JULIA JONES - My Worst Day Ever! - Book 1: aged 9 - 12 by Katrina Kahler Page A

crush
on since the fourth grade, turned up at rehearsals with his friend, Jack.
    At first I was embarrassed to see them
watching us and to make matters worse, some of the girls actually starting to giggle
and carry on. One girl was even fluttering her eyelashes! I’d heard about that sort
of thing but had never seen it in action before. Talk about humiliating! I just
tried to ignore the boys at first but after about ten minutes of observing our
routine, they walked towards Millie and I and actually asked if they could join
in.
    I couldn’t believe it! Blake Jansen really
wanted to join our dance troupe! I was sure it was because Alex was involved
and everyone was starting to hear how cool he was. But I didn’t care about the
reason. Having a couple more boys included would just make it so much better! Although,
I was reluctant to admit to myself that I was particularly glad one of the boys
just happened to be Blake.

    Millie grinned at me and whispered quietly,
“Julia…can you believe Blake is joining us!” I pretended I didn’t hear her and
went into a spiel telling the boys that if they wanted to be involved, they’d
have to commit to rehearsals and put in one hundred per cent effort.
    Much to my surprise, they were really
enthusiastic about the whole thing and couldn’t wait to get started. I thought it
was awesome they were keen to take part. And surprisingly enough, they turned
out to be pretty good. It was shaping up to be a highlight of the musical and I
began to really look forward to every rehearsal. Of course having Blake there
helped to keep my enthusiasm levels high but I just had to make sure I didn’t
give him too much attention. I didn’t want him thinking that I actually liked
him. That would just be too embarrassing!
    But, apart from Blake Jansen and constant
rehearsals, I really had no idea what was ahead for us. If I had only known at
the time, I probably would never have volunteered to take part in the musical
at all.

 
The
new girl…
     
    The weeks passed by and school went on as
usual. However, as the final performance day drew closer, our practice sessions
became more frequent and we were kept very busy. Millie and I had been asked to
choreograph the dance routines for several additional scenes as well, so we had
little time for anything else.
    Then one morning, just as the bell was
ringing and everyone was heading into class, a very pretty girl with blonde
wavy hair who looked to be about our age, happened to arrive at our classroom
door.
    “Come in, Sara!” I heard Mrs. Jackson call
out in a friendly manner. “I’ve been expecting you!”
    Everyone looked curiously in the girl’s
direction. “Girls and boys, I’d like you to meet Sara Hamilton. She has just enrolled
at our school and will now be joining our class.”
    Sara smiled shyly as she followed Mrs.
Jackson towards an empty desk next to mine. “Julia, I’m sure you’ll be happy to
look after Sara and show her around the school during break times today. Please
make her welcome.”
    “Yes of course, Mrs. Jackson,” I answered
enthusiastically as I smiled encouragingly towards Sara. “Hi, Sara! My name’s
Julia and this is my friend, Millie,” I added, pointing towards Millie who was
seated on the other side of me.
    Millie smiled brightly and jumped up to
help Sara unpack her bag and put her books and other belongings into her desk
drawer. It was an unusual event to have a new student come to our school and
when it happened it was always very exciting. I could see all the other kids in
the class looking towards Sara with interest and by the time the bell rang for
morning break, Sara was surrounded by girls who were desperately keen to meet
her.
    We all headed down the stairs towards the
area where the grade seven kids sat to eat their morning tea. There was a large
group trying to get Sara’s attention, so Millie and I sat back in order to
avoid overwhelming the poor girl who was swamped with people asking