telling them about her fabulous new school was one of the things Chloe had been really looking forward to. She managed to make a good story of it anyway and was fairly sure she had been completely convincing. Chloe cried herself to sleep that night, desperately disappointed and wondering just how everything had gone so wrong.

  The next morning, she woke up feeling determined. She wasn’t going to let anyone at school see that she wasn’t happy. Least of all Bethany and her little gang. She marched through the glass doors, and was met almost immediately in the corridor by Sam and a group of boys.

  “Hey, Chloe! Heard you had a fun time in tap yesterday!” Sam pretended to examine her hair. “Hmm, I hope that’s a uniform hairband, young lady…”

  He was grinning, but not in a mean way, and Chloe grinned back. “Funny. I hadn’t got you down as someone who was interested in hair accessories, Sam. If only I’d known. I’ve got some cute Hello Kitty clips at home – they’d really bring out your ginger highlights.”

  Sam’s look of horror was so funny and the other boys fell about laughing while Chloe pretended to hunt through her bag for hairbands for him. She stayed chatting to the boys until the bell went, mostly complaining about how awful their timetable was and hearing horror stori
es about the boys’ tap teacher, who was apparently a real perfectionist. They all piled into their classroom late, and Miss James gave Chloe and Sam a look that seemed to say she wasn’t surprised.

  Chloe had never exactly been a teacher’s pet, but the teachers at her last school had at least liked her. Chloe had a feeling that Ms Driver had probably told Miss James about the argument in tap. It felt really weird being someone who was expected to get into trouble. Chloe wasn’t sure whether she should behave perfectly so as to make up for yesterday, or just go with it. If everyone thought she was difficult – even Carmen and Ella seemed to think so, and it had certainly made her popular with Sam and the other boys – then maybe she should try to live up to her new reputation?

  Proper classes started that morning, and Chloe sat with Carmen, Ella and Sam’s group of mates. Was it Chloe’s imagination, or did all the teachers keep a careful eye on them? By the time both the history and English teachers had told them off for talking and giggling, when Chloe was sure they weren’t worse than anyone else, Chloe was starting to feel picked on.

  The rest of the first week seemed to go really quickly. It was odd – nothing was quite as Chloe had imagined and sometimes she wished she had more good friends at Shine to talk things over with. She’d been right about Carmen and Ella. The twins were great fun and they’d invited her to come over to their house one night, which she was pleased about, but they were so much each other’s best friends that there wasn’t really room for anyone else. Chloe had Sam and the boys to chat to as well, but there was no way she was opening her heart to them!