‘Charlotte Anderson, what on earth?’

Charlie’s mum stood in the doorway of her bedroom, frowning. She held up Charlie’s ballet tights with the feet cut out.

‘Oh … yeah …’ Charlie jumped up from her bed, letting the magazine she was reading drop to the floor. ‘I had to cut the feet out.’ Charlie cleared her throat. ‘I couldn’t wear my ballet shoes.’

‘Hmmm,’ said Charlie’s mum, shaking her head. But she didn’t seem too angry. ‘Imagine what Miss Plum would say if she saw these tights!’ Her eyes twinkled.

Charlie giggled. Now was the time to ask her mum something.

‘Mum —’

Just then, Charlie’s brother yelled out from his bedroom. ‘Muuuuuumm, where’s my footy jumper?’

Charlie’s mum yelled straight back at him. ‘It’s on the line, Harry.’

‘Awwww, Mum!’ Harry’s voice came back.

There was always a lot of yelling at Charlie’s house. Not because anyone was angry. That was just how everyone talked to each other.

But not Charlie. She preferred to stay quiet, or to speak face-to-face.

It was the same at school. Charlie didn’t say much there, either. The only person she really talked to was her best friend, Laura. Laura wanted to be a singer and she understood Charlie better than anyone.

Now Charlie tried to make her voice loud for once. ‘Mum, I need new dance shoes.’

‘Oh, Charlotte,’ her mum said, shaking her head.

‘All the girls wear them,’ Charlie said. ‘Pleeeeease, Mum?’

Her mum leant down and put her hands on Charlie’s shoulders. ‘Charlotte, you’ve only just started,’ she said.

Charlie nodded.

‘So let’s make sure you like the new classes first, OK?’

Charlie sighed. Of course she liked them. It was just all so different to what she had imagined, that was all.

‘My little butterfly!’ Charlie’s mum winked. ‘Maybe ballet suits you better, after all.’ She kissed Charlie on the forehead and walked out of the room.

Charlie slumped back on her bed.

A butterfly.

Her mum always called her that.

But Charlie didn’t want to be a butterfly. She wanted to be able to dance strong and fast, like the rest of the class.

At the start of the next class, Charlie was feeling good. She told herself not to worry about the shoes. And this time, she didn’t feel quite so out of place.

She was wearing new dancing tights that she had bought with her pocket money. They were black and cut off above the knees. Over those, Charlie wore her swimmers from last summer. They were a trendy lime green — perfect, except the straps were a bit thin.

Over the top, she wore an old black T-shirt — cut to look like a dance top, of course!

Charlie was getting pretty handy with a pair of scissors.

At the start of the class, Kathy called Charlie over to a spot at the barre. They stretched together while Kathy talked about her gymnastics team. It sounded like a lot of work. No wonder Kathy’s dancing was so good.

‘Gym is really hard,’ Kathy said, from upside down in a stretch. She looked up and smiled at Charlie. ‘It’s not as much fun as dancing.’

‘OK, girls!’ Rosie called out. ‘We need to talk about the concert.’

‘Yay!’ Kathy whispered.

Charlie raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t expected a concert!

Everyone stretched quietly while Rosie talked. The concert was only two months away, and Rosie wanted to spend more time practising.

When Rosie said that, the trendy girls started whispering together. Even Kathy looked excited.

Then Rosie walked over to Charlie at the barre. She leant in close enough for Charlie to see her sparkling orange nails.

‘It’s a bit late to fit you into our dance, Charlie,’ Rosie said.

Charlie pulled out of her stretch and nodded shyly. She used to love her old ballet concerts. But she couldn’t imagine doing a modern dance on stage!

‘But I still want you to be understudy,’ Rosie said, smiling. ‘If someone gets sick, then you dance in their place, OK?’

‘Umm …’ Charlie wasn’t sure about that. What if someone did get sick?

‘Just watch for the first run-through,’ Rosie called back, as she walked over to the CD player. ‘Then you can copy the others!’

Kathy winked at Charlie. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you,’ she said.

Charlie just gulped.