Strictly Friends? (14 page)

‘Lucky we had to move two hundred miles away?' protested Megan.

‘At least he's
got
a job. Mum says the redundancy money won't last three months. After that – well . . .' Jake gulped. ‘Mum says she could go back to being a classroom assistant. But that doesn't pay so well.'

‘I'm so sorry,' said Megan again, feeling useless. ‘Maybe things will work out OK?'

‘Yeah, maybe,' said Jake. ‘And maybe not.'

‘I wish there was something I could do,' said Megan wistfully.

‘Yeah, me too. Listen, Meg, I've got to go. I'll talk to you soon, OK?'

Megan felt ashamed when she hung up. She had been so wrapped up in her own life, she had hardly
bothered to get in touch with Jake recently. Stephen had lost his job three days ago – why hadn't Jake rung to tell her?
But then
, she thought,
I haven't rung him for a whole week either. I've been too preoccupied with my new friends. When I should have been more concerned about my old one
.

Megan's mind wasn't really on dancing at the next salsa class. She did the steps almost automatically whilst worrying about Jake. She wished there was something she could do to help, but she was two hundred miles away now – what could she possibly do?

‘Good work, Mari,' came Corinne's voice. ‘That's so much better than last week.'

Mari beamed and turned to Megan. ‘Did you hear that?'

‘What?'

‘Earth to Megan.' Mari waved a hand in front of her face. ‘Everything OK?'

‘Hmm? Oh – yeah. Just had some bad news from Jake the other evening. His stepdad lost his job.'

‘Oh.' Mari looked sympathetic. ‘Sorry.'

‘I'm just a bit down at the moment, that's all,' Megan said, attempting a smile.

‘Did you book tickets for
Riverdance
, like I suggested?'

‘Yeah, that's all done. I told Danny we're going to the theatre but he doesn't know what we're going to see.'

‘Excellent.' Mari patted her on the arm. ‘Cheer up, then. It's not all that bad.'

Megan smiled but it made her face ache. It wasn't just Jake's news that was depressing her, she knew. She was missing her dancing desperately. Nice though the other girls were, the salsa class just wasn't up to her standard. She missed the other dance styles too – the precision of the quickstep; the carnival feel of the samba. Megan was beginning to worry that if she didn't find a more advanced class soon, she'd forget all her skills. And what if she
never
found one here in Parchester . . .? She missed dancing with a good partner most of all. When they paired up in this class, Megan invariably found herself dancing with Mari, who would be the first to admit she was a complete beginner. Megan longed for a partner who could match her in skill. She missed Jake so much!

‘Come and sit down, everyone,' Corinne called. ‘I know it's not yet seven, but I've got some things to discuss with you.'

The girls gathered on the floor.

‘Now, I've got two ideas to run by you,' Corinne went on. ‘The first one is this.' She held up a colourful flyer. ‘It's for the Ace of Hearts restaurant in Parchester. They're holding a salsa evening at the beginning of November. You get dinner and dancing included in the price. I wondered if you'd all like to go, as a sort of group outing?'

Excited chatter broke out. ‘That sounds fab,' said Jackie, her eyes shining.

‘As long as we don't have to do some kind of performance,' Alys put in pointedly.

Corinne laughed. ‘No, absolutely not. This is a fun evening out. I didn't know anything about it until my friend Candy passed this flyer to me.'

‘I'm in,' said Mari decidedly. ‘If there's dinner included, I'm there.' She grinned at Megan, who tried to smile back.

‘Excellent,' said Corinne. ‘You all need to check with your parents that you're allowed to go. You'll need to be dropped off and picked up from the Ace of Hearts. And you'll need money to pay for the dinner. I'll book us a table, but please let me know if you can't come.' She put the flyer down. ‘Now, the other idea.' She glanced at Megan and took a breath. ‘I've been thinking about giving Megan a bit to do in the class – you know, teaching
you guys some different dances, like we discussed.'

Mari grinned at Megan, whose face was turning pink.

‘And I wondered,' Corinne continued, ‘whether you'd like some kind of end-of-term Christmas party. A dancing party, of course. With family and friends. And Megan could teach you the jive – properly, so you could do a short routine to show people. Along with some salsa, of course.'

The chatter erupted into full-blown excitement. ‘A party!' shouted Jackie.

‘With fairy lights!' called someone else. ‘And a Christmas tree!'

‘And sparkly costumes,' suggested Alys.

‘I would
love
to learn the jive,' said Mari, her eyes shining. ‘The bit we did the other day was so much fun!' The other girls agreed.

Megan almost felt like bursting into tears with gratitude. The girls all thought it was a fantastic idea that she should teach them the jive! How lovely of them! It wouldn't be the same as finding a new class or dancing with Jake, of course, but if she were allowed to choreograph a whole routine . . . what an opportunity!

‘What do you think, Megan?' asked Corinne, who had been watching her. ‘Would you be up for that?'

Megan smiled from ear to ear. ‘Definitely!'

‘Woo-hoo!' cried Mari. ‘I love parties! Ooh!' Her face suddenly changed. ‘You could invite Danny.'

‘Ooh yes,' said Jackie eagerly.

‘Not Samantha though,' added Mari, frowning. ‘Just Danny.'

Megan laughed. ‘I don't think it would be his kind of thing. But I could ask him, I guess.'
And then he could see what I love doing best
, she thought with a glow.
And maybe he'll understand, like I understand his passion for racing
. She suddenly felt a lot better.
And I'm taking Danny to
Riverdance
at the weekend
, she remembered.
I can talk to him much more about dancing then
.

‘Good,' said Corinne, getting up. ‘We'll talk about music and routines next week. I'll look into hiring the community hall or something. Don't forget to ask your parents about the dinner at the Ace of Hearts. Take a flyer each so you've got all the details.'

Mari swung round to Megan. ‘This is going to be so brilliant! And if you bring Danny . . .' She waggled her eyebrows up and down.

Megan laughed. ‘We'll see. I think the only way he'd agree to come was if we were performing the jive on rollerskates.'

The girls bundled out of the arts centre, chatting
and laughing excitedly. ‘Can't wait for the jive,' Alys said as she waved goodbye to Megan.

‘Me too,' agreed Jackie. ‘Such a cool dance! I bet Megan will come up with something really amazing.'

Megan felt a rush of affection for them all. She smiled and waved goodbye in return.

‘Glad you've cheered up,' said Mari, nudging her. ‘You looked really down when we arrived.'

‘I was,' said Megan. ‘But I'm really excited about choreographing a dance. I love that kind of thing. Jake and I used to choreograph our own routines sometimes too.'

‘You should ask him to come to the party,' said Mari.

Megan shook her head. ‘He lives two hundred miles away, Mari. And it'll still be term time.'

‘You could ask him,' persisted Mari.

‘Well, maybe. You should ask Fliss and Victoria.'

Mari's face lit up. ‘That's such a good idea! I will, you know. Not sure if Fliss will be doing her filming thing, but I should be able to drag Victoria along.' She frowned suddenly. ‘But you
are
going to ask Jake to come visit sometime, aren't you? I want to meet him.'

‘He's meant to be coming down in half-term,' Megan told her.

Mari gave a whoop. ‘Perfect! Can't wait to meet him
– and you have to dance with him. I bet the two of you are just amazing. You could do the jive – we could get the girls together!'

Megan laughed. ‘The jive isn't our strongest dance. The waltz is our favourite. We won a competition with that one.'

‘The waltz then,' said Mari. ‘Sounds dreamy. We'll tell the girls and we can all meet up, since salsa won't be on during half-term.'

Megan felt a little alarmed. ‘Jake's not coming down to give a performance, Mari. He's just coming for a visit.'

‘I know,' said Mari, ‘but there's no harm in asking, is there?'

DANNY'S JAW DROPPED.
‘
How
much? For a
programme
?'

Megan felt anxious. ‘Don't worry. I'll get it.' She fumbled with her purse.

‘Do you really need one?'

‘I like looking at the pictures,' Megan replied, and then realized how lame that sounded. ‘I sometimes cut them out and put them on my wall.' Even worse!

Danny was staring at the posters. ‘I didn't know we were coming to watch a dance show. It's not really my kind of thing.'

Megan put on an encouraging expression. ‘But it's good to try new stuff, isn't it? You might like it, you never know.'

Danny didn't look so sure.

As soon as they took their seats in the theatre, Megan knew this date wasn't going to be a success.
Danny complained that the seat wasn't comfortable and that there wasn't enough leg-room. When the overture started, he was still looking around and whispering. An irritated woman on the other side of him told him to be quiet. Danny made a face at Megan, but she felt so embarrassed she pretended she hadn't heard anything.

Megan loved the music of
Riverdance
. She had listened to the soundtrack over and over again at home. It was so evocative; she could almost imagine Irish faeries emerging from the auditorium. And when the curtain rose, she sat forward in anticipation. She had seen snippets of the show on television, but never in a live theatre. The dancing enthralled her. She marvelled at their skill – fancy being able to leap so high whilst your arms were held down by your sides! And the flamenco and tap routines were so complicated, too!

Danny fidgeted. Megan wanted to concentrate on the stage, but he shifted his position first one way, then the other. Then he started to sigh – not loudly, but enough to distract her. ‘Is anything the matter?' she whispered.

‘My legs are going to sleep,' he whispered back. ‘When's the interval?'

‘Not for ages yet.'

He sighed again.

Megan really wanted to enjoy the first half. The show was fascinating. There was so much to see! She felt she could watch the show twenty times and still not notice everything that was happening onstage. But all the way through she was aware of Danny fussing and fidgeting. She was almost relieved when it was time for the interval.

Danny stood up immediately. ‘My feet have pins and needles!' he said, hopping from one foot to the other. The woman on his other side gave him a poisonous look.

‘We could go and get some ice cream,' suggested Megan, hoping that the five pounds left in her purse would cover it. ‘They're selling them down by the stage.'

‘Can't we get some fresh air?' asked Danny.

‘If you like.'

They picked up their coats and made their way to the exit. It was a slow business because the theatre was packed.

‘Whew!' said Danny as they emerged into the street. ‘That's better!' He turned and grinned at Megan. ‘It was hot in there!'

She smiled back. ‘I know you're an outdoorsy kind of person.'

‘Totally. Hate being cramped up like that.'

‘The show's good though, isn't it?' asked Megan hopefully.

Danny shrugged. ‘It's all right, I suppose. If you like that kind of thing. Could do with more action though. It's a bit boring in places. And that woman who comes on and sings warbly songs is starting to do my head in.'

Megan hadn't thought that a single second was boring, but she kept quiet. She was disappointed he hadn't liked it more though. ‘Didn't you think those men were amazing? They must have legs made out of muscle!'

‘It's just a lot of jumping around,' said Danny dismissively. ‘And then they get a new costume and do it all again.'

‘But they're using all sorts of different styles of dance,' said Megan, starting to feel slightly irritated. ‘It's not the same kind of thing all the time.'

Danny rolled his eyes. ‘Jumping up and down, prancing around a bit. It all looks the same to me.'

Megan bit her lip. Maybe this had been a bad idea, expecting Danny to like a dance show. Maybe she should have taken him to a musical instead . . . or a concert? ‘Never mind,' she said persuasively, ‘the second half is shorter.' She shivered in the cold air.
‘Let's go and get in the queue for ice cream before we have to go back to our seats.'