Sometimes

Chapter eighteen

Maddi was excited to hear that I was going to give the competition a shot.  She even suggested that I was a potential winner. I’d just laughed down the phone at her. I’d been a bit hesitant about asking her whether Aiden could invade our classes to film me dancing though, worried that she’d think it a distraction.  Especially since I was practicing for a reason now, but she hadn’t seemed to mind at all. In fact, she’d asked questions, appearing really interested.  That was probably why I was looking forward to dance class even more than usual when it came to Wednesday evening.

    Mum dropped me off like normal, and I found myself speed walking to the entrance of the building.  Seeing the familiar red brick exterior and bright white interior added to the already huge bundle of excitement in my gut.  I couldn’t wait to start dancing. 

    Making my way down the second corridor on the right as usual, I almost bumped straight into a bunch of guys shouldering back packs and carrying towels.  Their muscly arms and stocky builds looked out of place in a hall decorated with posters of elegant ballerinas and famous dancers.  I was overcome by the smell of body spray as they passed me by, on their way to the gym on the other side of the building. For a moment, I found myself wondering what it would be like if Sonny used the gym here, rather than the one across town.  We could meet for smoothies at the bar afterwards…

    “Harriet!”

The sound of Maddi’s voice woke me from my day dreaming and I looked up from the vinyl flooring to see her waiting outside the dance studio.  She was wearing a vivid green tracksuit today and her brown hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head.

    “Ready for some serious rehearsing?” she asked, opening the door to let me inside after her.

I nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve got a good feeling about today.  I’m itching to get started.”

Maddi’s grin widened. “Brill.  Just dump your stuff and then we can warm up.”

    Maddi’s warm up routines usually involved a lot of stretching and crazy dance moves, so I set my bag on the bench with my water bottle by the side.  I’d definitely be needing it in a minute.

    “So what made you change your mind about the contest?”

    “Who said I’d decided not to do it?” I asked.

Maddi laughed.  “Your face.  Come on Harriet, I know you well enough to get that you put College first.  Remember GCSE year?  You would have revised Math here if you could read the text book and spin around at the same time.”

I shrugged the best I could while bouncing up and down on my toes.  “I’m that predictable?”

   “You were,” Maddi replied. “But I guess by doing the contest, you’re less predictable than before.”

Right answer.  I smiled.

    “I only showed you the leaflet ‘cause I remembered I’d had it in my bag.  I thought it was worth a shot, but I didn’t think anything would come of it.”

    “Well,” I said, switching from bouncing to leaping around the room.  “I’m glad you mentioned it.”

    “Good,” Maddi said, crossing in front of me to turn on the stereo. 

I stopped leaping and reached down to touch my toes as the sound of music filled my ears.  The thrill I’d been feeling earlier flooded back into me.

    “I thought we could play about with some ideas,” Maddi said, watching me as I dived for my water bottle.  “That way we’ll know what will and what won’t work for the routine.”