Dancing with the Devil ✔️

8

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D A N C I N G
WITH THE
D E V I L
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An unexpected surprise awaited us when we entered the school grounds the next morning. Millie and I had caught the same bus and as we were determined to be on time for rehearsal, we raced off the bus and through the school gates in an excited rush.

In the school car park however, where there would normally only be a few cars belonging to teachers at that time of the morning, we discovered several vans parked haphazardly and a large crowd of students milling around trying to find out what was going on.

Pushing through the crowd, curious to find out what had grasped everyone's attention, we spotted two policemen questioning our school principal, Mr. Davis. Then immediately behind him were a couple of men with large microphones and some sophisticated looking camera equipment. They appeared to be from the local TV station and were interviewing a group of kids. When I managed to get closer, I realised that right in the middle of the group with the microphone pointed directly towards her, was Sara Hamilton.

"It was so scary!" Sara was saying. "But as soon as I heard the smash, I ran to the office to get help."

"You are a very quick thinking young lady!" the reporter acknowledged Sara with a look of admiration.

"Well, I just did what I thought I should," Sara explained. "When I saw the smoke coming from the broken window, I knew that something was terribly wrong!"

"If Sara hadn't acted as quickly as she had, the whole building could have burnt down!" exclaimed Miss Fitz, the drama teacher who was standing beside her.

"You're very lucky to have such a responsible young lady attending your school!" the reporter who was conducting the interview commented enthusiastically.

"Yes, we are very proud of Sara, she is a new student and as you say, we are very lucky to have her here as a student!" chimed in Mr. Davis, beaming with pride in Sara's direction.

The reporters asked Mr. Davis a few more questions and ended the interview. Sara was then quickly surrounded by a surge of kids trying to get close to her in order to be captured on camera. By that time, more kids had arrived for school and the car park was ablaze with excitement. It was not every day that a television camera crew along with several members of the police force turned up at our school and everyone was keen to get in on the action.

Mr. Dawson, the physical education teacher blew his whistle and told everyone to go to class or wherever they should be at that time of the morning. Then it wasn't until we reached our classroom that Millie and I could actually find out the exact details of what had happened.

Mrs. Jackson explained to us all that Sara had been at school early, in preparation for our dance rehearsal. Apparently as she had walked across the car park, towards the Performing Arts hall, she'd heard a loud smash of glass. When she went around to the rear of the building to investigate, she noticed smoke and flames billowing from the window.

"She had then rushed for help and very luckily, had bumped into the janitor who happened to be cleaning the area around the office, which was still fairly deserted at that time of the morning.

He and Sara had raced back to the building where they spotted a couple of teenage boys running from the scene. Between the two of them, Sara and the janitor had managed to get a nearby garden hose connected and put out the fire. Without their quick thinking, the building could have burnt down and that would have been the end of the musical, as it was the only building that was suitable for the performance.

Just as Mrs. Jackson finished sharing the main details, Sara walked into the classroom. Everyone stared in her direction and then a loud burst of applause and cheering erupted. "Three cheers for Sara!" someone at the back of the room called out.

"Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray!" the applause was deafening and Sara sat down at her desk, beaming proudly while kids rushed to pat her on the back and give her high fives.

I spotted Blake looking at her with open admiration. She really was a hero and deserved all the accolades she was getting. It would have been disastrous if the building had burnt down. It could even have led to the whole school going up in flames.

As everyone returned to their desks, I congratulated her warmly. She was the most popular girl in the school at that moment and I could see that everyone wanted to be her friend.

When Mrs. Jackson directed us to take out our Math books so we could begin work, I caught Sara smiling happily in Blake's direction. He was grinning widely across the room towards her as well and it was obvious that they had certainly become close.

I looked at Millie who had also noticed the exchange and she raised her eyebrows questioningly. Sara glanced at me with a smug kind of grin, maintaining intense eye contact for a few seconds and then quickly refocused her attention on her math book.

"Pay attention please, Julia! It's time to get on with our lessons now." I heeded Mrs. Jackson's warning and looked towards the board. It was full of Math equations but once again, I struggled to concentrate.

I really wasn't sure whether I had a real friend in Sara or not. I started to suspect that she may not be the girl she had so far portrayed herself to be and I wondered what agenda she had in mind. But then once again, I questioned myself. Did I just have an over active imagination or were my instincts picking up on something that was not as it seemed? I guessed that only time would tell!