by Jo Cotterill
‘I don’t know,’ said Megan, ‘but I’m sure you’ll find someone.’
Suki’s eyes narrowed. ‘That’s it, isn’t it?’
‘What?’
‘You’ve found another friend already, haven’t you? That’s why you’re dumping me!’
Megan did laugh out loud at this. ‘You sound like we’re going out together, Suki. No, I haven’t found another friend – and actually it’s none of your business. I just don’t want to hang around with you any more.’
‘You’d rather be on your own than with me?’ Suki was astounded.
Megan thought for a moment. ‘Yes. I would.’ The encounter with Kate in the canteen had cheered her up. She smiled. ‘See you around.’
‘Not if I see you first,’ Suki said, turning her back.
‘Sounds like you did the right thing,’ Jake commented.
‘Yeah. She didn’t like it though.’
‘You’re better off without her. And Danny.’
Megan waved a hand at the wall. ‘I am totally over him,’ she said airily.
‘I know when you’re lying, Meg.’ Jake sounded as though he were smiling. ‘It’s all right. You don’t have to be over him already. He sounded kind of exciting.’
‘I don’t want exciting,’ said Megan firmly. ‘I want safe and nice and – and interested in dancing.’
‘Well,’ said Jake slowly, ‘I guess you’ll have to look around for someone like that then.’
Megan swallowed. Her heart had just given an extra-hard thump. Someone like you, she was on the point of saying, but she clamped her mouth shut. She mustn’t blurt it out!
There was an uncomfortable pause. ‘Um . . .’ said Jake.
‘Er . . .’ said Megan.
Then they both spoke at once. ‘So how’s Milton Park?’ asked Megan, just as Jake said, ‘You’ll never believe it but . . .’
They both stopped. ‘Sorry, after you.’
‘No, you first.’
All of a sudden, both of them seemed completely tongue-tied. It was awful! Megan was terrified that if she started talking, she’d end up blurting out all her feelings, and that would quite possibly be the worst mistake she’d ever made. She couldn’t just say, ‘Do you fancy me?’ could she? What would she do if he said ‘No’?
What would she do if he said ‘Yes’?
But Jake didn’t seem too comfortable either. He launched into a rapid story about his mum and then got de-railed into a different story about the new shopping centre. His words tumbled over themselves, as though he were frightened of leaving any gaps. Megan found herself saying ‘Yeah’, ‘No’ and ‘Really?’ alternately, with no idea of what she was responding to.
Megan was relieved when her mum called up that dinner was ready. Jake also seemed relieved, as though he couldn’t wait to get off the phone. Their goodbyes were so short, Megan had already hung up by the time Jake had got to ‘See you.’
She put her head in her hands. Questioning her feelings about Jake had made everything worse, even though she hadn’t said anything! Had he guessed? Why was he being weird with her too?
Megan hardly dared to think that perhaps Jake was also wondering about his feelings . . .
Ever since the confrontation with Danny, Megan had avoided walking past the skate park. Instead, she took a more round-about way to reach the arts centre and the shops. But one Tuesday she was running late for salsa, and there just wasn’t a choice. Hoping Danny wouldn’t be there – or that if he was, he wouldn’t see her – she dashed round the corner of the park.
Of course, she couldn’t resist glancing across to see if he was there – and immediately wished she hadn’t, because Danny just happened to glance up at exactly the same moment. The stormy grey gaze slammed into hers and Megan felt a lump rise in her throat. She had forgotten how good-looking he was! But the stare he was giving her wasn’t a friendly one, and she quickly looked away and hurried past.
Rounding the corner, Megan stopped to catch her breath. How could one brief sighting make her feel so wobbly?
‘You OK, Megan?’ It was Mari, on her way into the centre. ‘You look all white.’
‘Yeah.’ Megan drew a shaky breath. ‘Just saw – you know.’
‘Ohhh.’ Mari nodded in understanding. ‘The skate park. Of course.’
‘I shouldn’t let it bother me,’ Megan said crossly. ‘I mean, I haven’t spoken to him for weeks now, but . . .’
‘Come on.’ Mari put her arm around Megan’s shoulders. ‘Let’s get to salsa and then you don’t have to think about it.’
Corinne was looking anxious when they arrived. ‘Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Megan. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.’
‘Sorry we’re late.’
‘It’s fine – but I want you to take the whole of this lesson to perfect the jive.’
Megan looked surprised. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Definitely. The salsa is coming along really nicely and it’s so free-flowing it doesn’t matter if it’s not precise. But the party’s a week on Saturday and the jive isn’t anywhere near perfect yet.’ Corinne looked contrite. ‘I probably haven’t given you enough time to practise in class, Megan. Sorry, I didn’t realize how big a task it would be.’
Megan smiled. ‘I’ve been enjoying it, Corinne.’
‘Don’t worry, she’ll lick us into shape,’ Mari put in. ‘Won’t you, Megan?’
‘You bet! Right, let’s get warmed up.’
‘Yes, sir!’ Mari saluted.
Corinne sat at the side and watched as Megan took charge. ‘The kicks and flicks need to be a lot sharper, everyone, so let’s do some of those as a warm up. Remember it’s all about control.’
Within minutes, the girls were puffing and panting. ‘How come you haven’t even broken a sweat yet?’ grumbled Jackie.
Megan grinned. ‘Years of practice, Jackie.’
‘Show-off.’
‘And that’s another thing,’ said Megan, raising her voice, ‘you’re supposed to show off when you do this. It’s not like ballet where you need to be all serene and graceful. This needs lots of energy! Laugh, whoop, sing along to the music!’
‘Sing along?’ gasped Mari, holding her sides. ‘I can barely breathe, let alone sing!’
‘Let’s take it from the top,’ Megan called. She switched on her iPod and the beat started to thump out of the speakers. The girls quickly took up opening positions.
‘And a one! Two! Three, four, five!’ shouted Megan, as the routine began. ‘Other way, Alys! Mari, right foot first! And into the kick sequence. Bounce!’
Corinne nodded, satisfied, from her position on the floor. The dance was starting to take shape now. Megan had done a good job on the choreography. And the girls really listened to her. She had a natural gift for teaching.
‘Is it that time already?’ Megan said, when Corinne pointed to the clock. ‘But we haven’t even got to the end of the routine!’
‘I know,’ said Corinne, ‘but the class is over, Megan.’ She got to her feet and looked around at the girls, all of whom were bright red in the face and panting like puppies. ‘Do you think there’s any chance you could meet another time? It would have to be without me, but you don’t need me for this number anyway.’
‘We definitely need more time on this,’ wheezed Mari. ‘And I need a lung transplant.’
Several of the other girls put up their hands. ‘Me too.’
‘Well,’ said Megan doubtfully, ‘maybe I’ve made the routine too hard . . .’
A chorus of ‘No’s greeted her words. Alys shook her head vigorously. ‘No way. It’s a brilliant routine.’
‘We just need more practice,’ agreed Jackie. ‘We can put in the time.’
Megan felt a warmth spread through her. They loved her routine! They wanted to spend more time working on it! ‘Thanks, guys,’ she said. ‘I really appreciate it.’
‘What are we going to wear?’ asked Mari suddenly, going off at a tangent. ‘We need jive skirts, like on
Strictly Come Dancing.’
Corinne smiled. ‘That sounds nice. I just thought you could wear something swishy rather than a costume as such.’
Mari pouted. ‘I don’t have anything swishy. And I think it would be cool if we all wore the same kind of thing.’
‘I would ask Candy but she’s snowed under with a college production,’ said Corinne apologetically. ‘And I only have ballet costumes in store, nothing like they wear in ballroom. But we could order outfits from a dancewear company.’
Mari looked unenthusiastic. ‘They’ll be really expensive, won’t they? And we want something specially for us.’
‘Could we make some skirts?’ wondered Alys. ‘Nothing fancy, just all matching.’
There was a chorus of groans. ‘I can’t sew,’ said Mari firmly.
‘Nor me.’
‘Me neither.’
‘My mum’s really good at sewing,’ said Megan before she could stop herself. All eyes swung to her.
‘Fantastic!’ Mari beamed. ‘Thank goodness for that. We can give her money for the fabric.’
‘That’s great news,’ said Corinne, ‘but you need to ask her first, Megan. Before everyone gets carried away.’
Megan nodded, wondering what Nicola would say. She had a horrible feeling her mother wouldn’t be pleased!
‘We haven’t sorted out the extra practices, girls,’ Alys pointed out. ‘Where and when?’
‘I’ve got a huge double garage at home,’ offered Jackie. ‘I can get my parents to leave the cars out. That’s loads of room.’
‘I can do Wednesdays and Fridays.’
‘I can’t do Fridays.’
‘Can anyone else do Thursdays?’
‘I’ve got Guides between six and eight.’
‘Can we meet after supper?’
‘What about homework?’
‘What do you want us to do, Megan?’
Megan looked helplessly at Corinne, but Corinne simply held up her hands. ‘Now you see how difficult it is being the teacher!’
‘You did WHAT?’ Nicola stared at her daughter. ‘You volunteered me to make thirteen jive skirts?’
‘Sorry.’
Nicola shook her head in stupefaction. ‘Your party thing is less than two weeks away!’
‘They don’t have to be fancy,’ Megan tried. ‘I’ve been thinking about it. If I cut out all the pieces – we need them to be circular – then you could just sew them together.’
‘Oh, just sew them together. That’ll make a lot less work, thanks, Megan,’ Nicola said sarcastically.
Megan felt bad. ‘I’m sorry. I should have asked you first. Look, I’ll tell the girls we’ll have to think of something else. They could wear their own skirts. I mean, they wouldn’t be quite right, because you need the full circle for the jive, but it’d do. It’s only a party, after all . . .’
Nicola suddenly laughed. ‘Oh dear, Megan. Your little face. You look so disappointed. All right, I’ll help you out. Bless you, you haven’t asked for much since we moved here. And I know how much you miss your dancing. I just wish you’d given me a bit more notice.’
Megan smiled, abashed. ‘Sorry.’
‘Have you got the fabric?’
‘No, I thought maybe we could go and choose it after school tomorrow.’ Megan looked at her mother hopefully. ‘Something shiny? Or glittery? The girls are happy to pay for their share.’
Nicola nodded. ‘All right. We’ll have to bring Owen though. Don’t let him see the Thomas the Tank Engine fabric.’
‘This is gorgeous!’ Mari twirled around the garage, admiring the silver sequins sprinkled over the black fabric. ‘Perfect! Your mum is so clever!’
The other girls crowded round, making admiring noises. ‘It swirls out and everything too,’ said Alys, fingering the hem. ‘How do you make it do that?’
‘By making it a full circle,’ Megan told her. ‘It’s got twice as much material in it as a normal skirt. Bit fiddly though.’ She didn’t mention the blister she had from cutting out pieces for thirteen skirts.
‘How can you make sure they’ll all fit us?’ wondered Jackie. ‘I mean, we’re not all the same size.’
‘Elasticated waists,’ replied Megan. ‘Practical but not very pretty. Mum suggests that we wear different coloured T-shirts with a belt over the top to hide the waist band. That’ll help to make them individual too, because we’ll all have different colours.’
‘Brilliant.’
‘And some of the skirts will be slightly longer because some people are taller than others too. Just make sure you pick the right one. Mum says she hopes to have them all done by next Tuesday.’
‘That’s only four days before the party,’ said Jackie.
Megan nodded. ‘I know. But we’re working as fast as we can.’
‘Well, I think we all owe your mum a huge thank you,’ said Alys.
‘You owe her more than that,’ Megan said with a smirk. ‘You each owe her nine pounds twenty-six pence.’
‘A bargain,’ declared Mari, still twirling around. ‘Can I keep it on while we practise today, Megan?’
Megan laughed. ‘Of course. Just don’t rip it or anything.’
Mari looked hurt. ‘I can’t believe you’d think that.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Actually, maybe I had better take it off after all.’
The girls were willing but Megan still found it exhausting trying to get them all to listen to her. When she was working out one section with a couple of girls, the others all started gossiping. And when she told them to be quiet, the ones she had been working with started chatting too!
‘Shut up, everyone!’ Mari shouted eventually. ‘I think Megan is going to explode!’
‘Thanks, Mari,’ Megan said gratefully. ‘It’s just that this is taking twice as long as it needs to because people aren’t listening.’
The girls looked ashamed. ‘Sorry, Megan.’
‘It’s nearly half-past nine,’ Megan pointed out, ‘and my dad’s coming to pick me up soon. And we’ve only got one more chance to practise before the party. Not everyone knows all the steps yet, and we can’t polish it until we’re up to speed. So we need to run it a couple more times.’
‘And that means no more talking,’ added Mari, wagging her finger at the rest of the girls.
‘Especially from you, Mari,’ Megan commented with a smile.
Mari pretended to look amazed. ‘Talking? Moi?’
‘From the top, everyone!’ They ran the routine once more and Megan smiled. ‘That’s better.’
‘I wish you had a chance to do more in it,’ Mari said, panting. ‘You’re missing out on all the fun.’
‘I can’t be in it and watch it at the same time,’ Megan said, though she felt a twinge at Mari’s words. She did love the jive. ‘Besides, there’s an odd number with me. It makes sense for me to start off the routine and then duck out so you can do the paired stuff.’
‘But you’re the best!’ remarked Mari. ‘It’s crazy that you don’t get a chance to show what you can do.’
‘You should be doing a solo,’ Alys suggested.
Megan laughed. ‘No thank you. There’s no time to choreograph anything else. And besides, I’m used to dancing with a partner.’
‘Well, maybe that’s not so impossible—’ Mari started to say, but she was interrupted by a knock on the garage door.
‘Someone’s mum is early,’ commented Jackie, but it wasn’t a parent.
‘Sean!’ Mari exclaimed, as the door went up to reveal a tall red-headed boy. He looked a bit taken aback by the group of girls.
‘Oh – er, sorry. I was looking for Mari.’
‘You’re early,’ Mari told him, blushing furiously, much to everyone’s amusement. ‘We’re still rehearsing. Go away and come back in twenty minutes.’
‘You can’t tell him to do that!’ Megan said, astonished. ‘It’s dark outside and it’s freezing.’ She turned to Sean and smiled. ‘Hi, Sean. I’m Megan. Come in and watch, if you like. We could do with
an audience and we were just about to run it again.’
‘No, it’s OK,’ said Sean, shooting a sideways glance at Mari. ‘I don’t want to get in the way.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ Megan grabbed his arm and pulled him into the garage. ‘Besides, you’re letting in a draught.’
‘Why did you do that?’ Mari hissed at her as Megan closed the garage door and the girls got into their opening positions again. ‘I don’t want him watching!’
‘You can’t leave him out in the cold,’ Megan whispered back in a reasonable voice. ‘And what’s the difference? He’ll see it next week anyway, won’t he?’ She looked hard at Mari’s face. ‘You did invite him, didn’t you?’
‘Um . . .’
‘Oh, Mari. Go and take up position. We’ll have to talk later.’
Sean clapped loudly at the end. ‘That was fantastic,’ he said. ‘You’re all really good.’
‘Except me,’ said Mari in a mocking tone.
Sean stared at her. ‘You were really good too, Mari.’
Mari blushed, pleased but embarrassed.
‘I think that’s enough for tonight,’ Megan said. ‘It’s getting there. If we can meet once more next week, I think we’re going to nail it.’
The girls started to gather up their things. Jackie opened the garage doors and they trooped out one by one. ‘Thanks, Megan,’ said Alys. ‘I nearly got every single step right that time. You’re really patient.’
‘You’re doing so well,’ Megan told her. ‘Just keep concentrating, but try not to look as though you are, if you know what I mean.’
Alys waved. ‘See you next week at salsa.’
Soon there was only Mari, Sean, Megan and Jackie left in the garage. Jackie was hunting around for the garage door keys. ‘I’m sure I put them down here,’ she muttered. ‘My dad’ll kill me if I’ve lost them.’
Megan glanced over to the other two. ‘I had no idea you were so good at dancing,’ Sean was saying to Mari.
Mari looked uncomfortable. ‘I’m not really.’
Sean gave a laugh. ‘Are you kidding? That was amazing! I thought you said you had no rhythm.’
‘I don’t.’