âIsnât it weird to think that itâs our very last day here?â Rosa said as she and her best friend, Olivia, walked into the changing rooms at Madame Za-Zaâs ballet school.
Olivia nodded in agreement. After the holidays they would both be going to the Royal Ballet School in London!
Rosa looked round at the familiar green walls and rows of pegs for hanging their clothes on and breathed in the smell of hairspray. âIâm really going to miss this place,â she sighed, taking off her coat.
âMe too,â agreed Olivia.
Rosa thought of everything Madame Za-Za had taught her since she had started at the school â and everything that had happened to her, not just the classes, and the exams and the performancesâ¦
Taking her red ballet shoes out of her bag, she smiled to herself. She had a secret. Her shoes were magic! Sometimes they would start to glisten and glow and then they would whisk her away to Enchantia, a land where all the characters from the different ballets lived. Rosa had been on some fantastic magical adventures there.
But the shoes will still take me to Enchantia even when Iâm at the Royal Ballet School, she thought, stroking the soft leather. I donât have to say goodbye to them.
She felt slightly uneasy though. She hated to admit it, but it almost seemed as if the shoes belonged here, with her ballet teacher, Madame Za-Za. It had been Madame Za-Za who had given them to Delphie Durand, and then Delphie had passed them on to Rosa.
Trying not to think about it, Rosa got changed. She was just tying the ribbons on her shoes when a girl walked into the changing rooms, her chin held high. She had bright green eyes and brown hair.
Rosa groaned inwardly. Holly!
Holly was a new pupil at Madame Za-Zaâs ballet school. She had recently come to live in the town with her aunt and uncle, and had started in Rosa and Oliviaâs class. She was very good at ballet but she knew it and, although she was a little younger than most of the other girls, she seemed put out that she wasnât in the highest class.
âI want to sit there,â she said to Rosa. She pointed at the bench where Rosaâs bag was and gave an imperious toss of her head. âMove your bag.â
Rosa frowned. âNo. There are plenty of other places you can sit.â
âBut I want to get changed there because it is next to the radiator,â Holly told her.
Taking off her coat she threw it down, covering up Rosaâs clothes, and then she went into the little sideroom where the sinks and toilets were.
Rosaâs temper flared. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Hollyâs coat, intending to dump it on the floor.
âDonât,â Olivia said quickly. âItâs our last day.â
âBut you saw what she just did!â Rosa exclaimed.
âBut after today we wonât ever have to see her again,â Olivia pointed out. âDonât have a row, Rosa. Please.â Some of the other girls had started to come in and were looking at Rosa and Olivia curiously.
Rosa forced herself to calm down. Olivia was right. It was their last lesson; she didnât want to ruin it.
âJust ignore her and letâs go and warm up,â said Olivia. âI want to make the most of every second today.â
âMe too,â Rosa agreed and put the coat down. They smiled and hurried out of the changing rooms.
It was hard to ignore Holly. She argued with Madame Za-Za when the teacher corrected her movements in the exercises. She tutted at the other girls when they got in her way. Rosa felt cross. She found it hard to enjoy her last class when Holly was being so awful all of the time.
âI want you to imagine you are a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis,â Madame Za-Za said as they sat and listened to a piece of beautiful music. âYou are stretching your wings, the colours sparkling and glowing, and then with a burst of energy you start to fly, swirling and swoopingâ¦â