Chapter Six

‘No, no, Paige, you must centre your body! You cannot dip forward or back because that will unbalance Benji. You must move as one.’

I sighed. ‘Sorry.’

Benji had been trying to spin me for fifteen minutes. It was only a one-legged standing spin, too – not even fancy – he basically stayed on the same spot, spinning me round and round.

But surprise, surprise, I couldn’t do it. I kept tipping onto him. Or I’d get off balance and pull him forward as I tried to get back my centre of gravity.

‘Try once more,’ Fleur coaxed.

‘I’m dizzy,’ I said, ‘and my back hurts. Benji’s gripping too tight.’

Benji seemed surprised at that because he looked at me and then shifted his hands behind his back.

Great. Now he was upset at me, too. It wasn’t even true. I just didn’t want to keep spinning.

Fleur gave me a long look. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘Let’s have a short break. Then we’ll try the spin again later. Okay?’ She left the room, leaving me with Benji.

A huge silence fell around us, like that moment you watch someone forget the next step on stage.

‘I didn’t mean …’ I started to say.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said at the same time.

‘No, it was me,’ I said.

‘Are you okay from yesterday?’ he asked.

Another silence.

‘You weren’t really hurting me then,’ I said quickly, before he could get in. ‘I just … I’m not very good, that spin … I’m a bit tired …’

‘Yeah, sleeping in class.’ He laughed. ‘Pretty tired.’

‘You didn’t have to look after me,’ I said. My shoes felt too tight and I suddenly had to loosen the buckle. ‘But thank you.’

‘Cool,’ Benji said.

Cool? What was cool? That he didn’t mind looking after me? Or that it was fine to fall asleep in class? Which one? Why are boys so hard to understand?

Fleur came back in then and clapped her hands to get our attention. Like we needed an excuse to not look at each other! Lucky we were all right dancing with each other because when it came to talking we didn’t have a clue.

To give us a break from the lifts, Fleur made us practise our complete reverse turns (it basically means a fancy turn to change the direction you’re going on the dance floor). She kept yelling: ‘Paige, your head is facing the wrong way!’ or ‘Connect through the trunk, lean away at the chest’ or ‘That promenade must be closer!’

By that stage, Benji and I were dancing so close I could smell his shampoo. It smelled like apples and was nothing like what I imagined a boy would use.

‘So have you two heard about the showcase?’ Fleur asked before calling out, ‘Wrong foot, Paige!’

Benji shrugged slightly, which caused me to tip forward again and I banged my forehead against his ear.

‘Sorry!’ I gasped.

I got no reply but swore I heard a little snicker.

Fleur meant the mid-year showcase coming up at Silver Shoes. Each class gave a preview of the current competition dance and some people could do duos or solos if they wanted to.

Ms McGlone had told us at ballet last night that they were recruiting for performers. I’d pushed it to the back of my mind. I didn’t mind doing the group dances because I already knew them, but if Mum ever found out about it, she’d make me do something on my own. And I didn’t want to. I didn’t deserve to. Right now I couldn’t bear the thought of any extra dance practice!

‘Well, I was thinking it might be nice if you two did a ballroom routine,’ said Fleur. ‘A lot of people don’t know you’re taking private ballroom lessons. It’ll be a nice surprise for the other kids.’

My heart sank a little, and so did my shoulders, because Fleur yelled out, ‘Posture, Paige, watch your neck.’

I tried to flatten my back but only ended messing up the timing of my chassé.

Benji stopped dancing and stepped away from me. ‘I’m not doing ballroom at the showcase,’ he said.

Fleur threw up her hands. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m a hip hop dancer,’ said Benji. ‘I do hip hop. That’s what I want to be known for. I’m doing this because Mum made me.’

Was Benji embarrassed that he was my ballroom partner? Did he hate dancing with me?

‘What are you talking about?’ asked Fleur. ‘You enjoy the waltz, the tango, eh? The jive? I’ve taught you. You’re a natural.’

‘I don’t care!’ said Benji. ‘No one listens. I don’t want to do it!’

‘Benji –’

‘No!’ shouted Benji.

Then he walked right out of the studio.

‘He’s just having a moment,’ Fleur told me.

‘May I go look for him?’ I asked. ‘I should see if he’s okay.’

‘Well, you can’t waltz on your own,’ said Fleur.

I stepped into the dark hallways of Silver Shoes. I felt bad. I was so worried and stressed out about my dancing that I hadn’t really noticed Benji wasn’t enjoying himself either.

I turned a corner and was just going past the costume room when I heard my name called out.

It was Mum.