The Time of Your Life (16 page)

Belle: The Time of Our Lives

Trapped!

Jack was standing in front of the door and there was
no window. Belle stared at the floor, tempted to start
tunnelling with her bare hands.

She had avoided being alone with Jack since the awful
moment she'd seen him with Bianca in the practice
room. Belle knew she'd treated him appallingly.
She'd jumped to conclusions and assumed the worst
about him, and then ignored him for weeks. She'd
behaved like a neurotic little drama-queen. And now
she didn't know what to say for herself. On a scale
of embarrassment from one to ten, this was one
hundred!

But unless she wanted to end her days imprisoned
in this dressing room, she was going to have to make
a move. The quickest way out, she decided, would
be to mutter an apology and then make a dash for
the door.

'I'm really sorry . . .' Belle muttered.

'I'm really sorry . . .' Jack said at exactly the same
moment.

They both stopped and laughed awkwardly.

Belle looked up. Jack was leaning against the door,
hands in pockets, smiling at her. His clear hazel eyes
were searing deep into her soul, but she forced herself
to meet his gaze and hold it. Somehow she couldn't
help smiling too.

Jack stepped forward, and as if hypnotized, Belle
took a step forward too. And another.

'Am I forgiven?' Jack asked softly.

'It was all my fault,' Belle said.

'Would you still like to go to the Tower of London?'

'And ice-skating!' Belle nodded. 'Yes, please.' Was
she dreaming? she wondered. After all this time, it was
so easy to talk to each other . . . Why had she waited
so long?

'Tomorrow afternoon?' Jack said, smiling.

'Tomorrow afternoon!' Belle agreed.

They both took another step forward. The air
between them fizzed and crackled like static electricity.
They were standing very close together now, eyes
still locked.

And then, somehow, they were kissing.

Belle closed her eyes. She felt as if she were
dissolving from the inside out. It was like sparklers
and bonfires and singing and ice-skating all rolled
into one.

Suddenly she became aware of a commotion, and
jumped away from Jack just as the door crashed open
to admit a boisterous crowd: Nick, Lettie, Nathan,
Holly, Cat, Ethan, Luke, Lucy, Serena – all the friends
who'd been involved in
Macbeth,
including some of the
audience, like Felix, Zak and Gemma.

Belle felt her face burning and her mouth seemed
stuck in a huge slice-of-watermelon grin. Everyone
must know exactly what she and Jack had been doing,
as surely as if she had
SNOG-FEST
tattooed across
her forehead. She braced herself for comments, but
to her surprise, no one teased her. They were all too
busy high-fiving and hugging and congratulating each
other on the resounding success of the play.

Belle turned to the mirror and picked up a brush, as
if intent on tidying her hair. She studied her reflection.
Her face was a little pink, but otherwise fairly well
under control.

Nick came over and stood next to her. 'You really
nailed
that First Messenger part,' he said, grinning into
the mirror. 'The way you delivered that line,
The king
comes here tonight!
Genius! And some critics might
argue with me here,' he continued, in pompous,
theatre-critic tones, 'but
I
think leaving the suit of
armour off was a good call. Controversial, perhaps, but
there you go!'

Belle laughed. 'Glad you liked it! Your music was
amazing, Lettie' she added as their friend came and
joined them.

Nick beamed proudly. 'It was, wasn't it?' He draped
his arm across Lettie's shoulders and she gazed up at
him with her serious brown eyes.

Suddenly Ethan was rapping on a Coke can for
attention. 'Let's hear it for Cat, the greatest Lady
Macbeth you ever saw!' he cried.

Everyone cheered enthusiastically.

Somehow Cat had managed to change out of her
nightgown into her party dress behind the costume
rail. She cleared her throat. 'Ahem! I need to say
some thank-yous. Firstly to some boys – apparently
they can be useful
sometimes . . .
So, Ethan Reed for
time-management therapy,
Nathan Almeida for
family
therapy,
and Jack Thorne for fainting at exactly the
right moment. But my biggest thank-you goes
to Holly – the greatest Lady Macbeth you
never
saw!'

There was laughter, and befuddled looks from those
who knew nothing of Holly's narrow escape in the
rehearsal. But everyone cheered anyway. Holly bowed
and tucked her braids behind her ears. Ethan gave
her a hug.

'Come on!' Nick shouted. 'It's
p-a-a-a-r-ty time!
In
the dining room!'

As people started to leave, Belle felt someone
squeeze her hand.

'See you at the party,' Jack whispered. 'And
tomorrow,
of course.' He turned and winked, before following
Ethan out of the door.

Soon only Cat and Holly were left in the dressing
room with Belle. 'So?' Cat demanded. 'Spill!'

Belle grinned, still a little dazed. 'It must be a world
record.' She laughed. 'We got to kiss and make up
before
we even went on a first date! Thank you,' she
added. 'Both of you. Even though that was a
terrible
bit of acting –
Just remembered that important thing we
have to do!'

'You're welcome!' Holly and Cat chorused.

'How can I ever repay you?' Belle wondered.

'Well, for a start,' Cat told her as they left the theatre,
'by not setting your alarm clock tomorrow morning.
Being a leading lady, a time-management expert
and
a
matchmaker is exhausting. I'm looking forward to a big
fat lie-in.'

'Sorry . . .' Holly sighed, shaking her head. 'We've
got band practice tomorrow morning with The
Undertow boys. We've got that Christmas party gig
coming up, remember?'

Belle grinned. 'It's OK, Cat. That's meant to start at
nine thirty. Translated into Felix-Baddeley-time, that'll
be more like ten. And it'll have to be over by midday –
some of us have
dates
to go on!'

Cat laughed. 'The life of a superstar! It's just work,
work, work . . .'

Arm in arm, Belle, Cat and Holly crossed the
courtyard and stepped into the entrance hall. Loud
dance music and a hubbub of chatter were spilling out
from the dining room on the other side of the hall.
Through the open doors Belle glimpsed Cat's family
waving and beckoning them to join the party.

Then Belle noticed three figures sitting on the girls'
favourite leather sofa in the hall. She nudged the other
two and they all looked across to see Mr Grampian, Mr
Garcia and Miss Morgan deep in conversation over
their cups of coffee.

'Next term . . . really spectacular . . . involving all three
departments . .
.' Mr Garcia was saying. It was hard
not
to overhear his booming voice, even if you
weren't eavesdropping shamelessly. Which Belle was,
of course.

'Don't you think you're being a little ambitious,
Enrico?' Miss Morgan warned. 'The Dance Department
has
Nutcracker Sweeties
coming up as well . . .'

'Ah, but my dear Drusilla, where would we be in
this world without ambition?' Mr Grampian asked
dramatically.

Belle looked at Cat and Holly and they all smiled.
'Something really
big
next term?' Belle said.

Holly nodded. 'I can't wait to find out what it is!'

'And be a part of it,' Cat whispered.

'All of us!' Belle agreed. She could hardly contain
her excitement.

And then she noticed the magnificent Christmas tree
that had appeared next to the grand staircase. It was
festooned with gold and red tinsel and baubles and
sparkled with hundreds of fairy lights. She suddenly
realized that there were only a few more days until the
Christmas holidays. Cat and Holly would be going
home to their families, and Belle . . . Well, for once she
was really looking forward to the holiday: Mum had
promised to take the whole three weeks off work and
they were going to stay in a ski chalet in Chamonix, and
then perhaps do some shopping together in Paris . . .

She wondered where Jack would be for Christmas.
Well, she would have plenty of time to ask him
tomorrow.
She couldn't wait!

'Stop wobbling it, Joyce, for goodness' sake!' Mrs
Butterworth cried, scooting out from behind the tree
and bellowing at Miss Candlemas, who was clutching
the base of a very tall ladder.

'I am not
wobbling
it, Norma!' Miss Candlemas
snapped back. 'I told you we should have done this
before
we decorated.'

Ignoring her, Mrs B craned her neck and peered
upwards. 'Left a bit – no,
left!'
she yelled.

Belle looked up to see Mr Fortune balanced on the
highest rung of the ladder, attaching an enormous gold
star to the top of the tree.

She glanced at Cat and Holly, who were also gazing
up at the star, the flickering tree lights reflected in their
shining eyes.

'Having a good time at the party, girls?' Mr Fortune
called down.

'We're having the time of our lives!'
Cat called back.

Belle's heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of
Jack, smiling at her from the dining-room doorway.

Cat was right. It
was
the time of their lives.

And the party was just getting started!

How
you
can manage your life
to become – and stay – a superstar . . .

Life as a superstar is often jam-packed – practice,
rehearsals, classes. It's always useful to make a list of
things you need to get done, put them in order of
importance and work through them. It will feel
really good when you get to the end of the list and
everything's ticked off!

Try and remember that however busy you are, you
have to make some time to relax. No superstar can
keep going all day, every day. Take a tip from Belle
and try a bit of yoga before bed, or chill out and
listen to music – whatever works for you.

If it really feels like everything is getting on top
of you and things are too much, make sure you talk
to somebody you can trust. Whether it's a teacher,
parent or friend, it helps to have someone to listen
and help you work it out.

When things seem stressful, try not to take it out
on anybody else. Good friends are really important.
If you feel you're about to snap, take a deep breath
and count to ten before you speak!

Try and make the most of the time you do have. Unless
you've definitely set an hour aside for a chill-out session,
use it wisely. You could listen to a song you need to
learn while you're in the bath, for example, or maybe do
some homework while you're not needed in rehearsals –
there are ways to fit things in.

Sleep is important for every superstar, especially a busy
one! If you need to wake up early to get something done,
then make sure you go to bed early to catch up on
sleep – no superstar looks great with bags under their eyes!

Learn how to say no! You can't agree to everything –
you just don't have time! If you've been asked to do
something you really don't want to do or don't have
time for, then don't agree to it just to keep everybody
happy. If you explain politely, they're sure to understand.

When you're busy, it can be easy to let things slip so
that they're not up to your usual high standards.
Remember that even though you're busy, everything
still needs to be done to superstar standard! So take the
time you need to do things properly.

There are times when things will seem too tough. It's
important to stay calm. Do what any good superstar
would do – put your head up, your shoulders back, take
a deep breath and smile!

When you're struggling with your workload, try to
remember that every superstar has gone through the
rigorous training and endless practice. The route to
stardom is hard work! You will make it – just believe
in yourself and persevere!