LITMIR.BIZ

      Rosa ran up the steps to the old front door and turned the brass handle. She liked to get to Madame Za-Za’s ballet school early so she could warm up before class and today was particularly special because it was her first day back after the summer holidays. She couldn’t wait for classes to start again.

      Hurrying to the changing rooms, she put on her pink leotard. Over the summer she had made a new friend, Olivia, who was going to be starting at the ballet school that very day. Rosa had arranged to meet her before class to show her around. She was really looking forward to it!

      It’s going to be very different this term, she thought. Several of the older girls who had been in her class had moved up into another group. Rosa was going to miss them, particularly her friend, Delphie. At the end of last term, Delphie had given Rosa a pair of red ballet shoes that didn’t fit her any longer. They were very old and the leather was very soft. Now Rosa took them out of her bag and put them on, crossing the ribbons neatly over her ankles and tying them firmly. They fitted perfectly.

      When Delphie had given her the shoes, she had said something odd – something about: “Watch out for King Rat”. Rosa didn’t have a clue what she had meant by that, and the few times she had seen Delphie in the summer, the dark-haired girl had refused to tell her. She had just kept smiling mysteriously and saying that the ballet shoes were very special.

      And indeed, Rosa loved them and couldn’t wait to start dancing. Going over to the mirror, she fixed her long white-blonde hair into a bun. Then she put on her favourite hairclip before leaving the changing rooms to go to the ballet studio. She wished she could come to classes every day. When I’m older I will, she thought. She was determined she was going to be a ballerina just like her mum had once been. Her mother didn’t dance any more because she had been in a car accident, which had left her in a wheelchair, but she helped Rosa practise.

      Rosa went to the long wooden barre that ran all the way around the walls and began to warm up. The red ballet shoes felt really comfortable, and it was so lovely to be back in the ballet studio again that she completely lost track of the time. A little while later she looked at the clock and gasped. It was only a few minutes until the class started. She had promised Olivia she would meet her in the changing rooms almost ten minutes ago!

      As Rosa ran back to the changing rooms, she was worried that Olivia would be alone and upset. She burst through the changing room doors and stopped dead…

      Olivia was standing there with two of the other girls from the class. She was laughing as one of them helped her tie her brown hair back and smiled, in what seemed to Rosa a casual way. “Oh, hi there, Rosa!”

      “Hi. I’m…I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you,” Rosa said, feeling a bit silly to have burst in so quickly. She felt suddenly unsure of herself, seeing her friend so at ease.

      Olivia smiled. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s been really friendly. Asha and Rebecca showed me round.”

      Asha, who was fixing Olivia’s hair, smiled. “Madame Za-Za’s a cool teacher. I bet you’re going to love coming to classes here, Olivia.”

      A mixture of emotions swirled around inside Rosa. She was pleased that Olivia wasn’t upset but she also felt a tiny twinge of jealousy that the other girls had been the ones to take her new friend around. “I was going to show you how it worked and help you get ready,” she said. She knew she sounded cross and grumpy but she couldn’t stop herself. Olivia looked surprised. “But you weren’t here, Rosa and…” She broke off. “Look, why don’t you show me round again after class?”

      “Oh, what’s the point?” Rosa said angrily. “You’ve seen everything now!” And with that, she marched back to the ballet studio.

      

      As soon as Rosa got to the studio, her anger faded. She felt awful. She shouldn’t have snapped like that. All Olivia had done was make friends with the others.

      I’d better say sorry, Rosa thought guiltily. She felt annoyed with herself. Her mum was always telling her she needed to control her temper and think more before she acted but sometimes she just couldn’t help herself. It just welled up inside her and came out – like all the times in her old school when the girls had teased

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