Centre Stage: A Novel

by Linda Chapman

  But as Ally and I hurried across the room, Ben went up to her. We screeched to a stop.

  ‘Look!’ I hissed, grabbing Ally’s arm.

  We were too far away to hear what Ben was saying but Harriet was smiling and talking animatedly. We edged closer. As we got nearer I could hear Harriet saying, ‘I so nearly answered that question about the Nile wrong but then I remembered the right answer and…’

  ‘Hi, Ben,’ Kelly interrupted, walking up to them. ‘Congratulations.’ She fluttered her mascared eyelashes at him, totally ignoring Harriet. ‘You did really well.’

  Ben smiled. ‘Thanks. Sorry you didn’t get in, Kelly.’

  ‘Never mind.’ Kelly edged round so that her shoulder was almost pushing Harriet out of the way. ‘So what else do you like doing apart from the quiz club, Ben?’

  ‘All sorts,’ Ben said, stepping back a bit so Harriet was included again. ‘I go sailing quite a lot.’

  ‘Really!’ Kelly said all wide-eyed. ‘I’d love to try sailing.’

  I’m sorry, but could she be any more obvious? However, to my relief, Ben didn’t invite her to go sailing with him. ‘Well, um, you should go some time,’ he said, looking awkward. ‘Anyway, look, I’d better catch up with my mates.’ He turned to Harriet. ‘I’ll see you next week, Harriet.’

  Harriet nodded eagerly and Ben disappeared into the crowd.

  Kelly stared after him for a moment and then she turned and hurried back to her friends. I forgot about her.

  ‘Congratulations!’ I exclaimed, racing over to Harriet with Ally.

  ‘You were brilliant!’ Ally cried.

  ‘Thanks,’ Harriet said shyly.

  ‘Ben got in too,’ Ally said. ‘And he likes you!’

  Harriet went pink. ‘He doesn’t,’ she said quickly.

  ‘He does!’ Ally insisted. ‘It was totally obvious when he was talking to you.’

  ‘There’s going to be luuuurve in the quiz club,’ I grinned.

  Harriet looked very hopeful. ‘I can’t wait till the first meeting,’ she grinned back.

  Although I was really pleased that Harriet had got into the quiz club, the downside was that now Kelly had it in for her even more. She, Rachel and Leanne kept giggling and whispering comments whenever Harriet went by or answered a question in class. I just didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like they were really bullying her but I could tell Harriet was getting upset.

  I told Ally about it. ‘She’s just got to ignore them,’ she said when I rang her on Friday night. ‘If they see she’s not bothered then they’ll stop.’

  ‘But she is bothered,’ I told her. ‘She hardly answered any questions in Maths today.’ I sighed. ‘They’re just such losers. I mean, if I say anything to them they shut up but then they just start again the next day.’

  ‘Harriet needs to say something to them herself,’ Ally said.

  ‘I know,’ I replied. ‘But she just won’t, and she won’t even really talk to me about it.’

  ‘Do you think I should try and speak to her about it tomorrow?’ Ally asked. ‘We’re going to be at the stables all day.’

  ‘Good idea,’ I said. Maybe away from school, Harriet would talk about it more. I hoped so. It was horrible seeing her getting upset.

  ‘I’ll ring you tomorrow,’ Ally said. ‘Tell you how it goes. Good luck at the rehearsal.’

  The rehearsal! My heart pitter-pattered with excitement. ‘Thanks,’ I said, wondering what it was going to be like. One thing was for sure, I couldn’t wait to find out!

  Chapter Seven

  ‘Here we are,’ Mum said the next day, parking the car outside an old Victorian house. There was a noticeboard on its wrought-iron gates which said, Clawson Academy of Performing Arts.

  I fumbled with my seat belt, my heart turning somersaults.

  ‘So, are you excited?’ Mum asked

  Excited? I was so excited I could hardly breathe. I nodded. ‘Very!’

  Mum and I went into the school. There was a signpost with a big arrow which said, Lion, Witch and Wardrobe rehearsals — Bernhardt Theatre.

  We followed the arrow down a corridor and out into a courtyard. On the opposite side of the courtyard was a modern black-and-white building with the words Bernhardt Theatre in big letters over the doors.

  ‘That looks like the place,’ Mum said.

  We went over to the theatre. Inside there was a small foyer and then double doors which opened into a room about the size of our school hall. There were lots of people milling around. There wasn’t a stage but at the side of the room platforms were stacked. The ceiling was high and criss-crossed with metal lighting bars and in the far corner of the room there was a scaffolding tower.

  ‘Hello, it’s Sophie Tennison, isn’t it?’

  Looking round, I recognized Velda. ‘Hi,’ I said, nodding.

  Velda smiled at Mum. ‘You can leave Sophie now if you want. She’ll be ready to be collected at four.’

  Mum looked at me. ‘Is that OK?’

  I nodded. There were loads of other people my age or a bit older there, and none of them had their parents with them. ‘Yeah, I’ll see you later, Mum.’

  Mum said goodbye and left.

  ‘We’ll be starting in about five minutes,’ Velda told me. ‘Help yourself to a drink and biscuit.’ She pointed out a table with big jugs of orange juice on.

  I was just about to head over when I heard someone call my name. I looked round. Justine was hurrying towards me.

  ‘Did you get the part of Lucy?’ Justine demanded.

  I nodded.

  ‘So did I!’ Justine beamed.

  ‘Oh, brilliant!’ I gasped. ‘Well done.’ Knowing I was Lucy too, I could feel genuinely pleased for her.

  ‘Were you going to get a drink?’ Justine asked.

  I nodded.

  ‘Let’s go together,’ Justine said. We set off towards the drinks table. It was weird how much things had changed since primary school. We had not got on at all then but now, well, now we seemed to be almost friends.

  ‘So, do you like our theatre?’ she asked.

  I nodded. ‘It’s cool.’

  ‘The stage is moveable so we can have it wherever we want,’ she told me. ‘Those doors through there lead to the dressing rooms. Upstairs there’s a smaller studio theatre and also the dance studios. I’ll show you around later.’

  It was strange having Justine know so much and me know so little. As we poured ourselves drinks, I wondered if loads of her friends from school were going to be in the cast. ‘Do you know many people who are in the play?’ I asked curiously.

  She shook her head. ‘Not really. From Year Seven there’s just me and two other girls. Everyone else is in Years Eight, Nine or Ten, and I only know them by sight.’

  Just then someone tapped me on the shoulder. I swung round. A girl who looked about fourteen was standing behind me. She was skinny with dark auburn hair tied in two low bunches. ‘Excuse me, but are you Sophie Tennison?’

  I nodded.

  The girl smiled. ‘Velda told me to come over. I’m Colette Masters. We’re in the same team. I’m playing Susan — Lucy’s older sister.’

  For a moment I hadn’t a clue what Colette was going on about but then my brain clicked into gear. Of course. There were going to be two teams of children. I was Lucy in one team and Justine was Lucy in the other.

  ‘Do you want to come and meet the boys who are playing Peter and Edmund in our team?’ Colette went on.

  ‘OK,’ I said eagerly. I looked at Justine.

  ‘I suppose I should go and meet my team too,’ she said. ‘See you later, Sophie.’

  Colette led me to where two boys were standing. One was tall with blond hair. He looked sporty — like he played rugby or something. The other was smaller with short dark hair and a nice smile. They both looked about the same age as Colette.

  ‘This is Sophie,’ Colette announced.

  The tall boy turned out to be called Jack; he was playing Peter — the older br
other. The other boy was called Mark; he was playing Edmund — the younger brother. He and Colette were at school at Clawson’s. Jack was at a private school but he knew them both because they had all been part of the chorus in the Christmas show at the Palace Theatre the year before.

  ‘So you’ve been in a film, then?’ Jack said to me.

  ‘Yeah,’ I nodded.

  ‘And you had the lead. That is so cool!’ Colette said.

  ‘When’s it coming out?’ Mark asked.

  ‘Next summer I think,’ I replied, feeling a bit awkward. I was proud I’d been in the film but I didn’t want them to think I was making out I was some kind of famous film star. ‘I haven’t done any theatre shows before though.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s great that you’re in our team,’ Colette said. ‘It means we’re bound to be chosen for the first night.’

  The boys nodded.

  ‘First night?’ I echoed.

  ‘The director chooses the best team to perform on the first night,’ Colette explained. ‘It’s the performance to do. Everyone who’s important goes — agents, casting directors, the press. If you’re in a big show like this you just have to perform on the first night.’

  ‘It means we’ve got to really be good in rehearsals,’ Mark said. ‘You’ve got to do your absolute best all the time.’

  Just then Velda clapped her hands. ‘OK, everyone, gather round!’

  We all made our way over. Dizzy was standing by Velda. She was wearing a maroon all-in-one footless leotard and a bright-pink ballet top. A purple sweatshirt was tied round her waist.

  ‘Hello, everyone,’ she said as the chatter died down. ‘Welcome to the first day of rehearsals. We’re going to start with a few introductory games to learn each other’s names and then I’ll teach you the opening company number. Now, to start off with, let’s have you all in a circle.’

  For the next fifteen minutes we played games to learn each other’s names. First we had to go round the circle saying our name and then we had to throw a ball round saying first our name and then the name of the person you were throwing it to. Then we had to do the same but with an imaginary ball. Dizzy was quite strict. She didn’t put up with any giggling or messing around. I had a feeling that you definitely wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her.

  Once we’d got each other’s names sorted, we did a warm up. It was fun — a bit like an aerobics class. When we had finished, Dizzy told me, Jack, Mark and Colette and the other principals — Justine, Samantha, David and Xav — to sit out. ‘You aren’t in the first dance,’ she told us, ‘so Stefan’s going to be along in a moment to take you for a singing rehearsal.’

  She split everyone else into two teams. ‘These are the teams you’ll be in for the performances,’ she explained. She pointed to the group on her left. ‘This side is the blue team. You’ll have Sophie, Colette, Jack and Mark as your principals. The rest of you are the red team. You’ll be with Justine, Samantha, David and Xav. Right, let’s get started.’

  First Dizzy demonstrated a series of steps and then everyone repeated them. When she was happy that everyone had mastered the steps, she turned on the tape player and they went through them to the music.

  It was frightening how quickly the people in the chorus learnt the steps. Some of them only seemed to need to watch Dizzy once in order to pick up the dance. I began to feel worried. I was nowhere near as good.

  Colette leaned over to me. ‘It’s all fairly easy stuff, isn’t it?’ she whispered confidently.

  Easy! I forced a smile and nodded. ‘Yeah, it looks fine.’

  Just then Stefan came into the room. He beckoned for the eight of us to follow him outside.

  ‘Looks like it’s time for a music rehearsal,’ Colette said to me. ‘How’s your singing?’

  ‘OK,’ I said, glad to be able to tell the truth.

  Stefan took us upstairs to a music room with a piano. ‘We’re going to start with your first song,’ he told us. ‘It shows the four children being evacuated from London, travelling on the train and arriving at the house.’

  He began by getting us to sing a series of scales. When he was happy that our voices were warmed up, we started on the song. It wasn’t hard. Stefan sang a line and then we had to copy him. Once we’d got the basic tune sorted out, he listened to us one at a time. It was quite nerve-racking singing on my own but, to my relief, I didn’t have any problems.

  ‘You have a very good ear and a sweet voice,’ Stefan smiled to me as I finished.

  I blushed. Phew!

  Most of the others had to go over their lines several times. Justine had the most problems. She just couldn’t seem to get a couple of the notes. She had to repeat one line ten times before Stefan was happy.

  By the time she had finished, she was looking very red. I felt sorry for her. I was probably going to be the same when it came to the dance rehearsal. I tried to give her a sympathetic look but she just stared at the floor, avoiding everyone’s gaze.

  Samantha, the girl who was playing Susan in Justine’s group, was really good at singing. I remembered her from the auditions. She’d seemed OK then. However, as the rehearsal continued, it became clear that she really thought she was something special. She belted the song out and when she finished she smirked round at everyone as if to say, there, that’s how it should be done. I began to go off her rapidly.

  It soon became clear that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like Samantha. The vibes between Colette and Samantha were definitely not good. Neither of them said a word to the other and when we left to go back to the theatre they totally ignored each other.

  I hung back, intending to walk with Justine — she’d been quiet ever since she’d had to sing on her own – but Colette came over. ‘What are you doing?’ she said. ‘Come on. We’re waiting for you.’

  Seeing Mark and Jack standing by the door, I hesitated and then, deciding to speak to Justine at lunchtime, I joined my team. ‘God, did you hear Samantha?’ Colette said in a low voice to Mark as we walked down the stairs. ‘She thinks she’s so cool!’

  ‘She is good at singing,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, but there’s no need to deafen us all,’ Colette retorted.

  Mark looked at me. ‘Just ignore Colette when she gets on to the subject of Samantha. The two of them hate each other.’

  ‘She hates me,’ Colette said.

  ‘Whatever,’ Mark said, looking mildly exasperated.

  ‘It’s ever since last summer,’ Colette told me. ‘Our year did a production of The Wizard of Oz. She was Dorothy and I was her understudy. Well, on the week of the performance she got chickenpox and couldn’t perform so I had to be Dorothy instead. Lots of people said I was better than her and she’s hated me ever since.’

  I nodded, not knowing what to say.

  ‘She’s been saying that in this play she’s going to make sure her team’s chosen to perform on the first night,’ Colette said. ‘So we’ve just got to be better than them, Sophie.’

  ‘We will be,’ Mark said. ‘Sophie’s going to be a much better Lucy than their Lucy.’

  ‘Justine,’ I said.

  ‘Whatever her name is,’ Mark went on, ‘she really couldn’t hold those notes.’

  Colette smiled at me. ‘I am so glad you’re in our team, Sophie!’

  I forced a smile.

  I hoped she was still going to think that after we had our first dancing rehearsal!

  Chapter Eight

  ‘Here we go!’ Dizzy shouted above the music. ‘And five, six, seven, eight…’

  I ran forwards, aware of Colette, Mark and Jack in a line behind me. Little steps, little steps, I thought as I stopped and began to run on the spot.

  To my right I could see Justine’s team doing the same.

  The music changed and I ran to a different area.

  This wasn’t hard at all. The only difficult thing was remembering when to run and when to stop. We were going to be dressed in hats and coats and carrying bags and we
had to look like we were running from one place to another.

  ‘That’s great,’ Dizzy said as the music ended. ‘Well done, all of you.’

  The breath rushed out of me. I hadn’t made a mistake. Big relief!

  ‘Time for lunch,’ Dizzy announced. ‘We’ll meet back here at one thirty.’

  *

  We had all brought packed lunches and we ate them in the school canteen. Seeing Justine sitting by herself at a big table by the window, I headed over.

  ‘Hi,’ I said.

  She smiled. ‘Hi, Sophie. Do you want to sit here?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I replied.

  But just then, Samantha, David and Xav came over.

  David and Xav smiled at me but Samantha fixed me with a cold look. ‘Your team’s over there,’ she said pointedly.

  I looked round. Colette, Mark and Jack were sitting on the opposite side of the room. They beckoned me over.

  ‘Well, are you going over to them?’ Samantha said.

  Could she have made it any clearer that I wasn’t wanted?

  I glanced at Justine but she just looked embarrassed and didn’t say anything. Blushing, I picked up my lunch and walked over to Colette and the others. It wasn’t fair. Samantha might not get on with Colette but why did she have to be mean to me too?

  ‘What were you doing over there?’ Colette asked.

  ‘Nothing,’ I muttered, sitting down.

  ‘I wouldn’t try and be friends with them,’ Colette advised. ‘Samantha’s a real cow.’

  Unpacking my sandwiches, I glanced across at the other team. Samantha caught my look and stared back challengingly. I looked quickly away. She really didn’t seem to like me, that was for sure.

  After lunch we learnt a dance that came halfway through the play when the children were having a feast with Asian, the great lion.

  Parts of the dance were very fast and I just couldn’t seem to get my arms and legs moving together. The only trouble was, everyone else could.

  After I had stumbled and got lost for the fourth time, Dizzy stopped everyone. ‘Take five,’ she called.

  She came over to me. ‘You seem to be having a problem, Sophie. Let’s go through it.’