Tilly's Time to Shine. Kimberly Wyatt

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СКАЧАТЬ for – the amazing food. The chefs in their canteen had a magical ability of making even the healthiest of foods taste delicious.

      ‘Drat!’ Naomi muttered and burrowed back beneath her duvet. Naomi loved saying ‘drat’. She thought it made her sound distinguished.

      ‘Come on, you know you want one of those yummy coconut flour pancakes,’ Tilly said. ‘Just think of it, with some fresh, juicy blueberries on top. And a dollop of mascarpone – so creamy and delicious and –’

      ‘All right, all right, I’m getting up!’ Naomi flung back her duvet. Her dark hair was flattened on one side where she’d been sleeping. ‘I hate these early morning starts,’ she moaned as she shuffled off to their shared bathroom.

      Tilly grinned. The only good thing about having a rubbish Christmas break was that it made her so happy to be back at WEDA she didn’t even mind getting up early. ‘I’ll see you in the canteen!’ she called after Naomi. She couldn’t wait any longer, she wanted to see the rest of Il Bello.

      The canteen was buzzing with chatter as the other boarders all clustered around tables, catching up on each other’s holidays. Tilly spotted a tall, thin boy in a fedora hat standing at the juice bar.

      ‘MJ!’ she called as she ran over, fighting the urge to hug him. MJ was autistic and wasn’t a great fan of being touched, or of displays of affection. Like Tilly, he expressed himself best through dance.

      MJ turned and gave her a tight smile. ‘Hey, Tilly. How are you?’

      ‘Great, thanks. So happy to be back here.’

      MJ nodded. ‘Me too.’

      ‘Are any of the rest of the crew here?’ Tilly turned and scanned the canteen.

      ‘Andre’s still in our room trying to get his hair symmetrical – whatever that means – but Raf’s over there.’ MJ nodded to a table in the corner.

      Tilly grinned as she saw Raf looking more tanned and handsome than ever . . . then frowned as she saw Cassandra sitting next to him, giggling and swishing her hair.

      ‘What’s he doing with the ice queen?’ she asked.

      MJ looked at her blankly. He didn’t get metaphors.

      ‘Cassandra. Why is he sitting with Cassandra?’

      MJ shrugged. He hadn’t got into any of the tension that had built up between Tilly, Billie and Cassandra last term. He tended to stay on the sidelines – until it came time to dance. ‘Billie’s just arrived,’ he said nonchalantly, before turning back to the juice bar.

      ‘What? Where?’ Tilly looked around and spotted Billie by the doorway to the canteen. Her blond hair was tucked up inside a blue beanie and she was carrying a sports bag over her shoulder. As a non-boarder, Billie had to make a two-hour train journey to get to WEDA every day. She must have set off extra early this morning to make it in time for breakfast.

      ‘Bill!’ Tilly yelled, racing over to her.

      Billie dropped her bag to the floor and ran to meet her. ‘Tillz! It’s so good to see you!’ she exclaimed as the two girls hugged. ‘How was your Christmas?’

      ‘OK. How was yours?’

      ‘It was great.’ Billie’s eyes sparkled and she grinned excitedly. ‘My Uncle Charlie came to stay and my mum’s new boyfriend Tony took us to see the fireworks on the Thames on New Year’s Eve. It was so much fun!’

      Tilly felt a bittersweet mixture of happiness for her friend and regret that she didn’t have such a fun Christmas break herself. Why did her mum have to be so serious the whole time? They’d spent New Year’s Eve doing a family quiz which, as far as Tilly was concerned, was just one small step away from doing an exam.

      ‘I’m so glad to be back, though,’ Billie continued, linking her arm through Tilly’s. ‘I really missed you.’

      ‘Me too,’ Tilly replied. She took off her backpack and pulled out a present. ‘Here, I made you something while I was home.’

      Billie stared at her, puzzled. ‘But I thought we exchanged gifts before we broke up?’

      ‘We did.’ Tilly grinned. ‘This isn’t a Christmas present.’

      ‘What is it then?’

      ‘It’s a thank-you-for-being-the-best-friend-ever present.’

      ‘Oh, Tillz!’

      Tilly watched nervously as Billie opened the wrapping paper and pulled out a black T-shirt. Tilly had printed the word BILLERINA in hot-pink graffiti lettering on the front.

      Billie’s mouth dropped open in surprise. ‘That’s what my Uncle Charlie calls me! How did you know?’

      ‘I heard him call you it after the end-of-term showcase.’

      Billie grabbed her in a hug. ‘Tillz, this is one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given.’

      ‘Really?’

      Billie nodded. ‘You’re the most caring, thoughtful friend ever.’

      Tilly gave an embarrassed grin. ‘Yeah well, don’t tell anyone. I have my reputation to protect, you know. Come on, let’s get some pancakes.’

      After breakfast, the students all filed through to the main hall for Mrs Jones’s traditional start-of-term speech. Along with Mr Marlo and Miss Murphy, Mrs Jones was Tilly’s main source of inspiration at WEDA. She’d been one of the founders of the academy and had taught Miss Murphy, who often credited Mrs Jones with her success. Tilly felt a flutter of excitement as she thought of how lucky she was to be there. Her mum might be dismissive of dance but Mrs Jones, Miss Murphy and all the other teachers at WEDA were proof of how successful dancers could be. Tilly needed to hold on to that thought and use it to keep her strong.

      Andre, who hadn’t shown up for breakfast, came rushing into the hall and plonked himself down in the seat next to Tilly. His F Dot look had clearly taken a lot of effort, but it had definitely been worth it. He was wearing a bright red vest top and black cargo pants and he’d shaved two perfectly symmetrical skulls on either side of his head, which went brilliantly with his green skull and cross-bones bandana.

      ‘You look amazing,’ Tilly whispered. ‘With your green bandana and my green cat-eyes, we make the ultimate superhero duo.’

      ‘I know,’ Andre replied. ‘I think this might just be our FFM.’

      ‘What does that mean?’ Billie asked from the other side of Tilly.

      ‘Finest Fashion Moment, of course,’ Andre said with a sigh.

      Tilly laughed. If anyone else said such a thing they’d seem arrogant, but Andre was so funny he got away with it.

      ‘Ooh, here we go,’ Andre said, as Mrs Jones, Mr Marlo and Miss Murphy came in.

      The students fell silent as the teachers walked to the front of the hall. Miss Murphy and Mr Marlo sat down and Mrs Jones went up on to the stage. She was wearing one of her СКАЧАТЬ