Studio Showdown Read Free Page A

breath and smiled up at him. ‘I know,’ I said. ‘I will. Thanks, Benji.’
    â€˜Ah, any time, miss,’ he said, in a bad New York accent. ‘That’ll be two dollars, fifty cents.’
    â€˜I hope your jive is better than your accent,’ I teased.
    He grabbed my hand and twirled me into a drop on the floor. ‘Jive is what I do, baby,’ he said, in the same bad accent. And then he started laughing and I started laughing and we fell into a graceful heap on the floor.
    But I felt better. And I decided that, next lesson, I would make sure Ellie understood that it wasn’t just her running the show.

Chapter Five
    My grand plan didn’t exactly get off to an amazing start.
    The Juniors had their class on Friday, which was when Benji and I had another ballroom lesson.
    Benji and I couldn’t quite get the continuous pretzel, which is a move where you turn in and out and under each other’s arms for what feels like forever. We kept getting mucked upwith which direction we were supposed to be facing and when, so Mum and Fleur made us stay back until we got it right.
    â€˜But, Mum, I have to go, I’m meant to be teaching the Juniors,’ I protested.
    â€˜I’m sure Ellie can handle it for five minutes on her own,’ Mum said, smiling at me through her perfectly painted lips.
    â€˜That isn’t the point,’ I said, exchanging a glance with Benji. ‘Miss Caroline trusted me to take this class, and that means being there on time.’
    In truth I was just worried that making Ellie wait would annoy her, and I wanted her to be in a good mood when I brought up my ideas for the dance.
    â€˜Just a few more times, honey,’ Mum said. ‘Come on, be a good sport.’
    I sighed, but I guess it kind of worked in my favour, because I wanted to get out of thereso badly that I focused all my attention and pulled the move off like a pro.
    â€˜Bravo!’ cheered Fleur. ‘Lovely, lovely!’
    â€˜Yeah, no sweat,’ Benji said sarcastically from where he was panting with his hands on his knees.
    â€˜Just once more, sweetie, so we know it wasn’t a fluke,’ Mum said, clacking her long, fake fingernails together.
    But I shook my head. ‘Sorry, Mum,’ I said. ‘I’ve really got to go. I promised. Thanks, Fleur! See ya, Benji!’
    I gathered up my dance duffel and raced out of there before anyone could stop me. I felt a teeny bit rude, but I knew I was doing it for the greater good.
    Ick, I was so sweaty and flustered, though. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to make a first impression on the students who I was supposed to teach.
    I raced from the drama studio to studio one and, as luck would have it, I passed Miss Caroline in the hall. She’d obviously just come from the studio where I was meant to be.
    â€˜I’m here, Miss Caroline!’ I panted. ‘Sorry I’m late. I had ballroom. I didn’t mean to keep anyone waiting.’
    But instead of being mad at me, Miss Caroline smiled and placed a steady hand on my shoulder so I’d slow down. ‘That’s totally fine, Paige,’ she said. ‘I know you had ballroom. It’s not a problem.’ She chuckled. ‘Just breathe and relax, okay? Your face is all red.’
    I put both hands on my hot cheeks, and willed my heartbeat to slow down.
    â€˜Good girl,’ Miss Caroline said. ‘Now, in you go. I know you’ll do a fantastic job.’
    I nodded, grabbing the door handle as she walked off.
    Right. Time to face the music. I was fully expecting all the Juniors to be sitting in a bored clump on the floor with Ellie pacing around them angrily, waiting for me.
    I opened the door.
    â€˜Sorry I’m la–’ I began to say.
    But I needn’t have bothered.
    Because Ellie was up, in front of the mirror with the class standing behind her.
    They were already in a dance formation.
    Ellie was teaching them the