Charlie shook her head again. ‘I don’t want to …’
But she felt like crying when she heard her own words.
Rosie was quiet for a while, tapping the lid of the CD player.
Then she nodded.
‘OK, girls. I’ll give you the answer next week,’ she said.
In a fog, Charlie went and sat with the rest of the class. She wished she were someone else, like the trendy girls — always happy and never scared.
Life would be so much better that way.
At the end of the class, Rosie called Charlie over to talk.
‘Kathy’s mum is going to drop round her costume this week,’ Rosie said.
Charlie nodded down at her shoes. She hated herself for being so shy.
‘How is Kathy?’ Charlie asked quietly.
‘She’s OK, poor thing,’ Rosie said. ‘She’s coming to watch the concert.’
Charlie managed to look up at Rosie and smile.
But Rosie looked thoughtful. ‘Why don’t you show me your solo now?’ she said. ‘I’d love to see it.’
‘Oh,’ Charlie glanced out the door to the waiting area. She could hear the rest of the class talking and laughing together.
‘Hang on.’ Rosie ran over and shut the door. Then she gently led Charlie by the shoulders to the centre of the room. ‘Just dance for me,’ Rosie said. ‘OK?’
Charlie wanted to shake her head. Then the music started.
Friday night and the lights are low …
Somehow, with the other girls out of the room, Charlie felt the sweet voice reaching inside her like before.
Before she could think, Charlie was dancing. But not just dancing — she was feeling it all inside, coming from her heart. The hope and fear and joy all came out as Charlie danced for her teacher just like when she danced at home.
When Charlie had finished, Rosie smiled and nodded.
‘See you next week,’ she said.
Everyone was stunned.
The whole class stared at Rosie with mouths open and eyes wide.
It was the week after the audition, less than one week until the concert.
Charlie couldn’t see her own face, but she knew that she must have looked more stunned than anyone.
‘Me?’ she stammered. ‘I —’
Her heart was pounding again, but not like last week. Part of her felt good. She was surprised and scared, but also happy.
Thrilled.
‘I know you had a case of stage fright last week,’ Rosie said. ‘But I’m sure you can do it, Charlie.’
The trendy girls were whispering to each other as they looked at Charlie.
Charlie shook her head. ‘I can’t,’ she said. Not with everyone watching, she thought.
‘Here,’ Rosie said kindly. She gave Charlie a bag. ‘Just put on Kathy’s costume and give it a go.’
Charlie nodded and ran to the toilets. She was glad to escape from the eyes of the rest of the class.
Once she was safely inside the toilet cubicle, Charlie put her hand over her mouth and laughed out loud.
She couldn’t believe it! Rosie had asked her to be the Dancing Queen!
She couldn’t imagine doing her dance in front of the trendy girls, and definitely not at the concert!
But it still felt great to be asked.
Charlie pulled the shimmery costume out of the bag and carefully pulled it on.
It felt fantastic.
She leaned back, all glittery, against the door. Then she took a long, deep breath.
Rosie must have thought Charlie’s solo was good. But was it good enough to dance in the concert?
What if she had stage fright again?
Charlie took another breath and shook her head. No, she was too shy to dance her solo for the concert. She would have to tell Rosie to choose someone else.
Charlie picked up the empty bag, ready to go back and talk to Rosie.
But then she stopped.
The bag wasn’t empty.
At the bottom of the bag was a small package with Charlie’s name on it.
Inside was a delicate plastic butterfly. Its wings were white and shimmery.
She smiled at the delicate wings. They reminded her of something …
Then she noticed a note tucked into the wrapping.
Charlie smiled at the note. Kathy was so kind. Right from the start, she had been nice to Charlie. She didn’t care that Charlie was different.
Why, then, did Charlie worry about the trendy girls? It didn’t matter what they thought. Charlie already had a friend in the class. A good friend. After a while, she tucked the butterfly and note safely back in the bag.
Then Charlie headed out of the toilets, with a secret smile in her heart.
It was very dark. Charlie heard a cough from the audience, then the shuffling of feet as she and her class ran onto the stage.
Together, they formed a human machine. Arms linked, bodies close, all of them waiting as one.
Charlie could feel the familiar pounding in her chest. But she could also feel something else inside — another feeling that she knew quite well.
Then the music started, pounding through the theatre.
Boom, boom, boom.
With it came the flashing strobe light and the clunking of the machine.
Charlie jerked her arms in time with the others. Right now, she looked like them, and moved like them. She could even sense that she felt like them.
But she wasn’t exactly the same.
As the music kept thudding, Charlie could feel her class tensing around her. They all knew what came next.
For a moment, Charlie’s mind went blank and time seemed to stand still.
Then the flashing light stopped and the music changed. The whole theatre seemed to hold its breath.
As the sweet voice rang out, Charlie felt it touch her inside.
Friday night and the lights are low …
With all eyes on her, Charlie pulled the costume from around her neck and wrapped it around her waist.
Then she was dancing. She twirled and leapt, kicked and reached.
Charlie still couldn’t see the audience, but she knew they were all there — Kathy, Laura, her family. Even Miss Plum was there. They were all there to watch Charlie dance.
But she wasn’t just dancing for them. She was dancing because she loved it. She felt like a butterfly flitting in the sunlight and, right now, that felt wonderful.
As the lights shone stronger Charlie moved to the machine. She pulled at the girls’ arms, urging them to break away and be free. From the looks on their faces, Charlie could understand how the other girls felt — funky and fabulous.
Soon the whole class was dancing together in the middle of the stage.
Then, too soon, it came time to leap off-stage for the end.
In an instant the theatre roared to life with claps and cheers. Charlie even made out a whooping sound from her brother.
But the class was in another world.
Together, they ran out of the wings, giggling and shushing each other in the corridor and then laughing and hugging in the dressing room.
Charlie even hugged the trendy girls.
‘Charlie, how did you do it?’ one of them asked. ‘I would have been scared stiff.’
Charlie laughed. ‘I was scared stiff!’
Then they hugged and laughed again.
After the concert, Charlie and her class changed back into their normal clothes. They were still flushed with excitement, and they couldn’t wait until the start of the next concert, when they would get to dance all over again.
‘We’re heading to the caff for some food,’ one of the trendy girls called out. ‘Who wants to come?’
Some of the other girls picked up their purses and headed for the door.
Charlie managed to look the trendy girl in the eye. ‘No thanks, Holly.’
It felt good calling her by name.
She was, after all, a normal person.
‘Maybe
next time?’ Charlie asked.
‘OK,’ Holly nodded and smiled. Then she headed out the door with the others.
Charlie sat down on the dressing-room floor and looked around. It felt good to be alone. But Charlie didn’t want to hide in here.
She wanted to go outside and see her family, and Laura, and to say hi to Miss Plum.
But most of all, Charlie wanted to find Kathy. She had something to give her.
Charlie pulled it carefully from the corner of her make-up bag. It was a statue of a deer in the middle of a leap. It looked graceful and powerful, exactly like Kathy.
Charlie didn’t have a note for Kathy, but she hoped Kathy would understand. The right present can say a lot.
After all, two people can still be friends, even if they both dance completely differently.
Dancing Queen Page 3