Tilly's Time to Shine. Kimberly Wyatt

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СКАЧАТЬ how could you have had a bad time? You were in New York!’

      ‘Yes, and so was my so-called dad.’

      ‘Oh.’ Tilly wasn’t sure what to say to this. Andre never talked about his dad, apart from saying things like his dad was dead to him and that he’d rather have a cardboard cut-out of Dr Dre for a father.

      ‘Why did you have a bad time?’ Andre asked.

      ‘My mum was stressing over my end-of-term report.’

      ‘What? But you aced your dance classes.’

      ‘I know. But she doesn’t care about that. She only cares about how I do in my academic subjects. Total nightmare.’

      Andre sighed. ‘Parents!’ He put his cap on back to front and held his hand out to Tilly. ‘Come on. I know something that’ll cheer you up.’

      Tilly followed Andre out of the ultra-modern dormitory block and past the old WEDA building. It looked so majestic, lit up in the dark.

      ‘Where are we going?’ she asked, and then it dawned on her. ‘Oh my God, is it ready? Are you taking me to the stable?’

      ‘That’ll be the official street dance Stable Studio,’ Andre said with a grin. ‘And yep, my mum said they completed the refurbishment over the holiday.’

      As Tilly followed Andre through the cluster of trees at the back of the building she felt excitement bubbling inside her. Last term, the old abandoned stable at the bottom of WEDA’s grounds had become the secret HQ for their street dance crew. But then Andre’s mum, Miss Murphy, the world-famous ballerina and now Head of Dance and Wellness at WEDA had caught them rehearsing. They could have got into massive trouble, as street dance wasn’t on the curriculum back then and they were banned from rehearsing privately when they had a show coming up. But thankfully Miss Murphy had been so impressed by their routine she’d allowed Il Bello to perform in the end-of-term showcase and street dance had been added to the curriculum at WEDA. The old stable had been renovated over the Christmas holiday to make sure it met studio health and safety regulations. Tilly couldn’t wait to see what it looked like. As they approached the stable, Andre took a key from his pocket.

      ‘My mum wants you to paint a sign for over the door.’

      ‘Seriously?’

      ‘Yeah, she loves your work.’

      Tilly felt a burst of happiness, swiftly followed by a pang of sorrow. Why couldn’t her mum be more like Miss Murphy and appreciate the things Tilly could do instead of picking holes in those she couldn’t?

      Andre opened the door and flicked a light switch.

      ‘Oh wow!’ Tilly gazed around the stable. The main wall was exactly as they’d left it, with Tilly’s mural of Il Bello and the street-style bumblebees. But the wall opposite was now fully mirrored and the remaining two walls had been painted white.

      ‘My mum asked if you’d do some more murals there too,’ Andre said, gesturing at the blank walls.

      ‘Of course,’ Tilly murmured. She looked up at the ceiling, which now twinkled with mini spotlights, casting a golden glow over the shiny pine floor.

      ‘So, what do you say we dance out our holiday blues? Have a ’rent vent on the floor?’ Andre said.

      Tilly grinned. ‘I say, YEAH!’

      Andre went over to the brand new stereo system and put his iPod on.

      As the Jack Garratt remix of ‘Photograph’ began to play he dimmed the lights and closed his eyes, his face serious again. Tilly joined him in the middle of the floor and waited for a couple of bars, letting the rhythm of the song work its way inside her body, then they both started freestyling through and around each other. It was as if their bodies were talking to each other, both anticipating and understanding what the other was saying. Expressing the same frustrations. Then, as the music built, they broke away from each other and started dancing to their own flow. Andre started moving robotically but gracefully, as if he were carrying a load of heavy rocks. Tilly vogued with a contemporary twist, her body flowing like a river. As the song came to an end they leaped into a hug.

      ‘I feel so much better!’ Andre exclaimed.

      ‘Me too,’ Tilly said and to her horror, she felt tears of relief burning in the corners of her eyes. She blinked hard and turned away. She hated crying, especially in front of other people. She was fiercer than that. She was a fearless flamingo, not a cry-baby.

      ‘You OK, Tillz?’ Andre asked.

      ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Tilly replied quickly.

      ‘Sei bellisima, Tilly. Always remember that.’

      ‘What does that mean?’

      ‘It’s “you’re beautiful” in Italian,’ Andre told her.

      Tilly’s face flushed. She felt so happy to be back where she belonged, with people who really got her.

      ‘Speaking of which, we’d better get out of here and get some beauty sleep.’ Andre went over to the stereo and retrieved his iPod. ‘We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow and I’m going to be trialling a new F Dot look.’

      Tilly frowned. ‘What does F Dot mean?’

      ‘First Day of Term, of course. Wait till you see it, Tillz. I got a green Marc Jacobs skull and cross-bones bandana at a thrift store in Brooklyn that’s to die for. And that’s not even an exaggeration, I actually did almost die for it. I was so eager to get to it I pulled the whole shelf down on top of me.’

      As Tilly burst out laughing she felt overwhelmed with relief. All of the tension that had built up inside of her over the holiday had been danced and laughed out of her body. She was back at WEDA and this term she was determined not to blow it. She was going to do whatever it took to get her grades up and keep her place there – and she was going to beat her dyslexia once and for all.

      The next morning Tilly woke bright and early. She hopped out of bed, being careful not to wake Naomi, who was still burrowed under her duvet, fast asleep, and unrolled her yoga mat on the floor. Tilly liked to stretch and breathe first thing in the morning, checking in with her body, figuring out which muscles needed attention and filling her lungs with new air. The rhythm of her breath, and connecting it to a stretch, was the best way to get rid of any sad cobwebs and start fresh. After dancing with Andre her left hamstring felt a little tight, so she soothed it with some gentle downward-dog stretches, sending her breath to the sore parts of her body and feeling the tension gently release. Then she showered and took her make-up bag down from the shelf. She decided to go for a bright green cat-eye this morning, to celebrate the first day of the new term – or F Dot as Andre called it! She wondered why Andre had been so stressed when he’d first come to see her. She hated thinking of him having a tough time over Christmas, it made her feel really angry. She always got like this when someone she loved was hurting – she was as fierce and protective as a lioness with her cub.

      Naomi СКАЧАТЬ