Dance Till you Drop by Samantha-Ellen Bound Page A

Mum said, giving me a kiss. ‘Your knees are always crooked.’
    â€˜Okay,’ I said, and escaped before she could find an imaginary thread hanging loose on my leotard.
    Once I was in the studio I went to take my usual place next to Ellie.
    But she wasn’t there. She was over in the far corner, laughing with our friend, Ash.
    I guessed she was still mad, then.
    Luckily our other friend, Riley, came rushing in, trying to fix her curly hair into a braid.
    â€˜Hey Paige,’ she said, stopping next to me. ‘Whoops. Late again.’ She gave me a big smile that said she didn’t really care if she was late or not.
    I decided to copy her and spend the class not caring.
    But I did care.
    I cared that my knees stayed crooked on the walkovers. I cared that I got so dizzy in my pirouettes I almost crashed into the mirror.
    And I cared that throughout the whole class, Ellie didn’t look at me once.

Chapter Two
    The next day, Friday, I had ballroom practice after school.
    I walked into the back studio to find Benji standing stiffly in front of the mirror, his chin up and arms out.
    Benji doesn’t take any other classes at Silver Shoes. He’s in a hip hop group with Ash, but that’s outside of the studio.
    I hung back in the doorway, embarrassed – for myself or for him, I didn’t know.
    When he caught me looking though, his body collapsed like jelly that’s just been punched.
    â€˜Hey,’ he said.
    â€˜Hi,’ I said, coming into the studio. ‘What were you doing?’
    â€˜Working on my posture,’ Benji said. ‘Mum said it’s no good. Said there’s too much hip hop slouch.’
    â€˜Oh,’ I said.
    â€˜What about you?’ he asked. ‘Do you think when I dance ballroom I’m too hip hoppy?’
    â€˜Oh,’ I squeaked. ‘No. I don’t think so.’
    I really wasn’t sure, because when I danced with Benji my head got all messed up and I couldn’t really think about anything except trying not to step on his feet.
    He shrugged. ‘I don’t care. Not gonna be a ballroom dancer, anyway.’
    â€˜Well, don’t tell your mum that,’ I said, sitting down on the floor to stretch out myfeet. ‘Don’t tell mine, either. In her mind, we’re together for life.’ I flushed bright red. ‘As dance partners, I mean!’
    Benji collapsed on the floor and lounged about next to me. I moved my legs away so that my feet weren’t touching him. He kept staring at himself in the mirror.
    â€˜We’ve got that ballroom comp coming up,’ I said, because the silence was making my fingers and toes itch.
    Benji nodded. ‘Yeah.’
    â€˜I’m missing Ellie’s birthday because of it.’
    Benji sat straighter and squared his shoulders, but he didn’t look away from his reflection. ‘Yeah?’
    â€˜She’s pretty mad.’
    â€˜Yeah?’
    â€˜I hope it doesn’t turn into a big fight,’ I said, pulling up my tights.
    Gosh! Why was it so hard to talk to boys!
    Benji was pulling ridiculous stage faces in the mirror now. ‘Yeah?’ he said, again. ‘Don’t do the ballroom comp then. I don’t mind. We do a hundred others.’
    â€˜I can’t just pull out,’ I said.
    â€˜Why?’ asked Benji, swishing his hair back in an over-the-top way.
    â€˜Because I have to do the comp,’ I said.
    â€˜Have to or want to?’ asked Benji.
    I looked down at my toes. ‘Want to,’ I said.
    But the ticklish feeling in my tummy said I wasn’t so sure. If I didn’t feel excited about it, why was I doing it?
    â€˜Are you sure?’ said Benji, flicking his eyes at me in the mirror.
    Gosh! Maybe Benji hated dancing with me because I was so terrible and he wanted to pull out!
    But I didn’t get to ask him because Mum and our ballroom teacher, Fleur, came in.
    â€˜What’s this?’ Mum laughed. ‘On