Lucky Break #6 (5 page)

Marmalade stared at Chloe's back as she wound her way between the tables and out of the dining room. Jack? The Rising Stars Concert? What was Chloe thinking? Marmalade had been giving Jack lots of advice, but he hadn't been paying attention to what the other dancer was really capable of. Mr. Penardos had told Marmalade that Jack was very talented, but Marmalade had conveniently forgotten this, while handing out advice and telling Jack what to do all the time.

I have to pay more attention to what he's up to,
Marmalade told himself as he finished his lunch. He felt embarrassed now that he'd been so eager to offer Jack advice, and hadn't bothered to pick up many tips himself. There must be a lot more than the odd ballet term that Jack could help Marmalade with if he actually asked.

But Marmalade knew he couldn't bring himself to ask much advice from Jack. It wouldn't be good for the best dancer in the class to get help from the new boy. He would just have to watch what Jack was doing and learn from him that way.

And if Chloe was
that
impressed, Marmalade would have to make sure his dance was something
really
special or he might lose his reputation for being the best dancer. That would be horrible!

After all,
he told himself as he made his way to his next class,
I know I'm the best, and I have to make sure I
stay
the best!

After dinner, Marmalade watched Jack rehearsing. Chloe had been right. He was dancing well, and very differently from everyone else. Marmalade wasn't really jealous. It wasn't in his nature to feel envious of other people's lives. He would rather make the most of his own. But he
was
worried. Marmalade could see that while Jack had been soaking up information like a sponge, he himself had been too complacent. To keep ahead, he needed to pick up some tips of his own.

Now that he was taking notice of Jack's skills, Marmalade could see that Jack had been politely listening to all his advice, but only using the parts of it that were useful to him. Marmalade would have blushed, if he were the sort of person who blushed easily!

Instead of feeling embarrassed, Marmalade thought carefully. Perhaps he could learn from Jack without seeming to... Big jumps were Marmalade's favorite part of dancing, and he wanted to put a couple of really spectacular ones into his routine. Jack wasn't really into big jumps, but he knew all the theory, so all Marmalade had to do was pick his brain. Mr. Penardos was sure to be impressed if Marmalade could come up with some totally accurate classic leaps in his jazz routine. The music he'd chosen would be perfect. Marmalade could just see himself flying from his piano dance into his portrayal of the double bass and again into the saxophone solo.

But the evening was moving on and it would soon be homework time. Marmalade would have to wait until the next day to put his plan into action.

“Hey, Jack! Can we talk?” he asked right after breakfast the next morning as everyone was gathering their belongings for the first lesson of the day. It wasn't the best time to ask about dancing, because they had a math class to get to, but Marmalade couldn't wait any longer to start working on his idea.

“Sure!” agreed Jack.

“You know that jump I did some time ago, and you told me its official name?”

“Yes?” replied Jack, looking puzzled.

“I can't remember what you're supposed to do with your legs,” Marmalade told him.

“It doesn't matter,” Jack replied. “Your jump was great.”

“Yes, I know that,” agreed Marmalade casually. “But I can't remember what you said, and it's been annoying me.”

Jack picked up his bag and shrugged it over his shoulder. He looked pleased to be asked about his specialist knowledge. “I'm not that good at jumps,” he said, “but I know how it's supposed to go. I'll show you at lunchtime, if you want. We could try it in the small dance studio before afternoon classes.”

“You don't need to
show
me,” said Marmalade. “Just tell me and I'll do it now. You can say if I've got it right or not. I've been thinking about that jump all night and I want to get it figured out.”

Jack sighed. “You're supposed to have one foot pulled up to the other knee for a classic
saut de basque
,” he told him. “But you're not going to do it in here, are you?”

“Of course,” said Marmalade, pushing a table to one side to make room.

"But ...”

It was too late. Marmalade had already taken off. Several people turned to watch. Marmalade was always fun to see when he was fooling around. Someone whistled as he landed perfectly. Marmalade turned to Jack in triumph. “How was that?”

Jack nodded. “Not bad,” he admitted.

“But not perfect?” Marmalade insisted.

“Well, your foot could have been a little closer to your knee,” Jack admitted. “But don't do another one here, Marmalade.” He moved to get in Marmalade's way to prevent him from jumping, but Marmalade pushed him away.

“Okay!” Marmalade took a deep breath and leaped again. This time, the jump was perfect and beautifully executed. He threw Jack an excited, triumphant glance, but as his leading foot hit the floor it slid disastrously away from him. He could do nothing to recover his balance, and he landed heavily, among bags and people's feet, ending up half underneath a table.

For a moment, there was a shocked silence, and then everyone began to laugh.

“Typical Marmalade!” said Pop with a giggle.

“What a joker,” agreed Ed.

“What a show-off!” Tara added, folding her arms and looking down her nose at the fallen dancer.

“Are you all right?” asked Chloe between giggles. “Do you need a hand?”

“I'll pull you up,” Danny offered, reaching out a hand to help his friend.

“No!” cried Marmalade, his voice high with fear. “Don't touch me!”

“What's the matter?” asked Chloe.

Marmalade stared wildly at Danny. His frightened face was deathly white and full of pain, and his leg was twisted awkwardly underneath him.

“He's hurt!” said Jack. “Don't move him. If you do, it could make things worse.”

"Get Sister O'Flannery!” Danny yelled. “Tell her Marmalade has injured his leg! Go on, Chloe. Hurry!”

Chloe raced off and Lolly went with her. Danny made everyone else move back to give Marmalade some space. Very carefully, he and Ben pulled the table away from the fallen dancer. Marmalade felt so small and helpless, lying there on the dining-room floor while everyone else stood around, staring at him with worried expressions on their faces. He didn't dare to move, afraid he might injure his leg even more, and it was so painful he was sure he wouldn't be able to stand on it. Why hadn't Jack saved his explanations until they were somewhere else? It was all his fault that Marmalade was injured!

Danny crouched beside Marmalade to keep him company. “I'm sure Sister won't be long,” he told him. “Don't worry. Just stay still.”

But Marmalade's face was twisted in agony. “I'm scared,” he whispered to Danny. “I'm afraid I might have hurt myself badly. What if it's really serious?”

Sister O'Flannery was in charge of the infirmary. It wasn't long before she arrived in the dining room and was kneeling at Marmalade's side. She asked him exactly what had happened.

“I expect it's just a bad sprain,” she told him after he had explained how he fell. “But you should have an X-ray to make sure. You didn't hurt yourself anywhere else, did you?”

Marmalade shook his head.

“Good,” said Sister. “Don't worry. I'm going to call an ambulance. We don't want to risk making matters worse by taking you to the hospital ourselves. Just keep that leg as still as you can until they come.”

“Will I be able to dance again soon?” Marmalade asked anxiously.

“Goodness, I hope so!” she told him with a smile. “Let's have some space here,” she added, raising her voice to address the other students. “Come on, there's nothing to see. Go to your classes. Do you want someone to stay with you?” she added quietly to Marmalade.

He nodded.

“What's your name?” she asked Jack, who was standing anxiously behind Marmalade. “Can you stay with your friend?”

“Of course,” Jack replied.

Marmalade shook his head violently. “No!” he cried. “I don't want Jack to stay. It was his fault I got hurt! Where's Danny?”

Jack's face went almost as pale as Marmalade's. He hesitated for a moment, and then turned and left the room.

It wasn't too long before the ambulance arrived. The paramedics lifted Marmalade carefully onto a stretcher.

“You'd better go to your class now,” Sister told Danny, once Marmalade was safely in the ambulance. “I'll go with him. And don't you worry—he's in good hands. We'll get him fixed up soon.”

In the emergency room, it seemed forever before Marmalade could be seen, but eventually a friendly doctor took a look at his injured leg. Marmalade tried not to cry out when she moved it gently, but it really hurt, and his knee was becoming very swollen and bruised.

“We'll take an X-ray, but I think you've torn a ligament in your knee,” the doctor told him. “Did you say you were a dancer?” she added.

“Yes,” said Marmalade anxiously. “Will I be able to dance again soon? There's a really important concert in a few weeks' time and I need to practice for it.”

The doctor shook her head. “I'm sorry,” she said. “You'll have to forget about performing for the time being. Ligaments can take a long time to heal,” she told Marmalade. “If you want to stand the best chance of it healing properly, you'll need to keep the weight off your leg for quite a while. Then you'll need physical therapy to get your muscles working well again. If you want to be a professional dancer, you'll need to give this injury every chance to heal completely. You don't want to risk it happening again and threatening your career.”

“
Could
it happen again?” asked Marmalade, holding back his tears. How could he dance in the Rising Stars Concert if he couldn't practice?

“There will always be a weakness where there has been an injury,” the doctor told him. “But you're young, and with any luck you won't have problems in the future. It might be best to put your leg in a cast for a while, but we'll have a look at the X-ray before we make a decision.”

Marmalade was appalled. He had been worrying about the Rising Stars Concert, but it might be that he'd
always
have a weakness in his knee because of one crazy jump. How could he have been so stupid as to jeopardize his career in this way?

Marmalade was taken to the X-ray department in a wheelchair, and afterward he had to wait until the doctor made a final decision.

“Well, the good news is that there are no broken bones,” the doctor told him cheerfully. “I'm confident that it's the ligament at the side of your knee that's causing the trouble.” She looked at Marmalade sternly. “I'm going to give you some crutches, and put a really strong elastic bandage on your knee. You must promise me not to put any weight on your leg for at least the next two weeks.”

Marmalade nodded. He'd do absolutely
anything
to help his knee heal properly.

“All right, then,” she said. “We'll do that. You'll need to keep the leg up as much as possible, and no doubt Sister O'Flannery will keep a close eye on you.”

She turned to the school nurse. “Make an appointment to get his knee reassessed in a couple weeks' time,” she told her. “If you're worried in the meantime, take him to his doctor. The main thing is to try to prevent a weakness by letting the ligament heal as well as possible. You can put a cold compress on his knee to help the swelling go down. Frozen peas are good for that—wrapped in a towel, not put directly onto his skin. But I'm sure you know that already.”

Sister nodded. “I keep a couple of ice packs handy in case of sprains,” she said. “But I thought this looked more serious.”

“You did the right thing,” agreed the doctor. “It's a nasty injury, but hopefully it'll heal well.” Then she looked at Marmalade. “Whatever you do, don't twist your knee while it's healing,” she warned him. “That will just make things worse. Don't worry too much, though,” she added. “I expect you'll be dancing again next semester if you take it easy.”

Marmalade tried to smile and thank her, but his mouth twisted the wrong way, and he almost burst into tears. How could he bear it if he couldn't dance for the next three months? This had to be the worst moment of his entire life.

Back at school, Sister helped Marmalade into the infirmary. “You'll be better sleeping here for at least the first few days,” she told him. “Getting upstairs to your own room will be difficult with crutches, and here all your friends will be able to visit you while you keep that leg up.” She looked at him with concern. “I was going to suggest that you go to classes this afternoon,” she said, “but you look worn out. Why don't you make a list of things that you'd like brought down from your room? I'll get you a glass of water so you can take those painkillers the hospital gave us and then you can rest. Meanwhile, I'll let your family know what's happened.”

She gave him a piece of paper and a pencil, and Marmalade tried to think of everything he'd need. By the time he'd finished his list, the painkillers were beginning to work. With the pain easing to a dull ache, he eventually drifted off into an uneasy sleep.