Dancing with the Devil ✔️

2

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D A N C I N G
WITH THE
D E V I L
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The weeks passed by and school went on as usual. However, as the final performance day drew closer, our practice sessions became more frequent and we were kept very busy. Millie and I had been asked to choreograph the dance routines for several additional scenes as well, so we had little time for anything else.

Then one morning, just as the bell was ringing and everyone was heading into class, a very pretty girl with blonde wavy hair who looked to be about our age, happened to arrive at our classroom door.

"Come in, Sara!" I heard Mrs. Jackson call out in a friendly manner. "I've been expecting you!"

Everyone looked curiously in the girl's direction. "Girls and boys, I'd like you to meet Sara Hamilton. She has just enrolled at our school and will now be joining our class."

Sara smiled shyly as she followed Mrs. Jackson towards an empty desk next to mine. "Julia, I'm sure you'll be happy to look after Sara and show her around the school during break times today. Please make her welcome."

"Yes of course, Mrs. Jackson," I answered enthusiastically as I smiled encouragingly towards Sara. "Hi, Sara! My name's Julia and this is my friend, Millie," I added, pointing towards Millie who was seated on the other side of me.

Millie smiled brightly and jumped up to help Sara unpack her bag and put her books and other belongings into her desk drawer. It was an unusual event to have a new student come to our school and when it happened it was always very exciting. I could see all the other kids in the class looking towards Sara with interest and by the time the bell rang for morning break, Sara was surrounded by girls who were desperately keen to meet her.

We all headed down the stairs towards the area where the grade seven kids sat to eat their morning tea. There was a large group trying to get Sara's attention, so Millie and I sat back in order to avoid overwhelming the poor girl who was swamped with people asking her questions. As I looked around, I realized that she also had the attention of pretty much every other kid in the grade, the boys included.

Sara was very pretty and was wearing the coolest clothes. I noticed her white sandals; they had straps around the ankles and chunky heels, the latest in fashion and very expensive. I also realized that she was wearing the pleated suede skirt I had been eyeing off in the window of a local designer store on the weekend. Judging by the reaction of all the girls, I could tell that she was going to be very popular and I wondered suddenly if she was good at dancing.

When the opportunity arose, Millie and I moved closer to Sara and began chatting. She was super friendly and seemed really nice.

We found out that she and her family had just moved into town the week before, as her dad had been transferred to a new job in the area. Sara told us how much she had been looking forward to starting at a new school. She didn't say too much but I kind of got the feeling that the kids at her last school weren't very nice to her. I reassured her that she wouldn't have that problem at our school as all the girls in our class got on really well.

"I've noticed that there are some cute boys here as well," she said to Millie and I with a huge grin.
"We grinned back and Millie said, "Yeah, some of them are ok!" with a wink in my direction. I could see that Sara was watching my reaction to Millie's comment and I couldn't help but blush. Trying to change the subject I asked Sara, "Do you like dancing?"

"Oh, I love dancing!" she exclaimed. "It's my favorite thing to do. I was taking hip hop classes before I left my old school and I'm really keen to start up again."

"Oh wow!" I replied. "If you're good at hip hop, you could probably join in our hip hop dance for the musical. It's in four weeks, so you'd have time to learn the routine. Do you want to come to rehearsals at lunch time?"

"I'd love to!" Sara answered. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

"That's alright," I beamed in response. "I'll just have to check with Miss Sheldon but I'm sure it will be fine. She's keen to have as many kids involved as possible."

Chatting excitedly, we headed back to class, explaining what the musical was about and the different dances that Millie and I had choreographed. "It's going to be the most awesome thing ever!" Millie gasped.

"The costumes are amazing and we can hardly wait for the night to come."

"This is really cool!" Sara grinned excitedly. "I had a feeling about this school. I knew that it was going to be the right place for me."

As we walked up the stairs, I felt a shiver of excitement run down my spine. "What an unexpected surprise," I thought to myself. "I certainly hadn't expected to be making a cool new friend when I arrived at school this morning."

And with beaming smiles, the three of us headed towards our desks and sat down to get on with the work that Mrs. Jackson had put on the board."