Centre Stage: A Novel

by Linda Chapman

  ‘Hey! Is this you?’

  I was jerked out of my thoughts. A Year Ten girl had walked down the aisle and stopped by Harriet’s and my seats. She was holding a newspaper and looking at me. I looked at the paper: there was a picture of me in the centre of the page and an article with the headline: Film Star Sophie Does it Again!

  ‘Yes, it’s me,’ I admitted as Ally and Harriet looked round to see what was going on.

  ‘It says you’re going to be the lead in the Christmas show at the Palace Theatre.’

  I nodded.

  ‘Cool!’ the girl said, looking impressed.

  Other people had clearly seen the paper too. At least four people in my class had brought the paper in, including Mr Davey.

  ‘Maybe we should organize a school trip to come and see you,’ he smiled.

  I sank down in my seat. Oh great. Just what I wanted: all my class coming to see me dance.

  ‘So, how are the rehearsals going?’ Mr Davey asked.

  ‘Fine,’ I mumbled.

  ‘You’re going to be out of school from next week, aren’t you?’ he said.

  I nodded. In under a week’s time the proper rehearsals with all the adults were starting.

  ‘Has anyone got any questions they’d like to ask Sophie?’ Mr Davey asked.

  Lots of people stuck up their hands.

  ‘Do you get paid?’

  ‘How much time will you get off school?’

  ‘Do you know loads of famous people?’

  I answered the questions as best I could but I was very relieved when the bell finally went. At the moment, the last thing I felt like talking about was the play.

  *

  ‘And into positions, blue team!’ Dizzy called that night. ‘Let’s see who’s the best.’

  Colette, Jack, Mark and I hurried forwards as Samantha’s team — the red team — moved to the side. ‘Come on,’ Colette urged us, ‘we can do it better than their team!’

  The music blared out and we began the first half of the new dance we’d just been learning. That evening, just the principals had been called and Dizzy had come up with the idea of making us perform in our teams one after the other.

  Luckily the dance wasn’t too hard and I managed it with hardly a mistake.

  ‘Well done,’ Dizzy called as we finished. ‘It’s hard to choose between you but…’ she paused, ‘I think maybe the blue team were just slightly better.’

  Jack and Mark exchanged high fives and Colette grinned at me in delight. At the side I could see Samantha scowling.

  ‘Let’s carry on and learn the rest of it,’ Dizzy called. ‘Come on, red team, come and join in.’

  Samantha, Justine, David and Xav walked over. They stood in a group leaving a good couple of metres of space between them and us.

  I glanced at Justine. She caught my eye but then looked away. She had hardly spoken to me since the day she had played the dance-sock trick. She just hung around with Samantha and the rest of her team and giggled with them whenever I made mistakes. But then there were times when I caught her looking almost lonely and it made me wonder if she was really happy with the way things were. I knew I wasn’t. I hated the tension between the two teams. Memories of filming came back to me. It had been such good fun on the film set. No one had been competing with anyone else and nearly all of us had been friends. We’d played rounders together and hung out when we weren’t filming. I wished my team and Justine’s team could all just get on in the same way.

  ‘OK,’ Dizzy’s voice interrupted my thoughts, ‘and so from the finish on the spin you go forwards three steps and then Sophie and Justine you turn to the right like this.’

  I copied Dizzy’s movements as she spoke but I wasn’t really concentrating. As I spun, Samantha stuck a foot out. I saw it too late.

  ‘Oof!’ I gasped as I tripped over and sprawled on the floor.

  Dizzy stopped and looked round. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I said quickly, getting up. ‘I just tripped.’

  As Dizzy turned back to the front to carry on, I glared at Samantha. She smirked back at me.

  And I wanted us all to get on? Yeah, like that was really going to happen.

  *

  At the end of the rehearsal, Dizzy made an announcement that made my blood run cold.

  ‘As you all know, Claire, Stefan and I have to decide which of your two teams will perform on opening night. We need to do this fairly soon so Velda can draw up a performance schedule for the juveniles. So on Sunday we’re going to spend the morning watching both teams. You’ll have a chance to go through all the dances and the songs plus the scenes you have been doing with Claire. Afterwards we’ll make our decision as to which team will be performing on opening night.’

  Help! That meant I had just five days to be good enough to get my team chosen to perform on the opening night.

  ‘We have got to be so good by Sunday!’ Colette told me, Jack and Mark as we got our bags.

  ‘Yeah,’ Mark agreed. ‘We’ve so got to, be chosen.’

  ‘How’s the ballet coming on, Sophie?’ Colette said. ‘Have you been practising?’

  I swallowed. ‘I think I’m getting the hang of it now,’ I lied.

  ‘Good, I mean if you want me to practise with you, I can.’

  ‘No, I’ll be fine,’ I said quickly.

  I hoped I was right.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ‘How do you think Harriet’s doing?’ I said anxiously on Thursday.

  Ally was talking to Eve. She looked round distractedly. ‘What?’

  ‘Harriet. How do you think she’s doing?’

  It was the day of the quiz-team selection and Harriet, along with all the other people who wanted to be on the team, were spending their lunchtime doing a test quiz competition.

  ‘She’ll be doing fine,’ Ally said.

  I checked my watch. ‘She should be back soon, shouldn’t she?’

  But Ally had already turned back to Eve and wasn’t listening. ‘So it starts at seven thirty?’

  ‘Yes. Do you want to come round to mine first?’ Eve replied. ‘We could get ready together.’

  ‘Definitely!’ Ally told her.

  I knew they were talking about a party they were going to at the weekend. Claire, one of the girls in their class, was having a proper party with boys. Ally was really looking forward to it because Nathan was going.

  ‘I wonder what Harriet’s doing now?’ I said anxiously.

  Ally shrugged. ‘So what are you going to wear?’ she said to Eve. ‘I thought I might wear my short silver skirt — do you think Nathan will like it, though?’

  A wave of irritation swept over me. Fair enough, the party was important, but Ally could at least seem a bit more interested in Harriet. She knew how much getting on to the quiz team meant to her.

  ‘I hope she’s done well,’ I said. ‘I hope she’s got on the team. There’s only four places.’

  ‘Oh, stop stressing,’ Ally said airily. She turned back to Eve. ‘So what are you going to wear?’

  I looked round in frustration and then I saw Harriet. ‘Harriet!’ I gasped, jumping off the wall.

  She hurried towards us, her face split in a huge grin.

  ‘Did you get in?’ Ally demanded.

  ‘Yes!’ Harriet exclaimed. ‘I’m in the team!’

  ‘Well done,’ Eve said.

  ‘That’s brilliant!’ I said, hugging Harriet.

  ‘I know!’ she said. As I saw her beam, it struck me that I hadn’t seen her looking so happy in a long time.

  ‘What about Ben?’ Ally asked. ‘Did he get in?’

  ‘He’s the captain again,’ Harriet said, nodding. ‘Isn’t it cool?’

  ‘Definitely!’ I said.

  ‘Sophie was really stressing about it,’ Ally said. ‘But I knew you’d get in. It’s brilliant, Harriet. Well done.’

  The bell rang.

  ‘We’d better hurry,’ Eve said to Ally. ‘It’s PE and you know what Miss Fras
er is like if we’re late.’

  Ally nodded. ‘I’ll see you after school,’ she said to Harriet and me.

  ‘Bye,’ we called as she and Eve hurried off.

  ‘Lucky things,’ I sighed. ‘I wish we had PE not History.’

  ‘Harriet!’

  We looked round.

  Ben was walking towards us. Harriet started to blush.

  ‘I just wanted to say well done,’ he said. ‘You were great today. You really deserved to get on the team.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she smiled at him through her pinkness. ‘You were really good too.’

  ‘Hi, Ben.’ Kelly came over to Ben. ‘How are you?’

  Couldn’t Kelly get a hint? Ben was so not interested in her.

  ‘Fine, thanks,’ he said politely.

  ‘Did you get into the quiz team?’ Kelly asked.

  Ben nodded.

  ‘Cool!’ Kelly smiled. ‘I’ll have to come and watch you in the competition.’

  ‘Sure,’ Ben said. ‘The more supporters the better.’ He glanced at Harriet. ‘Harriet’s in the team too,’ he said warmly.

  ‘Oh right,’ Kelly said, sounding distinctly less impressed.

  ‘Anyway, see you around,’ Ben said. ‘I’d better go.’ He smiled at Harriet. ‘Bye, Harriet. See you at the next practice.’

  ‘Bye,’ Harriet said, but her voice was quiet and I could see the happiness had vanished from her face.

  Ben walked off.

  Rachel and Leanne came over and Kelly turned to Harriet. ‘So you’re in the quiz team?’

  Harriet nodded warily.

  ‘That must mean you know the answers to loads of questions.’ Kelly grinned. ‘So what’s a jock strap, then?’ she asked.

  ‘I-I don’t know,’ Harriet stammered, looking uncomfortable.

  Kelly, Leanne and Rachel hooted with laughter.

  I glared at them. ‘Come on,’ I said to Harriet.

  ‘You really don’t know what a jock strap is?’ Kelly said incredulously.

  ‘How about a wedgie?’ Rachel said. ‘Do you know what that is?’

  They were making so much noise that people were looking at us now. Harriet blushed hotly. ‘N-No.’

  ‘But you’re supposed to be brainy,’ Kelly said. ‘After all, you’re on the quiz team.’

  I’d had enough. ‘Shut up, Kelly.’

  ‘Or what?’ Kelly turned on me. ‘You think you’re really cool just because you’ve been in a film and you’re in this stupid play thing. Well, no one’s impressed, you know, Sophie.’

  ‘Good,’ I said, shrugging. ‘I don’t care what other people think.’

  Kelly looked angry. ‘You’re such a bighead!’

  ‘It’s better than being a loser like you.’ I looked at her scornfully. ‘Get a life, Kelly. You’re just pathetic!’ I grabbed Harriet’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

  She seemed frozen with embarrassment. As I half dragged her away I saw her eyes brimming with humiliated tears. I pulled her into the nearest girls’ toilets.

  Luckily they were empty apart from a few Year Nine girls putting their make-up on. They glanced over but seeing that we were just Year Sevens ignored us.

  ‘Are you OK?’ I asked Harriet. Stupid question. I’d never seen her looking less OK in her life.

  ‘Why do they have to be so mean?’ Harriet said in a trembling voice.

  ‘They’re just idiots,’ I said. ‘You’ve got to ignore them.’

  ‘But I can’t.’ A big tear plopped out of Harriet’s eye and on to her cheek.

  ‘You’ve got to,’ I told her desperately. ‘They won’t stop unless you do.’

  Harriet wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. I wished I knew what else to say.

  The second bell rang. ‘We should get to History,’ I told her as the other girls left.

  Harriet sniffed.

  ‘Are you going to be all right?’

  She nodded. ‘Yeah,’ she said, almost in a whisper and, biting her lip, she followed me to class.

  Harriet hardly said a word for the rest of the day. She didn’t answer a single question in History, usually one of her favourite subjects. She just stared at her desk looking miserable.

  At going home time, she walked quickly to the cloakroom. I followed her, wishing I could cheer her up. ‘I bet your dad’s going to be pleased you got a place on the quiz team,’ I said as we put our coats on.

  She nodded but didn’t say anything.

  ‘So when’s the first round of the competition?’ I asked.

  ‘The first week of December,’ Harriet muttered.

  Kelly came towards the cloakroom.

  ‘I’m going to the loo,’ Harriet said quickly, and she darted out of the cloakroom and into the girls’ toilets opposite. I was about to follow her when I saw Ally coming down the corridor.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, bouncing over. ‘Where’s Harriet?’

  ‘In the toilets,’ I replied. I seized my chance. ‘I need to talk to you about her. She’s really ups—’

  ‘Bye, Ally. See you on Saturday!’ a girl from Ally’s class interrupted.

  ‘Yeah, see you, Michelle,’ Ally called. She grinned at me. ‘This party on Saturday’s going to be cool! I’m going to get ready at Eve’s house.’

  ‘I know,’ I said briefly. ‘Look, Ally, I’ve got to talk to you. It’s important.’

  ‘Bye, Claire,’ Ally called, waving to another friend over my shoulder. ‘See you tomorrow! Sorry, what did you say?’ she said distractedly to me.

  ‘I’ve got to talk to you about Harriet —’ I broke off. It was too late. Harriet was coming out of the toilets.

  ‘Hi, Harriet!’ Ally exclaimed. ‘Shall we go and get the bus?’

  ‘I’m not getting the bus today. I’ve got a dentist appointment and Dad’s collecting me by the school gates,’ Harriet replied. Her voice was flat but Ally didn’t seem to notice. What a surprise. She was probably still thinking about the party.

  ‘Come on, then, we’ll walk with you to the gates,’ Ally said. We started heading out of school. ‘So I bet you can’t wait until the quiz competition?’

  Harriet shrugged.

  Ally looked surprised. ‘Are you OK?’

  Harriet nodded. Ally smiled at her. ‘Best of all it means you’ll get to see even more of Ben.’

  ‘No, I won’t,’ Harriet said flatly.

  I looked at her. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I thought you said he was going to be captain,’ Ally said.

  ‘He is,’ Harriet muttered.

  ‘So, that means you’ll see lots of him,’ Ally said slowly as if Harriet was mad.

  ‘No, I won’t!’ The words burst out of Harriet. ‘Because I’m not going to be on the team.’ She stared at us defiantly. ‘I’ve decided I’m going to turn down my place.’

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ally and I stared at Harriet.

  ‘What?’ I gasped.

  ‘But why?’ Ally spluttered at almost the exact same time. ‘You’ve been talking about getting on the team all term.’

  ‘Well, I’ve changed my mind,’ Harriet said.

  ‘Is it because of Kelly and the others?’ I asked quickly.

  Harriet didn’t answer.

  ‘Harriet!’ I exclaimed. ‘You can’t turn the quiz team down just because of some stupid comments.’

  ‘What’s Kelly been saying?’ Ally demanded.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Harriet said sharply.

  ‘This is stupid, Harriet,’ I protested. ‘You can’t be serious.’

  ‘I can and I am,’ she said. ‘Anyway it’s not up to you, Sophie. It’s my decision.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘I said it’s my decision!’ she exclaimed, her voice rising. A look of relief suddenly crossed her face. ‘There’s my dad.’

  She half ran to the car, leaving Ally and I staring after her.

  ‘Has she gone mad?’ Ally exclaimed. ‘What’s up with her?’

  Confusion and unhap
piness surged through me and erupted in a flash of anger. ‘Like you care!’

  Ally stared at me. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘I keep trying to talk to you about Harriet!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’ve been trying to tell you about her being bullied — but you’re always too busy to listen. All you want to do is talk about Nathan or Eve. Sometimes I don’t know if you even want to be friends with Harriet and me any more!’

  Ally looked at me, open-mouthed. ‘What? You think I don’t want to be friends with you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Do you?’

  Ally’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘If you even have to ask that question, Sophie, then I don’t know if I do.’

  ‘Fine!’ I snapped. ‘Then go off with your other friends. See if I care.’

  ‘Right,’ said Ally furiously. ‘I will!’ And she stormed off up the path to the bus stop.

  My anger faded almost the second she marched away. What had I done? I hadn’t meant to argue with her. I’d just been feeling upset and confused about Harriet. I started to run after her. ‘Ally!’ I called but she ignored me.

  I hesitated and then slowed down. When Ally was in a mood she was really in a mood and it was best to let her calm down in her own time. I trudged slowly to the bus stop feeling miserable. I hated arguing with her — and what about Harriet? Was she really going to turn the quiz team down? My head swirled. She couldn’t; she’d wanted to get into the team so much and she’d been so happy. She couldn’t turn it down just because of Kelly and the others.

  When I reached the bus stop Ally turned her back on me, and when the bus arrived she pointedly sat down beside someone else.

  I sighed and sat down near the front. I would deal with Ally another time. Right now, my thoughts were with Harriet.

  By the time we reached Ashton I had decided that I would go round and see Harriet. I waited until I thought she would be back from the dentist and then headed over to her house.

  ‘Hi, Sophie,’ Mr Chase said, opening the door in an old T-shirt and jeans. ‘Come to see Harriet?’