Olivia's First Term (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Katie sat on a chair in Miss Swan's study. She had put on her most serious expression and appeared to be listening intently to every word that Alicia was saying. Alicia was studying some papers in her hand and she looked stern.

“You do realise that this is all very unsatisfactory, don't you, Katie? You have failed to hand in your last three maths assignments, and your results in class are poor. According to your form tutor, your performance in English and science is not much better. What do you have to say?”

“I'm very sorry, Miss Swan, I really am,” said Katie, opening her eyes wide because her dad said it made her look like an adorable kitten. “I know I've been underperforming in lessons,
but I've been trying so hard to concentrate on my dance. Miss Taylor says that I'm improving very fast. Yesterday she said I was one of the best in school.”

“Did she?” said Alicia, a disbelieving edge to her tone.

“Oh, yes,” said Katie. “Most emphatically.” Alicia raised an eyebrow. Miss India Taylor, a wonderful dance teacher and a woman of very few words, was not given to effusive statements about her pupils' abilities.

“It's true, Katie, that your dancing is improving, although whether you are one of the best in the school is open to debate. In any case, it's not a matter of who is best. Pupils progress and consolidate at very different rates. But I can't deny that your audition for the Children's Royal Spectacular was very good indeed and I believe that you would be an asset to the team.” She paused. “But I have to consider every aspect of your performance at the school, and your academic results do not justify your inclusion. You know the Swan policy as well as I do. Poor results in the classroom mean no public performances, professional or otherwise. So until your results show signs of 
improvement, reluctantly I have to say that—”

“Please, please, Miss Swan,” interrupted Katie, her eyes welling with tears that glistened on her thick dark lashes. “Please don't leave me out of the team! Being part of a team would be good for me and being included would give me the incentive I need to do better in my school work. My results would improve, I promise. I'd work like a demon.” She looked at Alicia from under her eyelashes. “If you would just give me one last chance, I promise I won't let you down.”

Alicia looked hard at Katie. Why was it that whenever she spoke to this child, she felt as if she was watching somebody acting? It was as if Katie had lost the ability to distinguish between pretence and real life. Her instinct was to tell the girl that she had already had a chance to pull up her socks and now she must pay the price – exclusion from the Children's Royal Spectacular cast – but maybe it
was
just the spur that the child needed.

“All right,” said Alicia decisively. “I'll take a chance on you, Katie. But you get one chance, and one only. The mid-term tests fall just before the final televised heat for the Spectacular. If we get that far. If you don't pass in every single
subject, you're out of the team.”

“Thank you, Miss Swan, I won't let you down,” beamed Katie. “I'll be devoted to you forever.”

“Eternal devotion isn't required, Katie, but a decent pass in algebra and comprehension is.” Miss Swan looked at her watch. “Now, run along back to class. I've already kept Mrs Jones waiting, and I've got to make a quick phone call before I talk to her. On your way out, can you tell her I'm sorry for the delay and that I won't be long.”

Georgia's mum was sitting in the little
anteroom
outside Miss Swan's office. She smiled when she saw Katie.

“How are you, Katie?” she asked.

“Very well, Mrs Jones,” Katie said, smiling sweetly. “Miss Swan has just been congratulating me on my progress.”

“How nice for you.”

“Yes,” said Katie innocently. “In fact, she said I'm so talented she wants to give me a scholarship. But I told her I didn't need one and that she should save it for someone who really does. Someone poor.” She gave Mrs Jones a ravishing smile. “Someone like Georgia!” she
said, as if she had just had the most delightful idea.

Georgia's mother blushed, looking disconcerted. She was surprised that Georgia had talked at school about their situation. Whenever she had tried to broach the subject of money at home and the possibility that Georgia might have to leave the Swan, her daughter had refused to discuss it.

“Oh, I do apologise, Mrs Jones!” said Katie. “That was very tactless of me. It was just that Georgia confided in me. She told me how difficult things are for you both. I didn't mean to embarrass you or myself.” She looked stricken.

Mrs Jones leaned forward, thinking what a kind and delightful child Katie was and that she must do her best to encourage the friendship.

“That's all right, Katie, no offence taken. It was a lovely thought,” she said, bringing the subject firmly to a close.

At that moment her mobile went off. Katie walked towards the door, and Georgia's mother gave her a little wave goodbye as she answered the phone. “Yes?” she said. She was flustered to discover it was her boss. “I booked the time off. I won't be long, I'll be back in the office before
three… No, I'll sort it out. I've got to go.” She snapped the phone shut and said angrily, “I'd tell you to stuff your stupid job if I could afford to keep Georgia at school without it!”

Georgia's mother suddenly realised that Katie hadn't left the room and immediately regretted her outburst, but Katie just said very sincerely, “I'm so sorry about your money troubles, Mrs Jones. Georgia is my absolute bestest friend. I couldn't bear it if she had to leave.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Olivia, could you please stay behind? I want a word with you,” said Sebastian Shaw.

It was the end of another class in which Olivia had sat in the corner, her face hidden by her hair, trying to pretend that she wasn't there. Sebastian waited until all the other children had gathered their belongings and headed off to the cloakrooms to change for contemporary dance or to get ready for singing. Three of the boys were going for an audition for a brand-new play at the Royal Court. It was by an exciting young female playwright who everyone said would be the next big thing.

“Olivia, Olivia, what am I going to do with you?” he asked sorrowfully. “It's clear that you are very unhappy here at the Swan but I 
think that you could enjoy it so much more if you would only make a little effort. You have a lovely voice, Olivia, and such expressive features. Your eyes truly are windows to your soul. If you could only overcome your shyness and use your gifts, you might become a great actress like your mother.”

Olivia wanted to shout, “I don't want to be a great actress like my mother, I want to be a great tightrope-walker like my dad!” but curiosity got the better of her. Instead she asked fiercely, “You knew my mum?”

Sebastian nodded. “I taught her everything I know, and after that she started to teach
me
.”

“What was she like when she was my age?” asked Olivia.

Mr Shaw smiled. “She was just like you. She was beautiful and she could be a bit frightening, and there was something a little wild about her and something a little sad, except when she laughed, and then it was as if the sun had come out. But she had one thing that I haven't yet seen in you, Olivia.”

“What's that?” asked Olivia.

“She had true grit. She let nothing defeat her. Toni wasn't the most naturally gifted
student we've ever had at the Swan. But she was the most determined and hard-working. She always pushed herself that little bit further than anyone else, and always picked herself up and tried again if she failed. She used to quote a famous writer called Samuel Beckett: ‘Try again. Fail again. Fail better.' She took a decent talent and made it a mighty one. She was always prepared to take a risk and she never gave up.”

“So you think I've given up?” asked Olivia indignantly.

“I think you gave up the day you arrived,” said Sebastian Shaw gently. “You were determined not to give the Swan a chance. I also think that you're letting your unhappiness eat you up. Unhappiness is like acid. It destroys and scars.” Then he smiled and added, “But maybe you will prove me wrong, Olivia. Your mother always did. I told her she didn't have what it takes to be a great classical actress, and through hard work and determination she became the greatest of her generation. Who knows, maybe if she had lived…”

Tears welled in Olivia's eyes. Sebastian handed her a tissue with one hand and a ticket with the other.

“What's this?” asked Olivia.

“It's a ticket for a play by Shakespeare I'm going to see tonight.
Romeo and Juliet,
” said Mr Shaw. “How old are you, Olivia? Twelve?”

Olivia nodded.

“Your mother played Juliet on the West End stage when she was sixteen, only a little older than you are now. Then a few years after that she met your father. Even though she was already engaged to be married, it was love at first sight.”

“She was going to marry someone else?” Olivia's eyes were wide.

Sebastian nodded. “Look, Olivia, I'd be very honoured if you would come to the theatre with me tonight to see the play. I think it might help you understand your mum and dad a little better, what their love cost, and why your father has left you and your sister here.”

Olivia sniffed and Sebastian Shaw passed her another tissue. “Your father hasn't abandoned you, Olivia.”

“Well, it feels like he has,” she replied, and burst into such tears that Sebastian Shaw quite ran out of tissues.

Chapter Twenty-Five

There was an expectant buzz all around the theatre. Olivia leaned forwards in the box. When she had seen where they were sitting, she worried about feeling exposed and
self-conscious,
but the beauty of the theatre had quickly made her forget all such thoughts.

The ceiling was painted with a scene from classical Greek drama and a massive chandelier hung down from its middle, twinkling with what seemed like a thousand candles. The balconies were edged with gold gilt and cheeky little gold cherubs grinned down beatifically from above the proscenium arch over the stage. Even the battered old safety curtain was painted with garlanded shepherds and shepherdesses and darting fairies.

The gaudy gaiety reminded Olivia of the circus. She immediately felt at home.

She had only reluctantly agreed to go with Sebastian to the theatre. But the lure of hearing more about her mother, Toni, was too hard to resist. She had not been disappointed. Over a bowl of spaghetti with fresh basil in a little Italian restaurant round the corner, where the waiters had greeted Sebastian like an old friend, he had told Olivia more about her mother than Jack ever had.

“You are more like her than you could possibly imagine, Olivia. It's not just how you look and how you sound, but in other ways too,” he'd said, thinking that mother and daughter were both a bit like wild ponies whose confidence you had to gain slowly and carefully.

“But she was an actor; I'm not,” said Olivia, scraping her bowl of the last of her tiramisu. She found talking to Sebastian remarkably easy.

“She wasn't always. Not to start with. During her first term at the Swan, when she was seven, I could barely get her to open her mouth she was so shy in class. She'd visibly shrink if I tried to get her to stand up and say a poem. So
I simply left her alone, as I've done with you. Towards the end of the second term, we decided we were going to put on a little end-of-term show for the parents. It was a version of
Sleeping
Beauty
. We had a little audition session in class, and of course all the girls wanted to play the princess. I didn't want to push Toni because I couldn't imagine she'd want to audition in front of everyone or even take part in the performance. At best, I thought she'd want to hide somewhere at the back as a courtier. But after all the other little girls had played the scene I'd chosen for them, and I said it was time to move on to the boys, Toni put up her hand.

“‘What is it, Toni?' I asked.

“‘I want to play the princess,' she said very firmly. Frankly, I was astonished. She had barely spoken in class for the entire year. But she stepped out to the front of the room and played the scene. It was an extraordinary performance for a seven-year-old. She had clearly studied very carefully what all the others had done, and knew where to make improvements. Of course, she got the part, and I knew then that with dedication and hard work she had the potential to be a great actor. Eventually she was.”

Then Sebastian had looked at his watch and nodded to a waiter for the bill. “We must hurry or we'll be late for the theatre.”

They had taken their seats, and as the house lights started to dim Olivia felt the same excitement that she felt at the start of a circus performance. The royal-blue curtains across the stage swung open. Suddenly Olivia was transported back to Italy on a hot summer's day. She leaned further forwards. She could almost smell the bright colours. At first she found the language difficult to understand, but gradually her ear adjusted and it grew easier. She watched the preparations for the Capulets' party and enjoyed the banter between Romeo and his friend, Mercutio. They reminded her of Tom and William.

When Juliet made her first entrance, Olivia was surprised how young and fragile she was. She wondered what it must have been like to live in those times when you had to obey your parents and a girl just a few years older than she was now would be married off to someone they'd chosen for her.

Then the party began and Romeo and Juliet glimpsed each other across the room crowded
with dancers. Romeo breathed the words,
“O! She doth teach the torches to burn bright
.”
Olivia felt her heart flutter inside her chest as if it was a bird trying to get out.

Romeo approached Juliet for the first time: 

For a moment, Olivia suddenly thought about her parents' first meeting, and then she was completely swept away by the story again. Romeo and Juliet were secretly married without their parents' knowledge, Romeo was banished after killing Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, and Juliet was forced by her parents to prepare to marry the man they had chosen for her, Paris. It was as if Olivia was experiencing the play with every sense, and she completely forgot that she was sitting in a theatre in the heart of London and felt instead as if she were Juliet in Verona hundreds of years ago.

During the interval she spoke very little, eager for the play to resume. When, after the
final tragedy of the young lovers' deaths, the play finished, Olivia sat in dazed silence, tears pouring down her cheeks. For a long time she couldn't speak. Sebastian waited patiently and just handed her tissues.

Finally she sniffed, turned to Sebastian and said, “It was wonderful. Thank you. I loved every minute. I had no idea that the theatre could be so amazing.”

Sebastian smiled. “As good as the circus?”

“Totally, but in a different way,” said Olivia, surprising herself.

“They both have their strengths,” said Sebastian.

Olivia nodded, and as she did so an idea popped into her head.