Breaking Big (10 page)

“You are
so
disgusting,” says Odette primly. Then she delicately reaches for a slice, and we laugh even harder.

“Well,” says Sybille, looking at me as she wipes her fingers, “you weren’t Rick, but you weren’t bad.” I throw a napkin at her.

“So he’s still your heartthrob?” Johanna asks. “I don’t want to be nosy, I just want to keep up.” Everybody laughs.

“I’m so over him,” says Sybille firmly, as if we all should have been able to guess. “It wouldn’t work to have a boyfriend in the company anyway.”

We all hoot. “Finally, she sees the light!” I say.

“So who will it be now?” asks Charis. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sybille says airily. Then she takes the napkin I threw at her and dabs some of the tomato sauce off Jeremy’s face. He practically melts.

Cam’s eyes grow big, and he shakes his head in wonder. “What a night!”

* * *

Mavis is surfing the Net, jumping from one critic’s site to the next to see who will post first. Suddenly she yelps.

“Here it is!” she cries. “Mamie Blue from the
Gazette
!”

We all crowd around the screen.

“
With Noah Grayson and Rick Mathews on the injury list, expectations were that the Premier Dance Company’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
would be nothing more than a placeholder,
a lighthearted, easy romp for the less-experienced dancers,
” Mavis reads
.
“
It was indeed lighthearted, but there were a few moments of note
.”

“What moments? Whose moments? Does she mention me?” I can’t help myself.

“Hang on, hang on,” says Mavis, scrolling down the page.

“Yes!” she shouts. “Here you are!”

“
Robin Goodman as Puck had particularly big shoes to fill. Only sixteen and still a student, he stepped into Rick Mathews’s role just one week before opening night. Although lacking in strength and maturity, his lively interpretation of Puck amused and satisfied. Brash, merry, yet unsettling, Goodman became
‘
that shrewd and knavish sprite
’
in body and spirit, a characterization that clearly galvanized his fellow dancers. Certainly his performance suggests that the Premier Dance Company has depth within its ranks and a strong future ahead of it
.”

“Wow,” says Charis. “That’s awesome.”

“
Lacking in strength and maturity
is awesome?” I groan. “Since when?”

“A
lively interpretation
that
amused and satisfied
is pretty darn good,” says Jer. “
Galvanized his
fellow dancers
? I sure wouldn’t mind somebody saying that about my work.”

“And anyway,” Cam adds, “you’re supposed to lack strength and maturity. You’re sixteen. We’re all sixteen. We have to totally embrace our immaturity for as long as possible.”

Charis and Johanna jump him, beating him about the head, and Cam is laughing so hard he can’t get away. Jer jumps in, and it’s a free-for-all. I’m about to prove how immature I can be when I see that Odette is starting to look a little odious again. She rolls her eyes and stands up, and I’m sure she’s going to leave. Wrong again. “Ice cream?” she asks me.

All I can do is stare. Of all the surprises—my big break, the epic prank, Jer and Sybille, the double tour—watching Odette eat ice cream may be the biggest shock of all.

“Sure,” I reply. “I could do ice cream.”

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the teachers of the world—all the teachers who have explained, encouraged, inspired, cajoled, disciplined, handed out gold stars and, quite simply, believed in us. We are better people for them. In particular, my thanks go out to the dance teachers who have touched my family: Miss Celeste, Madame Van der Post, Gina Sinclair, Arabella Martin, Lynn Spargo, Maureen Eastick and Lynda Raino. To Clinton and Ashley, thank you for bringing dance home I loved every recital and still smile when I find errant sequins stuck to the floor. Thanks so much to Orca for helping to celebrate the arts, and to my editor, Robin Stevenson. It’s been a pleasure. And, as always, thanks to Dale.

PENNY DRAPER
is the award-winning author of numerous books for kids and teens. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia, and when she isn’t writing, can often be found zooming around on her motorbike or standing on her head in yoga class. Before Penny started writing books, she told stories orally, working for many years as a professional storyteller. She shared tales at schools, libraries, festivals, on radio and television and once from inside a bear’s belly. For more information, visit
www.pennydraper.ca
.