Can things get any worse…
Rushing back to the hall afterwards, Millie and I complained about the hard Math questions that had been included, especially towards the very end. The last few were so complicated.
“I skipped several of them,” I admitted. “They were way too hard! And I’m certainly not looking forward to getting my result, that’s for sure! If we’re ever asked to do one of those competitions again, I’m just going to refuse!”
Millie agreed with me but on entering the hall, we quickly put the Math comp behind us. The seating and decorations were finally all in place and Miss Sheldon was directing a group of kids on the stage who were having a last minute rehearsal. I scanned the hall, looking for all the members of our dance troupe so that we could also have a final rehearsal. We’d been discussing it that morning and had planned to meet up just after the lunch break, but they were nowhere to be seen.
“Maybe they’re all out the back or in the dressing rooms. I’ll race out and have a look.” I watched Millie head off to look for them and just as I was about to search the adjoining rehearsal room, Miss Sheldon called me over. “Julia!” she said, “Just the person I was looking for!”
“Yes, Miss?” I replied questioningly.
“I’d like you to come with me. The junior girls need a last minute practice and I also need you to help me with the Grade Five item. There’s still kids who could do with some extra help and I think one more run through is really going to benefit them.”
The look of dismay on my face must have been obvious. “Aren’t you feeling well?” she queried. “Is your leg a problem? Perhaps you shouldn’t be at home resting it!”
“Oh no,” I replied quickly. “My leg is fine.” There was no way I was going to tell her that it was actually quite painful. If I did, I was worried that she’d ban me from performing.
“I was just going to have a last rehearsal with the kids in my dance group,” I tried to explain, but her stressed expression prevented me from continuing. “It’s ok, though! I know the dance really well, they can just go ahead without me.”
Trying to sound convincing, I followed her into the rehearsal room where the group of junior girls were waiting. I thought anxiously of Millie and the others, knowing they would be wondering where I was but I didn’t dare leave to go and tell them. Miss Sheldon was a great teacher, but when she was stressed or angry, we all knew we just had to be quiet and do as we were told.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get the junior girls in order and by the second run through, they had pretty much perfected the mistakes they’d been making. With a huge sigh I then moved onto the Grade Five kids, many of whom were racing crazily around the hall by that stage. There were some pretty hyperactive boys in that group and they could not sit still, let alone follow instructions and it took all my strength not to start yelling at them to stand still and listen. I was relieved when Miss Sheldon came over and told them off. That finally managed to calm them down and we were able to run through their entire item.
Just as we finished and I was about to go and look for Millie and the others, I heard an unmistakable voice. “Julia, where have you been?” We’ve been working our butts off trying to get our dance perfect and you didn’t even bother to show up! Do you want our dance to be a success or not?”
The uncomfortable looks on the faces of all the others, just added to my humiliation. “I had to help Miss Sheldon,” I tried to explain.
“Yeah, right!” I could feel my face turning bright red at Sara’s abrupt remarks. “You’re such a teacher’s pet! You’ll do anything to get on side with the teachers, even if it means letting your team down. Unbelievable!” And with a flick of her long blonde hair, she strode off towards the change rooms.
I looked towards Millie who just rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t worry about her, Julia. You know the dance so well, we’ll be great tonight, let’s just go and get ready.”
Feeling upset for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, I slowly walked towards the change room door. I knew that the junior school kids were opening the show and I needed to be back stage to help them into their costumes. Taking a deep breath, I tried to muster some enthusiasm as I entered the bustling room that was filled with girls at different stages of preparation.
I suddenly looked at my watch. Seeing a few girls in the midst of getting their hair and make-up done, reminded me of the missing head bands and I anxiously hoped that my mother would make it in time. The girls were expecting to wear the head pieces and apart from the decorative effect they created, they really were needed to help keep their hair tied back. With the throbbing in my head becoming worse, I walked over to the dressing area to assist the remaining girls with their costumes and make-up.
When they were finally organized, I decided I had better get dressed myself. If I didn’t hurry, I would never be ready on time.
Searching frantically for my back pack, I scoured the area where I thought I had left it when I had arrived that morning. My memory of the morning’s events was pretty foggy and I couldn’t remember exactly where I had placed my bag. The change room was in chaos at that point. There were girls, teachers and helpers everywhere. Everyone was at different stages of getting ready and Mrs. Jackson was trying to keep the noise to a minimum.
“Sssshhhh, girls!” she was saying in a firm voice. “Please keep your voices down. It is way too noisy in here!”
By that stage, the room was totally frantic with excitement, the big night had finally arrived and girls in tutus, leotards and a variety of different costumes were lining up to get their make-up and hair done. I thought fleetingly about the head pieces for the younger girls and looked with concern at the clock on the wall, hoping that my mom would soon arrive.
“Millie,” I called, when I spotted her and the other girls from our dance group assisting each other with applying mascara and lipstick. “Can you please help me find my bag? I’m sure I left it in here this morning after getting changed, but I can’t see it anywhere.”
“Julia! I was wondering where you were and look at you! You’re not even dressed yet. You need to hurry!” Millie’s worried look made me feel even more anxious.
There were bags and costumes and props scattered all over the place, it was no wonder I couldn’t see my bag but after a few minutes of searching, Millie finally handed it to me, “Here it is! I found it hidden under a pile of gear in that corner over there.”
Frowning, I answered, “I could have sworn I left it over by the door.”
Millie shook her head and said, “Everything is such a mess in here. I’m surprised I found it at all!”
Casting my confusion aside, I quickly rifled through my bag, looking for the hip hop outfit that I had carefully folded and placed in there the night before, along with my shoes and accessories. But to my horror, it quickly became obvious that the outfit was missing.
Pulling everything out, I threw each item singly onto the floor, desperately hoping that the clothes I needed were hidden amongst my other bits and pieces. At the bottom of my bag, were my shoes and the long socks that we had all planned to wear, but there was no sign of the outfit I was looking for.
“NO!!!” I cried out.
“What’s wrong, Julia?” Jackie had heard my distressed call and came over to see what the problem was.
“My clothes aren’t in here! But I’m sure I packed them last night!” I flopped down on the floor, tears springing from my eyes. The day I had looked forward to for so long had gone from bad to worse. And I wondered how everything could have gone so terribly wrong.
“Fifteen minutes till show time, girls!” Mrs. Jackson was calling out. “I will need to start getting you lined up in your groups, so quickly finish getting ready.
I looked towards Millie and Jackie in despair. “What am I going to do?” I wailed.
“Julia Jones, aren’t you even dressed yet?” Mrs. Jackson was looking at me with an expression of incredulity on her face. “Hurry up! There’s no time to
waste!” Shaking her head, she turned her attention to some younger girls who were trying to pin their hair back.
“Aren’t these girls supposed to be wearing head pieces?” she asked no one in particular.
I didn’t respond to that, thinking that I had much more important things to worry about than the girls’ hair. How on earth was I going to be able to go on stage without my costume?
“What’s wrong, Julia?” Sara’s voice rang in my ears. “You’re still not dressed! Have you decided not to perform?”
I was sure that her tone was full of sarcasm but as I turned to face her, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty she looked. Her glowing blonde hair was slicked back into a high pony tail and the bright red lipstick adorning her lips, set off her olive complexion beautifully. She looked so good in the outfit that had been designed for us all, and I felt overwhelmed with disappointment at the thought of not being able to take part.
“Julia, you can wear this!” the unexpected sight of the familiar shimmering blue fabric in Millie’s hands was the answer to my prayers.
“Oh, Millie! Where did you find it?” I asked, barely daring to breathe.
“This one belongs to Annie Thompson. When she broke her leg, she returned it to Miss Sheldon and I spotted it in the cupboard in her office when I went looking for towels this morning.”
“Oh, my gosh, Millie!” I said gratefully. “You’re a life saver!”
I glanced in Sara’s direction and noticed the surprised look on her face. “Looks like I’ll be going on after all, Sara.” I said in a curt tone and quickly rushed to get changed.
I tried not to think about the throbbing pain still emanating from my head as well as the gash on my knee. I had pulled the blood soaked bandage off and although my leg really needed to be covered up, I couldn’t very well go on stage with a horrible looking bandage wrapped around it.
By the time I was dressed, there was no time to worry about make-up. I swiftly tied my hair back into a pony tail and regardless of the fact that it wasn’t as neat as I would normally like, it would simply have to do.
Disaster...
Directing the younger girls onto the stage for their opening dance, I took a deep breath and watched from the wings, praying that even without their head pieces, they would exhibit the same killer performance that they had in the rehearsal.
The deafening applause at the end of their dance was music to my ears and I congratulated them all as they skipped off the stage.
The next act was performed by Liam and his incredible voice poured out into the auditorium. The other singers were almost as good and I marveled once again at the talented kids in our school.
The following performances were met with just as much enthusiasm from the audience. Then peering out into the crowd, I spotted my parents and my brother, Matt sitting near the front row. I assumed that my mom hadn’t been able to get the head pieces, but as it turned out, the girls managed to get through their dance regardless, so I was very grateful for that. Although I still felt bad over their obvious disappointment at not being able to wear the sparkling addition to their costumes.
Finally, it was our turn and my stomach churned with anxiety and nerves. As we raced out onto the stage to form our positions before the curtain went up, Sara turned to me and said, “Break a leg, Julia!”
“What?” I frowned.
“That’s for good luck,” she smirked and then faced the audience whose applause was deafening once again.
We lunged into our routine, with Sara in the front row, doing the somersaults that she was so good at and as usual, her precision and timing were excellent. The applause erupted again and with a flick of her long pony tail, she executed a very tricky interchange with Alex and then moved to the back.
Alex attacked his moves with his usual gusto and sharp, expressive movements which made him the stand out hip hop dancer that he was. I felt a rush of pride at being a part of such a cool routine but just as I moved to the front position, I felt my leg give way under me.
It was a completely involuntary reaction and one I was powerless to prevent. I was supposed to kneel down and support the weight of one of the smaller girls on my bent knee but unfortunately it was the leg that I had injured that morning.
There was no way I could bear her weight and the sharp pain caused my knee to drop just as Abbie pressed down on it to raise herself into the air. With a gasp from the audience, she went tumbling to the ground. Bright red with embarrassment, she glared at me in horror and all I could do was help her up and try to resume the timing and movements of the routine going on around us.
Fortunately, Abbie had no trouble getting back into rhythm, but I just seemed to lose my place and was not able to recover. As if in slow motion, I felt myself limping around the stage after the others and then looking down, I realized that blood was oozing from my leg and onto the floor.
I tried to ignore it and focus on the moves that I knew so well, but I was simply unable to get it together. Gratefully, Millie took over my spot and I moved once again to the back row, trying to camouflage myself amongst the others.
The scene around me was almost surreal and I felt as though I were a spectator watching the event unfold from afar. The swirling, twisting and turning of the dancers in front of me, along with the steady thumping beat of the latest hip hop song that everyone knew so well, all seemed to mesh together into a whirlpool of crazy colors and sounds.
Then, feeling a slight nudge in my lower back, I was pushed towards the front of the stage. An instant flash of recall had me leaping into the air. Everyone still considered this moment the highlight of our routine. It was the grand finale and my chance to relinquish my status as actually being a decent dancer and choreographer.
Flinging my arms and legs forward, I came down onto the stage, one foot at a time. Then reminiscent of that morning’s episode in the school driveway, rather than gripping onto the stage in a final dramatic stomp, my foot slid forward and just kept on going until my whole body landed horizontally on the floor with a loud bang. In a blur of dizziness, I sat up and looked around to see that I had slipped on a pool of blood. Blood that had oozed from the gash in my knee and onto the stage.
At that very moment, I was overcome with a sudden rush of nausea and unable to stop the sudden convulsion, I vomited all over the stage.
Too terrified to open my eyes, I wished I could turn back the clock. Back to the day of our dress rehearsal when everything had gone so smoothly. My final leap had been the high point of the day, where even Miss Sheldon and also Alex our expert hip hop dancer, had congratulated me on my performance.
I dared to glance fearfully out into the audience. Everyone appeared aghast and I could see the shocked expressions of my mom and dad. Then, realizing I was surrounded by worried faces peering down at me, everything suddenly went black.
What is Sara really up to…
The next thing I remember was my mom’s voice. “Julia, Julia!” Are you alright, darling? Julia…”
I had gazed at her briefly before blacking out once more and then awoke in a strange bed, my mom, dad and brother by my side.
After collapsing so dramatically on stage, I’d been rushed to hospital in an ambulance where I’d had to spend the night for observation.
When I opened my eyes, my mom hugged me tightly, the relief obvious in her eyes. “I’m so glad that you’re ok, sweetheart!”
“You had us really worried, Julia!” my dad continued with concern.
And then of course, a typical comment from my brother, Matt. “What a finale, Julia. You were awesome!”
Mom looked at him crossly which quickly wiped the grin from his face. Trust him to try to joke around, even at the most inappropriate times. I certainly wasn’t laughing but I sure was glad to have my mom and dad there with me.
When I was finally allowed to leave the hospital, I couldn’t wait to get home to the safety of my room and I quickly climbed the stairs, declining any offers of help from my pare
nts.
I could not believe that the night I had been looking forward to for so long had ended up so badly. All the time and effort I had put in to getting our dance perfect was for nothing. Well, that’s how it seemed to me. I had practiced and rehearsed constantly, just as much or even more than anyone else. And it had all ended disastrously.
After arriving home from the hospital, I spent the next 2 days in bed. I felt so embarrassed and humiliated and didn’t want to face any of my friends ever again.
“Perhaps I could go to another school?” That was the question I silently asked myself over and over while trying to be brave enough to make the suggestion to my parents in the hope that it might be possible.
Although I knew they wouldn’t allow it, I just did not know how I could possibly face everyone at school. I decided that I must be the laughing stock of the grade and I really dreaded the thought of ever going back again.
I replayed the entire events of that terrible day in my mind, right from the moment when I had woken up late and realized I had overslept. Thinking back now, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was doomed from the start. So many things had gone wrong and it just didn’t seem fair.
As I lay there, I envisioned the smirk on Sara’s face that I had seen so often. I felt totally convinced that she was not the girl I had originally thought she would be. Too many things had happened over the past weeks and I tried to piece the puzzle together.
A couple of things stood out in my mind. For one, the message from Miss Fitz about the head bands for the junior girls. I am positive that Sara never gave me that message. Another issue was my missing costume for our dance. I’m sure that I packed it and since coming home, I’ve searched every possible spot in my room but it’s nowhere to be seen. I know that I had it in my bag, and if that is the case then where did it get to? And where is it now?
I wondered if that mystery would ever be solved. I thought briefly about confronting Sara and asking her directly if she knew anything about it but I was sure that would be useless. She’d never admit to anything, even if she was guilty.
Just as I was trying to concoct a really good excuse for having the entire week off school, I heard a gentle knock on my door. Then to my surprise, Millie’s smiling face appeared.
“Julia!” She came rushing over to my bed to give me a huge hug. “Are you ok?” she asked, with genuine concern. “I’ve been so worried about you! I wanted to come sooner but your mom said that you needed some time to recover before having visitors.”
Just having Millie there, was instantly reassuring and I could feel my spirits rise. Then when she pulled a block of my all-time favorite chocolate out of her back pack, I couldn’t help but grin widely.
“My favorite!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much!”
“I know,” she replied, watching me rip the wrapping open. “I was hoping it might cheer you up.”
“It’s so good to see you, Millie!” I responded, hugging her once more. “But I’m so embarrassed about what happened. How am I ever going to go back to school again?”
“Everyone was worried about you, Julia!” she quickly replied. “After the ambulance came, you were all that everyone could talk about. They were all so concerned. They’ll be so happy to see you back at school tomorrow.”
I looked away from her trying to hide the tears that had sprung to my eyes. “I really don’t want to go back to school, Millie. I’m so worried about seeing everyone. It’s all so humiliating.”
“Julia, don’t be silly. Everyone will be so happy to see that you are alright. And the musical would never have happened without you. Miss Fitz and Miss Sheldon are so grateful for all your help. They even made an announcement at the end of the night and everyone stood up and cheered. They all know how hard you worked to put it all together.”
“And anyway, it was lucky that our dance was the last performance. Everyone got to perform and you’re ok now. Apart from you collapsing, the show was a huge success. And so much of it was thanks to you!”
After a moment’s silence, she continued, “You ARE coming back to school tomorrow, aren’t you, Julia?”
With a nod of my head, I gave her another big hug. But I was still concerned about Sara. I wasn’t sure whether to mention her to Millie or not. Millie would probably say I’m imagining things and being completely silly.
So, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I didn’t want to spoil Millie’s visit. I was so glad that she was there and I actually began to look forward to returning to school the following day.
I felt especially grateful to have Millie as my friend.
Julia Jones' Diary - Book 1: My Worst Day Ever! An Exciting and Inspiring Book for Girls Page 4