CHAPTER 6
Sarah pulled at her comforter on her bed nervously as she listened to the phone ring. Maybe she’d get lucky and Mandy wouldn’t answer. Maybe she was busy. Maybe she was still asleep.
Just then, the ringing stopped. “Hello?” Mandy answered.
Sarah cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “Um, hi, Mandy,” she said. “It’s Sarah.”
Mandy didn’t say anything for a long moment. Sarah had a sudden urge to hang up, but she made herself go on.
“So, um, I was just practicing the pirouette in my room,” she said.
“Oh, yeah?” Mandy replied. She sounded a little suspicious.
Sarah cleared her throat again. “Yeah,” she said. “It’s not going very well. In fact, I almost twisted my ankle.” She laughed nervously.
“Are you okay?” Mandy asked.
“Yes,” Sarah said. “It’s just . . . for some reason, I can’t quite get this step.” The words were hard to say.
“I know,” Mandy replied. “That’s why I offered to help. But you said no.”
Sarah felt her face get hot with embarrassment. All she wanted to do was hang up the phone and forget this conversation had ever happened.
“Yeah, um, I remember,” Sarah admitted quietly. “I’m really sorry. I need your help, okay?”
There. She’d said it. The words echoed in her ear. Sarah wondered what she would do if Mandy refused.
“So, why now?” Mandy asked, sounding a little mad. “I mean, you didn’t want me to help you yesterday. Now you want my help just because you almost injured yourself?”
“No, that’s not it at all!” Sarah insisted. “Well, maybe it’s part of the reason. But it’s not the whole reason.”
She tried to explain. “I’ve just always been able to do things on my own when it comes to dancing,” Sarah said. “It’s kind of hard for me to ask for help. But I can see that I need it.”
Sarah took a deep breath. “And I’m sorry for turning you down before,” she finished. “Really. It was dumb of me.”
There was a long silence. Then Mandy sighed. “All right. I get what you’re saying,” she said. “Meet me in the studio in a couple hours, okay? Ms. Rousseau said it would be open if anyone wanted to practice.”
“Okay, great!” Sarah said. “I’ll see you there. And thank you!”
Mandy didn’t seem to know what to say. “Um, you’re welcome,” she finally replied before hanging up.
Sarah bounced up from her bed and grabbed her towel for the shower. She didn’t feel tired anymore. In fact, she felt more ready than ever to tackle the pirouette.