Troublemaker by Pascal Francine

Author:Pascal, Francine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

"OK, DeeDee," Mr. Jaworski said. "See if you can round up the guys trying out for Grandpa. I think some of them are out in the hall."

As the drama club president stood up to walk to the back of the auditorium, she spotted Jessica sitting behind her. "You've still got a few minutes, Jessica," DeeDee whispered with a friendly wink. "Hang in there!"

Jessica propped her feet up on the seat in front of her. With each passing minute she was starting to feel more and more anxious. It seemed as though she had been waiting there for hours. Why is Mr. Jaworski auditioning everyone in the world before me? she wondered. Doesn't he know a dancer's body gets stiff if she sits around too much?

Quietly Jessica got up and sneaked out of the auditorium into the lobby. By now the rest of the school had gone home, which meant she had the whole place to herself to practice her moves. She sailed into a combination, looking at her reflection in the school's trophy case. This is it, she thought. This is the best I can do. She planted her feet, focused on a trophy in the case, and did a double pirouette. Finishing in a perfect third position, arms exactly right, she smiled proudly. And it's really not too bad.

Just then she heard Mr. Jaworski's booming voice call out, "OK, where are my Essies? Come on, kids, it's getting late."

Essie. That was the name of Jessica's part. She froze momentarily. Her skin tingled with nervousness, and she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Then all of a sudden she felt an incredible surge of positive energy. If I'm not ready for this, nobody is, she thought, her confidence returning. She couldn't keep from grinning as she threw open the door and raced into the auditorium.

"I'm here, Mr. Jaworski!" she called out. "I'll be right on stage!"

Mr. Jaworski turned around with a harried smile. "Sorry this took so long, Jessica. We had a few more boys than we expected. Why don't you have a seat? You'll be second."

Second? Jessica thought. She felt all the adrenaline drain right back out of her. What's going on here? Nobody said there'd be anyone else trying out. Slowly she sat down and watched as DeeDee popped her head out from stage left.

"I found her," DeeDee said. "She was practicing in the orchestra room."

"All right," Mr. Jaworski answered. "Is she ready to do her combination?"

"Yep!" DeeDee said and disappeared backstage.

Jessica watched the curtains begin to ripple as someone behind them groped around for the opening onto the stage.

Suddenly the rippling stopped, and the other auditioner stepped through.

It was Danielle.

Jessica felt her heart skip a beat. Her stomach began doing flip-flops, and every last ounce of hope deserted her. DeeDee betrayed me, she thought, watching her friend take a seat next to Mr. Jaworski near the front of the stage. Then something dawned on her: DeeDee had never actually told her no one else was trying out.

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