Chapter 10 #2
‘About Blane?’
‘Blane? No, about me.’
‘What is it?’ Robyn asked, running a hand across her forehead where she could feel a headache starting.
‘Me dad says I can’t be in Grease no more.’
Robyn stared. This was the last thing she’d been expecting. ‘What! But you’re Danny! We can’t go ahead without you! You’re Year 10, not GCSE year. Your dad can’t be worried about you not doing revision?’
‘No, it’s not that, Miss.’
‘What then?’
‘He’s booked a holiday for us. We’re off to Benidorm for two weeks. He didn’t realise you’d changed the dates.’
‘But you can’t go!’ Robyn realised she was pleading. ‘We just can’t do it without you, Seb. Let me have a word with your dad – what’s his phone number? – get him to change the date?’
Seb shook his head. ‘Tried that, Miss. It’s the cheap season.
You know, still in school time. The weeks after that are double the price, he says.
And, if he cancels, he’ll lose the lot unless one of us ends up with a broken leg or summat…
’ He trailed off, not looking at Robyn, and she felt she could quite happily oblige the breaking of any number of legs, but particularly those of Seb’s dad.
‘Well, you don’t have to go,’ Robyn pleaded. ‘You could stay with your granny…’
‘My granny’s coming with us.’
‘Your other granny?’ Robyn felt desperate.
‘I haven’t got another one.’
‘A friend? Phone a friend?’
‘Yer what?’ Seb pulled a face. ‘The thing is, Ms Allen, we’ve never been abroad. We usually go to Blackpool or Scarborough, but after what happened last time…’
‘What?’ Robyn heard herself snap angrily. ‘What did happen?’
‘Me mum said never to tell anyone about it. Anyway, she said she’d only ever go on holiday again if it was somewhere hot. And abroad. And nowhere near that pub with that lapd…’ He trailed off once more.
‘OK, OK, but that doesn’t mean you have to go. Have you no sense of loyalty to all the others in this production? Surely there’s someone you can stay with?’
‘But I want to go, Miss. I’ve never been on a plane. And there’s water parks and a zoo…’
‘There’s a zoo just down the road in Chester.’
‘…and, because it’s all inclusive, me dad says we can have as much Coke and ice cream as we want…’
‘You stay and be Danny and I’ll bring you as much Coke and ice cream as you can get down your neck.’
‘Now you’re being daft, Miss.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Daft to think I could ever pull off a production of Grease with you lot.’ Robyn threw up her hands in despair. ‘Oh well, that’s it, then. Bell’s about to go for assembly. I’d keep out of the way of the others – particularly Isla Boothroyd and her gang – if I were you.’
Robyn knew she was being unfair on the kid – it wasn’t his fault after all – but now this, on top of the awful accident last night and worrying about whatever Fabian seemed to be getting into, was all just too much.
She stamped her foot angrily – childishly – in temper before kicking the empty metal wastepaper bin as hard as she could, enjoying the clattering sound it made as it crashed into the opposite wall.
She leaned back against the wall, sliding down it before sitting on the scratched and faded wooden floor, head in hands.
And then, knowing she had a dance and drama session with a Year 8 class directly after assembly, slowly made her way up the four wooden steps to the tiny teacher’s room at the top.
After reminding herself of the planning for her next class, she reached for her phone, searching through for the music she wanted, but her hand stilled as the first notes of a different song drifted upwards.
She turned, peering round the door to the studio below but could see nothing, could only hear the music which she now recognised as Alan Walker’s ‘Faded’ – one of her own favourite lyrical tracks.
Who the hell was playing their music in her drama studio?
Not Jobsworth Ken, the caretaker, she surmised crossly as she took the stairs back down.
She stopped on the bottom step as the dancer, fully immersed in the beautiful sound, moved almost dreamlike across the floor, oblivious to anything but themself, their body and the music that had taken over, it appeared to Robyn, their very soul.
Robyn stared, moving quietly into the shadow of the makeshift stage to watch, knowing that if Joel Sinclair knew he was being observed, the spell would be broken and he would immediately stop.
Oh, but he was good. So very, very good.
She knew that, having seen him dance back in the autumn.
Just the once with Sorrel before he was attacked at the start of the new spring term.
Despite having had some lessons, Joel was nowhere near as technically competent as Sorrel, but his dancing had an entrancing, hypnotic appeal that Robyn, in all her years as a dancer, had rarely seen.
‘Fuck it!’ Joel hissed, berating himself as he landed awkwardly from a difficult – and probably ill-advised – saute de basque.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his black T-shirt, rubbing his hands crossly down his jogging bottoms before moving to his phone to start the track once more.
‘OK, Joel…’ Robyn stepped out of the shadow towards him and he jumped like a startled deer.
Before he could say anything, remonstrate with her for watching him, she went on.
‘Too much pressure on one foot. You need to make sure your weight is evenly balanced, your feet shooting directly below your pelvis.’
‘Uuuhhhh.’ Joel exhaled deeply. ‘Sorry, didn’t know anyone was down here.
Wouldn’t have come down if I’d known.’ He made to pick up his bag with his school uniform, throwing his phone and speaker into it.
‘I thought everyone was in assembly. You know, the big one that’s been called what with that poor kid having copped it last night. ’
‘I decided I couldn’t bear to be in there,’ Robyn said. ‘I’ll be in trouble for not showing my face I suppose.’
‘You were there last night? When it happened? Sorrel told me.’
Robyn nodded. ‘It affected my sister Jess most of all. Her windscreen broke his fall.’
‘Ouch.’ Joel actually closed his eyes at the picture. ‘Not good.’
‘Not good at all.’ Robyn felt tears start but, turning back to the sixteen-year-old in front of her, she went on. ‘Joel, you are a superb dancer. You have to take it further. You have to. I’ve said this all along.’ Robyn heard herself pleading as she went to sit on the floor beside the boy.
‘Oh yes? And how do I do that then?’
‘I’ll teach you.’
‘You haven’t got enough on with your production of Grease?’
‘As from this morning, it seems to be all off.’
‘Because of the school closing?’
Robyn shook her head.
‘Because,’ Joel went on, ‘after what happened last night with Blane Higson just off the school premises, and with what happened to me back in January on the school’s playing fields, it will, you know.
The papers will get hold of the story and the local authority will be rubbing their hands with excitement. ’
‘More than likely.’ Robyn nodded her agreement. ‘And that’s why I wanted the place to go out with a bang.’
‘Don’t think there’s any doubt about that.’ Joel gave a wry smile. ‘Once the demolition lot are in, it’ll be pretty noisy.’
‘No.’ Robyn sighed. ‘Nothing to do with the school closing down. It appears I no longer have a Danny Zuko.’
‘Oops.’ Joel actually laughed. ‘Losing your Sorrel to the dance school in London is bad enough. Losing Danny as well is just downright careless.’ He stood. ‘Right, Miss, off to the library to do some revision.’
‘What then, Joel?’ Robyn stood in front of him, arms folded. ‘What then?’
‘Er, lunch? Usual pizza, I guess. Then English with you this afternoon and then back to Castleford to my Aunty Judith’s place. Although, I reckon she’s had enough of me after all this time. Probably regretting agreeing to have me there.’
‘I don’t mean the rest of today.’
‘No, I know what you mean.’ Joel gave her one of his looks.
‘So?’
‘So, I don’t know. A place at some tech to do some course they allocate you to tick their boxes. Plastering or bricklaying or car mechanics or some such thing.’
‘A levels? Why not your A levels and then university? Get away from here? Do like I did and study English and dance and drama.’
‘Nah, not for me.’ Joel shrugged, flinging his bag over one shoulder. ‘I’ve got a record. I’m on a court order.’
‘So? And what about Sorrel?’
‘Sorrel’s going places. You know that. Once she’s in London, she won’t be back. The thing is, Ms Allen, I think a lot about Sorrel, but… you know…’
‘She’s coming back to play Sandy at the end of the summer term.’ Robyn hesitated. Should she be telling this kid how much Sorrel obviously thought about him? But surely that was up to Sorrel to tell him?
‘I thought you said it was all off.’
‘All off?’
‘Grease,’ Joel said. ‘You said it was all off.’
‘Not if you take the part of Danny Zuko.’
‘Me? You are joking!’
‘And why not?’
‘Because I can’t sing. Or act!’ He gave a dry little laugh. ‘See you, Miss.’
And with that, he headed for the door.